I've had phone problems for months...
So for all of you who might get bitten... here is the beginnings of my (hopefully breif) interactions with Orange UK.
To whom it may concern
I have been a customer of Orange for some time now. Indeed I spend so much money with Orange that I have become a "premier" customer.
I want to leave. Now.
A while ago I "upgraded" my service, and phone, to 3G and a Motorola v3x. Not only did I do that, but I added another handset to my account, as I was planning on travelling at the time, and wanted my lovely partner to have a contract phone, so we'd not run into any complications while we were away. We chose to go 3G because we thought it'd be lovely to make video calls to each other...
This was not to be.
Since receiving my new phones we've had 2 replacement handsets each.
In my case I called with issues related to receiving calls, something that continues to take place now. I now know this is apparently something that "just happens" with 3G phones, because when your 3G coverage drops, it's supposed to switch down... which doesn't happen as smoothly as it's designed to. However back when you first replaced the phone you blamed the handset, and replaced it. I then had a new handset and purchased some games for it (£10 on Street Fighter II and Space Hulk). This didn't work out so well. The handset you gave me was faulty. It operated at around 50% of the volume of my last handset. After some ludicrous suggestion of using the speakerphone constantly, you replaced the handset again. I lost the games and the money. Still can't receive calls all the time... unless I cripple the 3G part of the handset in the settings.
Let's talk about that for a moment. Stepping down to 2.5G shouldn't be such a problem, if I hadn't chosen to go 3G so I could make and receive video calls with my partner. I'm frustrated enough with the thought of intentionally crippling my service... but the fact it took months for one of your support people to advise me I needed to do this is unacceptable.
It does get worse though. I perform an important task at work that is called being on call. This means I provide a service (perhaps something you are not familiar with) for which I need my mobile. People call me. This doesn't work correctly when the call goes straight to my answer phone service. I was unsure about how often this was happening at first, so I tried something; I tried calling my own handset while it was in front of me (interestingly enough showing a FULL 3G SIGNAL) and got passed straight to my answer phone. I tried this often, and I tried it at work, at friend’s houses, and at home. I got the same result. Even better, I'd no icon telling me I had a message would appear unless I made a call from the handset. So I'd never know I had a message waiting for me.
Let's talk about making calls. If I wanted to call someone I had to try it twice, because the first time it read "call failed". The second time it would call, oh and I'd get to find out if I had any messages waiting... and some SMS messages (normally wondering where I was, as no one can get in touch with me).
Now let's talk about my partner's phone. That had the call same call related issues and you replaced it. The replacement arrived just before our trip to Australia. We charged the replacement, and travelled to Australia... only once we arrived she noticed that some of the phones buttons were unresponsive. Then it ran out of charge...and it wouldn't be charged up again. You certainly managed to complicate our trip... something we hoped to avoid by obtaining another handset in the first place!
Now she is on her 3rd phone, and we've both set them up to run on the old 2.5G network. I'm not happy.
Please don't talk to me about unfortunate network coverage. I live and work in London... indeed I work in the mile. I have recently had the privilege to have spent some time using another 3G service from one of your competitors. Guess what? That works. It also steps down the service with no problems. They can complete their side of the bargain and meet my requirements. You cannot.
Another point of note is that I dislike the look of the v3x handset. I chose it because it was the nicest 3G handset you offered. I mentioned this in my last phone call with your helpdesk, and the guy kindly suggested that I could get some new phones, as your 3G wasn't working for me, so long as I commenced my 12 month commitment with you again.
Clearly that is not acceptable, as all of this is your fault. I see no reason why I should be made to feel penalised for a failing of Orange.
Even better than this, the gentleman I spoke to said he'd call me back to talk about the replacement handsets. This was about a month ago.
Further more to these service related issues, I find your new technology adoption rate slow, and therefore unacceptable. Waiting for Orange to brand and configure new model phones has become too frustrating, and means that as an Orange customer I cannot obtain the latest technology... something that I don't just desire, but find a necessity in my line of work.
Please advise how we can further this as soon as possible. A copy of this correspondence, as well as your (hopefully) forthcoming reply, will be posted upon my personal website, and I will circulate this (and again your reply) to anyone who I suspect may be interested. My aim is to be fair to you, but also ensure that I am not bullied into anything.
Many thanks for your time
Kristian Peacocke
