Orange or Three?

ja86br · 21-01-2013, 19:14

Hi all,

First post, so please be gentle with me!

I've just got off the phone with Orange Retentions.

I'm paying £47 a month on an iPhone 4 32GB contract I took out in November 2010. Unbeknownst to me, they weren't offering early upgrades any more and I got stuck on a 27-month contract as a result. Anyway, it's up on 5 Feb and I've just called to see what they can do for me.

I don't need a new phone just now; I'd rather wait for the iPhone 5S or 6 or iPhone Math or whatever they're going to call it.

They've charged me £20 odd to 'unlock' my iPhone - that's nice of them.

Basically, they said they could give me a new 12-month contract on a sim-only plan, and I could upgrade this at any time during the 12 months, but that would cost approx £30 a month (and didn't include tethering (another fiver)). Plus, with a minimum term of 12 months, I couldn't cancel during that time.

Three can give me The One Plan for £25 a month on a rolling 30 day basis - which sounds a lot better for my needs right now - tethering's included and it's all-you-can-eat data, so it's cheaper and I can move a lot more easily.

I'm just quite surprised at how Orange weren't really willing to do anything for me. I go abroad a few times a year, and my last bill was £50 odd higher as a result. There's talk of them changing their plans 'at the beginning of Feb' but I said to the guy, 'I'll be honest, you're telling me that, trying to get me to hold on for another 14 days, but that's only to keep my contract running for another fortnight isn't it? There's no logic in me 'waiting and seeing' when I know I can get a better deal right now'.

So with that in mind, I think I'm moving to 3. The reception seems to be good in the areas I'm going to be in, and they're, on the face of it, much cheaper.

Anyone have any major axes to grind about either provider?

jabbamk1 · 21-01-2013, 19:21

Three are good. But bear in mind that they do not have 2G backup like orange so if you go to an area or building where there is low 3G signal you may find that you have no signal.

That being said, I am on Three and signal is great. As is their one plan which is great value. Speeds are great as well. and they really are the best for the internet.

It might be worth pushing orange retentions just to see if they can do anything else which could beat three on price. But if they can't then Three is a good choice. Like i said the only thing of concern is signal.

Oh and welcome to the forums

doom&gloom · 21-01-2013, 19:23

When I was on 3 I never lost coverage but on Orange I have a few times, I suppose it depends where you live but 3 had a better signal for me.

ja86br · 21-01-2013, 19:39

To be honest my Orange signal at home is pretty dire ... when they were calling it Orange T-Mobile a while back it always used to flick over to that, I used to get lots of missed call alerts and stuff, when the phone was physically sitting beside me. So as far as drop-outs go, I doubt they could be much worse (other than not having 2G to fall back on).

Thanks guys

Thine Wonk · 21-01-2013, 20:45

I'm on three and have coverage everywhere I want. Good value, good data performance and packages.

SkyPlatinum · 21-01-2013, 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by ja86br

Hi all,

First post, so please be gentle with me!

I've just got off the phone with Orange Retentions.

I'm paying £47 a month on an iPhone 4 32GB contract I took out in November 2010. Unbeknownst to me, they weren't offering early upgrades any more and I got stuck on a 27-month contract as a result. Anyway, it's up on 5 Feb and I've just called to see what they can do for me.

I don't need a new phone just now; I'd rather wait for the iPhone 5S or 6 or iPhone Math or whatever they're going to call it.

They've charged me £20 odd to 'unlock' my iPhone - that's nice of them.

Basically, they said they could give me a new 12-month contract on a sim-only plan, and I could upgrade this at any time during the 12 months, but that would cost approx £30 a month (and didn't include tethering (another fiver)). Plus, with a minimum term of 12 months, I couldn't cancel during that time.

Three can give me The One Plan for £25 a month on a rolling 30 day basis - which sounds a lot better for my needs right now - tethering's included and it's all-you-can-eat data, so it's cheaper and I can move a lot more easily.

