My problems with Orange...

[Danny]

Okay, let me break this down.

2 days ago, my beloved phone broke down. During regular usage, it froze for nearly an hour. As it would not turn off, I removed the battery. Now,when I switch it on, the 'loading' screen freezes. Nothing I try will get it to work.

Thusly, I emailed Orange (negotiating the least helpful website on the planet) to ask for suggestions, and how I go about replacing/repairingmy phone. I recieved what seems like an automated reply asking me to ring the helpdesk if I have any problems with my phone.
So today I rang the helpdesk, during which time I was forwarded 4 times. Eventually, after a diagnostic session it was concluded that (this is a quote) 'well, there seems to be a problem with the phone'.

I was then referred to the maker of the Smartphone's helpline, which I rang. There, I was told (by automated response again) to try their website. Upon clicking onto it, I found out I can pay £45 to send my phone off and have it cleaned up.
Since I bought this on eBay, I have no proof of purchase. However, since this is a mechanical fault, aren't Orange obliged to replace/repair it? There is obvious wear and tear, but I certainley haven't damaged it. I am extremely annoyed by Orange.

So, any ideas on what I can do?

 

[Famine]

Orange suck AND blow simultaneously.

I've moved house four times and they still send my bills to the first address, despite being told multiple times. And me having their broadband...

They stole my number "by accident" once and assigned it to an employee.


Incidentally, don't bother with automated helplines. Just hit the # button repeatedly and you'll be put through to a human. This is standard on robophone software - so it works for ANYONE.

 

[Danny]

Yikes. It surprises me how they seem to get away with such poor customer relations.

So do I have any rights at all, regarding this?

 

[Sureboss]

My problem with Orange is that gives my belly a rash...

Having brought it off eBay makes it harder as like you said you don't have proof of purchase.

Do you know if it's still under warranty? If so does the fact having brought it like you did make the warranty void?

 

[Danny]

No way it's still under warranty I'm afraid...

 

[ExigeEvan]

Surely if the phone is bust it's not an Orange problem? Especially if not bought off Orange themselves.

I also find Orange's customer services atrocious. I left Virgin Mobile because the Orange set was cheaper and there are some great offers on the network, however, I found virgin Mobile's customer services so much better

Virgin- 1-2 menus, always a helpfull member of "The team" on hand. 10p flat rate. If you got the wrong person they forwarded you, didn't ask you to phone again.

Orange- 3-4 menus, basic assisstance. Varying levels of staff. British (sounding) person who was quite useless. Next time, Indian women who asked how my day was 4 times in 5 minutes. Got the job done but was abit frustrating. DON'T forward you to the correct people.

 

[Keef]

My problem with Orange is that they make one use apostrophies where quotation marks are necessary.

Besides that, I've heard enough from you guys to believe that Orange is a terrible phone company and if I ever move to England I'll be sure not to get one.

EDIT: How are the cell carriers over there in England? What sort of prices do you guys pay? How is the coverage?

Over here Verizon is pretty much the biggest and best carrier. I can't imagine all the work involved in adding service to probably over 75 percent of the country.

 

[Gil]

It sounds to me like your options are to "bite the bullet" and buy a new phone. Or switch back to Virgin, and buy a new phone.
With cells, it's almost always better to buy a new, unmolested phone.
You never know how many times a phone has been dropped or dunked otherwise.

 

[YSSMAN]

EDIT: How are the cell carriers over there in England? What sort of prices do you guys pay? How is the coverage?

Over here Verizon is pretty much the biggest and best carrier. I can't imagine all the work involved in adding service to probably over 75 percent of the country.

Good question, I've always wondered how the service was not just in the UK, but Europe on the whole...

BTW: Verizon = Vodaphone in America, or at least Vodaphone owns part of Verizon.

...They're advertising now that you can take your AT&T/Cingular phone to Europe and use it on their GSM networks. I never really thought that was a big reason to buy into their products...

Anyway, Sprint > everyone, so I win.

 

[Omnis]

...They're advertising now that you can take your AT&T/Cingular phone to Europe and use it on their GSM networks. I never really thought that was a big reason to buy into their products...

Actually, that's nothing new. My dad always took his GSM phone when traveling to europe and it has always worked fine.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are cell phone towers on almost every building in most of the urban european areas. GSM coverage is, therefore, far better than the CDMA that verizon and sprint use here in the states. But, does that mean that Vodafone is also GSM, or are they CDMA like their American counterparts?

Cingular's 3G is also a hell of a lot faster for internet use, btw.

 

[Keef]

And Wi-Fi, which is present in most busy urban areas now, is quite a bit faster than 3G cellular internet. I can't imagine browsing on a screen that maxes at about 3 inches tall on a Blackberry or something.

 

[Omnis]

And Wi-Fi, which is present in most busy urban areas now, is quite a bit faster than 3G cellular internet. I can't imagine browsing on a screen that maxes at about 3 inches tall on a Blackberry or something.

Because you always carry your laptop on you....

 

[YSSMAN]

Actually, that's nothing new. My dad always took his GSM phone when traveling to europe and it has always worked fine.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are cell phone towers on almost every building in most of the urban european areas. GSM coverage is, therefore, far better than the CDMA that verizon and sprint use here in the states. But, does that mean that Vodafone is also GSM, or are they CDMA like their American counterparts?

Cingular's 3G is also a hell of a lot faster for internet use, btw.

