Orange Network...

[Balders]

Anyone else having trouble with Orange at the moment? it seems to have got steadily worse since they merged networks with T-mobile...

When people call me they go straight to answer phone even though my phone has full 3g signal (iphone4)... the other night it was showing full signal but was off the network for about 2 hours as when I phoned some one I then received a number of text msgs...

It's starting to get me in strife with the Mrs as she thinks I'm turning my phone off... :blush:

I'm interested if this is happening around the country or are they just picking on me..

Mike

[MikePimlott]

When my iphone 4 first got the message saying they had merged my reception went crap, a bit like your experiencing.
Then i got a Tmobile signal and a message saying congratulations youve received your first Tmobile signal.
I turned my phone off and back on and since then its been good

[Timee80]

you need to go on the website and opt in to use both the merged networks. This should sort you out, so ive been told

[peetbee]

I think it's probably just you Mike ;)
The one orange mobile we have has been fine but it's a basic payg not 3G, not sure if that's going to make a difference.

[Big G]

I gave up with Orange after my lengthy iphone4 arguments with them. Now I'm on 3 and happier than ever. Strong 3G signal almost everywhere I go and in a lot of places I didn't have an orange signal I have a couple of bars on 3.

[Balders]

I'd already signed up for the dual networks option and it's been working fine but that was months ago when they were testing it.. I've re signed up on the website now so will see how that goes..

Cheers chaps.. :)

[damselfly]

Anyone else having trouble with Orange at the moment? it seems to have got steadily worse since they merged networks with T-mobile...

When people call me they go straight to answer phone even though my phone has full 3g signal (iphone4)... the other night it was showing full signal but was off the network for about 2 hours as when I phoned some one I then received a number of text msgs...

It's starting to get me in strife with the Mrs as she thinks I'm turning my phone off... :blush:

I'm interested if this is happening around the country or are they just picking on me..

Mike

You're not on your own. I'm with Orange contract, and my Fiancee is on payg. She and my friends sometimes have to phone 2 or 3 times to get through to me as they often get sent to my voicemail regardless of my signal.
I'm also set up for roaming, in that when i'm out of Orange coverage my phone switches to T mobile. This often takes a couple of minutes to happen which is very poor.
The network is absolute wank, and frankly I can't wait until my 24 month contract is over.
Orange were excellent in the mid 90s, but now they're a laughing stock.:thumbdown::thumbdown:

[Megacrash]

You're not on your own. I'm with Orange contract, and my Fiancee is on payg. She and my friends sometimes have to phone 2 or 3 times to get through to me as they often get sent to my voicemail regardless of my signal.
I'm also set up for roaming, in that when i'm out of Orange coverage my phone switches to T mobile. This often takes a couple of minutes to happen which is very poor.
The network is absolute wank, and frankly I can't wait until my 24 month contract is over.
Orange were excellent in the mid 90s, but now they're a laughing stock.:thumbdown::thumbdown:


Agreed,

Ill be telling them foxtrot oscar when my contract expires in a few months!!

ill probably go to vodaphone for the 12month deals on the Iphone 4

[Dunc]

I've been having very similar issues with Orange too. First, sending and receiving text messages wouldn't work, then I realised incoming calls were being directed straight to answer phone and finally I ended up not even being able to make outgoing calls - all this with a decent signal!

I finally called customer service and was told to switch my phone into 2G only mode due to a supposed weak 3G signal in my area - funny how this never used to be an issue for me. This does seem to have solved my problems, but it's not a satisfactory way of doing it.

This has all occurred approximately since the Orange/T-mobile merger (and, yes, I have signed up for the signal sharing).

It's safe to say I shan't be renewing with Orange!

</rant>

[Big G]

Agreed,

Ill be telling them foxtrot oscar when my contract expires in a few months!!

ill probably go to vodaphone for the 12month deals on the Iphone 4

the iphone is due an update in a few months. might be worth just holding off starting a new contract just yet to see what the update is as it's not sure if it's the iphone5 or a sort of iphone4gs kinda upgrade.

[Chopster]

Same with orange for me, been with them for 8 years and recently (since they joined with T-mobile) it seems like they have reduced their signal.. I get exactly the same as the op, going to see this contract out then switch if nothing has improved..

