Orange Customer Service

Matt · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:26

Has anyone else found them to be awful?

I'm on a £25/month contract and am looking to upgrade, and they want £170 for a SE k750i! It works out cheaper to cancel the contract and start again (on their website, the k750i is free on the £20/month contract!)

Which is so much hastle that i could do without.

Their customer services hung up on me twice, and refused to do ANYTHING to keep me as a customer!

Dolph · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:30

If you're being quoted that much for an upgrade it would suggest that you're a low spend user. As such the value of keeping you on the network has to be balanced with the cost of doing so. It's entirely possible that it makes more sense financially to let you leave than give you the upgrade/promotion that you want.

I'd also suggest that customer services rarely hang up on people without justification....

Matt · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:32

Dolph said:
I'd also suggest that customer services rarely hang up on people without justification....

I wasn't being rude, but was ranting a bit about how keeping a customer doesn't matter and that Orange don't seem to reward loyalty, but would rather annoy the customer.

If i cancel the contract and get a new one with Orange, can i keep my number?

csmager · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:39

Matt said:
If i cancel the contract and get a new one with Orange, can i keep my number?

Not without a lot of effort.

Immsy · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:41

Matt said:
If i cancel the contract and get a new one with Orange, can i keep my number?

They wont let you do that without converting it to a pay and go number and then back to a contract and some networks have even stopped this.

I have just encountered this issue with O2. They have no interest in keeping the people they already have when it comes to upgrade time and had the same issue with you when trying to upgrade. Over 200 pound to upgrade when the same phone is free to new customers.

The solution? Move networks each time the contact ends with your current one and at least then you get all the offers they seem to throw at new customers.

Dolph · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:42

Matt said:
I wasn't being rude, but was ranting a bit about how keeping a customer doesn't matter and that Orange don't seem to reward loyalty, but would rather annoy the customer.

If i cancel the contract and get a new one with Orange, can i keep my number?

There's a balance between rewarding loyalty and throwing money around willy-nilly. To put some figures to the argument (figures plucked out of the air)

£25x12 = £300 income from your contract (assuming you stay within it)

A new K750i is likely to be somewhere around £200-250.

So that leaves £50-100 to cover connection, free mins and texts, network upkeep, customer services etc....

If they give it all to you free, it's quite concievable that over the 12 months, the network would make nothing, or even make a loss, simply for having you as a customer.

They know from your previous year what your spend is likely to be and that is factored in. They also know roughly what sort of cost they are going to incur providing your contract.

It's the same for all networks at the moment, there is a shift from customer numbers to customer value...

If you cancel the contract and get another one with Orange you'd be looking at changing your number, unfortunately.

Tomsk · 14 Mar 2006 at 14:47

You could try waiitng a few months and then you might get the phone for free.

I'm also on a £25/month contract and I got a free upgrade to a SPV C600 around month 15 of my contract. I'm guessing that a SPV C600 costs about the same as a K750i based on Orange PAYG: SPV C550 costs £100, K750i costs £150.

csmager · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:10

Tomsk said:
You could try waiitng a few months and then you might get the phone for free.

I'm also on a £25/month contract and I got a free upgrade to a SPV C600 around month 15 of my contract. I'm guessing that a SPV C600 costs about the same as a K750i based on Orange PAYG: SPV C550 costs £100, K750i costs £150.

The man has a point. The longer you wait, the more money they'll have off you and the more likely they are to give you a phone for less. Also, the longer you wait, the SIM free price of the phone you want may come down in price.

Airax · 14 Mar 2006 at 21:10

Dolph said:
There's a balance between rewarding loyalty and throwing money around willy-nilly. To put some figures to the argument (figures plucked out of the air)

£25x12 = £300 income from your contract (assuming you stay within it)

A new K750i is likely to be somewhere around £200-250.

So that leaves £50-100 to cover connection, free mins and texts, network upkeep, customer services etc....

If they give it all to you free, it's quite concievable that over the 12 months, the network would make nothing, or even make a loss, simply for having you as a customer.

They know from your previous year what your spend is likely to be and that is factored in. They also know roughly what sort of cost they are going to incur providing your contract.

It's the same for all networks at the moment, there is a shift from customer numbers to customer value...

