Site AdminJoined: 07 Apr 2006Posts: 784Location: United Kingdom
Hello all
Just when you think your troubles are over...
My broadband is OFF again!
After 3 months of uninterrupted Orange (Wanadoo) service, I am now without broadband again.
Wednesday 19 July 2006 (approx 10.00h):
Without warning, loss of internet connection. @ Light flashing quickly. No settings had been disturbed, no plugs unplugged, no WinXP crash, etc...
Checked settings - "Link Down" was my message!
I thought I would leave phoning Orange until the next day, in case there was a major outage (in which case there would be thousands of calls and no answers). I can live without broadband for one day I thought (but there was always that thought in the back of my mind.. "Not again").
Thursday 20 July 2006 (17.05h)
Called technical support. Spoke to "J"
Explained situation. J recommended factory resetting the Livebox. Ensure you re-enter your UN and PW he told me. OK.
Phone call ended 17.11
Reset the Livebox (as per the instructions on Orange's technical help pages).
Re-entered UN and PW as told by J.
Synchronisation in progress... ... .. For over 3 minutes so stopped it. Still showing link down.
Still no broadband.
Friday 21 July 2006 (13.30h)
Called technical support. Spoke to "M".
Explained situation. Still Link Down.
M said that he would organise a line test (Oh no I thought!). Also suggested that I try and change the filter with a spare that I have. He told me to try the new filter as soon as I got off the phone else it may interfere with the line test. OK.
M told me to call back Monday morning for the result of the line test. OK.
Phone call ended (? time)
Tried swapping the filter with a spare one. No effect. Tried resetting Livebox with new filter and entering UN and PW. No effect. Still link down.
Monday 24 July 2006 (13.40h)
Phoned technical support. Spoke to "P".
Asked for result of line test.
P explained that the results on his screen were in shorthand and that he didn't understand them... Would you mind holding while I clarify them with the faults department he asked. OK.
P came back to me - unfortunately, the line test got suspended during the test. The test couldn't be completed.
P told me another line test would have to be undertaken. Will have the result back on 23 July 2006.
I asked to speak to a team leader. 6 minutes later, transferred to "J2" in the escalations team. He explained that the test could not be completed (so no more news there then). He took my mobile telephone number and told me that he would call me back later on today with results of line test (so quick I thought!).
End of call 14.08h
No call back was received! (No surprises there really).
Tuesday 25 July 2006 (14.32h)
Called technical support. Spoke to "A".
Asked for result of line test.
The system is slow A told me. One minute. Then the fault management system would not load on his screen. One minute, would you mind holding. OK.
A came back. Unable to get result of line test. Please call back in 2 hours time. OK.
Tuesday 25 July 2006 (17.45h)
Called technical support. Spoke to "L"
Line test detected a fault.
L told me that he would create an appointment for an engineer to visit the exchange to check the hardware. He said that BT work ‘til 20.00h and should Be Broadband tonight if they are not busy (to this I pointed out that there was probably no chance in a million years that an engineer would be in the exchange today).
Asked to speak to a team leader.
L put me through to "S" a supervisor, but warned me that S was not technically trained!!!
Spoke to S. Told her my situation and explained that I had had serious issues with Orange (Wanadoo) in the past. She was aware of my extended notes on my account.
I also explained that I had been given a gratuitous 3 months of broadband by Orange on the last problem I had and in fact, that gratuity ends today! She gave me another two months free broadband! - I did however explain that I would rather pay for my broadband than free broadband without any!
S promised me that I would get a technical support call back by 22.00h this evening - I explained that I was promised a call back yesterday. She gave me her word that I would get a call back.
I asked for a direct telephone number to S. She gave me her extension number and said that she was at the Rotherham centre. I then said that in order for me to speak to her, I must get connected to the Rotherham centre for an agent to transfer me. Yes she said. I explained that this was ridiculous. If (and I am not sure how many call centres Orange has) they have Three call centres, I only have a one in Three chance (each time I phone) of actually getting through to the correct call centre. It could take me a number of phone calls to get through - all costing me money. I said that she must have a direct line. No she said. Just an extension number.
