Orange has withdrawn the N80

Dolph · 16 Oct 2006 at 23:33

I could post a breakdown of all the reasons why you are at best misguided, and at worst outright wrong, but I think a picture speaks a thousand words.

tom_e · 16 Oct 2006 at 23:43

leedrummond said:
dont trust orange, i know sumbody who works for them in the upgrades section..

they honestly dont give a No swearing about their customers, and if you phone them up now and ask to leave, before they used to bend over for you, now they will simply let you leave.

I have had inside evidence that orange have exceeded their targets, and are not after more custom, and are infact trying to loose custom, to improve their sale targets for the following year, thast has not began yet.

I also know somebody who works high up in call centre, and told me they have just sacked 200 employees, ( of whom are employed by an external contracter ) who carry out the upgrades for orange.

I have been on the phone to them earlier about an upgrade i was after. i asked if they would price match an offer, the guy simply saing no, not even listening to what i had to tell him.He said, i will disconnect you if you are not happy. blah blah, so thats evidence of this too.

My mate who works for orange upgrades tells me to stay away, and this persons advice was to move over to the three network, much better coverage, deals and structure

I apologise for my spelling mistakes in my message, typing too fast for my brain to register hahaha

Either way this is how a lot of phone networks are working these days, why should they continue to bend over for the customers who spend pittance a month but think they should be given the world because they act like a loyal customer, at the end of the day its bad buisness to be giving things away to people who bring almost nothing money wise to the company.

alexuslakes · 19 Oct 2006 at 10:22

well i dont have the option to leave as i've only been with them for 5 months. Or do i have the right to leave because the phone they have provided me with dosnt work as it was intended to? I've got a feeling this would be hard to prove and i really doubt it if they would just let me walk away (which i would love to).

and to blitz2163's comment about not paying a lot of money to the phone company, my bill is never under £55 which i dont think is nothing!! Interestingly my bill when i was with o2 was never ever over the £29.99 price plan and i had the same text and talk package i have currently with orange, its just that orange dont include all the stuff that o2 do. I obviously didnt know this when i changed from o2 to orange!! i was amazed when i got my first bill, i'd been charged a fortune for sending picture messages! I couldnt believe that they weren't included in the price plan! Anyway, enough of my ranting.

I need to know where i stand so when i ring them up i know what i'm after. what i really want is a brand new equally advanced phone (as the n80 was in april) but continuing on my current contract. Any comments how i can make this happen? :confused:

tom_e · 19 Oct 2006 at 11:25

alexuslakes said:
and to blitz2163's comment about not paying a lot of money to the phone company, my bill is never under £55 which i dont think is nothing!! Interestingly my bill when i was with o2 was never ever over the £29.99 price plan and i had the same text and talk package i have currently with orange, its just that orange dont include all the stuff that o2 do. I obviously didnt know this when i changed from o2 to orange!! i was amazed when i got my first bill, i'd been charged a fortune for sending picture messages! I couldnt believe that they weren't included in the price plan! Anyway, enough of my ranting.

Please dont take my comments personaly they were just a general rant about something a lot of people do

wanger · 19 Oct 2006 at 16:50

Seems like you have a few options that are all valid.

1, Trading Standards - valid case that you will probably win, but loads of hassle.

2, Either find a Nokia Service Centre that will upgrade your phones firmware to the generic ver4, or pay one to do it. Most NSC are located in branches of a well known carphone supplier, however you are more likley to geta result with a small independent. Invalidates your warranty, but do you really care, if the phone works as intended.

3, Do it yourself. The Nokia site won't allow you to do it (I have the same problem with my own voda N80). But there is software and firmware available to do it yourself. I chose this method, and all seems well, although installing the software was a nightmare. Google for "diego phoenix nokia firmware" and you should start to find more info.

4, Try to convince Orange to allow you to get your firmware updated to a generic one at an authorised NSC and still maintain your warranty. Although this seems like the most straight forward solution, I don't rate your chances, although following option 1 may help here.

The N73 is a very different phone to the N80 and not comparable but, (from experience) if wifi is not important is a more reliable and finished product.

Whoever said that the phone companies do not value our custom is talking twaddle. I work with 2 of the operators and the vast majority of their revenue is from personal, not corporate customers. Each individual may only spend between £10 and £50 a month, but when you multiply that by an estimated 20 million users, thats a lot of cash. However, the individual sales and support staff may are generally very policy and process driven so may not go the extra mile in order to keep us happy. Although the market is very saturated there is a huge push to get people on 3G and soon HSDPA (3.5G), in order to justify their massive investment and to pre-empt forthcoming changes to their product range.

alexuslakes · 19 Oct 2006 at 22:39

cheers for the help wanger, i'm not feeling the trading standards lark- more hassel than its worth! Maybe i'll try one of the other options though. I just want a phone that works properly!!! its not too much to ask surely!!! thanks again.

