Orange - £1,133 bill vs last 4 year average of £150 per month! They don't care!

[dazzling2865]

I have been a loyal customer of orange since the beginning in the early 1990’s and until the beginning of this had been happy with the service that Orange provide. However, I am now left both frustrated and angry at the way I am being treated.

 

In February of this year I received a bill which included an additional £183.25 of additional data charges. This was somewhat of a surprise as I had been on a tariff that did not incur such charges. However, when contacting orange I was made aware that my tariff/plan had changed (without this being highlighted to me) and that due to this Orange would a) refund most of these charges and b) change my additional data charges to avoid this in future, alongside a SMS alert I would receive when exceeding my data allowance.

 

Today I have received a bill for £1,133.42 (almost 10 times my average bill) and this details £843.60 of additional data charges!

 

They tell me as they refunded excess charges of £183 in march that they cannot do it again and dispute that they told me that I would be covered by their SMS alter service as it apparently it does not exist!

 

Ibelieve that Orange have a duty of care to customers to advise of such abnormal usage patterns (particularly as I am advise this is over several days)

 

To add further insult, Orange have offered me a 3GB larger data bundle going forward as Orange say I am continuing to use unexplainablelarge amounts of data, yet this cannot be charged at the same rateretrospectively for the past 30 days. A charge of £30 compared with £843.60 isblatantly disingenuous.

 

I have today cancelled my Direct Debit with Orange and have made a payment to cover all other costs associated with mylatest bill.

 

At the end of my call at around 10AM this morning with Orange when I asked for the operators full name and extension she also insistedthat she provide her contact details by SMS, to date this SMS has not beenreceived!

 

I Have today written to Olaf Swantee about this. Anybody have any similar stories?

 

Note: In the latest billing period I have in no way used by handset for any additional ‘heavy browsing’ and I suspect a fault with the handset (as I can see data usage meter now rising when the phone is idle with no apps running, something Orange have disputed despite me having the handset in my possession to verify this).

 

Good to see these Forums, great idea and thanks in advance folks!

Edited September 21, 2012 by dazzling2865

[dreadpiratesteve]

What phone are you using?

 

It's rare for handsets to download data without the user actually making the phone do so (via apps/ web browsing). It could be the phone is accessing it's makers website for software updates.

 

This was a common billing issue I used to deal with when I worked for a telecoms company.

 

You could ask the CEO's office if they would do a retrospective bill as though the data bundle was added prior to the exessive use.

 

Is the data a necessary part of your phone's use? If not, try switching the data off on the phone when you don't need it and, I'm guessing your phone has Wi-Fi, use Wi-Fi as much as you can!

[dazzling2865]

Using an iPhone 4.

 

I agree it seems crazy that the considering I am using the same set of apps I have been for over 2 years that suddenly (when I get a replacement handset).

 

I drove out for 2 hours today and nearly 150mb used???! No apps running (I did access Google Maps for a few minuted).

 

Had a call from a 'Manager' who let me explain all for 30 minutes and said "nothing we can do", they won't even consider adding that data bundle retrospectively. I replied with that atitude then I will take Orange to court. They must have a duty of care to their customers?! What's to say my phone had not unkowingly been stolen? Average bill £120, this one £1,100+.

[DraigCymru]

A similar issue has cropped up with us and I have posted on MSE (not allowed to use a link but the title is Orange Warning/Heads up.

 

No idea what has happened and I am 100% positive that my son has not knowingly used this data amount. He always uses wifi when he can and would not be 'streaming' on his data allowance. This has never happened before - he has had an ipone for 2 years and is not irresponsible. If Orange could see there was unusual usage, why didn't they say? Ovvioulsy because they can make money this way.

 

I don't know how we challenge this but I am determined to do as much as I can.

[Human Writes]

I guess their point of view is that they've waived charges for you once in those circumstances i.e you used a lot of data and incurred an unexpectedly large bill, these were charges which they have no duty or obligation to waive and which you would be liable for under the terms of contract, then you've gone out a few months later and done exactly the same thing again to a greater degree, whilst I don't agree with the size of the bill you've incurred, you have to take responsibility for your actions, it's difficult to see how this is all Orange's fault or why they should just waive the charges for you for a second time. I'd assume the first time out they explained how to use the phone and how you could monitor your usage in the future or they offered to sell you data bundles which covered your usage?