I'm just quite surprised at how Orange weren't really willing to do anything for me. I go abroad a few times a year, and my last bill was £50 odd higher as a result. There's talk of them changing their plans 'at the beginning of Feb' but I said to the guy, 'I'll be honest, you're telling me that, trying to get me to hold on for another 14 days, but that's only to keep my contract running for another fortnight isn't it? There's no logic in me 'waiting and seeing' when I know I can get a better deal right now'.

So with that in mind, I think I'm moving to 3. The reception seems to be good in the areas I'm going to be in, and they're, on the face of it, much cheaper.

Anyone have any major axes to grind about either provider?

I find EE much better then Three. The signal is more consistent in terms of speed and also has a much much better building penetration

doom&gloom · 21-01-2013, 21:02

It does depend where you live.

For some reason I lose Orange coverage in supermarkets

R410 · 21-01-2013, 21:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by doom&gloom

It does depend where you live.

For some reason I lose Orange coverage in supermarkets

That probably is because of the building or the systems running in the supermarket itself.

jabbamk1 · 21-01-2013, 21:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by R410

That probably is because of the building or the systems running in the supermarket itself.

Yep, most original supermarkets have metal roofs so this either blocks out or makes the signal very weak.

mrvgarg · 21-01-2013, 21:43

Three are good but only offer 24 months contract.

Orange is average but offer 18 months contract.

Lidtop2013 · 21-01-2013, 22:33

I've been with Three for about 4 years and in that time they've just got better and better, most noteably the past 12 months or so, everywhere I go I get a decent signal, and at home I get download speeds of up to 8-10mb which is great, never had a dropped call that I can recall, I really can't fault them.

Oh and it's great to have truly unlimited Internet, something which no other network provider can offer

Mattehhhftw · 21-01-2013, 22:34

Orange all the way

ajh94 · 21-01-2013, 22:57

I have to agree with others, I have tried both and Orange is just better in every way except lack of unlimited data (unless you get iPhone 51) and obviously they are more expensive... But speeds are just as good as Three, 3G coverage is also just as good (actually slightly better in some areas as they use MBNL and Orange only cells) but the big thing is 2G, at least with Orange you can fall back to 2G for calls, texts and basic data when there is no 3G... The problem with Three is there are a lot of places where 3G is just too weak to use and I live in one of those places.

If you can get 3 signal everywhere you need it then you could go for it but i'd still recommend Orange personally!

ja86br · 31-01-2013, 21:11

Well, the unlock took 10 days, and I signed up for Three yesterday.

Initial results are promising - I'm getting between three and four bars in every room at home; it'll be five bars at work (we're about 300 metres from a Three mast) and on that basis I'm porting my number over.

It's pretty liberating, not having to worry about using a lot of data ... I had 3GB with Orange but never felt confident in it getting billed correctly, and the signal was a bit hit-and-miss.

Cheers for your input guys - now I just need to wait for a new iPhone to get released

legends wear 7 · 31-01-2013, 21:43

Gotta say i am a full on three convert if you want data and are a simo customer who buys the handset sim free

the 30day one plan is just awesome

Bio Max · 31-01-2013, 22:03

I've just left three - and so glad I have. Awful, awful customer service. IMO.

Lidtop2013 · 01-02-2013, 03:18

Lucky I never have to ring them then. Faultless service......

Bio Max · 01-02-2013, 09:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lidtop2013

Lucky I never have to ring them then. Faultless service......

But if you DO have to phone them for any reason...that's when the trouble starts

jabbamk1 · 01-02-2013, 09:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bio Max

But if you DO have to phone them for any reason...that's when the trouble starts

I wouldnt say that. For 95% of issues they're fine and quite helpful.

For billing, cancellations, account issues they are terrible. They used to be good at retentions but that dept went downhill around this time last year and now they dont do customer loyalty and refuse to let you cancel without a long drawn out conversation going through every possible reason they can to make you stay.