I just thought it was odd that Cingular is using it as a selling-point these days. I know that Sprint and Alltell have certainly cranked-up the heat on AT&T/Cingular, so its anyone's guess as to how this fits into some sort of battle between the two.

...As for GSM versus CDMA/PCS, it depends on where you are. Almost every cell phone company in America uses CDMA/PCS outside of AT&T/Cingular and T-Mobile, so you can take that as you wish. As someone who has used both services phone-wise, I'd say that the differences are minimal between all the companies, as it largely depends on where you are and what phone you are using to determine how much signal you've got.

NEXTEL's iDEN absolutely blows, and I'm thankful that Sprint has been smart enough to slowly phase it out... But from what I understand, they are just going to have multi-band phones for a while until the NEXTEL brand is completely absorbed by the end of the decade... So yeah, I'll take PCS.

...On the subject of the internets, I've seen it go both ways between Sprint and AT&T/Cingular. Given that Sprint is currently in a change to EV-DO in most markets (actually, most should have them by now), I've seen a superior rate of download on the Sprint and Verizon phones versus that of AT&T/Cingular. It isn't a vast difference per-se, but a noticeable one.

One of the awesome things I can do on my phone (because of EV-DO) is watch TV, yes live cable-network TV, on my phone wherever I go. Its pretty cool being able to fire-up the ol RAZR and watch ABC News Now while I'm waiting for my next class.

...Beyond that, Sprint's phone plans and data plans are cheaper than that of AT&T/Cingular...

Looks like Sprint > AT&T/Cingular again...

 

[TheCracker]

2 days ago, my beloved phone broke down. During regular usage, it froze for nearly an hour. As it would not turn off, I removed the battery. Now,when I switch it on, the 'loading' screen freezes. Nothing I try will get it to work.

What sort of phone is it Danny? Something similar happened to my Orange Motorola RAZR a few months back. It wasn't a network issue, it must have got condensation in it (stopped using it in the bath now ) - it was like this for about 2 weeks before it must have dried out sufficiently to start working again.

 

[Specialized]

Danny, what smartphone do you have? if its an SPV then i might be able to help you out seeing as i have an E100, E200, C500 and a C600 sitting in my cupboard collecting dust! They are a little scratched up and if your willing to pay for postage ill send one to you for free. Chances are your going to say you got a bleeding C550 though!

As for Orange, ive never really had a problem with them. Been a customer for 5 years now and they do alot to help me out, such as recently giving me a new phone 2 months before im due an upgrade for free, lowering my tarif with all sorts of extras thrown in. Customer service is pretty simple when you just press a button lots of times and promptly get put through to a operator. Im actually surprised that they couldnt tell what was wrong with your phone as i called them up once due to a fault and they asked me to put the phone into "canary mode". They then did a diagnostic and told me that my joystick and number 4 button wasnt working, which was true. The next day i had a new phone in my hand by 10am, guess im one of the lucky ones.

Spec....

 

[Danny]

What sort of phone is it Danny? Something similar happened to my Orange Motorola RAZR a few months back. It wasn't a network issue, it must have got condensation in it (stopped using it in the bath now ) - it was like this for about 2 weeks before it must have dried out sufficiently to start working again.

Danny, what smartphone do you have? if its an SPV then i might be able to help you out seeing as i have an E100, E200, C500 and a C600 sitting in my cupboard collecting dust! They are a little scratched up and if your willing to pay for postage ill send one to you for free. Chances are your going to say you got a bleeding C550 though!

As for Orange, ive never really had a problem with them. Been a customer for 5 years now and they do alot to help me out, such as recently giving me a new phone 2 months before im due an upgrade for free, lowering my tarif with all sorts of extras thrown in. Customer service is pretty simple when you just press a button lots of times and promptly get put through to a operator. Im actually surprised that they couldnt tell what was wrong with your phone as i called them up once due to a fault and they asked me to put the phone into "canary mode". They then did a diagnostic and told me that my joystick and number 4 button wasnt working, which was true. The next day i had a new phone in my hand by 10am, guess im one of the lucky ones.

Spec....

What are the chances?

Thankyou anyway Ben, I really appreciate the sentiment. 👍
In my rage yesterday I sent Orange an aggressive email regarding my consumer rights. D'ya think they'll notice that i made a few up?

If all else fails, I'll locate another. The C550 is like my soul mate.

 

[Sureboss]

Thinking of a reception?




Sorry that was bad.

 

[ExigeEvan]

EDIT: How are the cell carriers over there in England? What sort of prices do you guys pay? How is the coverage?

In the united kingdom, coverage is generally pretty good in cities and urabnised area. The rest of the country is good awell, though there are some gaps from my experience.

However, pubs are always deadspots, along with my college, which was a huge problem last snow day.

 

[Jondot]

What are the chances?

Thankyou anyway Ben, I really appreciate the sentiment. 👍
In my rage yesterday I sent Orange an aggressive email regarding my consumer rights. D'ya think they'll notice that i made a few up?

If all else fails, I'll locate another. The C550 is like my soul mate.

I think your problem is that Orange don't actually make their smartphones. Therefore, I doubt they have an adequate system for warranties etc. It's like returning your sim card to Nokia, except backwards. The problem is, if my theory is correct, there's actually no one to return it to. The original manufacturer (imate) won't replace it and will point the finger at Orange, who won't know what to do. It's a shame if that's true, but that's life . Still, atleast there's loads on ebay . Sorry I couldn't help more, really.

 

[ExigeEvan]

You could always look for an independant phone shop and see if they can do anything for you. But it won't be free.