Please see this letter I am writing to Orange and other consumer organisations. I feel that the way I have been treated is disgusting. Any suggestions to who I should send this to?
Dear Sirs
Re: Please help me
I am writing with reference to the broadband service I have been receiving from Orange. I joined Orange in August 2006 in order to take advantage of the fantastic free broadband offer with the Dolphin tariff. I have been on the Orange Dolphin tariff since last August and enjoyed a good broadband connection with which I could use to access MSN Messenger, Skype, download music, movies etc. After a sketchy start with Orange broadband (it was after the fourth time that Orange reset my livebox before it actually got to my correct address!) Also I learned after signing up for the broadband that Orange did not support Apple MAC. I had to phone technical support literally a silly amount of times to find someone who could actually help me with getting set up. Finally someone was able to help me but only because I was lucky enoughto find that person (Wayne Lawson was his name) and I was finally on broadband. I then enjoyed several months of hassle free connection. I was able to download movies, music, complex sites, chat on MSN Messenger, chat using Skype (which I use for my self employed work abroad). Then one morning in the beginning of May 2007 I discovered my internet was not working suddenly. I called Orange and asked to find out what the problem was. They said they could not help me because I had an Apple MAC and they don’t support Apple MAC.
So I left it and didn’t use my broadband connection. There really was nothing I could do and I felt helpless to solve the problem. I tried again a couple of weeks later. This time I was pleasantly surprised to hear on the recorded message that there was an option for Apple MAC Technical Support. I spoke to someone who was in a call centre in India called ‘Nick’ or “Derek” or something! They asked me to do a speed test which I tried but my connection is so bad that it couldn’t do one. So he said they would do a line test. He advised me that someone would call me in 24 hours with an update. Noone did call within 24 hours so I called again. The person I got to this time (again in India) told me that they did not do a line test as the company have advised them not to do any. Great! Now you tell me! They also told me that Orange are aware of the problem and that they have engineers working on the network and that I would have to be patient. They said that everything should be resolved by the end of May. So I was patient and waited until the end of May…
The end of May arrived and my connection was still no better. So I called again. I spoke to another well meaning representative in a call centre in Mumbai. After going through the usual process – landline number, confirm name, second and fourth characters of my password (yawn! I feel sleepy already) he looked at the ‘system’ and said that the company is aware of the problem and that the issue is a nationwide issue and that they have engineers working on the problem and that I need to be patient. They told me to wait till mid May when everything should be resolved. So again I was patient and waited another two weeks.
Another two weeks passed. I decided it was again time to give my new pals in Mumbai a call. I was told again (or rather read aloud to) that there is a network problem due to the unusually high demand for the fantastic £19.99 broadband offer and that engineers are working to resolve the problem. I need to be patient and wait another two weeks…
Another two weeks passed. I decided it was again time to give my new pals in Mumbai a call. I was told again (or rather read aloud to) that there is a network problem due to the unusually high demand for the fantastic £19.99 broadband offer and that engineers are working to resolve the problem. I need to be patient and wait another two weeks…
Another two weeks passed. I decided it was again time to give my new pals in Mumbai a call. I was told again (or rather read aloud to) that there is a network problem due to the unusually high demand for the fantastic £19.99 broadband offer and that engineers are working to resolve the problem. I need to be patient and wait another two weeks…
Another two weeks passed. I decided it was again time to give my new pals in Mumbai a call. I was told again (or rather read aloud to) that there is a network problem due to the unusually high demand for the fantastic £19.99 broadband offer and that engineers are working to resolve the problem. I need to be patient and wait another two weeks…
Another two weeks passed. I decided it was again time to give my new pals in Mumbai a call. I was told again (or rather read aloud to) that there is a network problem due to the unusually high demand for the fantastic £19.99 broadband offer and that engineers are working to resolve the problem. I need to be patient and wait another two weeks…
And so on and so on….
I have had slow internet since beginning of May. I have called and called Orange. They now say there is a problem with BT's side of things and that it is out of Orange's hands. They also say I will have the same problem if I move to another provider. It has been consistently appallingly, painfully slow.
I did actually contact BT and I asked them is there any way I can find out if the issue will be resolved. I was advised by BT that Orange should not be advising this as it is Orange’s fault not BT. The two words ‘hot’ and ‘potato’ spring to mind.
One helpful person advised me that they would give me a free month as a gesture of goodwill. I felt this was reasonable so I was pacified for a short while. But when I got my bill I found I was charged. So I rang up. I was advised that I was not given a free month because I am on the free Orange package so they cannot give me a free month if I am not already paying. I was under the impression that I would be granted a free month bill regardless whether it was mobile or broadband.
