Orange Retentions - anyone got any good tips

Alexrose1uk · 10 Jun 2010 at 21:06

Guess the title should really be retentions/upgrades/CS!

Been fairly happy with my contract terms, but I'm now into the last couple of months of a two year contract, and the upgrade period.
I'm perfectly happy to stick with them, but given I can cancel and get a better contract, or continue and have to pay ~£200 for the phone, it seems a little insane not to [at least threaten to] do so!
I'd even be happy to renew my £30 24month contract to do so, its not like I'm a customer who's not making them any money, all I'm after is a decent new phone without having to pay a bucket, and it seems new contracts at the same cost and length offer better phones/terms or both.

Anyone had any experiences with these guys or any good tips and tricks!

Paul11 · 11 Jun 2010 at 08:28

look around and see what other deals are out there before you call them

be polite

just say your thinking of leaving because you have seen a better deal elsewhere and ask them what they can do for you

you dont have to decide there and then even though they will try and push you in to a quick decision

sometimes if you call back and speak to someone else they will offer you a different deal .

see what they offer and if it is worse than you can get elsewhere , leave

it all depends on how long you have been with them and how much you spend etc.

Myshra · 11 Jun 2010 at 11:01

I work for them - be honest and friendly with the staff, the system limits their ability to give offers and nothing else. You don't have to say things like you're thinking of leaving etc... they hear this from 100 customers a day. Just be open and say you're at the end of the contract, T-mob are offering X and you would like them to meet it

Have a deal with a competitor that you want matched as paul says. It's unlikely they will meet deals like mobiles.co.uk for the record. At worst you want the same deal they give new customers. As you're a £30pm this puts you firmly in the middle ground of customers so you should be able to get some kind of decent loyalty deal.

It's honestly quite often worth cancelling the contract, migrating to payg for a day and then getting a new contract out on mobiles.co.uk or similar. Do the math, it's possible to save £200 easily over most contract lifetimes.

4T5 · 11 Jun 2010 at 11:03

You would get Untold for 30 quid a month on Dolphin PAYG, What you getting now ?

Alexrose1uk · 11 Jun 2010 at 13:15

Am currently getting unlimited texts, 300 minutes (Am on Dolphin contract).
It was a free gift package at the time through an internet site so it actually worked out well.
(Tell a lie I think I may actually be on a £25p/m contract right now, but Im happy to move to £30)

At worst you want the same deal they give new customers.

I'm not particularly asking for anything more (although if I get anything more I wouldn't complain), just don't want to be shafted on paying over the odds for the phone, I'd be quite happy to settle with what they're offering on a new contract really. I'm quite willing to cancel the contract and then take out a new one in a couple of months, just seems like a lot of hassle for what I'm really after which is a phone upgrade and to continue with them haha

I generally try not to be funny on the phone anyway, as I work on phones a lot of the time, so being polite shouldnt be an issue unless they're really funny with me.

Thanks for the advice guys, will give them a ring over the next few days, see whether they'll do anything yet or I really do need to wait until the last minute so to speak

Alexrose1uk · 12 Jun 2010 at 11:16

Unfortunately apparently because of restrictions on the system, neither Customer Services or Retentions will allow me to get anything more than £50 off the phone, even if I jump up to a £35pm contract, and they can't match even thier own pricing.
They'll allow me to pay the contract off (which quite frankly I might do once payday comes round) and change, but they can't do anything more for existing customers wanting an X10 or Desire.
Apparently it's something that has been raised internally because they're losing customers over it, but obviously that doesn't really help me haha

Bit of a pain!

Mark1989 · 12 Jun 2010 at 11:43

I wish you best of luck ive just been on phone to them i was very polite and nice, Ive been with them for 3 years i said id like either HTC Desire/Experia X10 and that i wasnt willing to pay any amount to the HTC Desire due if i started a new contact else were it be free.

I got a responce of well all of our plans we can offer you we would have to charge you for it regardless i then said nicely well whats the best plan you can offer he said 1300Mins(currently have 400 which is enough) Unlimited texts(I have this anyway) for £20 at 24months and pay £100 for the HTC or £150 for the Experia X10, Again i said thats not good enough for me i then said what if i did up my tarrif any chance then i got a very blunt no.

By that point i had enough since i cleary wasnt getting anywere he attempted to use the excuse them phones are more for business plans and that they couldnt do anything which i find utter bull and mentioned that i could go to anywere else and phone would be free and got a responce of i know but the rules here say we cannot give it for free i then said well expect a call from me in 2months saying im leaving and got another responce of okay!.

Just crap customer service they just dont want to dont seem intrested in keeping any customers. im half contemplating doing as you mentioned axel buying out.

Mark1989 · 12 Jun 2010 at 12:08

Well just a quick update i spoke to some one else mentioned on your website it says new customers can get it for free on £30 and that i would pay that but told new customers only cant give that to existing ones, Was advised ring back when i can give 30 days notice they may be able to offer something else then but said its no garuntee.

Tbh the lady i spoke to was extremely helpfull and did try look at alternatives but did say in end couldnt do anything or have any more suggestions. all in all stupid orange policys.

Morba · 12 Jun 2010 at 13:26

The more they make from you the more they will give you at upgrade time.
If you aren't worth giving a better deal to then they won't.

Previously the best way to a better upgrade was to say you would cancel and open a new contract on the same network but not through orange directly, as they them have to pay out a lot in commision.
Doubt that's still the same now though

Windle · 12 Jun 2010 at 13:35

I've never had an issue with Orange retentions, sure I've mentioned it elsewhere but back when the Nokia 5800 came out my contract was due and they offered me 600mins, 600 texts and internet bolt on with a free Nokia 5800 and 18 month contract for £5pm.

