I've been a Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange customer for years now, and aside from two "experiences" with their customer services and technical support, my connection has been generally stable at just under 1Mbps. My main problem is that I am paying through the nose on a £27.99 a month tariff with a 30GB cap (an old Wanadoo tariff). Unlike in the past Orange hasn't offered me an upgrade or offered to reduce my payments. Clearly the new £19.99 offer is cheaper, plus Orange would upgrade my speed to 1.5Mbps. My local exchange is Crowthorne in Berkshire and Samknows says that I should be able to get a 1.5Mbps+ speed on ADSL Max (which isn't that surprising as I am 2.49km from the exchange) and I reckon my usage is about 4GB per month. There is no LLU available apart from Tiscali (and they seem to offer speeds less than what I am getting with Orange - also very poor sales reps when I rang them), although Carphone Warehouse and BE are both meant to be upgrading to LLU in early 2007.
So should I stick it out with Orange on the £19.99 a month tariff? Am I right to think that my speed should increase slightly?
Should I dump Orange and go with BT? Would I see any significant improvements in speed. I'd be paying more on their Option 3 tariff, plus I'd have the hassle of migration.
Or should I wait for one of the LLUs to come online in 2007? But would it just be easier to go with BT, given that in particular Carphone Warehouse have a reputation worse than Orange!
If you want the higher speed now then whoever you're with will be using the ADSL Max system (except Tiscali), it's likely to be about 1.5 meg as they say but it can and does vary depending on the signal coming through at your end.
LLU in general has a higher fault rate across the industry from what I've read so it's upto you if you want to go with one of those when the time comes.
If you go for the unlimited package then you'd be signing upto a new 12 month contract, when you signup you stay on whatever package you select until you leave or choose to change it which is why you're still on that older package.
I had this very problem, I was paying £27.99 a month on an old freeserve package, 0.5mb but uncapped. I wasn’t aware of the new £19.99 package until a friend informed me, and I was to say the least a little annoyed I’d been paying £8 more a month for an inferior service.
I phoned them up immediately to change to the new £19.99 package and said I wanted to be moved to this service, I didn’t want a new 12 month contract and I wanted refunding the difference for the time I’d been paying over the odds. Of course they said no, so I asked to speak to their supervisor, who told me, that they’d be willing to give me one month free, but I’d have to get a new 12 month contract.
I refused this, as I had no intention on being tied to Orange for a further 12 months, I was very happy on Freeserve and then wanadoo, but since then I’ve experienced regular disconnections and terrible customer support.
I asked to speak to someone higher up and was told there wasn’t anyone available and I could call back the following day, which I did. I was offered 2 months free and then told they’d be happy to move me but still I’d need the 12 month contract. At this point I agreed… perhaps a mistake, we’ll see. Nonetheless I asked about the free calls they offered with this service and was told, to my amazement I wouldn’t be receiving a livebox as that was for new customers only. So why the **** was I getting a new 12 month contract? Another 10 minutes of arguing and another duty manager later and I now have my livebox, 2 months free but sadly a 12 month contract.
If you do decide to stick with Orange then when you phone to renew, argue for a while and you should at least be able to match what I got, and receive 2 months free.
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