[Colinevan]

Sounds daft but how many of you are using iPhone 4s ?

Reason I ask I'm on o2 and the signal around here appears to be less than it used to be when I had my iPhone 3G. The mrs who also has an iPhone 4 on 3 has noticed reduced signal.

I love my iPhone however it appears to offer reduced signal capabilities.

Just a thought.

Col.

[Balders]

Yeah I'm on a 4, it did it again on yesterday and I missed a call from work because of it...

Mrs doesn't get on hers and she's with o2...

[Big G]

mine on 3 seems to have a decent signal most of the time. randomly at work it'll drop it's signal and find it again usually when I goto text on my desk, but could just be the dodgy signal in the countryside

[Mike Hudson]

signal on my blackberry on orange has gone :thumbdown: since the tmobile merge, on my wits end with them now as only manage on average a 2-5min call before I get cut off yet still both phones in the call have ok reception and end up recalling them about 10 times before I totally give up. Going to go in later today and speak to them as I'm fed up with the lack of signal just everywhere in general and the time it takes to refind signal is very poor, takes a few minutes as other people have said above... :(

[pro4nut]

signal on my blackberry on orange has gone :thumbdown: since the tmobile merge, on my wits end with them now as only manage on average a 2-5min call before I get cut off yet still both phones in the call have ok reception and end up recalling them about 10 times before I totally give up. Going to go in later today and speak to them as I'm fed up with the lack of signal just everywhere in general and the time it takes to refind signal is very poor, takes a few minutes as other people have said above... :(

Go into network options and switch to 2G only mode or 3g only. When your phone network shares it uses 3G for orange and 2G for T-Mobile, this is in the small print when you opt in for network share. When a phone is in a border between the two it will be switching between 3g and 2g modes which involve disconnecting and reconnecting with the network everytime the signal drops off. Hence yours and others issues.

[960rc]

I had a nokia 5880 on orange no probs for years even with switch over to t- mobile, since upgraded to a iPhone 4 and now have problems with signal. Wife uses iPhone 3GS on orange with no issues. I also have a blackberry on vodafone and it's proper shit signal

[dodgydiy]

i have had problems with orange going strait to answerphone when in good signal, it turned out to be my phone which was causing the problem, using my previous phone it was working fine. signal has improved in my area and coverage is now much better than it was, orange are really pissing me off with all the advertising texts they are sending out though

[pro4nut]

i have had problems with orange going strait to answerphone when in good signal, it turned out to be my phone which was causing the problem, using my previous phone it was working fine. signal has improved in my area and coverage is now much better than it was, orange are really pissing me off with all the advertising texts they are sending out though

Advertising texts are an opt in opt out service. Call them and ask to opt out

[stoff]

Bear in mind that the only signal you will receive on merged providers will be a phone signal. No 3G etc so if you're using an internet phone and it jumps over to Orange or TMobile from your main provider it will be a bit useless.

[PaulRotheram]

Yep the signal is gash! Had my orange contract with my ip4 since release day of the phone and never really had any issues.
Then the numptys merge with the worst company they could and screw over their own customers.

I went straight to phones 4 u, had my contract bought out and took out a vodafone contract.. Best signal and speeds I've used in a long while!

[pro4nut]

Bear in mind that the only signal you will receive on merged providers will be a phone signal. No 3G etc so if you're using an internet phone and it jumps over to Orange or TMobile from your main provider it will be a bit useless.


not quite right, when you switch to the other network it will use gprs

[Megacrash]

Yep the signal is gash! Had my orange contract with my ip4 since release day of the phone and never really had any issues.
Then the numptys merge with the worst company they could and screw over their own customers.

I went straight to phones 4 u, had my contract bought out and took out a vodafone contract.. Best signal and speeds I've used in a long while!


can you explain how you did the contract bought out?

im more than willing to do this!

[Ross]

can you explain how you did the contract bought out?

im more than willing to do this!

You pay for the rest of your contract Brian, ie 10 months at £10 a month = £100, there may also be an admin fee, not sure on that part.

[Megacrash]

You pay for the rest of your contract Brian, ie 10 months at £10 a month = £100, there may also be an admin fee, not sure on that part.

ah i thought me meant it was bought out for him, as im sure they used to buy contracts out so you would join another network

i guess that means ill have to keep complaining until i get somewhere with orange :thumbdown:

[Big G]

Buy outs are your remaining months without VAT mind.

