I received a letter from Orange demanding £ 60.00 and threatening legal action if I don't pay within 6 days.
I immediately rang their customer support. The person I spoke to was not very helpful and appeared incompetent to deal with my problem. Despite of explaining my grievance exactly, he continued to repeat the mantra that I had to pay for outstanding broadband usage and a penalty fee for early account closure. At no time did he respond to the fact that Orange had provided no service to me. This was admitted by their technical support during the last telephone conversation that I had with them.
The sequence of events:
As an Orange mobile phone customer (Canary Promo pay monthly, 18 months contract), I requested the setup of the Orange Unlimited broadband package in February 2007. The equipment was sent and an “account” was opened. The first and only direct debit payment of £ 5.00 was taken in March 2007.
When I tried to install the Life Box, the installation process never progressed. Only a Help box but not the installation menu opened. After the 10-day connection period had elapsed, I rang Orange Technical Support and explained the problem. I was advised that there was nothing wrong and I should keep trying to install the Live Box and software. The MAK code from my previous provider had been correctly obtained and transferred to Orange.
One month later, after further unsuccessful attempts at installing the product, I cancelled my Direct Debit mandate and rang Customer Support. I declared the contract null and void and stated that my contractual commitments were suspended until I was supplied with a functioning broadband connection. The support technician explained that, possibly, the installation CD was faulty and a new one would be sent out immediately. This new CD took 4 weeks to arrive. The installation was still not possible, the problem remained the same and hence did not appear to be due to a faulty CD.
I rang both the Customer Support and Technical Helpline one last time on 13 April 2007. After lengthy instructions to change the phone socket, the filter, the cables etc., it was explained to me that none of these items were defect and that, quite simply, my postcode was not compatible with Orange broadband. I should try to ring again 10 days later. At that stage, I expressed my frustration and that I would no longer be interested in any further experiments to set up an Orange broadband connection. I referred to my earlier rejection of a faulty product/service.
A few weeks later, a self-addressed Special Delivery return bag was sent out to me which I duly used to return the equipment. At no time between 14/02/2007 and 04/08/2007 did I receive any further correspondence in writing, by email or by telephone regarding outstanding bills or impending account closure – which I had closed myself on 10 March 2007, unless the fault was fixed.
I sent them a letter similar to this posting and told them that I refuse to pay and look forward to seeing them in court. Have I done the right thing and what else could/should I do?
Is/has your phone line activated with Orange broadband? Did you livebox sync with your exchange, if it did surely Orange have upheld their end of the contract and you just need to enter your details into the livebox to connect?
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