I have been trying to sort out a problem that my mum has been having since she got her iPhone4 on a contract with Orange six months ago. It will not receive any mobile data, despite the hefty sum she pays monthly for her plan, which includes 500mb data.
As she is not very tech savvy, I have been trying endlessly to get Orange to fix the issue. To date, I have called at least 20 times, each time explaining the whole situation. Every person, without fail, has suggested the same solution, which works for an hour or so until her data drops out again, never to return. I have also been trying to reclaim some of the money she has paid for a service that she has been unable to use. I have been hung up on at least three times when suggesting this.
My most recent conversation involved a gentleman named Shakeel, assuring me that he was the genius that would solve all my problems. He then put me on hold for 15 minutes and then hung up! I'm now losing the will to live. AB, Billericay, Essex
You can't open a newspaper, or go very far at the moment, without seeing an ad for EE, the company that Orange has become following its merger with T-Mobile. The problem is, the customer service operation, in your case, did not match the firm's marketing promises. Sadly, your experience of phoning customer services 20 times to no effect is extreme, but not uncommon.
EE/Orange is our most complained about mobile provider and, in the Ofcom customer service satisfaction report 2013, Orange came bottom among the major providers.
Happily for you, the press office has now sorted out the problem. A replacement handset has been sent to your mother and a £45 credit applied to her account. EE has apologised, and you are relieved and (hopefully) won't have to phone EE again for some time.
Other readers considering switching supplier, take note.
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