Dolph · 19 Oct 2006 at 22:57

I will point out that just because Nokia are no longer providing the handset doesn't mean firmware updates stop. Orange are currently waiting for the V4 firmware from Nokia to supply, however when this will come is anyone's guess.

mrochester · 20 Oct 2006 at 00:56

Dolph said:
I will point out that just because Nokia are no longer providing the handset doesn't mean firmware updates stop. Orange are currently waiting for the V4 firmware from Nokia to supply, however when this will come is anyone's guess.

I don't think Nokia have stopped producing the handset. Version 4 firmware has been out for ages. I've had it on my phone for about a month now, if not longer. There's speculation that version 5 firmware will be out next week.

roakes · 20 Oct 2006 at 09:52

Dolph said:
I will point out that just because Nokia are no longer providing the handset doesn't mean firmware updates stop. Orange are currently waiting for the V4 firmware from Nokia to supply, however when this will come is anyone's guess.

It is Orange who has stopped providing it, not Nokia. Nokia have released the V4 firmware ages ago but as Orange decided to discontinue the phone due to the issues they have had from customers they have also decided not to provide an Orange branded version of the firmware to Nokia and subsequently to its own customers.

Dolph · 20 Oct 2006 at 10:17

Yeah, sorry, I meant that Orange have stopped supplying the handset, my mistake.

However, unless your source is better than mine on providing the V4 firmware (which I doubt, seeing as my advice came from the handset support team following up a complaint regarding the issue) then Orange have NOT declined to provide a V4 firmware, branded or otherwise. We are currently awaiting the firmware from Nokia and test results to see if it actually fixes problems with the handsets, introduces new ones or (as has been the case with Nokia in the past) does bugger all to address the issues despite their claims to the contrary.

mrochester · 20 Oct 2006 at 11:19

Dolph said:
Yeah, sorry, I meant that Orange have stopped supplying the handset, my mistake.

However, unless your source is better than mine on providing the V4 firmware (which I doubt, seeing as my advice came from the handset support team following up a complaint regarding the issue) then Orange have NOT declined to provide a V4 firmware, branded or otherwise. We are currently awaiting the firmware from Nokia and test results to see if it actually fixes problems with the handsets, introduces new ones or (as has been the case with Nokia in the past) does bugger all to address the issues despite their claims to the contrary.

One doesn't have to wait for Orange to tell you those things. Version 4 does indeed fix a number of bugs.

tom_e · 20 Oct 2006 at 11:41

Either way they need to do their own testing rarther than relying on what theyve heard and then when it all goes **** up at least they can say they tested it

Dolph · 20 Oct 2006 at 11:45

blitz2163 said:
Either way they need to do their own testing rarther than relying on what theyve heard and then when it all goes **** up at least they can say they tested it

Bingo. Everyone would whinge incredibly if they just shoved it out the door on the say so of Nokia... and anyone who has to try and deal with Nokia firmwares long term knows how good their testing process can be in identifying both bug fixes and new problems they have introduced (like making the 6230i incompatible with all their car kits with one of their firmware revisions, for example)

Kappa · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:28

wanger said:
2, Either find a Nokia Service Centre that will upgrade your phones firmware to the generic ver4, or pay one to do it. Most NSC are located in branches of a well known carphone supplier, however you are more likley to geta result with a small independent. Invalidates your warranty, but do you really care, if the phone works as intended.

Getting the firmware updated from a nokia service centre listed on their website will retain the manufacturers warranty. It may only hinder the warranty that orange honour.

Dolph · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:53

Kappa said:
Getting the firmware updated from a nokia service centre listed on their website will retain the manufacturers warranty. It may only hinder the warranty that orange honour.

But a Nokia service centre will not officially update the firmware on a branded handset with a generic one, because to do so would breach their service centre agreement with Nokia.

The above advice would only apply if they do it officially, which they do not. You might be able to convince them to do it for you, but another centre or nokia themselves would be within their right to refuse to honour the warrenty, because the upgrade would still be unofficial.

tom_e · 20 Oct 2006 at 20:39

quick question Dolph do you know if debrading my orange k800i would invalidate the insurance i have taken out with orange? i pretty much know the answer but thought id check

Dolph · 20 Oct 2006 at 21:56

blitz2163 said:
quick question Dolph do you know if debrading my orange k800i would invalidate the insurance i have taken out with orange? i pretty much know the answer but thought id check

Yes it will, there is a clause relating to unauthorised software modification.

z0mbi3 · 20 Oct 2006 at 22:12

Dolph said:
Yes it will, there is a clause relating to unauthorised software modification.

but say his device was smashed up, it wouldn't matter what firmware was on it, would it? :confused:

tom_e · 21 Oct 2006 at 13:24

Dolph said:
Yes it will, there is a clause relating to unauthorised software modification.

Yea i read that ah well was worth an ask

z0mbi3 · 21 Oct 2006 at 14:39

blitz2163 said:
Yea i read that ah well was worth an ask

Yeah but if your device was bust up badly and you did a claim it wouldn't matter what firmware was on it. Not that I'm suggesting anything, but I doubt bad firmware flashes are in the top 5 reasons a phone will break.