The living hell of Orange broadband is detailed in this painful, excruciating day by day account.
i've reproduced it in full below:
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For anyone who's already read my brief synopsis of my completely unsatisfactory dealings with Orange, I have reproduced the whole sorry saga below.
I'm sorry for the length of this but I really DO need to let people know just what they can expect if they sign up to use Orange Broadband. Today is 17/04/07 and the issue is STILL not resolved.
Here goes:
Monday 2nd April 2007
Came in from work, tried to connect to Internet, no connection. Tried a few times, no connection. Also tried it on other computer - same thing.
Waited an hour or so later, still no connection from either PC. Decided it was down for the night.
Tuesday 3rd April
5.00pm - tried to connect to Internet, still no connection. Disconnected 3Com wireless router and tried to connect using my SpeedTouch modem. Got 0721 "failed to connect to remote computer". Same thing on both machines. Disconnected modem, tried again with wireless router. Internal wireless network OK, all machines communicating with each other, but no Internet connection !!
5.20pm - called broadband "technical support" after going through all the automated messages; "press 1 for this, press 2 for that", excruciating LOUD music played whilst on hold etc, finally got through to someone with a foreign accent (India I presume). Explained the problem to him.
He went through all the tier-1 tech stuff, "is it plugged in, are the two modem lights steady green" etc. I explained I worked in tech support myself and had already gone through all the troubleshooting diagnostics and was convinced the problem was an external one, and not anything to do with my modem, PC etc.
He INSISTED on making me reinstall my SpeedTouch modem drivers, even though I explained that the problem existed on both PCs so it was definitely not the drivers. I got the whole impression he was just not listening to what I was saying. To humour him I reinstalled the modem drivers and guess what? It still didn't work (surprise, surprise). He then went through all my settings (username, password etc.) none of which had changed since it was last working. Each time I got the 0721 error when trying to connect.
After 35 minutes he said "I think it must be an external problem" which is exactly what I had told him at the start of the conversation. He said I would "need to call back later" as he would report it and they were going to carry out some tests. He told me to call in about half an hour.
6.30pm - I called again and after the usual 10 minutes spent going through the menus, being on hold etc. I got through to another "technician" in India. He said he couldn't do anything as their own system was down and he asked ME to call back in about an hour!
6.45pm - I called customer "services" rather than "technical support" as I hoped to be able to speak to someone English who would hopefully understand me and tell me what was going on!
I got through to someone in India, explained the problem (AGAIN!) and asked what they were going to do about it. He said he couldn't help because he wasn't a technician. I said the "technicians" couldn't help either! At this stage I felt it was a customer services issue, to report the absolutely appalling level of service and to ask how they were going to compensate me.
I asked to speak to the Supervisor or Manager and the operator refused to put me through !! I was incredulous at this stage and asked him for his name, which he refused to give me. I said to him "are you telling me you are refusing to help me, and refusing to put me through to your superior?" and he said "Yes".
I was livid at this stage and I demanded to be connected to the manager. After being left on hold for 10 minutes I eventually got through to the manager and, after a lengthy conversation, was promised £80.00 in compensation (I'll believe it when I see it). However that wasn't what was important - the important thing was getting my broadband connection restored.
The manager then said he would put me through to tech support who would arrange for a line test as it had been established that the problem was external.
I got through to tech support, reported the fault (after being told to reinstall my modem drivers etc.). They said they would arrange a line test and I would have to call back to see what the result was.
Wednesday 4th April
Came in from work at 4.30pm - still no Internet !! I called "technical support", went through the usual rigmarole and got through to someone in India !! I said who I was, gave my username, password, BT landline number etc and asked for the current status of the problem I reported yesterday. They had NO RECORD of me having reported any problem so I had to explain the whole story again, several times having to repeat myself as the operator's command of English was not very good. He told me to reinstall my modem drivers !!!!! I said to him "aren't you listening to me? It is NOT my modem drivers, it's an external problem and I am calling for the result of the line test!". He said "oh, I think we'll have to do a line test, can you call back tomorrow?". SCREAM!