Party Animal · 01-02-2013, 10:06

I run the phone accounts at our house and have had the lot (major providers) in the last few years

my advice would be get the one with the best signal in your most used area

I currently have 2 three contracts and my wife's is with orange... where I live the three signal is by far and away the best signal - hence me having 2 contracts with them plus they do very good sim deals
customer service with three I would say is quite simply awful - talking to India and the twice I have rung them I could barely understand what they were saying as there English was terrible

other than that I Love the signal strength

Orange deals are not as good as Three's but there customer service is far better on the odd occasion I have had to ring them up

what I really dont like with orange is that if you get the phone from them - the amount of Orange junk they install is way OTT and unless you root the phone you cant get it off

Last time my wifes phone contract was up with Orange I was 100% going to get my wife's contract and phone from elsewhere but the deal at the time was quite unbelievable compared to every where else
so I could not refuse and got her another 2 year contract which is now about 15 months in,, and have never had to ring them since

my 2p

Bio Max · 01-02-2013, 10:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by jabbamk1

I wouldnt say that. For 95% of issues they're fine and quite helpful.

For billing, cancellations, account issues they are terrible. They used to be good at retentions but that dept went downhill around this time last year and now they dont do customer loyalty and refuse to let you cancel without a long drawn out conversation going through every possible reason they can to make you stay.

Would you mind clarifying what the other 95% issues are if you exclude billing queries, cancellations and account issues?

jabbamk1 · 01-02-2013, 11:05

you know like network or coverage issues or any small problems like with the phone, or just general queries. They're fine

But when it comes to stuff that has happened due to a mistake on their end. e.g billing then they are terrible.

lakes · 01-02-2013, 11:56

Three are great untill you need to talk to them......then its oh dear.

AJ2001 · 01-02-2013, 12:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by lakes

Three are great untill you need to talk to them......then its oh dear.

I have been with Three for 5 years now. For the 2-3 times I had to call them I had no issues. My latest was 2-3 months ago. Stopped receiving my regular monthly texts from my Bank in Spain for no apparent reason and they even spoke to my bank's IT dept to understand what the issue was. This took about 3 days and got all sorted. I understand what you guys are saying about their CS but my experience is a positive one.

21-01-2013, 19:14	#1
ja86br Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 8	Orange or Three? Hi all, First post, so please be gentle with me! I've just got off the phone with Orange Retentions. I'm paying £47 a month on an iPhone 4 32GB contract I took out in November 2010. Unbeknownst to me, they weren't offering early upgrades any more and I got stuck on a 27-month contract as a result. Anyway, it's up on 5 Feb and I've just called to see what they can do for me. I don't need a new phone just now; I'd rather wait for the iPhone 5S or 6 or iPhone Math or whatever they're going to call it. They've charged me £20 odd to 'unlock' my iPhone - that's nice of them. Basically, they said they could give me a new 12-month contract on a sim-only plan, and I could upgrade this at any time during the 12 months, but that would cost approx £30 a month (and didn't include tethering (another fiver)). Plus, with a minimum term of 12 months, I couldn't cancel during that time. Three can give me The One Plan for £25 a month on a rolling 30 day basis - which sounds a lot better for my needs right now - tethering's included and it's all-you-can-eat data, so it's cheaper and I can move a lot more easily. I'm just quite surprised at how Orange weren't really willing to do anything for me. I go abroad a few times a year, and my last bill was £50 odd higher as a result. There's talk of them changing their plans 'at the beginning of Feb' but I said to the guy, 'I'll be honest, you're telling me that, trying to get me to hold on for another 14 days, but that's only to keep my contract running for another fortnight isn't it? There's no logic in me 'waiting and seeing' when I know I can get a better deal right now'. So with that in mind, I think I'm moving to 3. The reception seems to be good in the areas I'm going to be in, and they're, on the face of it, much cheaper. Anyone have any major axes to grind about either provider?

21-01-2013, 19:21	#2
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Three are good. But bear in mind that they do not have 2G backup like orange so if you go to an area or building where there is low 3G signal you may find that you have no signal. That being said, I am on Three and signal is great. As is their one plan which is great value. Speeds are great as well. and they really are the best for the internet. It might be worth pushing orange retentions just to see if they can do anything else which could beat three on price. But if they can't then Three is a good choice. Like i said the only thing of concern is signal. Oh and welcome to the forums

21-01-2013, 19:23	#3
doom&gloom Inactive Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,791	When I was on 3 I never lost coverage but on Orange I have a few times, I suppose it depends where you live but 3 had a better signal for me.