[dazzling2865]

I guess their point of view is that they've waived charges for you once in those circumstances i.e you used a lot of data and incurred an unexpectedly large bill, these were charges which they have no duty or obligation to waive and which you would be liable for under the terms of contract, then you've gone out a few months later and done exactly the same thing again to a greater degree, whilst I don't agree with the size of the bill you've incurred, you have to take responsibility for your actions, it's difficult to see how this is all Orange's fault or why they should just waive the charges for you for a second time. I'd assume the first time out they explained how to use the phone and how you could monitor your usage in the future or they offered to sell you data bundles which covered your usage?

 

Understand your point of view. However, they told me in March that I would now get a text when I went over my plan, I wrote this down at the time of the call and have notes here. Apparently no such service exists! Also the reason I was caught out in March is that for reasons that they cannot explain to me they changed my plan from iPhone Business 40 (unlimited data) to Iphone Solo 25 (limited to 750Mb).

 

They also never gave any advice on monitoring data usage. I have had iPhones for 4 years with only one small issue of 200Mb over as above. I have had this replacement handset for less than 1 month and suddenly I have used 3GB of data. I don't think this is a coincidence.

 

Finally, I would have been more than willing to come to some sensible arrangement but to say we can charge you £20 for the 3GB data for the next month but demand payment of £900+ for the same amount of data last month is ridiculous. My usage patterns have not changed and apparently I have already used 1.2GB of data within the past 7 days. I have just asked for my Data to be cut off and have bought out the last few months of my contract. I have then cancelled my contract with Orange. I am prepared to go to court of this.

 

Footnote: To me this company is in disarray. I gave card details to Orange on 17/9/12 to buy out my contract to upgrade to an iPhone 5 (before all these issues came up). They have no record of this!!! A Joke!

[dazzling2865]

Using an iPhone 4.

 

I agree it seems crazy that the considering I am using the same set of apps I have been for over 2 years that suddenly (when I get a replacement handset).

 

I drove out for 2 hours today and nearly 150mb used???! No apps running (I did access Google Maps for a few minuted).

 

Had a call from a 'Manager' who let me explain all for 30 minutes and said "nothing we can do", they won't even consider adding that data bundle retrospectively. I replied with that atitude then I will take Orange to court. They must have a duty of care to their customers?! What's to say my phone had not unkowingly been stolen? Average bill £120, this one £1,100+.

 

Sorry to hear your Son is in a similar position.

 

According to Orange complaints code below I have to wait for a period of 8 weeks before contacting CISAS. According to OFCOM I do have to contact CISAS. I have paid my bill (minus my excess data charges)

 

I can't buy that Orange cannot (and don't have a responsibility to) flag up to customers that are likely to be unknowingly incurring massive data charges. This is just easy money for them. I expect to have Default/CCJ issues with Orange which is a big concern for me.

 

If after contacting us we have not resolved your complaint to your satisfaction

 

within 8 weeks, or if you have received a letter from us saying that your

 

complaint has reached “deadlock”, you may make a complaint through CISAS,

 

which is an independent dispute resolution scheme. CISAS is an independent

 

alternative dispute resolution scheme which has been approved by Ofcom.

 

When your dispute goes through the scheme, a person called an independent

 

adjudicator decides how to settle it. Please note that CISAS will not consider

 

any complaint until one of the conditions for referral has been met, so do ensure

 

you read the guidelines on their website.

 

Details of the service are available by contacting Orange customer services

 

or CISAS at the following address.

 

Communication and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS)

 

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

 

24 Angel Gate

 

City Road

 

London

 

EC1V 2PT

 

Tel:

020 7520 3827

Fax:

020 7520 3829

E-mail:

website:

You can also get independent advice from your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau

 

or Trading Standards office – please contact then directly. Whilst we are

 

happy to work together with the above independent organisations, if you

 

decide you need their help to resolve your complaint, we would always want

 

you to come to us first as most problems can be resolved quickly this way.

[Human Writes]

Arbitration is one step shy of a country court claim and follows the same legal principles. Try to remember if you do make a claim that onus rests with you to prove any points you want to rely on, it may not be sufficient for you to simply say something happened, you may have to prove to the satisfaction of an independent third party, usually a solicitor or barrister that what you say is true. The only way for you to do this is provide evidence which supports your claim.

[It's time]

Exact same thing happened to a friend of mine 3 months running , business contract & was refunded £200 but had to pay thousands .. The MAP app was blamed for eating the data .