I then went on to explain that I still had contact details of their PR team and would be in touch with them tomorrow morning if I did not get my call back. I would also lodge an official complaint against S for promising me a call back and not getting one.
So now I wait and see.....
Call ends 17.58h (approx)
******************
So there you have it. Once again, no change to the technical support issues that Wanadoo had and now Orange seem to have inherited and done nothing about....
Although, technical support have a different phone answering technique nowadays! I noticed that - still quite patronising though!
I shall keep this updated throughout my ordeal.
In the meantime, I have decided that I shall not keep phoning Orange. It is a waste of money. I want them to call me. It certainly is not fair to have to pay every time to speak to them, when the issue is clearly their fault, an OrangeProblem, and they do not even give you an answer or any progress reports!
The money that I would spend speaking to Orange is better off spent on something else.... Wait and see!!!!!!
Orange - I am sure you will read this - get my broadband back please. I am not prepared to wait weeks on end again - the last time was 9 weeks, and then after press involvement and this website, the issue was resolved in Three days! - so they can do it!
If I hear nothing from Orange by noon tomorrow, I shall once again be on to the press. I promise.
And for others that use this website and have the same issues keep watching... - I know there are lots of you, I do read most (if not all) posts here but as you can imagine, it is impossible for me to personally reply to all of your comments.
Another note:
For those with issues, feel free to log everything here on the forums... Times and dates, names of people you spoke to (though I suggest you only use an initial), what you told them, what they told you, what they promised you and delivered, what they promised you and failed to deliver... And then when they do not read your notes on your account, point them to this website and give them the topic title (or number) or send them an email with the link to your post.
Link to us with this image, or choose another image here
Last edited by admin on Wed Jul 26, 2006 1:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
I 'lost' my connection (again) two weeks ago. Something about being put back on IPstream as my last 'fix', then they upgraded my account settings (thinking I was still LLued) screwing everything up.
I got caught by the "one in Three chance of getting Rotherham" trap. Yesterday I got a promise from A in Rotherham that he'd chase the faults team, update my details, told me his shift times, and gave me his extension number. (I nearly passed out with the shock of getting some real customer service! )
Tried ringing back today and got a call centre in India (Bombay?) then tried again and got Malta!
"No I can't put you through, our extensions have 4 digits" (the Rotherham one I was given was 5 digits).
Sorry to hear you're on the orangehell train again. You've probably heard every Orange lie (I mean technical fault ) in the book by now. They neither learn nor listen to past problems or dealings with customers. Sad to say, I don't think any amount of bad publicity will make any impact on their insouciant attitude. If every customer with a similar problem took their custom elsewhere and hit Orange in the only area they pay attention to, it might force them to change their truly awful version of service and customer relations.
Site AdminJoined: 07 Apr 2006Posts: 784Location: United Kingdom
Hey guys,
Thank you for your kind comments!
Well... Looks like I could be posting here again for some time!
Wednesday 26 July 2006 – Update
Didn't get the call back that was promised unequivocally by S the supervisor in technical support yesterday.
S guaranteed me I would receive a technical support call back by 22.00h yesterday. She also told me yesterday that she would “keep an eye” on my account to ensure that I did get my call back and would regularly check the status of my OrangeProblems.
Wednesday 26 July 2006 (10.15h)
Phoned Wanadoo.
Tried to talk to a technical guy “TG” that I spoke to at the tail-end of my problems the last time I was without broadband (for over 9 weeks). Unfortunately, so “C” told me, he is on a training course today.
Left my details with “C” and told her that I would call him back tomorrow as I did not really want to deal with somebody else as TG had sorted my problem in Three days the last time and would, inevitably, remember the issues surrounding my OrangeProblem.
