1. DanielJUK's Avatar
    btw just to tell you if you get a mobile phone in the UK you have 14 days from all shops to return the phone and cancel if you are unhappy with it. Also in the UK all mobile phones have a 12month warranty even with out insurance. The warranty covers manufacture faults but not if you water damage or drop it. if you have a faulty phone they have to provide another under warranty or try to repair it. however it does not have to be a brand new phone, you could get a refurbished one. in my case I just wanted a working model again whatever!
    04-01-10 08:51 AM
  2. Snazy's Avatar
    Right, just got off the phone to them, and will be cancelling the 6 contracts I have with Orange just as soon as I can.

    Still no word back from RIM, still not willing to replace it, as they insist its a RIM account issue so my SIM wont work in another handset.... Even though its working fine in my other Blackberry NOW !!

    I am absolutly disgusted, gutted and pissed off that its turned out like this. But with the situation as it is, im 100% sure that replacing the handset WILL at least get my services back up and running. But having the network being so set in their ways, I dont feel I have any other choice but to leave them now.
    I have given them 8 days now, it will be 2 weeks by the end of Easter, and they have said themselves that if RIM come back and say its NOT their fault, Orange will more than likely want me to run through some alternative diagnostics before considering replacing it.

    Am I being unreasonable here ?
    04-01-10 09:52 AM
  3. Snazy's Avatar
    Cheers Daniel, sounds like you had a nightmare too, glad its not only me. I would not care what they gave me if they would just take damn ownership of the problem, admit its a fault and give me another 9700 to use.
    He tried to tell me that contractually they are NOT in breach as they are still providing me a GSM service. !

    Sick and tired of wasting my time on this matter now, and just want rid of it, but they wont even let me send them the handset back! What the heck is that about!
    04-01-10 09:55 AM
  4. DanielJUK's Avatar
    Snazy when it happened to me I posted about it online on social networking etc and a lot of friends with bb's had similar network connection problems at sometime being a bb customer. So believe me we are not the only person that this has happened too! I think the problem is that when there is problems they are really complicated on the network! Don't give up! if that phone is under 12 months old and is not fit for its purpose I think you could argue they legally should give you working model. They have an obligation to make it work. Good luck I hope it turns out well in the end!
    04-01-10 12:46 PM
  5. Snazy's Avatar
    Cheers mate.
    I have not spoken to anyone I know who has had an identical problem as me, but others have had similar, but were resolved quickly.

    To summarise my confusion, its a little like this.

    Handset stops sending/receiving data, GSM function is fine.
    A couple of days of useless diagnostics later and its escalated to network. A couple of days later they say its not them. Escalate it to RIM. I dont know the in's and out's of RIM fully so cant say its impossible its their doing, BUT....

    Orange tell me its a RIM issue. I say the SIM works fine in my other handset, as do BOTH my online accounts, I can set either up on my 8520, but neither function on the 9700. Im told its a PIN issue with the phone. Which in my eyes makes it a solvable problem by replacing the handset.... Orange say NOT!
    I try and explain that I can use my other PIN on both accounts, but agent insists that replacing the handset will NOT solve the issue. I disagree. I point out again that I can already use an alternative handset on both accounts, so clearly a replacement WILL work. He diagrees, trying to explain it does not work like that.

    I get the impression he does not have much knowledge of what he is talking about and fumbling his way through it. When I tell him I am considering leaving he tells me he will tell business planning about this, so they can avoid the same situation for others in the future....... ERRM !! Is that meant to make me feel better!

    Fine, if they want to lose over �2k of revenue a year because of poor practises, that is their decision. All I wanted was a working phone! Clearly too much to ask.
    04-01-10 01:12 PM
  6. Snazy's Avatar
    My latest blog entry says it all. If anyone is feeling helpful and wishes to pass the link on to others so it gets told to a wider audiance, please feel free to.

    A day in the life of....: My experience with Orange UK customer services
    04-01-10 02:25 PM
  7. Branta's Avatar
    Your report seems to confirm there is no fault in the phone (hardware) or your account. It has to be a blocked PIN. The only other test would be to have another BB user test it onto his account - thus proving it is not tied to a single SIM or customer account. However I think that would be unlikely to influence Orange, source of many billing sharp practices and owner of the worst customer service reputation in the UK phone majors.

