terminating orange contract due to no signal

[geministar2007]

Hi

 

My sister has 8 months left on her Orange contract.

 

When she took out her contract she was told in store that Orange has the most/best coverage in our town, she then moved address in the same town and suddenly had no signal.

She contacted Orange who were at a loss as to why she had no reception, shortly after they decided that she was out of range of the nearest Orange mass.

 

She wants to end her contract early but has been told it is not their fault that she has moved where there is no signal, ok this is true but she was in some ways falsely advertised the coverage quality when purchasing her product. And even the Orange Customer service dept were under the impression she should have coverage.

 

She has basically has been told she will have to buy out her contact (she cant afford this) and she cannot downgrade her package any further as she has already done this.

 

She visited a Orange store and was given an address to write to.

 

Does anyone have any advice??? Also any letter templates would be great.

 

Many thanks

[geministar2007]

i have also checked the orange coverage for her postcode and she should have reception, they have tried the whole turning on 3g and turning off, still no joy.

 

In my opinions they are not providing a service, if they state she has coverage and even the website does then they are not providing this, they are in the wrong? She should not have to continue to pay, any ideas?

[locutus]

The main problem you will have is that the coverage is not a part of the contract, so canceling due to coverage issues will always be difficult. However as she was advised that Orange have the "best coverage in your town" and this was untrue, maybe she can get somewhere by following the complaints procedure? If no joy she can escelate it to cisas. This article makes for good reading on how to complain. Frequently Asked Questions: CISAS

[geministar2007]

thanks, is there a letter template i could use??

[locutus]

It's kind of a unique situation... I'd personally write something very short and sweet to their complaints address like:-

 

"Orange Customer Care

PO Box 486

Rotherham

S63 5ZX

 

Dear sir/madam,

I want to cancel this contract as I feel I was given misleading advice from your store when I took the contract stating Orange would provide me with the best coverage anywhere within xxx town. I have since found this to be untrue, and due to this mis-information I would like to end this contract without penalty immediately, as my new house within the same town has no coverage. If you are unable to do this, please escalate my complaint to a department that has the ability to terminate this contract with no penalty to myself, or supply me with a deadlock letter so I may forward my complaint to CISAS

 

Thank you

xxx"

 

Keep a copy for yourself, send one to Orange

[geministar2007]

Thanks will go with that and see what happens.

[danechip]

Could you get back to us on this, i've just registered to see the outcome (hello all, i'm Dan)

 

Thankx

[buzby]

However, do not overlook the fact that the terms and conditions of all networks DO NOT GUARANTEE coverage, and any claims made by agents to the contrary are incorrect. You have 14 days to ensure that coverage is satisfactory (on a new contract, NOT an upgrade), so threatening a complaint to CISAS would be laughed at.

 

Ask nicely. If you are refused, then at least you tried. Attempting to escalate it may be a waste of time, and if there are issues with bill non-payment, will work against you.

[geministar2007]

I think my sister has accepted nothing will happen in her favor. It's out of order i feel. They do not seem to be bothered about customers, even though she has been with orange for 5 years and always paid her bill.

[buzby]

Perhaps back in 1994 Orange might have viewed things differently, but in the 14 or so years they have been n business, subscribers have used every trick in the book to get out of their obligations, so the unsympathetic treatment is hardly surprising.

 

In my case, I was a very happy O user, having been an ex 'Rabbit' Telepoint customer and was one of their first customers when the network opened. I had superb coverage and they had the closest BTS to my home. Spin forward 10 years, and t was time to upgrade my phone again. I got a new Nokia, and my contract restarted at 12months.

 

3 weeks later the building that had the Orange BTS on its roof was to be demolished, and O took the BTS down. They trucked in a portable tower and placed it in an adjacent field, so I had minimal disruption whilst they found a replacement site in the locality. It was made live and the portable BTS taken away... I was left with no service. The NEW BTS couldn't reach my location and I went from 100% signal strength to 'NO SERVICE'. I had over 10 months commitment, and my phone wouldn;t work at home.

 

Explained it all to Orange, who agreed it was unfortunate, but I got the usual story about not guaranteeing coverage etc, they agreed the change was at their end and outwith my control, and agreed to a no-fault termination.

 

Good for them, but it does show that each case is taken on its merits, and if they make the change that creates the problem, they will resolve the problem if they can, or provide a release if this is the only option. This is not the same should there have never been coverage that was relied upon, but the best rule of thumb for anyone considering entering into an airtime contract. Don't. Check out service on a PATG handset on your chosen network first, for real. Not those 'predictions' that at best are a very rough approximation, and at worse a total flight of fancy.

[locutus]

If told you have the "Best coverage in town" and your new address will be covered by service when you move there, this is the only area that you can complain about, as this is misleading advice if it is not true. The other thing your sister should've done is visit this place before signing up.

[geministar2007]

she moved there after signing up to orange but was told that the entire town was covered by orange and signal probs unknown.

[buzby]

There is no such animal. Saying a town is 'best covered' can probably be substantiated, but in real terms means absolutely nothing if - for example - your house is of a type of construction that blocks external radio waves... don't laugh - many do.

 

The onus will always be on the the customer to ensure coverage, not the networks to provide a mythical 100%, which they never do. In the situation you describe, signing up before actually verifying that coverage in the new location would be satisfactory, is understandable but does not make the network any more (or less) culpable. They offer 98-99% population coverage, not geographic and whilst one network may not provide suitable coverage, invariably one of the other networks will.

[fuzzybobble]

Orange seem to have lots of problems with coverage in many areas. I live on the top of a hill overlooking most of cheshire, wales and liverpool. I can see 4 mobile phone transmitters. Every network gets 100%signal strength here, apart from orange. I had to stand in the garden if I wanted to call someone or text them. Luckily I was on pay as you go, so changed to t- mobile and have yet to find somewhere I cannot get a signal.

 

I try and avoid contracts with everything now. I don't like the idea of being tied to a contract for a year or more, then find out in the 1st week the service is crap.