21-01-2013, 19:39	#4
ja86br Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 8	To be honest my Orange signal at home is pretty dire ... when they were calling it Orange T-Mobile a while back it always used to flick over to that, I used to get lots of missed call alerts and stuff, when the phone was physically sitting beside me. So as far as drop-outs go, I doubt they could be much worse (other than not having 2G to fall back on). Thanks guys

21-01-2013, 20:45	#5
Thine Wonk Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 14,577	I'm on three and have coverage everywhere I want. Good value, good data performance and packages.

21-01-2013, 20:49	#6
SkyPlatinum Inactive Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 769	Quote: Originally Posted by ja86br Hi all, First post, so please be gentle with me! I've just got off the phone with Orange Retentions. I'm paying £47 a month on an iPhone 4 32GB contract I took out in November 2010. Unbeknownst to me, they weren't offering early upgrades any more and I got stuck on a 27-month contract as a result. Anyway, it's up on 5 Feb and I've just called to see what they can do for me. I don't need a new phone just now; I'd rather wait for the iPhone 5S or 6 or iPhone Math or whatever they're going to call it. They've charged me £20 odd to 'unlock' my iPhone - that's nice of them. Basically, they said they could give me a new 12-month contract on a sim-only plan, and I could upgrade this at any time during the 12 months, but that would cost approx £30 a month (and didn't include tethering (another fiver)). Plus, with a minimum term of 12 months, I couldn't cancel during that time. Three can give me The One Plan for £25 a month on a rolling 30 day basis - which sounds a lot better for my needs right now - tethering's included and it's all-you-can-eat data, so it's cheaper and I can move a lot more easily. I'm just quite surprised at how Orange weren't really willing to do anything for me. I go abroad a few times a year, and my last bill was £50 odd higher as a result. There's talk of them changing their plans 'at the beginning of Feb' but I said to the guy, 'I'll be honest, you're telling me that, trying to get me to hold on for another 14 days, but that's only to keep my contract running for another fortnight isn't it? There's no logic in me 'waiting and seeing' when I know I can get a better deal right now'. So with that in mind, I think I'm moving to 3. The reception seems to be good in the areas I'm going to be in, and they're, on the face of it, much cheaper. Anyone have any major axes to grind about either provider? I find EE much better then Three. The signal is more consistent in terms of speed and also has a much much better building penetration

21-01-2013, 21:02	#7
doom&gloom Inactive Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,791	It does depend where you live. For some reason I lose Orange coverage in supermarkets

21-01-2013, 21:19	#8
R410 Inactive Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Guisborough, North Yorkshire Posts: 2,878	Quote: Originally Posted by doom&gloom It does depend where you live. For some reason I lose Orange coverage in supermarkets That probably is because of the building or the systems running in the supermarket itself.

21-01-2013, 21:31	#9
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Quote: Originally Posted by R410 That probably is because of the building or the systems running in the supermarket itself. Yep, most original supermarkets have metal roofs so this either blocks out or makes the signal very weak.

21-01-2013, 21:43	#10
mrvgarg Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Slough Posts: 1,139	Three are good but only offer 24 months contract. Orange is average but offer 18 months contract.

21-01-2013, 22:33	#11
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	I've been with Three for about 4 years and in that time they've just got better and better, most noteably the past 12 months or so, everywhere I go I get a decent signal, and at home I get download speeds of up to 8-10mb which is great, never had a dropped call that I can recall, I really can't fault them. Oh and it's great to have truly unlimited Internet, something which no other network provider can offer

21-01-2013, 22:34	#12
Mattehhhftw Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 6,687	Orange all the way

21-01-2013, 22:57	#13
ajh94 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: London & Essex Posts: 987	I have to agree with others, I have tried both and Orange is just better in every way except lack of unlimited data (unless you get iPhone 51) and obviously they are more expensive... But speeds are just as good as Three, 3G coverage is also just as good (actually slightly better in some areas as they use MBNL and Orange only cells) but the big thing is 2G, at least with Orange you can fall back to 2G for calls, texts and basic data when there is no 3G... The problem with Three is there are a lot of places where 3G is just too weak to use and I live in one of those places. If you can get 3 signal everywhere you need it then you could go for it but i'd still recommend Orange personally!

