Max says…

By my reckoning, my current contract is nearly up which means I should be eligible for a free phone upgrade.  I phoned a week ago to find out if that was the case and was told that yes, my contract was due for renewal in a few months so I could renew it and get a free phone upgrade on 15 November.

I phoned up earlier today to try and arrange this, and was told that I would have to pay £150 for the phone I wanted (the Nokia N95) since my contract was apparently due for renewal in August of next year.  Contrary to my memory and my phone bill, Orange insisted that my contract was for two years.  In order to get out of this I would need to buy out the contract or go back to the shop I originally purchased the phone from and get written confirmation of my contract period.

This would be pointless.  The only signed document I have was for the initial 12 month contract over three years ago.  Since then all renewals and upgrades have been done through the Orange web site.  Two of the three representatives I spoke to were most unhelpful and bordering on being down right rude.  However, I have been a loyal Orange customer (both PAYG and contract) for over five years now and for the most part the customer service has been fine.  After 40 minutes of what seemed like haggling on the phone we eventually reached a compromise.

Unfortunately this experience has left me disappointed with Orange and I shall have to seriously consider switching providers should this performance be repeated in the future.