Thursday 5th April
Called again at 2.30pm while I was at work. Got connected to an Indian call centre and had to repeat THE WHOLE THING again from scratch. Was told a line test would have to be done and it would take 3-5 working days !!! Bearing in mind I had already had no broadband connection for four days and tomorrow was the start of the Easter bank holiday weekend, this meant I was looking at another 5 days before my connection would be restored !!
I demanded to be put through to someone who could tell me what was going on. After being kept on hold for ages (the hold music is so loud you cannot keep the phone to your ear) I eventually spoke to someone who said that the downtime had occurred as a result of my being migrated over to a new LLU system that meant I would have faster and more efficient connections!! I said it was hardly faster and more efficient if it didn't have any connection at all. He went through the pre-programmed, automatic response of "I can only apologise for the inconvenience you have experienced".
I resigned myself to having no broadband connection over the whole of the Easter weekend. I OK'd it with my boss to be allowed into the office (at Sunderland, 15 miles away) if I needed to use the Internet. This is a MAJOR inconvenience because:
(a) I am doing a Postgraduate Computing certificate with the Open University and I cannot access the OU web site, which is a crucial part of my course. I have my final exam on 25 April and I cannot access my course materials for revision !!!
(b) I pay a monthly subscription to some of the web sites I access, e.g. Safari Books Online is an on-line library resource and I pay £6.00 a month, also £20.00 for 3-months' subscription to BoxedArt.com, which is a library of web and Flash templates.
So I am paying to access something I cannot access, all through no fault of my own!!
Tuesday 10th April
Came in from work at 4.30pm - no Internet access !!!
I called "technical support" to ask what the status was, explaining it was now nine days I had been without any service. He asked me to reinstall my modem drivers !!!!! At this point I started ranting at him and explained v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y that it was NOT a problem with the equipment, it was an external problem and they were supposed to be doing a line test and I was calling to see what the status was.
He then said "I see you pay £30.00 a month and have the starter broadband package". I asked him what on earth that had to do with anything, and he said "You haven't called the right number!".
I was completely baffled at this and said that this was the number I had been calling all along and no-one else told me it was the wrong number. He repeated "You are on the starter package and this is not the right number, I cannot help you". (SCREAM!)
At this point I asked him what number I SHOULD be calling and he started to reel off a number. I said "Is this a premium rate number?" and he said "Yes". I was extremely annoyed at this and asked why I should pay 50p a minute to speak to Orange about a problem of THEIR creation and he just kept repeating, like a broken record, "you are on the 30 pound starter package and my colleague told you on 4th April that you had to call the different number". I assured him that his colleague had told me no such thing. He said "it says in the log that you were told to ring this other number". I said "are you calling me a liar?". He repeated, maddeningly, "you are on the 30 pound starter package and you have to call...." I hung up on him.
5.10pm - I called the Orange shop where I had bought the phone and the Canary broadband package and they confirmed they were open until 5.30pm. I packed my phone, charger, etc. into its original box, picked up my contract and went to the shop. I was fully prepared to hand my phone back, cancel the contract and cancel my direct debit. I know I am tied into an 18-month contract, but contracts work both ways and Orange are already in breach of contract for failing to provide the service I am paying for.
I spoke to the branch manager of the Orange shop, explained that I had already had nine days without any broadband access and made six calls to the so-called "technical support", and I was no further forward. I told him I would cancel the contract if something was not done about it TODAY.
He got someone on the phone (in England, hooray) and I spoke to a lady called Terri Maddison in the Tyneside office. She explained that the problem was due to a "system failure" and was in no way my fault - it was entirely Orange's fault. At last, an admission of what I already knew! She said it would be a simple problem to fix and she would call me back later.
I made a note of her name and extension number (60623) and left the Orange shop at 5.50pm.