The Mrs foolishly accepted a iphone4 deal yesterday from orange which was £45/month with the phone for free. I look online and it's the same deal (well the phone is £30 online, but you get 600 more mins) even though Orange told her it was an exclusive deal for her for being a customer for 10 years.

So we call up today saying we don't want £45/month we want to swap to £35/month and we will pay the £129 for the phone. can't do that. we have to return the phone at our own cost insured and all that. Then Orange will send out another phone.

So that's expense for us to send it back and then more expense for orange to send another identical phone out. It's seriously fucked up. Why they can't just take £129 from us now and change our tariff on their system is completely beyond me. It really can't be that hard to do. They will change your tariff to a higher one at the drop of a hat!

Orange CSR is going on about how the phone can't be re-sold now. Even though it is still shrink wrapped! I seriously don't get it. Even when I said to them, if you can't do this now and take our money we WILL be leaving your network in 2 1/2 months and joining another network. After 22 years (combined me and the mrs) of being Orange customers you won't do a single thing for us.

In the end I got Orange to credit the Mrs's account with the cost of returning the phone and she will leave the network soon. Likely to move to 3 which I'm on who will do £30/month and £99 for the phone.

[pro4nut]

Nice and simple, the offer you found online is offered by a differant branch of the company to the one that made the offer to you. The one that made the offer to you is the customer retentions team. Both departments have to buy there stock from the distribution arm of the business. So by asking to switch to the online deal you are doing the same as asking to switch networks, therefore you return the phone to the 'company' that you purchased it from so you can buy it from somewhere else.
This is the same as buying a TLR 22 from DMS and asking JEspares for the refund when you then decide you don't want it. Product is the same the retailer is differant.
All mobile phone companies operate like this, the retail, upgrade, retentions, online and direct teams all have to compete against each other for sales with there own targets and there own supply of stock. This is done to encourage sales people to push to close the deal themselves.
I am not saying this is right or wrong but it is how it works.

Mobile phones cannot be resold once they have been taken by a customer even if returned in mint condition. The company that sells and accepts the return must pay the cost of refurbishing the handset and will not able to resell it. The phone must be reformatted and wiped IN CASE it contains sensitive data which is a government regulation. So when you buy a phone and return it when it has no fault you have just cost the network £250+ considering you as a customer will generate an average profit to the network of £30 a year you are now no longer worth keeping as a customer as it will take another 8 years to cover the cost of the handset you returned.
Again not nice news and i don't like it but again i thought you might like to know, feel free to ask any questions i'm happy to work in a very differant field these days.

[Big G]

We're quite happy to keep this phone which has never been touched, but Orange can't/won't do the easy thing.

All the time harping on about how they can't do any discounts on the iphone4, yet 1 department managed to drop the £30 handset cost and halve the minutes... why can 3 and Tesco offer MUCH better deals than Orange/O2/Vodaphone?

We haven't cost Orange £250. What are they doing to do. Open the factory shink wrapped phone to format a phone which has never been touched? Again they've gone mental lol.

Nevermind. The Mrs will have a much better customer services experience with 3 just like I have for the last 3 months :)

[Ross]

Am i miss understanding this,If it costs £250 every time someone sends a phone back withIn the 7 day return policy, they would go bust, especially if they only make £30 a year :cry:.

Doesn't sound like good business to me ;).

[pro4nut]

We're quite happy to keep this phone which has never been touched, but Orange can't/won't do the easy thing.

All the time harping on about how they can't do any discounts on the iphone4, yet 1 department managed to drop the £30 handset cost and halve the minutes... why can 3 and Tesco offer MUCH better deals than Orange/O2/Vodaphone?

We haven't cost Orange £250. What are they doing to do. Open the factory shink wrapped phone to format a phone which has never been touched? Again they've gone mental lol.

Nevermind. The Mrs will have a much better customer services experience with 3 just like I have for the last 3 months :)

You have cost them the price of the phone as they can't sell it as new and have to send it for reflash, fact. Its a trading regulation in this country that mobile companies have to abide by. So i'm sorry to say your now bad business to them.

3 and Tesco source there stock on the grey market so they have cost flexibility.

