I just wrote tem this and sent it…
To whom it may concern,
Re: phone/contract issues: Acc No: xxxxxxxxx.
I have a problem. It is to do with the fact that Orange Customer Service staff seems unable to think outside the box. When faced with an issue that does not fit the standard fixes they cannot think fro themselves. If you refer to my account there should be notes written on the account to the affect of my problems. After a phone call to orange “150” that lasted 1hr 12mins I was still left without my problem being sorted. After a further 45 minute call with the same results I did find out that there is no specific body/department within orange where customers can go to complain except a correspondence address? This is the 21st centaury is it not? I have usually been happy with the Customer Service team but this time I have been left with a dodgy phone and no way of getting out of the problem I am in. The solutions offered were not good enough. I am tired of being told “there is nothing we can do” That I simply do not believe. It’s simply a matter of overriding the standard process
Here is the problem. I have an Orange SPV M700 which is an Orange branded HTC P3600 / Trinity 100 but it is the 4/5th of these particular handsets I have owned due to replacing it over and over due to the same faults. I have had SPV / HTC phones for the past 4 years as I have been a big fan but they have all always ha the same issues especially from the M500 onwards. The biggest of these issues is an intermittent inability to answer a call. When the phone rings, no matter what you press or how many ties you press it, it will not answer the call. The result is a lot of missed calls. This is just not acceptable. I have missed many important calls from clients which has been hugely embarrassing. This alone is the worst issue but there are other minor issues that i can deal with like the screen going off or the alarm clocks going off at random times and not going off when needed. These problems are inherent issues across the whole range. If you look this up you will see that it is a common problem with the handsets.
During my 1hr 12min phone call the other night (22, July 08) the agent told me that I was indeed entitled to choose a new phone because I have had so many replacements on this current handset. I was quite happy with this but my excitement was very soon doused when he told me what the offer truly was. The choices were all SPV handsets! I w offered the M3100, TyTnII & e650. I told him that this wasn’t really a good enough range of choice as they were all SPV/HTC phones and that I wanted to get away from them as they have proven (over the last 4 years of owning them) to be very unreliable. I was then told that they are contractually bound to supply a phone with similar features like the windows operating system. This i found a bit ridiculous. If it was down to the exact features then none of the other phones in the HTC/SPV range will do as the M700 is the only one that is white!!!!
“There is nothing we can do!!!” – This was the response I got. In other words it sounded like – “sorry but we are going to fob you off with another phone that will be screwed up as well and we really couldn’t give a toss about it”. It was the fact that it was so final that upset me the most. The fact that he was completely unwilling to do anything about it at all because that’ what his training had said. How can Orange operate such guidelines that dictate that if a customers problem is a little unusual just fob them off? That is what has happened to me. While the agent was friendly enough he was unhelpful and s utterly fed up I ended the call.
I decided to call again at a later date as I was still suffering the random no answer feature. This time I had the same attitude but it wasn’t all fruitless. It took a 45 mins to ascertain that there is no complaints dept and that there was still nothing that could be done.
After not receiving the call ad getting fed up I decided I’d go and get the replacement handset anyway even despite it being another HTC phone. So I called back and ordered the new handset. During the process I asked the agent to add a note to the delivery slip. The note was: If no answer at the door to call my mobile number and I gave him the number. I did this so as to avoid being charged for a miss-delivery AND because I was due to go on holiday the following day. On one of the previous occasions on getting a replacement a previous operator had recommended I do this. I opted for the following morning am delivery between 9am and 1pm. The following morning I got to the office at 8:50 am. At 9:10am I went to make a drink at 9:18am when I returned the courier had been and left a failed delivery note – actually a scribbled note with the girl in the office next to mine. There was no call.
I was furious and immediately rang orange to find out why this had happened. The agent told me that there was no guarantee that the courier would have had a phone. This conflicted with my previous experience. And why didn’t the agent taking the order for the handset not realise this either? The agent then went on to tell me that I would be charged for a re-delivery. I told him that I was not happy with this at all as I was misinformed or not informed properly of the process therefore why should I pay for a mistake made by an orange agent!
“There is nothing we can do!!!” – Again this was the response I got. I asked the agent to add a not on to my account to the effect that I had no intention of paying for a redelivery when it was due t misinformation given by an orange employee. He said he would add that as we spoke. He then rather unhelpfully suggested I contact the courier as they might have been still in the area – the system said that the handset was still en-route. I asked him for the number which he was unable to give me but he did tell me it was TNT couriers. I called several of their offices and after about 25 mins ascertained that TNT no longer has the contract with orange.
At this stage you can imagine my outrage.
So I waited until I was calm. I rang Orange again. I explained the situation and the agent, bless him for trying, was not very helpful. He told me that the previous agent was wrong for telling me that TNT were the courier but that the delivery had been closed so there would be no chance of delivery that day. He also said that there would be a charge for the handset but I did not want to get into another argument AGAIN. So I asked him to find the note that the previous agent who got the wrong courier had entered. The one I wanted added about my lack of desire to pay for redelivery. The note didn’t exist. So the previous agent obviously just didn’t care and did not write the note I asked him to writ on my account even though he said he was doing it. – He Lied! SO Orange employs LIARS! After explaining all this to the agent I was now talking to his response was: “there is nothing we can do!!!”
What ever happened to “The future is bright, the future is Orange!”? To me this new statement of “there is nothing we can do!!!” just doesn’t cut it.
I told him that I would leave it all for now and I ended the call. I have still had the same dodgy phone since then. The agent did recommend I talk to his manager which I agreed with so he told me he would get the manager to call me back. Every single time I have ever ha this option I have never been called back….EVER. This really disgusts me! How can it happen that if told you will receive a call that it doesn’t happen?
I have been with orange for 7 YEARS!!!! Over those years I have seen the customer service get worse and worse. There seem to be no loyalty rewards with Orange. And more despicably there is no way of complaining. Te attitude of agents is one of: Lack of initiative, not my problem attitude, unwillingness to help, I understand but! & “there is nothing we can do!!!”
I just want to be treated fairly. I want to be treated like a loyal customer, not a number in a call cue or an asset or an inconvenience. I want to be able to choose a new phone that will work for me and my needs. I don’t want to sign a new contract, I don’t want to loose out on the option of my eligibility of an upgrade next December. I just want orange to admit that the policy on this matter is a little screwed. I want Orange to let me choose a phone of my choice for this replacement. I also want orange to ignore the re-delivery fee.
I am feeling like I am at the end of my tether. I am inches away from asking for a pak number and laving orange but I don’t want to as it’s a huge inconvenience to do so. It’s in Orange’s best interest to help me sort out this problem. If this cant happen I will be contacting Ofcom and involving your Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme representative.
You can contact me by looking up my account number and calling my mobile number.
Kind Regards
Mark Robinson.