Wednesday 26 July 2006 (10.28h)
Phoned Wanadoo technical support - wanted to speak to S as I had her extension number.
Asked the agent whether this was Rotherham offices. Yes he replied! Could I have extension ***** please. He asked for my name and duly attempted to transfer me...
I waited (listening to that awful music)...
The agent came back - we are very busy this morning I can't get through. Would you like to keep holding? ... Yes I replied...
Agent came back to me (10.35h) - We're really busy this morning, I'm finding it hard to get through to that extension number... I interrupted... I'll hold please. Alright he replied.
Came back to me again a few minutes later - Can't put you through at the moment. Could you call back this afternoon ( - bear in mind I am supposed to be getting the call back - ).. No I replied. I want to speak to that extension number now please. We are really busy this morning the agent replied. You should get through this afternoon as we will not be as busy... I asked whether he could take a message - No that is not possible. I would be better calling back this afternoon. Again he said that he could not put me through right now!
I did question the agent as to whether he had actually spoken to "S" and she had refused (or was avoiding) the call... Coyly he replied that the line was busy and he couldn't transfer me!
Call ended 10.47h
Now on to the PR Team...
Spoke to "J" at the PR office.
He has promised me a call back today - I gave him my phone number (as I do with all of Orange's staff)... We'll wait and see!
I got the dreaded "good news" email last week and have been offline since Friday. Looks like my subsequent experiences with the call centres are pretty common!
Any other victims in the Barnet area at the moment?
I've only just signed up to this forum as I am another Orange victim.
My BB connection died on Saturday 22nd July at about 930 am. There's not been a flicker of life since.
I had only received my livebox on the Friday, so naturally thought that I must have done something wrong, despite the fact that I had got it working the previous evening and it had remained connected all night.
I've now made several calls and am finally being told that it is due to the LLU upgrade.
Now, I'm no expert, but as I understand it, it involves Orange installing a bit of kit in my local exchange (I'm in Feltham, West London, by the way), but I could be wrong about that.
A couple of the reps I have spoken to have admitted that the problem is with Orange and not BT, but there is no ETA for the resolution of this issue.
I'm moderately annoyed at the moment - it's an inconvenience - but I'm sure this will turn to anger if this drags on and on.
Funnily enough, I rang Orange last Friday atfer I had received the livebox, as the hire agreement with it implied that I was committing to a new 12 month contract. I was previously on the £27.99 uncapped tariff since the Freeserve days, so was assured that I was not committing myself to a further 12 months. I mentioned that I needed this reassurance as I intended to switch to Sky for a tenner a month as soon as it was up and running (and after I had waited a couple of months to see if others had problems with it!).
Now I'm wondering if they cut me off deliberately! Not that it would be a very good way to keep me as a customer.
Anyway, I'd be interested to know if anyone else in this area is having problems as I would imagine that if they've screwed up the LLU install in my exchange, it would effect all customers round here.
The not so good news is that for about half an hour on 28/06/2006 between 8am and 6pm, you won't be able to go online. Sit tight though, we'll email you as soon as it's done and let you know your new speed.
I thought I'd try to get free dial-up out of them until I get my broadband back, but guess what? They've stopped giving it out now!!!!!
So not only can they not provide with the service for which I'm paying £27.99 a month, they can't even offer an alternative.
I think I said in my earlier post that this was an irritation. It's getting worse every day. I'm annoyed now.
I did speak to a very helpful agent in the Middlesborough call centre earlier (no names, no pack drill) who sympathised with me and seemed as peed off with Orange as us users. He too couldn't understand why the roll-out of LLU is going ahead at full steam while there are still so many problems. The only glimmer of hope is that the problems do seem to be getting cleared up a bit quicker these days.
I have now decided that I'm not going to bother holding back for a couple of months to see how the Sky service beds in, and will jump on it as soon as I get the word.
I wish I had an Orange mobile as well, just so I could tell them where to stick that as well!
In the legendary words of Graham Taylor, DO I NOT LIKE Orange!
