A Letter of Complaint to Orange

Recently, in frustration I wrote the following letter. I am sharing this with you all so that if you have had similar experiences you can comment and perhaps Orange will read this and make changes, to improve the service they provide.

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to formally raise a complaint.

Whilst on holiday this year I went over my data limit, I knew this had happened and I accepted that I would incur an additional cost. I was on holiday from the 25th May to the 2nd June 2013.

My complaint, in part relates to this, but has many parts. I would like a response to each element of my complaint.

1.    Prior to going on holiday, I made sure I had sorted out a travel bundle and was aware that I could not go over 30 meg with out incurring additional charges. Whilst on holiday I received dozen's of texts which implied I hadn't set up a bundle, as a result I was so concerned my bundle wasn't in place I called Orange whilst on holiday, to check it was OK. It was. May I suggest that something is put in place to stop these automated messages which just cause alarm.

2.    On my return from holiday, I was extremely concerned I had gone over on my data. I called Orange again who advised that they couldn't see my data usage as yet as it was too soon, that I should check my account on-line and when it came in, it would show there. I was also told 'in cases like this, when you clearly stay within the rest of the week (referring to the limit on my bundle) they will often write it off' 'I wouldn't worry about it'. So I didn't worry, it seems, however, that I had every reason to.

3.    At this time, I was unable to log onto my account as there was a technical issue, this was logged to your IT people to resolve. I have intermittently had technical issues (at your end) for some time.

4.    Two weeks later, I tried to log in to my account and finally got in. I was horrified to see that I was going to be charged £772.00, so I called and spoke to someone called Glen. Glen did not listen to me, he just assumed I was calling to get out of paying the £772.00 and just kept saying if you used the data, you need to pay for it. Glen also said, showing no empathy for my situation at all, with a snigger, 'you could go on holiday again for that amount of money' I asked to speak to a manager, he flatly refused and told me I would get a call back in the next 24 hours and this was policy.

5.    I did not receive a call back in 24 hours, why not, if this is your policy, as emphasised repeatedly by Glen?

6.    So I called you again, this time I spoke to Suzy (I think in Darlington) who was very pleasant and listened to my query. I asked if there was a way I could see a breakdown of my data in my account, Suzy stated there wasn't but she could see it. Why can't the customer see this?

7.    Suzy said that if I wanted to see a breakdown of my data hard copies would have to be sent out. I find this hard to believe as Orange is a massive international company. At worst could you not scan it in and email me it?

8.    Suzy said her Manager, I think Emma, would call me back and would also send me hard copies of the data information.

9.    Suzy called me back, who said that Emma had interrogated the information and had found that I used 88 Megs of data on the 29th May in 7 minutes. Is this possible? I used my phone as a hotspot (Modem) for my laptop and downloaded one photograph on to the web. Why did it use 88 Megs of data, and how, when I am not sure that in 7 minutes I could do this at home using my wireless. How could this happen? Please provide a full explanation of the feasibility of this.

10. Emma has never called me, nor have I ever received the hard copies of my data use from you. Why not?

11. Later the same day (I think Friday 28th June 2013) I received a call from Mark, who was Glen's Manager. I asked Mark the following questions:

a.    Why doesn't your web site advise that using your phone as a hotspot has risk's associated with it.

                                  i.    Mark's response, at first was 'well everyone knows that'. I don't, how would I know? Mark agreed that he would talk to the Web team about this as maybe a change should occur on the website? Has it, or did Mark just say this to pacify me?

b.    I asked Mark to listen to the call between Glen and myself as I felt he had been difficult and extremely challenging.

                                  i.    Mark said he would try and listen and if he felt he behaved inappropriately he said he would take it on board

                                ii.    I asked what taking it on board meant - the phone cut off

                               iii.    Mark called me back, and I asked what taking it on board meant.

                               iv.    The phone cut off, Mark did not call me back,  so I am unsure what action would or will be taken. All I personally would like, regarding Glen's tone and what he said is an apology from anyone at Orange. The only person who has said sorry about anything is Suzy.

                                v.    Why did the phone cut off, twice?

12. In desperation to get a full written response I tried to contact you via your contact us and emailed you - I was delighted to get a message to tell me to check my account to see my response.

a.    The response said that they could see I had spoken to some one so I no longer needed a response. Were the notes on your system not full and accurate? None of my questions have been answered, and this is valuable time in my life I will never get back.

As I am sure you can see from my account, I have paid the £772.00, however, I would like this reviewed and I would like a full breakdown of how this money is broken down against the data used. I have never said that I would not pay this amount or that I didn't go over my data limit, but it is not un-reasonable to ask for a breakdown of how that money is spent, just as you would with any service.

I am hugely disappointed with the way that I have been treated by Orange and feel really unsupported.

As a result, I plan to end my contract as soon as possible. I have been a customer with you since the mid 1990's and encouraged my husband to use you too, he will be ending his contract too.

Please could you provide the costs for an early contract end for myself please.

In the spirit of transparency I intend to publish this letter on my blog - this can be found here www.howilikemycoffee.blogspot.com.

Please respond to this complaint via email - I would like this to be sent to my email address at MuddyNoSugar@Gmail.com, and also a hardcopy to my home address above.

I look forward to hearing from you, and still hope there is someway you can re-instate my faith in you once again.