Patient or what?
I lost my 1.1 BB connection on 2nd Nov 2006. Prior to that I'd had no problems. I joined Freeserve dialup in 1999 and moved to BB with Wanadoo in 2004. My first call to Orange TS was on the 2nd Nov. I did everything they asked, switched everything on/off, changed the filters, removed and reloaded the software etc. Still got a flashing ADSL light.
Was told they would do a line test and for me to ring back in 24 hours.
Every time I rang back I was told the test had been suspended or there was no fault found. I also discovered that whenever they did a test whilst I was on hold, my line to tech support would be dropped. Hence many call backs and a different person .. Can I have your phone number,full name, 2nd and 4th letters of your password etc etc?.
This went on for several weeks until I got to speak to a supervisor who arranged to send me a new modem and filters. These duly arrived , but I still got the f....... light problem.
Just before Christmas when I was about to give up they told me there was a BT line problem and my call was being prioritised. Then BT kept telling them the line was OK.
On the 19th Dec the light stopped flashing and I got connected. This was around midnight and i was convinced no-one at BT or Orange would be doing anything at that time of night. Between then and 1st Jan I lost and regained my BB about 6 times, the longest for about 30 hours. I was now sure there was a BT line problem.
On Jan 2nd I phoned TS and told them about it and they said their diagnostic team and BT were on the case. I didn't believe them. On the 9th January I wrote a 2 page letter detailing the above. This must have had some effect as I started getting calls from dignostics ... but BT still claimed there was no line problem. Eventually they asked if a BT engineer could call.
He arrived last Tuesday 6th Feb, and was able to connect for about 12 seconds, enough time for a line loop check. There were faults at 13 and 30 metres from my house; he suspected wet connections. An underground engineer would investigate ... next day! Wednesday came, so did the engineer, replaced my cable in the street and told me there was a perfect line. You guessed it .... still the light flashed. Orange rang and asked if I was back online. NO I said!
Another engineer (+ mate) came on Friday last (9th Feb) and checked the line again. He said he would start at my house and work back towards the exchange (just over a mile away). He was back an hour later saying he had found the fault about in a CAB (cable access box) half a mile away and again replaced the cable.
Checked with his equipment and got a BB of 5mb. I reconnected to the line and bingo I was back on.
Now why did all this take 14 weeks? After just one week I knew there was nothing wrong at my end and was even more convinced when I changed to the new modem. They could have put BT onto it in mid November, but no, they just kept to the script and said they would do another line check.
I have made 4 monthly payments since November(4 x £17.99) without any service and over 50 calls to TS (total cost £45.00). Customer services tell me that I can have a refund of the monthly payments plus 3 free months and an upgrade to 2mb at a reduced price of £12.99. Should I believe this?
I've been told I must wait until Monday next 18th Feb when tech support will call me to make sure everything is working OK (fingers crossed it is at present) Then I can get a refund. Thank you Orange .. you are too kind!!
WATCH THIS SPACE - I'll let you know what transpires.
Joined: 13 Aug 2006Posts: 1689Location: Marylebone Central London
Glad you got back on, they offered me something similar i didnt see the point in getting something for free that hardly works i scarpered lol ide get the refund and migrate elsewhere ASAP.
_________________ ex Freeserve/Wanadoo/Orange Blog
I ordered Broadband with Orange on the 04.01.07 and was promised an activation start date of 10.01.07.
It is now the 16.02.07 (OVER A MONTH LATER) and still no connection.
I have spent hours and hours on the phone to Technical Support and sent emails as well as recently sending a letter of complaint. Only to get a reply of we have tried everything possible from sending you a new RJ11 cable and speedtouch modem and as your line tests come back as line is ok and in synchronisation. Therefore we cannot do any more to help get you connected and if we have to send a BT engineer we will charge you in excess of £ 150.
I am absolutely fuming i can't beleive this has gone on this long and they are now refusing to help me any further.
What can i do?
I have threatened Watchdog, OFCOM and letters to local and regional press and they just ignore me.
To date i estimate i have spent about 6-7 hours + on the phone to technical support now.
any help greatly appreciated...please point me in the right direction.
It will be a welcome releif to get connected to the UK rather than India or Pakistan wherever they are.
I have never in my life had to deal with people so RUDE. They hang up on you, talk over you and are basically racist against English people and DO NOT want to help.
And they have trhe cheek to say we are racist against them...hello.
Does anyone know if i am entitled to cancel this contract and choose another supplier in view of the fact that there service is not fit for its intended purpose?
Or to put it somply their service does not work nor do they want to remedy this problem!
Is there a time limit i have to give them to try and fix the problem before i can canvel the contract?