6.10pm - Terri Maddison called me back and said she was going to speak to one of the engineers but that they only worked 9-5 so it would be tomorrow before she could call me back. She said she had pencilled it into her diary to call the engineer at 11.20am but she would then call me back "within the hour" (i.e. before 12.20pm).
Wednesday 11 April
No call from Terri Maddison before 12.20pm. In fact it was 3.23pm before she called me back (but at least she did). She asked if my broadband was working yet and I said I didn't know, because I was not at home. I told her I got in from work at 4.30pm, so she said she would call me at 4.45pm and go through a few settings with me. She said the problem had been "fixed" at their end.
At this point it all sounded very hopeful that my connection would be restored. I got in the house at 4.30pm, switched on my router and PC and..... no connection !!!!!!!!!
4.45pm - no call back from Terri Maddison
5.00pm - no call back from Terri Maddison. I then decided to call the number she had given me. I asked for her extension and was told that this was at the "other call centre" and they couldn't transfer me. I said that I couldn't understand this because this was the number I had been given by Terri Maddison herself. I was told to call the other call centre and given another number.
5.05pm - I called the number I had been given, asked for extension 60623 and was told it was at the other call centre and they couldn't put me through !! I was incredulous and said that I had just been given this number and that is why I was calling. I was told that you called the same number and it was "pot luck" as to which call centre you reached !!! At this stage it was becoming absolutely farcical.
5.10pm - I decided to try my luck one more time and see which call centre I ended up at. I called again and ended up speaking to the same person I had just been speaking to! At this point I was really angry and DEMANDED to be put through to extension 60623. She said she couldn't transfer me so I said "can't, or won't?" I ranted and raved a bit and eventually she put me on hold, another 5 minutes of abysmal (LOUD) music.
5.15pm - Eventually Terri Maddison came on the line. I asked her why she hadn't called back when she said she would and she said she had been tied up with another call. I told her my broadband was still not working. She asked if I had the PC and SpeedTouch modem connected ready for her to go through some diagnostics with me. I said I usually used my 3Com router but would connect the modem if she wanted - anything to get it working again. Terri said the router would be fine and asked me to go to 192.168.1.1 the usual router IP address etc. However, since it was a while since I had needed to go into the router settings I had forgotten the administrator password, so I told Terri I would need to reboot the router and set it back to the default password of "admin". Rather than her wait on the line when I did this, I said I would call her back when I was ready and I asked her for a direct number. She said I should call 550, followed by option 2, then option 1, then ask for 60623. It was now 5.30pm.
5.40pm - Router up and running again, called 550 followed by option 2, then option 1. Waited ages on hold. Finally a voice picked up.... in India. I asked for extension 60623 and was told I could not be transferred. I explained I had explicitly been given this number to speak to Terri Maddison but the person repeated that they could not transfer me.
5.55pm - Tried the number again and made sure I selected the correct options. Ended up in India again!! At this point I was completely at a loss of who to contact and where to call.
6.10pm - My husband tried another number as I was completely shattered by this time. I had been in from work since 4.30pm, it was now ten past six and all I had done was been pushed from pillar to post, repeated myself until my voice was hoarse and got exactly nowhere... and still no Internet connection.
My husband eventually got through to someone (male, in England this time, yippee) and explained the story YET AGAIN. The guy asked to speak to me. I gave him a blow-by-blow account of everything that had happened, complained bitterly about the level of customer service (which is the worst I have ever experienced in my entire life) and said I was going to come off the phone and get straight onto telephone banking and cancel my direct debit. He said it was my right to cancel the contract but I would be charged a cancellation fee!!!!! I said "what?? Orange fails to provide me with what I am paying for, so I decide to take my custom elsewhere and Orange are going to charge ME for that privilege?". I was incredulous.
6.30pm - Terri Maddison called me back !!! She said she thought something must be wrong when I hadn't called her. I explained the runaround I had had trying to contact her on the number she had given me, and that I had tried three times and each time got through to a different person who knew nothing about what was going on. Terri said they had pinpointed the problem and she was going to get an engineer to call me in the next ten minutes.
