Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

My wife is currently on Everyday 50 and her contract has just come up after another 12 months.

She has been a faithful Orange customer for over 4 years now.

She called up to find out if she could upgrade her current handset to a Sony Ericsson K750i. They wanted £189.99 to upgrade the handset and keep her current contract.

After some consideration, she decided to to change to an Anytime 120 monthly contract and pay £25 per month and they wanted to charge her £29.99.

Now it's not a lot of money, but if she were starting a new contract, the phone would be free on the same tariff.

Quote from the Orange website: At Orange we believe our existing customers should get the same benefits we offer new customers. It's our way of saying thanks for being with us

After talking to someone is upgrades and trying to explain to them that there was a price difference, we had to talk them through the Orange website to show them how to get the price! The woman on the phone then said it was the computer stopping her from giving my the phone for free.

My wife asked to speak to the team leader, and she called back after an hour.

The team leader said there is small print in the TV adverts (although nothing on the website) and thats not what the adverts meant.

I'm confused, what do the adverts mean, if they think that existing customers should get the same benefits as new customers!

You can get a Vodafone Sony Ericsson K750i for free, and get an Anytime 200 minute contract with 250 text messages for only £25 per month. So the phone is free, there are an extra 80 minutes per month, an extra 250 text messages and all for the same monthly cost as Orange.

Looks like Vodafone will be getting my wifes business (and mine come renewal time). Nice one Orange..... still treating existing customers the same way you always have. It's not about the money, it's principle.

I wonder what Watchdog will have to say??

CooperS

Cancel the contract, they soon change their tune then believe me.

Fizz

iTrader: (1)

I threatened to do that and they gave me a fantastic deal that new customers were getting. believe me play up and you'll get it....

Freak

I do this annually....but i always phone up and go straight through to disconnections after finding a decent handset/tariff I like.
Gave up trying to get them to match or give me a decent one as an existing customer- they werent interested.
Straight through to disconnections=bend over backwards to keep you. thy will 99% of the time match any tariff and give you the handset for free or for something like £5 to keep you.

My line 2 is everyday 50 too- and I will never get rid of it. I just vary the tariff on my line 1

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

No go, customer retention weren't interested.

They were more than happy to give us the PAC number.

mart360

Phone back and ask for disconnections.

when asked why, tell them you want to upgrade, but will be charged a fee,

tell them you will go to o2 or other who wont charge for what you want...


they will do you an upgrade foc..

i wanted a d500 upgrades said £129

disconnections...... free


Mart

paul-s

just cancel it and go in the shop and take out a new one for free on a better deal.

R 14NS R

as above, you need to go through disconnections, i have not paid for a phone for years with orange ( except my p900 two years ago).

fatherpierre

If they try to charge you, cancel - always.

NEVER agree a contract via post or their 1st offer!!!

Ian_S

They have done the same for me before too, given the pac

dogboy1

Andy i had exactly the same problem with Orange last year!

I threatened to leave if they did not put me on the same dealo as new customers and said i would go to Vodaphone instead.

Eventually i got put through to the Customer service section (this is the only section that can sanction the deal the new customers get) and they upgraded me for free.

So....ask to be put through to customer service and explain if they don't offer you a better deal that you will be leaving and i guarantee they will upgrade you for free.

Its a shame that they still try it on though eh

Hope that helps.

DOg.

Stueyb

Thing is though, maybe they weren't making enough on the phone to turn a profit. At the end of the day these phones arent cheap and they are heavily subsidised. HOWEVER if the same deal that new customers get isnt available to you, that IS wrong.

Scooby Soon!

I recently had a contract renewel with orange, they wouldn't do a deal until I got through to the retention centre, Free D500 (this was about 3 months ago when no one had them in stock and if they did they were expensive) with 120 xnet minutes and 30 texts for £15.00 mth although my auntie tried to do the same thing and they were having none of it! Ended up having to take out a new contract in an orange shop with a new number.

Another tip try and set the account up in a companys name, (mines set up in a ltd name) your account is then "Business" you get free insurance and when you dial 345 (i think) you get straight through to an operator for any queries or acount info, you dont have to go through the press 1, press 2, press 5 please hold the line we are very busy etc etc

I have been with orange for 8 years and searched all the other operators tarrifs every year, orange come out on top just about every time.

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

That's the point!

They weren't willing to give an exisiting customer (who was willing to increase their talktime and give them more money a month) the same deal as a new customer. Even though the existing customer has been with them for 4 years and has always paid their bills on time, where as a new customer is an unknown quanitity.

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

I have found that in the past as well, but looking at Vodafone last night and there are better deals to be had, especially for new customers!

R 14NS R

i think the bill amount is a factor too as they need to make a profit as with any business, so they will not make a loss for anyone i would not think.

my bills are usually about 70-80 per month so that may be why they give me free upgrades, which ties in with having to pay more for handsets when on cheaper tarrifs.

as i said earlier its all business!!

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

It's not really an upgrade, if you consider that we wanted a tarrif and phone that is the same as the one they offer to a new customer!

Andy Tang

iTrader: (3)

Apparently a panda never forgets her cubs, even if she has new ones!

STi wanna Subaru

iTrader: (1)

I think these ads for Orange are terrible. they just tell us what we already know but don't highlight in in your ads! the should say "New customers get good deals and we've been screwing over existing ones for years!"

cw42

iTrader: (1)

I've been trying over the last few days to get a k750i for free via orange. When I first called them, I went via the number on the website for special offers, and the best they would do was give me the phone for £30. I then tried to get it for free, but they were having none of it
I tried again a day later, and this time called thier bluff, and got my pac code from disconnections.
I've just tried again now, and went to customer services first, still being told that I'd have to pay for the phone when my contract runs out on the 21st july , so I told them I'm leaving, and asked to be put through to disconnections. When I got there, a very nice lady offered me the phone for free, and upped my minutes + £20 cash back!
RESULT!
Now just got to wait for them to get the phone in stock, and load up thier software
chris.