Almost every day recently I have called to listen to the service status report. The message is identical every day but read out by someone different to give the impression that it is new news. The message says due to high demand for their fantastic 19.99 broadband package the network is experiencing heavy demand blah blah blah.... invested heavily...expect faster speeds in the future(!?) But get this. The message then says 'users in the Liverpool area may experience slower speeds at busy times.... we are not aware of any other problem. Well, I am not in Liverpool I am in Dorset. But the script the guys in Mumbai call centre were telling me that Orange are aware of the problem and are working to resolve it and that it is a nationwide issue. This is a contradiction and it also means that what is being stated in the service status report is not the truth. The report says Orange are not aware but the call centre guys say Orange is aware. I had experienced the same before but that time the status report was exactly the same only the slow speeds were in Suffolk. I'm so tired of it all. After another conversation with them in India he redirected me to another speed test site which did manage to do a speed test. Here is my speed test link for that day. http://www.thinkbroadband.com/...21538.html
I tried again. This time I tried a different tactic. Before I gave the customer service rep in Mumbai my details I briefed him on my situation and said that I would not accept the usual answer they give me and that I wanted my issue to be escalated because the service status report states that Orange are only aware of slow speeds in the Liverpool area and I am in Dorset. If Orange are not aware of any other problems in areas other than Liverpool then surely Orange need to be advised of the problem in Dorset. This particular rep was very helpful and got my call escalated. I received a call from an English lady later on (result!) in third line support. I suddenly experienced a brief glimmer of hope. I thought that at last my prayers had been answered. But alas. Guess what she told me? There is a nationwide problem with the network and the engineers are working to solve the problem… But I still insist that your service status report is misleading.
Even though I had been advised that I would have the same problem if I went to another provider I had noted on the www.orangeproblems.co.uk website that a lot of users who had switched from Orange to other providers had experienced drastically improved speeds although they had also been advised by Orange that they would still experience slow speeds if they switched provider. So I decided to take a gamble and rang up for my MAC code for the second or third time. (I had refrained from actually completing my switch to another provider because I was both warned off to leave Orange and reassured to stay by the customer service reps). This time the lady said that instead I could be set up on dial up for free and the £12.99 fee would be waived. I thought this would be reasonable so I agreed. So she transferred me to the correct department to get set up on dial up. But lo and behold I was informed that you do not support Apple MAC OSX and that I would have to call out an engineer at my expense to set my computer up on dial up. I have tried and tried to speak to the helpful person called Wayne Lawson who had superior Apple MAC knowledge and who told me he would be happy to help me with any Apple queries in the future. He even gave me his extension number. But noone will help me get through to him.
On 3rd August I tried again to get the problem resolved. I thought I would try one more time. I got through to Sandeep in Mumbai. The call lasted for approximately one hour. He was very helpful and seemed very knowledgeable he assured me that I shouldn’t be having the problem and that my problem will definitely be sorted out soon. He said he would do a line test and that someone would contact me in 24 hours. Noone did so I called on 4th August. I got through another customer service representative. At first when he pulled up my details he said that my account was not active and that it hasn’t been active since July 24th (?) and that I should ring customer services on 0870 010 0462. I insisted that my account was active and that I had been on the phone for one hour the day before and I was waiting to hear the results of the line test. At this point I became a little upset. I asked him to pass me on to his manager so he did. I explained to the line manager that although the rep was very helpful he had told me that my account was not active and I explained again my situation. The manager then admitted that my details had been input incorrectly which I accept is human error and this does happen from time to time. He put me back to the same person I had been speaking to before. This time he was able to help me and he talked me through my settings in network preferences. We did something which involved typing an IP address into the address bar and disconnected and reconnected my connection a few times until he was satisfied it was connected properly. He mentioned that some work had been done on the BT line and that in 7 to 10 days it should again be working properly. As you can imagine I did not feel confident this would be the case but I will as he said. He said that if the problem persists I should call again.
I still have the same problem. I have persevered with Orange because I experienced a good connection before all this happened but I am starting to ask myself why I should do this. I feel that I am in a deadlock situation and don’t know what to do.
This has started to affect me personally and emotionally. I tried to email my CV to a company for a job. I was advised that they did not pursue my application because my CV was not attached and that I didn’t look professional. I know for definite that the attachment was attached but my connection was so slow it timed out and so when I tried again it sent the email but didn’t send the attachment. So this problem has started to affect my ability to apply for jobs and now I have to go elsewhere and pay for internet access. I recently completed a two year course and the pressure was on to do a lot of work in May/June this year. I needed to access information readily and I couldn’t. I feel my grade has suffered as a result of this. I have also spent a lot of time and energy on calling Orange to explain my situation.
I had a conversation with Ofcom. They advised me that I should write to you and go through the formal complaint channels with you and see if you can compensate me and resolve this with me. They have advised me that if I am not satisfied I should then take the matter up through them. I am a mobile customer and my contract will be up in a few months. Whether I remain a customer of Orange depends on how well I am treated from this day on. This has been a source of stress in my already hectic life and I could have avoided all this if I had not gone with Orange as a provider. I have not been able to access Skype, MS Messenger, download music on iTunes, watch movies (which I needed desperately towards the end of my course for research). The response I have received from customer service reps themselves has been generally high in terms of politeness and I do sense a genuine desire to help me but unfortunately none of them have been able to because the situation is out of their hands.
Although my broadband connection is free I feel this is no issue when I think about the way my queries have been handled. I feel I have been passed from pillar to post and feel that my custom is not at all valued by Orange. I am prepared to pay for a reasonable broadband connection with an alternative provider but I am warned off doing this by your representatives. At times the frustration has reduced me to tears.
I hope to hear from you with a suitable solution to my problem here and some sort of reimbursement on my mobile contract as I opted for the Dolphin tariff in order to take advantage of the free broadband offer. I would appreciate a letter and a phone call from someone with sufficient authority within Orange to deal with this and restore my faith in Orange.
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