First can I congratulate the management of this site for setting it up - it has provided me with much support over the last two months of my dreadful experience with Orange Broadband.
I wonder if anyone on here actually knows any names of Senior Management with the company - I am sending a final letter (which I hope you won't mind me copying here as evidence if needed) requesting a pouch to return my broadband equipment and I would like to send a copy to someone very senior hoping that it might encourage them to look further ... unlikely, I know, but I have sometimes found that something addressed by name can slip through the net and actually reach a senior person!
It seems pathetic to suspect that a huge company like Orange would deliberately make it difficult for me to return the equipment and then try to charge me for it, but I met incredible pettiness when I finally told them to cancel the account - not from everyone at Customer Support, I hasten to add - someone called Michael was a beacon of sense (I hesitate to praise any members of the Orange staff as it seems to be a kiss of death - they seem to disappear if someone says they've done a good job for customers!) but the first bloke I spoke to was basically a git.
Here is the letter anyway - it may be of interest to someone else:

7th August 2006

I did not anticipate having to contact Orange again, but am somewhat concerned that, in spite of the assurances of both yourself and two supervisors in Customer Support to whom I spoke when cancelling our account, we have still not received a returns pouch for our Orange Broadband equipment. As the account was cancelled on the 23 rd July I had expected to receive this by now, especially as we are in a holiday period when there is likely to be a delay of more than two weeks in responding to post.

I understand from one of the people I spoke to on July 23rd that Orange are having to deal with a lot of migration and cancellation requests, and appreciate that this may have slowed the process down somewhat (if anyone at Orange is curious as to why customers are leaving, a look at some of my correspondence, both by post and email, and any records which have been kept of my many telephone calls will give a clear and apparently typical example of what many Orange customers have been experiencing over recent months.)

As well as sending a copy of this letter to your Head Office, I am also going to post a copy on an open internet site to provide evidence that I have actually asked for a returns pouch – I am anxious to avoid any misunderstanding which might lead to Orange thinking that I wish to buy the Broadband equipment from them.

Please do not send me a letter telling me to telephone any numbers, but pass this request on internally if necessary – my current telephone bill shows that I have spent a considerable amount of money on calls to Orange (and, of course, to a dial-up service which I have had to use whilst having no Broadband) and I am not prepared to spend any more.


Thanks, site administration for giving me the opportunity to moan and an outlet for my frustration!

First can I congratulate the management of this site for setting it up - it has provided me with much support over the last two months of my dreadful experience with Orange Broadband.
I wonder if anyone on here actually knows any names of Senior Management with the company - I am sending a final letter (which I hope you won't mind me copying here as evidence if needed) requesting a pouch to return my broadband equipment and I would like to send a copy to someone very senior hoping that it might encourage them to look further ... unlikely, I know, but I have sometimes found that something addressed by name can slip through the net and actually reach a senior person!
It seems pathetic to suspect that a huge company like Orange would deliberately make it difficult for me to return the equipment and then try to charge me for it, but I met incredible pettiness when I finally told them to cancel the account - not from everyone at Customer Support, I hasten to add - someone called Michael was a beacon of sense (I hesitate to praise any members of the Orange staff as it seems to be a kiss of death - they seem to disappear if someone says they've done a good job for customers!) but the first bloke I spoke to was basically a git.
Here is the letter anyway - it may be of interest to someone else:

7th August 2006

I did not anticipate having to contact Orange again, but am somewhat concerned that, in spite of the assurances of both yourself and two supervisors in Customer Support to whom I spoke when cancelling our account, we have still not received a returns pouch for our Orange Broadband equipment. As the account was cancelled on the 23 rd July I had expected to receive this by now, especially as we are in a holiday period when there is likely to be a delay of more than two weeks in responding to post.

I understand from one of the people I spoke to on July 23rd that Orange are having to deal with a lot of migration and cancellation requests, and appreciate that this may have slowed the process down somewhat (if anyone at Orange is curious as to why customers are leaving, a look at some of my correspondence, both by post and email, and any records which have been kept of my many telephone calls will give a clear and apparently typical example of what many Orange customers have been experiencing over recent months.)

As well as sending a copy of this letter to your Head Office, I am also going to post a copy on an open internet site to provide evidence that I have actually asked for a returns pouch – I am anxious to avoid any misunderstanding which might lead to Orange thinking that I wish to buy the Broadband equipment from them.

Please do not send me a letter telling me to telephone any numbers, but pass this request on internally if necessary – my current telephone bill shows that I have spent a considerable amount of money on calls to Orange (and, of course, to a dial-up service which I have had to use whilst having no Broadband) and I am not prepared to spend any more.


Thanks, site administration for giving me the opportunity to moan and an outlet for my frustration!

No big deal ?? what about the people who have had no connection for weeks sometimes even months myself included a while back, i think paying good money for a service you dont get and some monkey at the other end couldnt care less IS a big deal i challenge you to have the same attitude if it ever happens to you then lets see if its no big deal.

Regards

" I for one think that Orange customer support is appallingly bad for both internet and mobile phone customers

Jerry, CUSTOMER SUPPORT should be what it says support!

Efficient, knowlegable, contactable, able to solve your problem in a reasonable time, curtious, interested, ETC.

If a company does not provide reasonable customer support the company have no respect whatsoever for their customers.

but it really only becomes a problem if you actually have to phone them up and ask them to sort out a problem for you"

I don't usually swear on here, but for ch**sts sake, if you as a customer have a problem, why in gods name should that become a further problem for you? they are there to provide solutions to your problem NOT ADD TO THEM!!!

"and most customers don’t have to do that."

It is of no consequence if only 1 customer or 10,000 have a problem, it is the companies duty to solve the problem, they have taken the customers money to provide the service!