Benni

When I bought the phone on contract I was told if it broke it would be replaced. As I've never damaged a phone in my life I never took insurance out and within a week of ownership the buttons broke. I took it back and was told I was offered insurance. This insulted me, and I said I wanted a new phone, like agreed. The button did work, but not very well, hard, and no click. I left with the phone and within a few days another button had gone the same. Then another. By now sending a text message was hard work and I was going to take it back, when the speaker broke. So I couldn't make a phone call because I had no speaker. I had to use the loud speaker. About a week ago they took the phone in and never replaced it, but took it away to be repaired. I also know when I bought I got told I would never be left without a phone. However, they claimed they don't do courtesy phones. So I was lied too. When I phoned up the store today, nobody has answered the phone.

I refuse to go into town again, because last time I went I got told I would need the box etc, which was wrong. I knew this, hence why I never took it. Anyway, I went home and got it and when I returned I got told it wasn't needed. Nice waste of a journey for me.

Surely if I am paying in a contract they can't leave me without a phone? By the way, this is the new flash C905 and a friend in college has had the same problems. I reccomend you avoid it. If I do go in the shop is there anything I can legally throw at them?

This has come at the worst time, I had just got chatting to an old School friend on facebook, and she is lovely. Properly getting into her and then I stopped texting and she's never online.

Cheers, Benni.

Benni

I finally got through and some bimbo told me it wasn't ready and will be another 7 days.

Benni.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Why not just put your sim card in an old phone if all you want is to be able to keep in contact with people.

Surely you must have a mate who can lend you an old mobile they dont need anymore.

That reminds me, must return the one Helen lent me ages ago when mine was fucked, lol

Ed1

I have never knew of anyone giving out a courtesy phone, they should fix it or replace it under warranty though!

I had insurance, cancelled it, then my phone broke, I got to wait till my contract needs renewing before i can do anything!

Benni

No-one I know is on Orange. Do you think if I return the box to the shop and cancel the Direct Debit will work? How long would my bad credit rating take to come through, LOL. I too hadn't heard of a courtesy phone, was the man in the shop who told me that. Anything for a sale I guess. Can you not reinsure it? LOL.

Benni.

Ed1

You dont have to have a phone on orange, for a tenner you can get it unlocked, if you get an ex contract fone it will except any sim!

I wudnt cancel the direct debit, you could ring orange up and tell them you are not happy and wish to cancel tho!

Benni

I'll do just that.. Must keep calm on the phone.

Benni.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Most o2 and vodafone older phones will work on any network.

Ive got an old orange phone I could have leant you, but im working away from home till the weekend, and then by the time I posted it to you, it would be time to get your other one back anyway.

Benni

Very nice of you to offer Chip, much appreciated. I think I am more annoyed that I had a cheap pay and go phone for ages. Stood on it, dropped it in the bath, ran over it etc and it never missed a beat. I buy this expensive contract phoned and nurse it, and it breaks. Old phones are the best. I've always said that.

Once again, thanks for such a kind offer. I can sweat it out, LOL.

Benni.

Ed1

My mates nokia n95 broke, he had insurance cover for it, he wanted a new phone, not his old one repairs, so he run it over with a tractor and trailer with 20 tonnes on board, he sent it off and told them it fell out of the tractor, they rung him up and told his it was un repairable as we don’t make the n95 anymore do you want a n96, he was well chuffed!

Benni

I'm surprised there was anything to give them after he did that to it. I would of been chuffed aswel. Nice one!

Benni.

Ed1

It was pretty flat so he told me, in about 10 piece's, he managed to put it in a bag and send it off!

I wuda been chuffed too, im not that keen on the N96 tho!

whosyadaddy

The end of the day it's NEW and has developed faults and not been damaged.

If it were me id be down the shop sorting it, you have to be calm but firm!

I'd tell them i want to cancel the contract and are looking to move business to a competitor as they have failed to provide the service requested regardless of insurance, also i'd want compensating for monies lost on line rental ect whilst the phone was out of service!

Benni

I did this and you won't believe me when I tell you. I said I will be at a loss and he said this is not our problem as we gave you your sim card back. I said a piece of plastic is no good without a phone. He then said, we do sell phones from as little as Ł20 to tie you over.

The nerve!

Chip

iTrader: (3)

TBH if they offered you a phone for 20 quid, then why didnt you just take it if not having one is a big deal?

You could have probably ebayed it for that much again after anyway!

cossie4i+

iTrader: (15)

I have never had one and still life goes on

Steve.

Benni

Not having one isn't the biggest deal. It's not having one I am paying for.

Benni.

RSandy

iTrader: (1)

if its within the 1st month, or possibly the 1st fortnight, your well within your rights to cancel the contract anyways dude, check your contract, it will have an opt-out clause.

plus, defo for the 1st 28days, your fone shud b covered by a direct new replacement if broken, and only after 28days will it b subject to inspection and repair

if you plan on stayin on orange with a posh phone, id defo recommend their insurance, its only a fiver a month, but it covers u for everything, accidental damage included. they get a replacement out to u next day, either morning, afternoon, or evening. in my 1st 18months with orange, i had 13 replacement sony erikson w880i's, and then they gave me the w910i as a replacement when that was an option, and i had 3 of them before my contract was up lol.

Benni

Thirteen replacements? I was told the cover was Ł11 a month? Thanks for the good advice.

Benni.

whosyadaddy

In That case when the phone comes back take it and shove it up the twats arse!