The other networks all agreed deals with Apple which ensure the phones are sold at a fairly fixed price, they also dictate seperate tarifs for the i phone to ensure a premium brand image and again to ensure Apple customers pay more.

Part of the origanol o2 deal was a condition that a seperate tarif structure was brought into place to charge I phone customers more as a cut had to go to Apple. The handsets also could only be sold at the agreed price as stated by Apple.

I worked in this industry for a long time and a few other guys on here can validate that i know what i'm talking about.

[pro4nut]

Am i miss understanding this,If it costs £250 every time someone sends a phone back withIn the 7 day return policy, they would go bust, especially if they only make £30 a year :cry:.

Doesn't sound like good business to me ;).

There is no 7 day return policy. When i worked for a particular network we NEVER cancelled and only exchanged if the product was faulty.

And as far as 'they would go bust' A mobile network has a typical ARPU (average revenue per user) of £30 per year. So yes margin is tight, to the point where one mobile phone network has made EVERY shop manager redundant come this April. Its a cut throat industry where you can earn big money, but the customer never wins believe me no deal is as good as you think it is.

[PaulRotheram]

ah i thought me meant it was bought out for him, as im sure they used to buy contracts out so you would join another network

i guess that means ill have to keep complaining until i get somewhere with orange :thumbdown:

Sorry for the late reply, forgot about this thread! Yes my contract was completely bought out by phones 4 u.
I had 5 months left on my contract at orange, and phones 4 u bought the entire contract out. They even rang orange for me to cancel my policy for me, hand the money over and no issues.

They were more than helpful, the idea with this was they would prefer to secure me for another contract length and buy out my policy to do that as they are getting money from me either way.
I'm now on vodafone, signal is superb, and the 3G speed is amazing. Apparently orange has a speed of 4.something odd, and vodafone have 7+ (unsure on the units used) and it definitely shows!

Only thing I'm missing from orange is orange Wednesday's, however I'm sure I'll get around that...

From doing what I have, I gained 60 quid due to my phone trade in, and I'm now on a lower tariff and enjoying signal and speed everywhere.

You can only ask and be turned down.. Being cheeky gets you everywhere with these people :)

[Balders]

I think I'm going to change over to Vodafone, I've been with orange for over 10 years but in this game loyalty does not get you anywhere.

Talking to Orange they either deny there is a problem or tell me to turn my phone off and back on again as they've carried out a sim update.

[damselfly]

I think I'm going to change over to Vodafone, I've been with orange for over 10 years but in this game loyalty does not get you anywhere.

Talking to Orange they either deny there is a problem or tell me to turn my phone off and back on again as they've carried out a sim update.
I think I'm going to change over to Vodafone, I've been with orange for over 10 years but in this game loyalty does not get you anywhere.

Talking to Orange they either deny there is a problem or tell me to turn my phone off and back on again as they've carried out a sim update.

It's a wonder if you can converse with an advisor who's capable of speaking decipherable English.
Approx 80% of the time I call ( after a 5 min + wait listening to crap music ) I invariably get greeted by an Indian operative, or somebody else of an ethnic origin who is completely inept.
When it comes to billing issues though, you're guaranteed to speak to a UK operator.
Have you noticed that message indicating; " we're receiving a very high number of calls ". They seem to receive a very high number of calls whether it be 3am, 5am, 11pm, or anytime of the day/night.
They're liars, incompetent, and provide a real shit service, until you're slightly late in paying your bill of course, then they're really swift.

[Kash]

You have cost them the price of the phone as they can't sell it as new and have to send it for reflash, fact. Its a trading regulation in this country that mobile companies have to abide by. So i'm sorry to say your now bad business to them.

3 and Tesco source there stock on the grey market so they have cost flexibility.

The other networks all agreed deals with Apple which ensure the phones are sold at a fairly fixed price, they also dictate seperate tarifs for the i phone to ensure a premium brand image and again to ensure Apple customers pay more.

Part of the origanol o2 deal was a condition that a seperate tarif structure was brought into place to charge I phone customers more as a cut had to go to Apple. The handsets also could only be sold at the agreed price as stated by Apple.

I worked in this industry for a long time and a few other guys on here can validate that i know what i'm talking about.

Your spot on there i've also been in the industry over 10 years too so i have a small understanding of it all.