Anyone know my legal rights/contract rights.

~J~

~J~

~J~

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2003
Posts
7,558
Location
London
Driving me insane and Orange are doing sweet FA about it.

Got a Nokia N85, had it almost a year now. Don't need it for anything other than a "Phone".

I live in Hounslow, work in Islington and for the past week can not make phone calls in the Islington area.

The phone constantly says "Network Busy" or just drops the call, yet as soon as I leave the area (I assume to a different mast), I get signal great.

Thing is, when I'm at work I do have full bars, can send/receive SMS's and can get onto the Internet. Anyone calling me and the phone goes straight onto Answer Machine and I get an SMS saying I've a missing call. So it's nothing to do with reception or lack of signal (I'd imagine).

Have phoned Orange up several times who ask the usual checks:
Does it apply to only Landlines or Mobiles? - Nope, any number.
Can I phone 150/100 or any other Service number? - Nope.
Have a turned off the handset? - Yep.

They're refusing to deal with the matter, saying that my work area has excellent coverage and that the SIM is reporting ok and that all the settings on my phone are correct.

But something is clearly wrong.

Anyone got any tips/advice on what I can do to resolve this. It's worked flawlessly for the past year, just the last 2 weeks it's constantly within the Islington (Angel Tube, City University, City Road, Goswell Road if anyone knows the area) that it's failing.

Any ideas?
 
I would say your phone isn't fit for purpose as you can't make calls. If they refuse to even try anything to fix the situation, cancel payments and send the phone back to them.
 
Reality Bites said:
I would say your phone isn't fit for purpose as you can't make calls. If they refuse to even try anything to fix the situation, cancel payments and send the phone back to them.
Click to expand...

Would that work? I thought the way Orange worded their contracts is that your agreement is that you have the ability to use their networks to make the calls and texts, and your phone was just a freebee and didn't hold any bearing to the contract.
 
Tried another phone, but it works intermitantly, that is I can phone my home number, 2 seconds later try again and it says "Network Busy".

Either way, as soon as I leave the area on any phone, I can use the service no problems.

Honestly don't know what the problem could be. If it were the phone, then surely I'd not be able to use it anywhere. If it was lack of signal, then how come I can send/receive SMS's and use the net. It's just voice calls in the area.
 
the fact they're not even trying to help you and you're unable to actually use the service they're (not) providing.....I would ask to escalate it past the numpties on first line and then threaten to cancel your payments.
 
They are in effect no longer supplying you a service which is surely grounds for termination, no doubt they have some small clause in their Ts&Cs somewhere
 
Cheers, will try to be a bit more stronger.

Thing is, I've a damn good contract (well, I think I have), unlimited landlines which is what I call mostly.

But you're right, at the moment I'm paying for a service which I can't access.
 
I'm not an expert, but I met a wireless network engineer once and he had a similar story. It's an optimisation problem with the mast - nothing to do with your phone. Problem is that you're unlikely to be able to call up and get it fixed - you really need the attention of the network infrastructure team.
 
The symptoms you describe are classic network congestion on the local site. There is a limit to the number of simultaneous calls that any individual site can handle. Unfortunately, service cannot be guaranteed in all areas all of the time, and it wouldn't be likely to offer you any way to terminate as a result.
 
Dolph said:
The symptoms you describe are classic network congestion on the local site. There is a limit to the number of simultaneous calls that any individual site can handle. Unfortunately, service cannot be guaranteed in all areas all of the time, and it wouldn't be likely to offer you any way to terminate as a result.
Click to expand...

Perhaps the OP can describe how persistently he has tested his ability to make calls. If ~J~ has only tried a couple of times to make calls then this is a real possibility.

However, as the number of attempts go up surely we reach a point when it is very unlikely to be simple network congestion, unless the utilisation there is permanently at 100% which in itself would suggest a problem.
 
osc89er: Good point.

It's a persistent problem. Every lunch I phone the GF, just to give her an idea what time I'll be home, if anything wants picking up, etc, etc.

Since last Tuesday though is when the problems started. Get a message on the screen saying "Network Busy" or it just ends the call with no sound, message, nothing.

Obviously can't make a call when I'm on the Tube, but as soon as I emerge out in the open at Barons Court, I can start to use the phone no probs. Was at Kings Cross the other day which is just up the road and could use it no probs.

Funny thing is, if I make a call as soon as I get off the Tube on a morning and walk down to work (about a 5min) walk, if I call anyone I can talk to them all the journey. Yet if I call them back outside work (or within the area) I just get the "Network Busy" notice.
 
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