RSandy

iTrader: (1)

well 16 if u count the 3 w910i's i had before the 18months was up lol

iv just checked my bill, and the orange care works out at between 5 and 6 quid, and thats the full accidental damage insurance. i claimed for all sorts of stuff, sometimes even just cos i scratched it up bad and decided i didnt like it lol

little hint though, if u want a gauranteed no questions asked replacement, no matter the fault, say that it has developed a signal fault, keeps dropping calls, and u have tried switchin from 3G to 2G, and still no better. never fails to work

infact my new samsung is lookin a bit battered now..... lol

Chip

iTrader: (3)

You arent, you are paying to have an active sim card on their network, and to make and receieve calls.

I realise that you view the phone and the simcard as one item, but essentially they arent.

Benni

When I got the contract I was told I paid more a month because it was a top of the range phone. So technically, I am, am I not?

Benni.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Not based on how all the phone contracts ive seen are worded no.
I used to work writing customer care software for O2 so my comments are based on that, but I doubt orange is any different in how it views contracts.

Essentially the way the networks tend to view the phone/service thing is:

Phone costs you 200 quid, paid for with a loan, 20 quid a month for 12 months (the interest being the last 2)
Service costs you 25 quid a month, paid for monthly

And there you have your 45 quid.

If the phone is faulty, they will fix it, and will do so in line with the contract you have with them and implicitly obeying consumer rights laws etc, but they dont view it as the case that if you havent got a phone, you also dont have service, they still feel you are getting your 25 pounds a month worth, even if you dont have a phone to use it with.

Im not saying it makes any sense, but that tends to be what you have agreed to in that big long contract you signed without reading

(numbers there are purely examples, not intended to be accurate for your personal example)

Benni

The numbers aren't far off. Close, lol... I see what you mean and in my opinion it makes no sense at all. For them to assume giving me my Sim card back will do me the world of favours. Which it hasn't. I've been told to complain to orange and they will knock a percentage off my bill. If this happens I'll be happy.

Benni.

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Yes they will almost certainly do that, especially if you are a good customer.

On the customer care system I used to write, we actually assigned a value to the customer, that customer care agents were allowed to use to influence them in deciding how to treat you and how much money they could give you.

If your bill is large and you have been a customer long term etc, and especially if you are out of contract, then you can essentially just phone up about pretty much anything, have a bit of a moan, and be given some cash just to keep you happy

This was 10 years ago though, I dont know how different things are now, and Im fairly sure that system itself has been long since replaced, but I would expect there still to be similar in place.

Ed1

Would you not advise to get one of these phones?

I was lookin at getting one tonight!

Its a choice between the C905 and the C902

Ed1

Benni, did this phone have predictive text, alarm clock, vibrating alert?

gym-rst

If its a new phone and its not damaged but faulty then it will have warrenty with nokia ( I think thats what make you said yours was ) so get in touch with them.

I worked for orange for over 3 years and will never ever have another contract phone will only use pay as you go now and when my phone ( which has no insurance ) started switching off I got in touch with the o2 shop I got it from and they arranged for it to be sent back to manufactuer and picked another phone from them within a week. Mind u i did keep my old phone which i used for this week whilst it was away.

Iain Mac

Never mind warranty, insurance etc. The Sale of Goods Act stipulates that goods must be of "merchantable quality". A phone that develops a fault, never mind a whole string of them, within weeks is plainly not up to scratch and I'm sure you are entitled to reject the goods and demand a replacement or cancellation of the contract.

Google the Act for full info on your rights, or contact the CAB, then get back on to the phone shop armed with real powerful knowledge.

Benni

Googling the act now Iain, thanks. This phone has all of those Ed and much more. Really good phone when it works.

Benni.

Ed1

You sorted it yet benni?

olic1

My old blackberry was away for over a month!

They then decided they wouldn't repair it and gave me a brand new one instead


However, it was a nightmare to get it sorted initially!

When I took out the contract I was told I'd get a loan phone if anything went wrong with my phone and it would be a blackberry so I could still get push email, etc

When it came to it, the only phones they offered were basic nokia's, which although a little annoying as it wasn't what I was told initially, it wasn't a problem...

...If they had some! I contacted 4 different O2 stores, none of which had any loan phones in!

Benni

Well I recieved a phone call yesterday to tell me my phone would be at least 28 days. I said this was not acceptabled and I would be in the shop within the hour to give them the box back with all the peripherals as I wasn't going any longer without a phone. I went to the shop and told them I was going to take there initial advice and buy myself a new phone, but not from here. They told me if I did cancel the contract I would be black listed and would never get one again and would be without. I said if you can blacklist me before I can get over the road, I'll eat my hat.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was about to leave without the box when she phoned customer services and after a long conversation they came to the agreement that I could buy a phone for up to Ł30 and they would send me a cheque to compensate me for the purchase. I agreed with this and bought a Nokia 2610 which I should recieve a cheque for in the next 28 days.

Benni.

Benni

You have to laugh, a phone shop not having a phone. Well, at least you eventually got a new phone. I hope I do.

Benni.

Ed1

Sounds like your hard work payed off!

How long have you had the C905? I got one on friday as un upgrade on my contract, vodafone said, if you dont like it, it breaks with in two weeks you can send it back and they will replace it with anything you want!

Benni

I had, had mine 6 weeks mate. How are you finding it? I loved the camera on mine.

Benni.

Ed1

I am really liking it, All the stuff you can do with it, the missus has got one of those compact lappys, with bluetooth and all that jazz, you can use the fone as a modem to go on the internet on the lappy and stuff like that!

I havent really used the camera yet, I got a good camera so im not too fussed about that, but obviosly i will have my fone on me more than my camera so it will come in usefull!

Im still trying to work out how to play music off the memory card tho, i can only play music off the internal memory for some reason!

Benni

Not sure why? Mine worked off the memory card instantly. You noticed how you can turn the phone on Needforspeed?

Benni.

Ed1

No, whats that all about?