Switching from Orange after 8 years, where to go?

asim · 25 Oct 2008 at 13:59

I've been with Orange for a very long time. Its probably because I've always found the service to be exceptional despite others having issues at times. But now I find myself at a point where I need to upgrade my phone and being a loyal customer has no advantages whatsoever. They are looking to charge 300-400 pounds to upgrade to something like an N96 or samsung omnia. Its a complete ripoff. Switching to a different network ensures a free or low payment upfront with decent minutes and possible unlimited browsing, with the inconvenience of transferring numbers.

Now what is the best network to switch to? I have no idea of what the coverage and customer service is like for any other network. They all seem to have good phone deals so thats not a problem, but I would like to make sure that its a decent service.

Which mobile network are you with? Is it any good?

unwashed potato! · 25 Oct 2008 at 14:12

have you tried ringing more then once? not sure if orange will make deals for each customer, but you may find you had a sales person that just wouldn't budge, where as if you ring again you may find someone who will make a really decent contract for you.

LeperousDust · 25 Oct 2008 at 14:17

T-mobile/Virgin consistently get excellent consumer reviews with regard to their customer service. Its something like 8 years on the run i read somewhere which is impressive. I'm with T-mobile by chance on that part, i just get a reeeeeally good deal

But the times i've phoned them up i'd had nothing short of totally excellent service.

asim · 25 Oct 2008 at 14:18

Mammalian said:
have you tried ringing more then once? not sure if orange will make deals for each customer, but you may find you had a sales person that just wouldn't budge, where as if you ring again you may find someone who will make a really decent contract for you.

I asked to be put through to disconnections. They offered me 10 pound a month line rental with more minutes but in the end I'd have to buy a new phone anyway so it wasnt worth it.

alexuslakes · 25 Oct 2008 at 15:17

asim said:
I've been with Orange for a very long time. Its probably because I've always found the service to be exceptional despite others having issues at times. But now I find myself at a point where I need to upgrade my phone and being a loyal customer has no advantages whatsoever. They are looking to charge 300-400 pounds to upgrade to something like an N96 or samsung omnia. Its a complete ripoff. Switching to a different network ensures a free or low payment upfront with decent minutes and possible unlimited browsing, with the inconvenience of transferring numbers.

Now what is the best network to switch to? I have no idea of what the coverage and customer service is like for any other network. They all seem to have good phone deals so thats not a problem, but I would like to make sure that its a decent service.

Which mobile network are you with? Is it any good?

have you been on mobiles.co.uk? they've got a section for upgrades. when i called orange the other day they wanted £399 to upgrade to an n96! this site gives the same offer but only charges £99 instead. its still loads more expensive than getting a new contract but its better than nothing if you cant be bothered porting your number somewhere else. i'm not sure what i'm going to do about mine yet. might get an xperia on o2 unless orange pull there fingers out of their asses. not sure if i trust the site yet tho.

fowler002 · 25 Oct 2008 at 15:49

My 18month contract with Orange(Racoon 35) ended on 30th September, for the past few weeks I've talked to the disconnection department several times trying to get the Omnia for free(as a number of people on here have said they got it for free through Orange Upgrade on £30/month contract) without any luck.

They keep saying they can't go any lower than £110 on Racoon 35(the N96 they said £150 on a £35/month contract), say they can't give high cost handsets for free since the credit crunch.

In the end I've asked to be put on the sim only Racoon 15(£15/month, 300mins, 100texts, unlimited landline. rolling 30day contract, not tied to 12/18/24months) as I'm tryingto decide on what new handset to get(looking at the Omnia, i8510, Touch HD & Xperia X1), also tempted by the new T-Mobile G1 tho thinking of waiting a few months.

alex mobiles.co.uk is part of cpw so you should be ok, if you have any problems with the phone you can take it to your local cpw to get it sorted(well thats what 1 of the guys at cpw told me)

alexuslakes · 25 Oct 2008 at 19:23

fowler002 said:
alex mobiles.co.uk is part of cpw so you should be ok, if you have any problems with the phone you can take it to your local cpw to get it sorted(well thats what 1 of the guys at cpw told me)

yeah i've heard that but i'm still unsure of how they can be offering crazy prices compared to everyone else. the option to take it into a cpw would def be an advantage though!

fowler002 · 25 Oct 2008 at 21:29

what is the LG Viewty like? I'm considering the offer that T-Mobile have on the Flext 35, £25/month instead of £35 but only on 4 phones(LG Viewty, Nokia 6650, Samsung U800 & SE W890i) which i being extended to January(I'd only be able to take it up end of November/start of December due to the Orange Sim Only 30day contract).

there's also the Combi 30 with free Web 'n' Walk(£30/month instead of £35/month) which has the Nokia & SE from the FlexT deal plus the LG Secret & LG KF600, I've had a play with the Secret but have problem navigating the web browser.

or would I be better off staying with the Racoon 15 for the next few months and see how the G1 develops and what the deals are like on the other 4 handsets I mentioned(plus any newer ones which come out)?

p.s. I am looking at 3(was considering the N96 on the Mix & Match 300, or the Samsung U900 on the VT750) & T-Mobile due to their more genrous 'unlimited' internet FUP.

BigDom · 26 Oct 2008 at 02:51

I switched to Vodaphone.

I've got a HTC Touch Pro coming for free whereas orange wanted to charge £200 for an Omnia :/

mame · 26 Oct 2008 at 10:48

My mum is on orange. We went to the orange shop to get her upgrade a few months ago. She wanted the samsung soul and they wanted £119.99 :eek:

(for a phone I'm sure you could find sim-free for £200) now, she only pays £25/month but even if we offered to increase the tariff to £30 or £35 they still wanted £120 to upgrade. We walked around the corner to phones4u who gave her the phone she wanted as an upgrade for free.

Soupy · 27 Oct 2008 at 12:34

BT have an ok deal if you already have broadband with them, 50mins talk + 50 texts for £5 per month, £30 for the HTC s710 ... not bad for a light user I suppose.