If you cancel the contract and get another one with Orange you'd be looking at changing your number, unfortunately.

Dolph, I get your point, and I see it from the networks point of view. But how many times does this topic come up?
They loose money on aquiring a customer, and then never recoupe that money when the customer walks because their eyes they are getting a "poorer" deal. They loose both ways. At least on upgrade time they save on the hefty dealer comission with a direct upgrades.

New connections/upgrades should be re-aligned to roughly mirror each other. Offering great deals to new customers, poorer ones to existing ones, for the same perceived spend level is the networks own fault. It makes no sense to the customer and I wouldn't expect them to understand.

They pay too much for new ones then expect them to suddenly give up the great deal because they need to make money of them. Customers never really respond to logic like that.

It is Oranges stupid fault if you get right down to it.

As for Matt, best thing is just to switch. T-Mobiles Flext deals are pretty good if you ask me. You not gonna get what you want from Orange, so take your money else where. In 12/18 months time see who offers you the best deal and take it. All the networks (expect 3) tend to be pretty much the same in terms of network coverage, etc, etc as a whole. I've been with them all, spent a lot of time on them all and any difference, apart from the odd local variation is pretty much percieved only, it generally doesn't matter in day to day use.

PuncH · 14 Mar 2006 at 22:54

i'm having the same problem with orange, who are rubbish at keeping existing customers.

that's why i'm going back to t-mobile where i can get the handset i want for next to nothing (not the £160 orange quoted me) and i'll port my number across.

GuruJockStrap · 14 Mar 2006 at 23:56

Airax said:
They loose money on aquiring a customer, and then never recoupe that money when the customer walks because their eyes they are getting a "poorer" deal.

But the thing is, Network operators take a gamble when attracting new customers.

They give new customers excellent deals and free phones in the hope that they'll spend vast sums of money with them, so they might not lose any money at all aquiring a new customer.

For every customer that they attract who spends nothing in addition to their monthly contract, they might get 2 that have a £25 per month contract and spend an additional £40-50 worth of calls on top. Its those customers they'll reward with free handset upgrades and its those customers they'll bend over backwards to keep when threatening to cancel contracts.

Gavin · 15 Mar 2006 at 05:44

Surely when some one leaves the network and comes back again signing up to a new contract/new dd/ paper work etc this must cost more than just give a upgrade?

I can never work it out.

Im a cat 5 which is basically 99.9% of phones free to me or either costing £50 only half way though my contract. Yet if i was to leave orange and then come back, i could sign up and get all these half price deals etc anyway. Its mad and doesnt really make sense

Al Vallario · 15 Mar 2006 at 17:05

Gavin said:
Surely when some one leaves the network and comes back again signing up to a new contract/new dd/ paper work etc this must cost more than just give a upgrade?

It does, but the average joe doesn't tend to pick up on the fact that they can get better deals by cancelling their contract and signing up again, and the ammount of hassle involved usually frightens people away. The average joe pays £25/month on contract for years on end without even thinking about getting an upgrade, and it's only the minority that want the latest, most expensive phones as soon as they come out.

It's the age-old example of "forget about your existing customers, keep chasing new customers instead." If all you're doing is paying them £25/month, it's going to take them about a year to recoup the cost of your £200 phone, let alone the network and support costs. If you expect them to throw another £200 phone at you as soon as you've paid off your existing one, it's no wonder they're not going to be too keen on doing so. If you spend £50/month however, they will indeed fall over backwards to keep you as a customer. It's those kind of people they want to keep!

8 I3ALL · 16 Mar 2006 at 01:35

well i have to say that after a call from orange on tuesday evening ...im very happy with them.
i spend on avarage £50 ish a month and have been with them for about 2 years.
i was 3 months short of an upgrade but as a valued customer i got a early and free upgrade to a SE W800i. I finished the call at 5pm and by 11am the phone was here

great service if you ask me

Spamalot · 16 Mar 2006 at 02:18

What you people have to remember is that this is a "mobile phone forum" when strange as it might be, people care about what phone they have and know generally more about the phone market and such than your average Joe. Thus, you know when you getting a good deal or, when they offer you a rubbish phone on upgrade you know its crap, but dus Mr. Average know........ no. Most (not all) people that phone up wanting un upgrade will take a rubbish phone because they don’t know ant better, these are the customers they want to keep.