I have asked Orange if i can cancel due to the fact they can't give me the service and are still charging me for it....and my response....wait for it....I HAVE TO PAY THE REST OF THE YEAR UP FRONT TO CANCEL!!!!
OK, I think accusing them of racism might be a bit wide of the mark, and also not really what this forum is for.
Give the people in Leeds a call. I understand your frustration but losing your rag with them for all sorts of other reasons, perceived or real will not necessarily help.
As it happens I got my problems fixed when I wrote them a rather direct letter, which apparently is now doing the rounds of Orange as a viral (so they told me...)
Maybe try the same thing...
good luck
I'm not being funny with you but why on earth did you give them 14 weeks?!
I gave them 2 weeks when they messed me around with the 'ring back in 48 hours' rubbish.
After that i cancelled and moved to an ISP who provided me with a service.
I'm not being funny with you but why on earth did you give them 14 weeks?!
I gave them 2 weeks when they messed me around with the 'ring back in 48 hours' rubbish.
After that i cancelled and moved to an ISP who provided me with a service.
They just lie, don't care and rob.
Andy
i have asked if i can cancel but they tell me i have to pay the whole years subscription as i have only just started my contract...well over a month ago now...but not once since i started with Orange have i been able to go online!
Well not telling you what to do hairytea but here's what I would do -
Contact OFCOM now and explain things, don't just threaten Orange with that as they will wait before doing anything first.
Ring Orange and tell them you're cancelling due to breach of contract - you've paid and received nothing.
Hopefully they won't even have put a marker on your line yet so you can move to another company.
If they have then they must remove it within 10 working days or OFCOM can force them to.
Again, contacting OFCOM now means things will get started and Orange cannot ignore them.
OFCOM have the power to shut them down as an ISP if necessary.
Not sure how far they would take this though!
You simply do not pay for a service that you don't receive.
If you get on a bus or in a taxi and they don't even set off do you still pay for your journey or not?
If you can make telephone calls on your BT line then there is no fault with it - simple.
Orange just lie, rob and don't care.
Please, do not let them rip you off like this it's a disgrace and I've been there with them myself.
thats when they got back to me and told me the next step is to send an engineer and charge me £150 to which i refused and said they should pay this.
anyway last thing said was...ok line check AGAIN and if results come back as in sync AGAIN we won't do anything unless you pay for the engineer????
Why have I got to pay???
Understand it's a "possible" fee and it's to BT not Orange. Usually you're only charged if it's your fault it's not working like by using an extension cable, internal wiring really being messed up, using the wrong cables or something stupid etc. All of this should be checked through before the line tests really so it's usually fairly rare to actually be charged.
The problem with that test result is that sync'd means the system thinks it's talking to equipment on the end of your line, if it thinks it's talking to it how can there be no connection at all. Hence the problems and why an engineer is the best way of clearing it up.
listen you are barking up the wrong tree go and read my earlier post 25 steps to getting conected when you say Orange you mean the poor girl or boy you were talking too listen they dont care they are just doing a job to get paid like you all do, i do a similar product to broadband and order through BT wholesale etc now even my most straight foward connection has never been done within 6weeeks and this is a BT product i am fitting when we get a problem we have to follow a set fault reporting system i speak to one person at openreach and it gets sorted but it takes time for them to find the problem and get it sorted bear in mind we only conect 1 person per month and it takes 6 weeks now multiply that by everyone trying to get broadband and the back log is going to be huge this is openreachs fault,and before you all say Orange should stop advertising till it is sorted what would you have done if they had done that early december. we have all been through it that is why we are looking at this site,stop threatening it is a waste of time, ofcom donot listen to single complaints from joe public keep ringing Orange if you want but when you are capable of getting connected to broadband it will happen and it will be nothing to do with the boys and girls in the call centre or any complaints but just youre turn to be engineered
also i once queried if Orange were been throttled by openreach with a limited number of engineer hours per period ( thanks tvman) turns out i was right
its a numbers game if you want to be the only customer of a firm dont go for the biggest cheap/free one. line faults are not oranges fault but they have little better means of diagnosing them than joe public.The callcentre staff dont work in a telecomms enviroment they work in a call centre they wont know how long a fault will take openreach to diagnose as they dont work for openreach they only know what has happened in the past they will be having the same conversations with BT callcentres as you are with them
Well i will reitterate once more ...... GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN all this company is doing is making false promises day in day out without ANY advancement in solving ANYONES problems.
They do not have a clue.
They will blame it on you, BT, Me, the girl round the corner with the hairdryer switched on , etc etc ...but guess what?
They dont think THEY have a problem....
Maybe they should read all the posts in here relating in the majority with the exact same problems
Good old Orange.... what a waste of time space and Money
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