Hi

As of May the 1st Orange can kiss goodbye to my custom due to the disgusting prices rises they are introducing: http://www.orange.co.uk/changes/

Would others recommend O2? Base your opinions on:[list][*]Customer Service[*]Network Covergae[*]Tariffs[/list]
Also if your on Orange, what are you going to do?

DC

I been with O2 since January 2002, Ive not had one problem with them, i cant give advice on customer service because ive never had the need to call up.
Tariffs...
Dont buy a Tariff from out a O2 or any phone shop.
Check the O2 website out and there you will find cheaper O2 inet version Tariffs rather than the usual O2 shop Tariifs.
With the O2 online tariffs you get cheap or free WAP, lots more free messages per month.
Ive had my contract tariff ever since i beenw ith O2 because even till to date they still dont seem to be offering a better tariff than the one im using...

600 free texts a month
free WAP
free "standard" mobile phone - by contract
10p/2p a min to other O2 mobiles and land line phones
50p/35p to other network mobiles
no minimul call charges or anything

I was going to get my ex girlfriend a pay as you go online O2 phone+tariff, i forgot what tariff prices were now but it had 300 free texts per month.
With the new online O2 contract phones you get 500 free texts per month, but i dont think you get as many free as if when you buy one out of a O2 phone shop

I have just emailed Orange to complain and received an automatic response. I read with interest where it stated "If your query is regarding the Pay as you go tariff refresh, please call
the Information Line on 452 as we are unable to deal with these via email."

Must have had loads of complaints!!

I started a thread on this subject a month ago! Have a look here: http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/t/56367/ds.html In brief Orange don't care and Oftel aren't that bothered either. I will use Virgin more in the coming months.

Well, I've been on all the networks including cellnet proper (o2) and genie (o2 online). Here's my experience in comparison to other networks:
[list][*]Customer Service
o2 proper have very good CS IMHO for PAYG, however with contract you'll be on a service provider, whatever you do, don't go with Singlepoint4u (mainly bought from Phones4u) - they're shocking. The others aren't too bad.

As for o2 online (any phone bought from their website), just don't do it, if you have even the slightest problem with your phone then the helpline is premium rate and the people responding to emails don't know what they're on about. It's especially true with online contracts as for billing errors it proves a big problem to try and get it resolved. Avoid Singlepoint and o2 online at all costs!
[*]Network coverage
Well, depends on where you live really but generally they're considered to be the worst on par with T-Mob. I never had any real problems though here in the north west however.
[*]Tariffs
These are very competitive, especially o2 online for data and txt's, however as I've said they have to make their money somewhere and it's in CS and billing, and in a lot of people's opinion, it's best to pay the little bit extra. o2 normal PAYG is quite good, you can bolt on extra texts for a good price and they have 3 price plans to choose from. Contracts are reasonable as well.[/list]Have you considered migrating to Orange OVP Virgin with no line rental? That's what many people are doing.

Hope that helps,

My txts are going up from 5p to 12p and I'm not a happy man

*implodes*

Thanks for the help, its appreaciated. I wonder what Vodafone would be like, i have spoke to others on 02 in this area and the reception is rubbish. Whereas Orange is excellent.

I am going to move from Orange but im now torn between O2 and Vodafone. Vodafone are qwuite expensive though.

if ur on PayG, then vodaphone are VERY expensive, i find virgin very cheap, and i always have a good signal strength

If you a) already have an unlocked phone and b) don't mind changing your number then I'd recommend going for a SIM card only deal. I got mine from Mobil-one.com and got 100 cross network minutes and 50 text messages per month for £69.99. That's on O2.

Few disadvantages: Minutes don't roll over (unlike Vodafone). Singlepoint is the service provider - their Customer Services people really do have an attitude problem. I also find that reception isn't quite as good with O2 as Vodafone in many areas.

That deal doesn't seem to be on at the moment but they get new deals each month so keep looking until there's something that you like.

This is my third SIM card deal and the savings are pretty spectacular - in the region of 75-80% off the equivalent monthly tariff.

As of 1st May Virgin will be offering text messages for 3p if sent to the same network. Off net text messages will be 10p. See this thread: http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/t/58008/ds.html

Im pissed off at Orange to. Since France Telecom took over they have gone ultra greedy. Must be the cost of that 3G licence or do the French really hate us?