This is how I would say (for example!) the average upgrade call goes.

Network- I see you spend £30 p/m (for example) and get (again these are examples) 200 mins and 100texts. Do you ever really go over you mins or txt?

Customer- Yep I sometime text a fair bit, I would say over the 100 free most months.

Network- well we can give you an extra 50 text free for the next three months, then I twill be £x p/m after that (they will do this sort of thing to make them feel as if there getting a good deal).

Customer- Oh, that’s great.

Network- I see you have the 6230 (for example again!) atm. Are you happy with the phone.

Customer- Yes its a nice phone, easy to use an batt last ages ect........

Network- Well what we have for you is the new 6230i, its a great little phone. Its the updated version of you phone, its the same size and looks very similar. Its just got a better screen on it and a new improved camera.

Customer- Ooooo, that sounds just great.

Network- Ok, good. It will be with you by the next day.

Customer- Wow that such good service. How much is the phone going to cost then?

Network- Its free, not a penny.

Customer- WOW, that’s so good.

Network- The phone will be there in the morning, bye

So network make a mint by giving out a cheap phone and taking £35+ p/m of a mug and give them a poor phone, and the customer goes away well chuffed!

That’s the sort of customer they want, you see. Not one like all us that try and get water out of a stone.

Matt · 18 Mar 2006 at 20:18

Right, gonna look into moving company now. Who are worth looking at? (don't really want to go with Vodafone), i need to keep my number, want ~100+mins a month, and a load of texts. I'd prefer to pay under £25 a month, on a 12month contract, and i want a Sony k750i, w800

I'd like to stay with Orange (!), so is there any way i can cancel my contract with them, and have another contract with them, and keep my number?

Tomsk · 18 Mar 2006 at 20:38

Matt said:
I'd like to stay with Orange (!), so is there any way i can cancel my contract with them, and have another contract with them, and keep my number?

Not directly - I tried. You'll have to mess about with taking your number to PAYG and then back to contract again and you might have to wait a few weeks between changes.

PuncH · 18 Mar 2006 at 21:01

Matt said:
Right, gonna look into moving company now. Who are worth looking at? (don't really want to go with Vodafone), i need to keep my number, want ~100+mins a month, and a load of texts. I'd prefer to pay under £25 a month, on a 12month contract, and i want a Sony k750i, w800

I'd like to stay with Orange (!), so is there any way i can cancel my contract with them, and have another contract with them, and keep my number?

I'd recommend t-mobiles flext plans which are superb value for money. the W800i is free on most, if not all of them. only thing is it's an 18 month contract.

And you can't start a new contract with Orange and keep your nummber without a lot of messing around which is another reason for me moving away from them. No decent upgrades, t-mobile have better plans and even though I said I'd like to stay with them, they couldn't let me move my number onto a new contract (which must be possible surely?).

Moorron · 18 Mar 2006 at 22:41

just had this happen to me, i have my girlfriends phone under my name meaning i get a bid more of leverage on them as i have 2 contracts and will take more money else where, last year this worked fine as the phones i wanted would have cost me £50 for the d500, but as i was getting a worse phone on the other contract they gave both for free.

This year i rang up and wanted what i thought was a cheaper set of phones and they wanted £99 for the cheapest one! so i asked for my port number as my number is very easy to remember (lots of the same number). But after seeing mates loss of signal from other networks in my house i stayed with oange, i cancelled the current 2 and started 2 new ones up, phones for free, £5 cheaper an month, losts more minutes and texts and 2x512 mb sticks and a free bluetooth headset!!!

if they wantt he hassle then i think i can re learn a new number!

didnt make sence to me as when i rang to cancel and they asked why i told them what i was going to do, which means lots of paperwork for them??????

phones havent arrived yet tho and its been a whole week!.

AMDPower · 19 Mar 2006 at 01:47

i'm having the same problem with orange, who are rubbish at keeping existing customers

i agree with this too, had something very similar happen to me about 2 months ago on orange. They were charing me so much for the phone that i just canceled the contract and took a new contract with orange. the phone worked out to be much cheaper. so the idea of them balancing the cost of the new phone to what you spend is not 100% there.