Alexrose1uk · 14 Jun 2010 at 19:32

Well, despite Orange not being able to do anything, I popped into Carphone Warehouse and enquired about thier upgrade system earlier on today.

Walked away with an upgrade to my contract, 24 months £30pm with a free Desire [in hand] on Panther (400 mins, unlimited texts, unlimited internet [750MB FUP])! Exactly what I'd hoped and failed to get from Orange direct. (Actually I was umming and ah'ing over whether to go for the Desire or X10, but decided to go for the Desire just because HTC sound like they should be more prompt than Sony Ericsson and it saved me £120 over the contract for same usage terms.)

Phone's at home charging whilst I'm at work, I should be retaining my old number, and the new SIM to go with the Desire should be going active within 48hrs. Not had a chance yet to check if the unit is branded or unbranded (there's no sign of Orange on the box), as I haven't turned the phone on yet, but I can deal with that if need be in future.

Really does seem stupid that I can upgrade on an official orange renewal contract through a 3rd party on the terms I wanted, but not Orange themselves!

Result anyway though, much less hassle than having to try and cancel the contract and then apply for a completely new one!
So to anyone in a similar situation where Orange themselves wont give you the phone you want, perhaps try Carphone's upgrade system. Seems to work off Orange's upgrade requirements (can get an upgrade with 3 or less months to go on your contract)
I know there are marginally cheaper packages out there, but it saved me cancelling off my old contract, and unlike the packages costing £25p/m, it's on Panther, not Dolphin, which will be better for my intended usage.

Had better get a better retention deal in 2 years time! haha

Howard · 14 Jun 2010 at 19:37

Alexrose1uk said:
Well, despite Orange not being able to do anything, I popped into Carphone Warehouse and enquired about thier upgrade system earlier on today.

Walked away with an upgrade to my contract, 24 months £30pm with a free Desire [in hand] on Panther (400 mins, unlimited texts, unlimited internet [750MB FUP]).

Phone's at home charging whilst I'm at work, I should be retaining my old number, and the new SIM to go with the Desire should be going active within 48hrs.

Really does seem stupid that I can upgrade on an official orange renewal contract through a 3rd party on the terms I wanted, but not Orange themselves!

Result anyway though, much less hassle than having to try and cancel the contract and then apply for a completely new one! So to anyone in a similar situation where Orange themselves wont give you the phone you want, perhaps try Carphone's upgrade system. Seems to work off Orange's upgrade requirements (can get an upgrade with 3 or less months to go on your contract)
I know there are marginally cheaper packages out there, but it saved me cancelling off my old contract, and unlike the packages costing £25p/m, it's on Panther, not Dolphin, which will be better for my intended usage.

Had better get a better retention deal in 2 years time! haha

Sounds good, how does the number transfer work if you get a new SIM and effectively start a new contract? Do they do all the porting for you and you just sit back and shove the new SIM in the phone on the day?

The only thing stopping me doing this is that I currently get a better deal than that with Orange (£20/mo for 600 mins, unlimited texts, "unlimited"/500mb internet) and they said on the phone that they can keep the tariff that cheap or maybe even a couple of pounds cheaper, but I'll be paying £99 for the phone. I'm quite happy with this.. But they don't have any Desires in stock. It's taking a lot of self control not to just go to CPW and upgrade and pay more for the sake of impatience

I even went to the Orange store who had stock and who could apparently upgrade me and keep my current tariff, except half way through the transaction it transpired that I would lose my discount by upgrading through the store and go back to paying £30 per month and paying £150 for the phone, so I left.

Alexrose1uk · 14 Jun 2010 at 20:57

Sounds good, how does the number transfer work if you get a new SIM and effectively start a new contract? Do they do all the porting for you and you just sit back and shove the new SIM in the phone on the day?

It's an upgrade/renewal contract [so your remaining months are added to the new contract, but you switch to the new contracts cost and terms, ie for me it's basically 26months], rather than a new contract per se. As far as I can tell its simply a case of plonk the new SIM into my new handset when the current SIM is disabled, transfer my numbers across to the new phone and away I go!

The only thing stopping me doing this is that I currently get a better deal than that with Orange (£20/mo for 600 mins, unlimited texts, "unlimited"/500mb internet) and they said on the phone that they can keep the tariff that cheap or maybe even a couple of pounds cheaper, but I'll be paying £99 for the phone. I'm quite happy with this.. But they don't have any Desires in stock. It's taking a lot of self control not to just go to CPW and upgrade and pay more for the sake of impatience I even went to the Orange store who had stock and who could apparently upgrade me and keep my current tariff, except half way through the transaction it transpired that I would lose my discount by upgrading through the store and go back to paying £30 per month and paying £150 for the phone, so I left.

You're getting a good deal on £20, given you mention you're getting £10 discount, I presume you're on Dolphin 30. From looking around previously and the response I got in CPW, it seems the major diffence between Dolphin and Panther these days is usage allowances; at the same cost Dolphin offers you more minutes, but doesnt seem to offer unlimited internet anymore (I could be wrong but I believe it costs cash above the 500MB usage cap), whereas Panther gives you less minutes but more flexible internet usage. (750MB+FUP unlimited vs 500MB cap, pay if you go over)
One thing I forgot to check is whether I get free answerphone usage, as some contracts do, some don't, I'll give Orange a ring in a few days and find out.
Dolphin (600mins, unlimited texts, 500MB internet) and Panther (400mins, unlimited text, unlimited internet [750MB FUP]) £30 were both available to me under the upgrade, I chose to go for the Panther.