Since then, I've had quite a few problems with my phone dropping connections, and failing to register with networks. "SIM card registration failed" became a common sight on the screen. I spoke to Orange about it, and all they could say was "sorry, but we can't guarantee service on foreign networks", which is fair enough. Oh, the name of the foreign network I was trying to connect to? Orange NL.
Meanwhile, I returned home yesterday to find my very first Orange bill waiting for me. I ripped it open, my fingers trembling in excitement. Joy! I'd been charged for calls to their customer service number, where they regularly kept me on hold for an average of 30 minutes. My personal favourite is one call that was 46 minutes long and cost over £27. In total, something like £130 of charges for the pleasure of listening to their hold music.
A wise person at this point might ask why I didn't just call back at less busy times: I've called at times ranging from 6am to 11pm, and I have not yet found a less busy time.
I was just talking to a very helpful guy at Orange, but I got cut off. I'm now listening to the hold music again while I wait to get through the queue to one of their customer service representatives. I wonder if they are billing me for the calls to dispute my bill?
Update: I spoke to a different guy, who says he can credit back 4 of the calls (about half of the amount) but that was it. If I didn't accept I could write in to complain, but I might end up getting less or even no refund. Excellent way to win over your customers, Orange.
Posted by savs at September 1, 2006 2:28 PM