31-01-2013, 21:11	#14
ja86br Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 8	Well, the unlock took 10 days, and I signed up for Three yesterday. Initial results are promising - I'm getting between three and four bars in every room at home; it'll be five bars at work (we're about 300 metres from a Three mast) and on that basis I'm porting my number over. It's pretty liberating, not having to worry about using a lot of data ... I had 3GB with Orange but never felt confident in it getting billed correctly, and the signal was a bit hit-and-miss. Cheers for your input guys - now I just need to wait for a new iPhone to get released

31-01-2013, 21:43	#15
legends wear 7 Guest Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 2,070	Gotta say i am a full on three convert if you want data and are a simo customer who buys the handset sim free the 30day one plan is just awesome

31-01-2013, 22:03	#16
Bio Max Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Derbyshire Posts: 2,129	I've just left three - and so glad I have. Awful, awful customer service. IMO.

01-02-2013, 03:18	#17
Lidtop2013 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,450	Lucky I never have to ring them then. Faultless service......

01-02-2013, 09:21	#18
Bio Max Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Derbyshire Posts: 2,129	Quote: Originally Posted by Lidtop2013 Lucky I never have to ring them then. Faultless service...... But if you DO have to phone them for any reason...that's when the trouble starts

01-02-2013, 09:41	#19
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	Quote: Originally Posted by Bio Max But if you DO have to phone them for any reason...that's when the trouble starts I wouldnt say that. For 95% of issues they're fine and quite helpful. For billing, cancellations, account issues they are terrible. They used to be good at retentions but that dept went downhill around this time last year and now they dont do customer loyalty and refuse to let you cancel without a long drawn out conversation going through every possible reason they can to make you stay.

01-02-2013, 10:06	#20
Party Animal Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 1,319	I run the phone accounts at our house and have had the lot (major providers) in the last few years my advice would be get the one with the best signal in your most used area I currently have 2 three contracts and my wife's is with orange... where I live the three signal is by far and away the best signal - hence me having 2 contracts with them plus they do very good sim deals customer service with three I would say is quite simply awful - talking to India and the twice I have rung them I could barely understand what they were saying as there English was terrible other than that I Love the signal strength Orange deals are not as good as Three's but there customer service is far better on the odd occasion I have had to ring them up what I really dont like with orange is that if you get the phone from them - the amount of Orange junk they install is way OTT and unless you root the phone you cant get it off Last time my wifes phone contract was up with Orange I was 100% going to get my wife's contract and phone from elsewhere but the deal at the time was quite unbelievable compared to every where else so I could not refuse and got her another 2 year contract which is now about 15 months in,, and have never had to ring them since my 2p

01-02-2013, 10:40	#21
Bio Max Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Derbyshire Posts: 2,129	Quote: Originally Posted by jabbamk1 I wouldnt say that. For 95% of issues they're fine and quite helpful. For billing, cancellations, account issues they are terrible. They used to be good at retentions but that dept went downhill around this time last year and now they dont do customer loyalty and refuse to let you cancel without a long drawn out conversation going through every possible reason they can to make you stay. Would you mind clarifying what the other 95% issues are if you exclude billing queries, cancellations and account issues?

DS Forums

Orange or Three?

01-02-2013, 11:05	#22
jabbamk1 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: London, UK Posts: 8,759	you know like network or coverage issues or any small problems like with the phone, or just general queries. They're fine But when it comes to stuff that has happened due to a mistake on their end. e.g billing then they are terrible.

01-02-2013, 11:56	#23
lakes Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Thurrock , Essex Posts: 4,517	Three are great untill you need to talk to them......then its oh dear.

01-02-2013, 12:57	#24
AJ2001 Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 598	Quote: Originally Posted by lakes Three are great untill you need to talk to them......then its oh dear. I have been with Three for 5 years now. For the 2-3 times I had to call them I had no issues. My latest was 2-3 months ago. Stopped receiving my regular monthly texts from my Bank in Spain for no apparent reason and they even spoke to my bank's IT dept to understand what the issue was. This took about 3 days and got all sorted. I understand what you guys are saying about their CS but my experience is a positive one.