    Now you understand one of the reasons I will not do business with Orange, never again. The concept that they are only required to provide base GSM is a bullet in the foot for Orange - I guess somebody doesn't understand that you pay extra for the BlackBerry service, and that service is a critical part of the contract, the only reason for the contract and without which the entire contract is worthless.

    ISTM you have prepared your position reasonably well for a breach of contract termination. Remember, once one party has breached the contract you may be able to consider it no longer exists, so you might not have to give notice of termination (although it would be polite to do so) or pay any early termination. Keep all your notes including time wasted, and be ready to call their bluff. I have a feeling you will be moving to either O2 or Vodafone depending who offers the most suitable package.

    I don't know how you rate your time, but considering my car dealer has just quoted almost �70/hour for the services of a monkey who left the oil filler loose last time he worked on the car... You may have a valid claim to be compensated adequately for your wasted time on this wild goose chase as well as for service not provided.
    04-01-10 07:26 PM
  8. Snazy's Avatar
    The only network I would entertain now is Voda. Billing issues with O2 years back left me scarred and uninterested in them, and have been a Tmob customer before, so makes sense to go with something new.
    However I cant be sure I will move. While walking the dogs and getting some fresh air last night and reflecting on it all, I realised that this is one issue with Orange in 6 years. And as big as it is, its still the first real problem I have had with them. I have some good loyalty deals etc, so leaving will be a hard decision. Other reason its a tough choice is the fact that all the service plans end all on different dates, spread over months and months. So it will be a messy transition too.

    For the time being, the phone has had the battery taken out and have thrown it in a drawer. I am honestly SICK of the sight of it now. Actually makes me start getting mad looking at it.
    My slightly different angle of attack if I decide to stay will be as follows. The only people I have spoken to who give a damn are retentions. The ones charged with retaining customers, especially those with 6 lines. One of the contracts is up for renewal in the next week or 2. So the plan is let orange do what the heck they want about repairing or replacing my phone, and when its done, speak to the Exec offices to get my money back for calls and my time wasted on it all, then speak to retentions about convincing me to remain with Orange. The buck stops with them now.

    One thing for sure is, if I take one contract, I will take them all. so its a very simple choice for them.

    I am sure that is all it can be too now, a PIN block, if Orange knew what they were talking about they would realise that with the situation as it is, with the SIMs working in anything but my 9700, replacing the handset would work fine!

    Oh well, I am just going to enjoy Easter off work, get out with the dogs and on the bike and forget about this the best I can. Lets just see what happens. The ball is in their court now. I am yet to see if I get a response from my letters to Orange.

    Cheers for the replies
    04-02-10 03:34 AM
  9. Snazy's Avatar
    Right, holidays are over in the morning, lets see if Orange will be getting back to me during that day, or if the clock will just keep ticking.
    04-05-10 10:38 AM
  10. IrocD's Avatar
    subscribed. =)
    04-05-10 10:52 AM
  11. zmenchhofer's Avatar
    SNazy,

    I feel your pain! I was an AT&T wireless customer for 15 Yrs and then i went down a road like yours, finally i dropped AT&T and went to a carrier that gave a damn!

    GO BIG RED :-p
    04-05-10 01:33 PM
  12. Snazy's Avatar
    Cheers man, its saddening, I have everything the way I like it, and even have an upgrade available to me RIGHT NOW. Part of me thinks, get another 9700 on the upgrade, get back to using that til the other one is repaired.

    Other part of me thinks, what if this breaks too, then I have 2 useless contracts and 9700s.

    Cancelling everything will be a royal PITA, but if it needs doing im not afraid to.
    Just hope and pray that something positive will be said by the end of the week. Otherwise its plug pull time if I can. (I know I have said it before)

    I have used T-Mob and O2 before and was not happy with either, so the only option would be Voda, but Orange (or Satsuma as I now call them, seeing as they are seedless!!) have the best 3G in the UK.
    04-05-10 01:48 PM
  13. Snazy's Avatar
    Well, the whole matter started on thhe 25th of March, and finally today 13th April, Orange UK have finally agreed to replace the handset to "see if that works"

    Fingers crossed
    04-13-10 04:53 AM
38 12
LINK TO POST COPIED TO CLIPBOARD