Orange - reluctance to handle complaint over data charges allegedly incurred overseas

[btonbadger]

Dear all,

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

I went to Barbados earlier this year with work. I incurred some call charges and was surprised to also receive £130 worth of DATA charges.

 

I have a smartphone which is capable of Wifi and 3g connectivity. Whilst I am at home I am careful to use wifi access where possible, even more so whilst in Barbados knowing the costs of overseas data.

 

The hotel had provided us with free access to their wifi network and I promptly logged on and used my phone to collect data and info relating to my business in the country.

 

So forward wind a few months and needless to say I'm shocked to have received a bill for £130 for "16mb" of data apparently downloaded in the country. I rang Orange customer services who said:

 

"If you use data over wifi you will still be charged through our network."

 

So... if this is true... Why does it not happen when I am in the UK? Are they deliberately overriding my choice of data provider in order to fleece me? Can they do this? surely if I make a concious decision to choose a cheaper provider of data access it is immoral and possibly unlawful for them to override this decision and then charge me extortionate amounts for being forced to use their connectivity?

 

I said to the customer services person that I would like a list of all the items I have allegedly downloaded as the bill merely says 16mb of data - no clarification as to what has been downloaded - no evidence that I've even done that. She said such information is not available.

 

So they've charged me £130 for something they cannot prove I've used??!

 

I have paid the balance of the outstanding bill APART from the charges I dispute and I've made my dispute clear. I have also requested a call back from someone more senior - to date I have had no contact.

 

My phone is now barred from making outgoing calls and texts which is a major inconvenience and particularly galling considered I made the effort to pay the non-disputed amount of the bill immediately.

 

 

So... what can I do now? Quite frankly I want to leave orange as they seem to have no concept of disputes, nor any respect towards their clients particularly those with a legitimate complaint.

 

Can I argue breach of contract given they've prevented my phone from functioning correctly despite the fact I've raised a dispute?

 

Bton Badger

[btonbadger]

1st thing is 1st... I'm a huge fan of your youtube pages!

 

 

Thank you! I've not done anything new for ages as I've been mostly left alone by the banking idiots now. probably flagged up in some central database as a troublemaker perhaps?!

 

 

Right, now that's out of the way Orange have a complaints team that work with CAG, so maybe they'll be of assistance. Here is a quote from a different page

 

 

Maybe he can get to the bottom of the problems?

 

The Customer Service Adviser is wrong, data over wifi you should not incur any charge. My suspicion is this a Blackberry or Iphone. I know they have specific data needs that comes over the mobile network only, which is what you may have been charged for.

 

I have to say, £130 for 16 meg sounds far too expensive!

 

Talking brass tacks, if a complaint reached an ADR it would probably cost Orange more than £130, so following their complaints procedure set out in their "Code of practice" may yield results if the Orange Response team don't sort you out 1st!

 

Cheers for the advice will give them both a go and report back.

[btonbadger]

Thanks, email sent. Look forward to your response.

 

BB