I thought I post a quick update to my saga, in case it helps anyone else.
I have just had a wonderful conversation with 'E' at the Middlesborough call centre. I have to say, I have actually spoken to some very helpful analysts over the last few days and 'E' is definitely one of the best. I would like to stress that I don't have any problems with the Orange staff I've spoken to - just the company. It's as frustrating for them as it is for us, but I guess it's easier to change ISPs than it is to find a new job, so we have the easy part.
I've managed to get some answers. I now know that my exchange went to LLU on July 4th. This is great because, to a certain extent, it vindicates LLU from the full blame.
When my line was upgraded on July 4th, I was told it would be 6 meg. As I still had the old copperjet modem which Freeserve gave me years ago, it wouldn't cope (would connect, but dropped out regularly), so they sent me the Speedtouch 330. This worked to a certain extent. It would work in the evenings, but as soon everyone in the neighbourhood went to bed and I was getting my full 6 meg, it died! I've since discovered that the optimiser used with this modem isn't really much cop, and the 330 struggles with anything over 4.5 meg no matter what you do.
So, now I have a livebox and it worked for about 12 hours until the line went dead at 0930 last Saturday July 22nd. I have been assured that it is just an unfortunate coincidence that my line died once I had the livebox.
Hopefully, as someone said on another thread, I have now 'ticked all of the boxes' and I'll be back on line pretty soon.
I now have the extension number of 'E' and will be calling tomorrow for an update.
Site AdminJoined: 07 Apr 2006Posts: 784Location: United Kingdom
Latest Update:
Wednesday 26 July 2006
After contacting the press office, I received a promised phone call back from 'IS' who is a 'Customer Relation Specialist' at 12.33h
He told me that he would look into my case! He would call me back around 14.00h. He was keen to tell me that he would ensure that I get a daily phone call from Orange updating me on my OrangeProblem.
At 14.00h, or just before, 'IS' called me. The same old waffle was given to me. I explained to 'IS' that although it appeared that he was assisting me with my OrangeProblem, he was also restricted by those above him. He did not tell me anything that I did not know already! However, he did give me his direct line! He told me that he was looking into my OrangeProblem (again) and would call me back tomorrow with an update!
Thursday 27 July 2006 (16.00h)
Received my promised telephone call from 'IS' - my daily update!
I was told that teh fault had been raised and passed to the engineers (hadn't that already been accomplished?).
Told 'IS' my status was still 'Link Down'.
'IS' told me that I was on a 'VIP spreadsheet'!!!
He promised that he would call tomorrow (is there a pattern emerging here) and asked what time would be suitable. 9.30h to 10.0h is fine I said after he offered these times.
Friday 28 July 2006
9.30h to 10.00h No phone call
12.00h No phone call
14.00h No phone call
Saturday 29 July 2006
No phone call
Sunday 30 July 2006
No phone call
Monday 31 July 2006
11.24h Still no phone call - what about these daily phone calls I was promised - I am on the VIP spreadsheet (as you were so keen to tell me).
What next?
Well, if this is how Orange treat their VIPs (note that they gave me that title, I didn't ask for it) then... well...
Another apology fro Orange due - probably, together with the waffle about how they do not like to let their customers down etc etc...
I just want my broadband back Orange! Simple (well, you would think so).
i'd suggest now is the ime to contact the likes of The Register and have them name and shame Orange again for their useless customer service and fault reporting systems.
I've now reached the end of my tether and so have filed a complaint with the ISPA.
I'll let you all know what happens!
I think the idea of contacting The Register is a good one. If someone wants to post on here the best email address to use, I'll happily drop them a line.
Cheers,
Andrew.
PS. I've even stopped drinking Orange juice now - it's that serious.
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) in the book by now. They neither learn nor listen to past problems or dealings with customers. Sad to say, I don't think any amount of bad publicity will make any impact on their insouciant attitude. If every customer with a similar problem took their custom elsewhere and hit 