Will be interesting to see if Orange duplicate this for their Virgin OVP tarriff?!

they best do because I got a text telling me that 0800 numbers are now charged at a standard due to "changes to the virgin tariff"

bloody french

wish i could leave, but i stil hav £20 credit on my fone!!

Well i only have 30p left to use by tomorrow, and i have my O2 simcard waiting by my side with £25 on it and 300 free texts for a month! Lovely.

I am on the Orange OVP Virgin contract, as they now charge for 0800 nos due to changes in the virgin deal. Will they include the 3p texts, as that will be changed too I bet they dont.... but then they will not be matching their tarrif would they

I've just left Orange because Carphone Warehouse were offering a must-have offer. But i'm now on their own network 'Fresh' who have the worst customer services ever.

Before you leave Orange, make sure you know exactly what your getting with the new operator. I've been with all networks over the years, and Orange was far and away the best, and i'm wishing I had just upgraded with Orange.

Tip: Orange will match any other published tariff from any other UK operator. Just ring em up and ask to be put onto the O2 Leisure 500, or whatever.

ps: I don't work for Orange.

Yes but will Orange match prices on PAYG? I dont think they do. I agree, i have had Vodafone, BT Cellnet, One2One (before they changed names) and they were all not as good compared to Orange, BT Cellnet was a close second.

However, im not prepared to pay 12p per text when i can go to O2 and get 300 free and then the rest at 10p. O2 seem to have many more price plans to suit everyone!

Orange customer service is excellent though. I cant say O2s is bad either, because when i rang up the 0870 number they were really really helpful and nice.

I'm in two minds as what to do. I could stay with Orange and buy that thing where you get 5 free txts a day for a year, for £20.

Alternatively, I could go to o2 where on the Pay as you go tariff you get 300 free txts a month, as long as you put a tenner on every month. That's about 10 a day :/ Even if I don't put a tenner on, txts are 10p compared to 12p on Orange.

Hmmm...

I have gone to o2 and im impressed already. Excellent features such as on screen balance which is udated and shown after every call and text etc. Online customer service, cheap call rates, etc etc...

300 Wap mins too. Even if you dont put £10 on every month, you still get calls at cheaper rates than at least 2 Orange tariffs and texts are only 10p when not free.

I have jus had a telephone call from Orange. They have offered me a pay monthly deal where i get 1MB of GPRS data free per month, 120 texts a month, and 60mins free call mins for £22 and the sony erricson p800 (well good) phone for £320 instead of £350 so i said i would go back to them, and free itemised billing and connection,plus i can keep my number for no charge!

I must add though following from my post before that O2 still offers good value for money for payg and the signal strength is good.

Following on from this discussion about the price increases on Pay as you Go, it seems that Orange are now making massive price increases elsewhere as well.

I'm on a pay monthly contract and have just had a SMS from Orange to say from June 9 they are making some changes to charges for calls made and received abroad - see www.orange.co.uk/abroad

I roam with my phone quite a bit outside the EU - the new Europe 2 tariff - which is going to cost £1.10 per minute up from 60p to make a call, and 55p per minute up from 30p to receive calls

The Orange web-site says that "calling from abroad just got simpler" but all they seem to have done is added the second Europe band and put many of the prices up!

Does anyone know of any cheaper ways to roam?

Could always check out T-Mobiles rates,

in france for example, its 75p a min to make, and 20p a min to receive a call.

In the USA its 90p a min to make , and 60p a min to receive.


In australia, its 75p a min to make, and 30p a min to receive.

Go http://www.t-mobile.co.uk/Dispatcher?menuid=roaming_l_c to see if its any cheaper for you.

Ive just been on contract for a week now and i was shocked they were hitting the pay monthly customers too. However, i think the services Orange offer are great! Wildfire is amazing.

I would NEVER go back to Orange pay as you go though. Such a rip off!

I have a orange phone for both personal and business use due to the far greater coverage that it offers and with the contracts i have on both phone none of the other operator were able to match. The business side to orange is superb we have 200+ phone with them and for what we are paying in monthly charge for them would not have got us half as many with certain operators. The other advantege we have is that the european coverage is good you never lose signal and 9/10 it is cheaper to use than land lines in the poorer states in europe

I WAS going to leave Orange cos the cost of stuff would have more than doubled with the cost of a text gopjng uo, for me, by 140%.

However, I stayed because they told me about their Text Saver and as most of my spend is on texts so I won't be much worse off as it turns out.