Orange convinced me to change tarriff, now they are overcharging me by £60 a month

[Jpaton]

Hi, I am new here but knew this is porbably the right place to go if I want to find some advice/similar cases.In February I called Orange for an unrelated matter, during which they told me I was not using all my minutes/texts and convinced me to drop my tarriff. I know the lady was trying to be helpful and save me money but she has seriously messed up and heres why - my phone is an Android.I learned today that this means it is ALWAYS using the internet, constantly. And that the amount of internet usage on the tarriff I had been downgraded to wouldnt even cover that day to day consumption, let alone browsing, using facebook etc. The thing is I wasnt even told this when I started my original contract, and the person on the phone did not ask me what kind of phone I had or anything to do with internet usage, which according to the Orange employee I spoke to in the shop today, they really should have. This means I have effectively been automatically going over my internet allowance every month, without realising and since I dont receive paper bills this has gone un noticed until now.I would really like to hear if others have been similarly duped into paying more when told they will save money like this, and how successful they were in recovering the surplus charges as I am looking for some solid stuff to back me up if the call centre staff are difficult with me (which I have no doubt they will be). And of course any advice in pursuing my case.Many thanks! Jamie

[johnvernon74]

Follow orange complaint procedure. As you agreed to the new tariff, its fair to assume orange did no wrong. However, they may as a gesture of goodwill rectify the situation for you.

[2Grumpy]

When Orange recommended that you change tariff because it would save you money, they would have known all of your usage statistics.

 

By only looking at voice calls, they failed in their duty of care - ie they were negligent.

 

They are the experts so you took their expert advice only to discover that without changing your usage pattern it is now costing an arm & a leg.

 

Start the Orange complaints procedure. Tell them what you want - to be back on your previous tariff & a refund & compensation for loss of use of your cash so that you weren't disadvantaged by their inadequate & misleading advice. Escalate as far as it goes then go to the telecomms watchdog.

 

If necessary suggest that you will contact newspaper / tv consumer advice people if you don't get a rapid response.

 

If you do anything by phone, keep a recording. Better still use email/post (although they might be slow by post)

 

Make sure that they realise that they need this resolved quickly otherwise you will be overcharged again and will require additional compensation, especially if you get charged bank charges or other direct debits bounce