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Orange Customer Service bad! (warning long story)
Niranjaniz
22-07-2008
Having completed my 12 month contract I upgraded my phone to a Nokia N82, I thought reasonable to have my old mobile sim unlocked to use on any network i scoured the net for a cheaper alternative than £20 which is what Orange change, but no luck. I did find one but they charge £20 for a one use application for an instant unlock code for my IMEI only, but i thought i might as well get it from orange since it costs the same and being reputable.

I called up Orange on the 27th of June to request the code, I pressed the numbers through to retentions not knowing what numbers to press since there was no option and retentions always pick up :P they tranferred me to India. Anywho i agreed to pay the £20 and thinking i was going to get it over the phone i was told it will arrive in the post in the next few days. I though damn i should have done it online.

Well i waited but nothing. I called up again > retentions> india, I was told that i did not give them the correct IMEI number so it did not go through. I asked them why they did not call me back would they have just left the situation until i called back? they said sorry. It has been put through again.

Waited Nothing >retentions asked what numbers to press for next time ( i anticipate this) but for this time they put me through> india. This time i was told that my phone was not an orange phone, where did i get it from? it cannot be unlocked. I got it through orange website delivered by post. I complain they say sorry. Again it was put through with new information, asked me for my email for immediate code when they get it.

(MON 14/07/08) waited > retentions (yeh the person gave me directions to retentions) > india. They say the same as the last person, this person then thinks she knows everything and goes off saying I have not been with Orange long enough to get my Phone unlocked, and that is why its refused, repeats it a few times. If that was the case then why wait this long to tell me? Anyway I have been with them for over 12 months i explain. I then explained what i thought may be relevant since clearly they have no information about my that i had me phone replaced twice during the 12 months in contract, and the IMEI number has changed (with replaced phone), I went on to explain it all etc. I was then told that i should have told them about it? Seriously? (I phoned up Orange about the problem you would think they would document it on my account) then she wrote down my phone life story and sent off the request again to call back on Friday if i have not received the code and the request has been sent "high priority!" oOoOoOo im going to get me code now!!!. (about an hour call this was)

(FRI 18/07/08)

retentions> India> Told that they have not receive a reply, and to call back on Wednesday. The obviously carelessly used meaningless "sorry" tossed at me a few times.

(Today)

This time i went to the option where i dont know how to use the internet on my phone or something its 1 for phone then 3-2-3-4. Which took me to Customer service located here i suppose since they also seemed to handle it > UK
I was told that the last person did not send off the request and now it had been done. I got the legendary "sorry" and now im writing it up here.

I don't know if im just being a pain is 1 Month not long to wait before i get annoyed?

(sorry if my spelling/grammar is bad)
fawcett
22-07-2008
just to let you no Indian call operators will only be dealing with pay as you go phones from orange as the contract operators are coming back to England

and all i can say is you have had a bad time but orange is a great company and Ur just unlucky
Niranjaniz
23-07-2008
I have no problem with the Call centre being located in India if it makes my contract cheaper then im all for it, but clearly there is a problem with them not handling my problem properly, thing is this is not even a problem with my current phone / contract/ service. I just want my OLD phone unlocked, if they kept the phones unlocked in the first place there wouldn't be a problem! There is no reason for locking a contract handset in my opinion. Then they charge me £20 for the privilege even after my contract is over on my phone.
Rotara
23-07-2008
you should've just walked into any high street independent phone shop. they all offer phone unlocking (it's the main part of their business these days) it would've been done while-you-wait and probably cost only a tenner. In fact I've seen it advertised for less.

Get your money back and walk up the road and get it done.

I tell you why Orange (and in fact ALL other UK carriers) lock their handsets. it's about protecting revenue.

One simple example is International Roaming. You know how much these companies make when you use your phone abroad? Millions. But not from me.

I usually get my handsets unlocked from day one and when I travel abroad I put in a local Pay as you go SIM. Ok so you have a foreign number, but at least you're not getting whacked everytime you make & RECEIVE calls.
prking
23-07-2008
Originally Posted by Rotara:
“...
I tell you why Orange (and in fact ALL other UK carriers) lock their handsets. it's about protecting revenue.....”

Except of course O2 and Vodafone who don't lock their contract handsets. (O2 haven't done for years and Vodafone stopped earlier this year)
Niranjaniz
24-07-2008
To conclude, Orange after a Month after a caled them told me that i cant have my old phone unlocked by them and to just use an Orange sim card, thanks Orange for the great service.
Adrenalyz
24-07-2008
Originally Posted by prking:
“Except of course O2 and Vodafone who don't lock their contract handsets. (O2 haven't done for years and Vodafone stopped earlier this year)”

IIRC o2 do lock their phones, it's just CPW sells unlocked ones with o2 contracts and PAYG.
Niranjaniz
24-07-2008
Originally Posted by Adrenalyz:
“IIRC o2 do lock their phones, it's just CPW sells unlocked ones with o2 contracts and PAYG.”

everyone in my family uses o2 except me ( i suppose if i stayed with o2 i wouldn't have made this thread) and none of the handsets have ever been locked were talking like 10 or so phones over the past years, from the beginning the o2 shop and then on online and have not been locked! not Carphone Warehouse!

Only phones that are locked are the o2 branded phones are locked like the XDA and the X series phones. I could be wrong, also some people have reported that their handsets are locked so I dont see why they would lie but thats my experience. I suppose they are probably exclusive to o2 phones at the time.
coopermanyorks
24-07-2008
Originally Posted by Adrenalyz:
“IIRC o2 do lock their phones, it's just CPW sells unlocked ones with o2 contracts and PAYG.”

02 contract phones are unlocked when supplied and have been for yonks

It matters not where you get it from , whilst 02 Payg is totally different
prking
25-07-2008
Originally Posted by Adrenalyz:
“IIRC o2 do lock their phones, it's just CPW sells unlocked ones with o2 contracts and PAYG.”

The only O2 phones which are locked are the iPhone, Pay as You Go and occasionally the O2 branded windows mobile. O2 also have very little branding on their phones.
Some of the heavily subsidised pay as you go phones sold at CPW are also locked. (When supplied in network packaging).
croyde
25-07-2008
I have had a long running problem with Orange which was solved very quickly when I came across this email address. Try it.

executive.office@orange.co.uk

Good luck
Niranjaniz
25-07-2008
Ill keep that email in mind with any future problems but for mine it was no hope i got my handset unlocked in a forum xda-developer by a user! charged me £16 which i paid via Paypal , a whole lot of trust which i went off his post count. Unlocked code was sent within 1 hour of payment.
Saigo
30-07-2008
Orange are absurdly bad.

Their website virtually never works - just says "we are experiencing issues" for months at a time. I want to investigate an upgrade but I can't because it won't work.

I emailed them but after 3 days got an automated reply saying that individual account quries are not answered - even though they had given me the option to email!

So I phoned.

After 20 minutes of listening to menus and trying to navigate myself to the correct option, I was put through to India. They then put me through to someone else who gave me a new password for the website.

It still doesn't work. He then said that it is the same for everyone and they don't know when/if it will be fixed.

So basically, such a large telecoms company, worth millions of pounds is happy to have a useless website. I have been with them 8 years and the website has worked about 3 times.

Arrrgrgrgrgrhhhh!

So the only way I can upgrade phone, check bundles, plans and minutes etc is to call them - which means half an hour of torture at least.

It is unbelievable how any accountable person has barricaded themselves behind useless beaurocracy - you just can't get through to complain!
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