6.55pm - The engineer called back and explained that the problem had occurred as a result of being migrated over to this LLU business. He said the migration completed at 6.00pm that night but it would take 24 hours before I would get the service back. He asked me for my username, password, and got me to go through the motions of trying to connect with the SpeedTouch modem. As expected, it came back with the 0721 error. At this point he asked me for my email address and said he was going to email Terri Maddison with all the details of the conversation he had had with me. He said I would need to wait a full 24 hours but I should expect a call back from Terri Maddison tomorrow evening, when hopefully they would be able to get me reconnected again.
Thursday 12 April
Came in from work at 4.30pm - no Internet connection! I am now less than a fortnight away from my exam and I cannot access my OU course resources! This course has cost over £1,000 so if I fail the exam someone is going to be held accountable.
7.00pm - it's now more than 24 hours but no-one has called me back. Several calls later, all to India, all leading to a brick wall. I have decided that I no longer want to be an Orange customer and I am going to cancel my direct debit.
8.30pm - My husband found another number for Orange for an address in Darlington. It might not be the right department but at least it is Darlington, not Delhi. He called the number and got an electronic menu, but Option 3 said that if you knew the name and number of the person you wanted, you could be transferred.
Friday 13 April
Waited until lunchtime then called the Darlington number, asked to be put through to extension 60623. The line rang and then a voice answered "Hello". I asked if it was Terri Maddison I was speaking to and the voice said "Yes". So I said who I was and asked her why she didn't call me back and what the current status was. She said "how did you get this number?". I was baffled and said "I called Orange and asked for extension 60623 and they put me through". She said she was on leave and at home and I was through to her personal mobile number !!!!!
So I said "well, can you give me the name and number of someone else I can speak to, who knows what is going on?" She said she was at home and couldn't access the details and she wasn't back at work until Monday. She suggested I call the 550 call centre number.
I was absolutely incredulous. There I was waiting for her to call me back since Thursday evening and she's gone off on holiday until Monday, leaving me completely in the lurch! Who is supposed to be dealing with my case now? I thought they'd sorted it. I thought my reconnection was imminent. Now I've got to wait until Monday. Disgusting.
4.00pm - Came back from work, I'd knocked off early as I was intending to go to the Orange shop and hand back my phone and cancel my contract.
My husband said he would give them "one last chance" and called the Darlington number. He got through and spoke to Rebecca Lanahan (?) on 0845 0702976. He went through the whole saga with her and told her that we had been without any Internet access for 12 days and were no further forward. This is now the 18th call that has been made in total, including all the re-diallings. Rebecca said to switch on the computer, connect the modem up etc and leave it switched on so that the engineer could do some tests. She said the engineer was working until 7.00pm tonight so to leave it all switched on and connected until then. She said he would call me back.
7.15pm - the engineer called back and got me to try to connect again. He said it was possible that the line, which can only support 1.5Mb speed, might not be compatible with the new system. He ran me through various diagnostics including trying to reconnect. It does say "0006 verifying user name and password" before going over to "0721 failed to connect to remote computer".
He said he was going to carry out various troubleshooting tests on the line etc and call me back on Monday. If he doesn't, I have his number and Rebecca Lanahan's number, so they will be hearing from me!
Monday 16 April
4.30pm - Came in from work.... no Internet access!! Tried the number that Rebecca Lanahan had left and there was no reply. Tried the number for the engineer that we had picked up from 1471 and it went onto a recorded message saying there was no need to call Orange as they would call back! As if!
4.45pm - After a second attempt at 0845 0702976 my husband got through to someone, not Rebecca Lanahan as she had gone home. He explained the problem (AGAIN!) and was told that the engineer had been working on the problem over the weekend and it "should" now be resolved.
But it is NOT resolved !!!! I have now made a total of 21 fruitless telephone calls and wasted innumerable hours of my valuable time.
The guy said he was going to contact the engineer again, and get Rebecca to call back. But it's not going to be today, is it? 15 days now without any Internet access.
