I presumed the delay in getting my line fixed was a consequence of the extremely bad storms that we had experienced in our area around that time. As I wrote, I received an excellent service from Orange throughout, they kept me informed throughout and provided me with temporary cover. Ann, you say you have a mobile, surely that could have been used in an emergency. Switching to SFR might change nothing, Orange still own and maintain the line and that’s where your trouble lay.
No Anna, read my post the problem wasn’t fixed until this morning. They gave the Mayor a rv for the 10th that they didn’t keep. Also the technician said it was due to the Mayor’s irate call this morning that someone was sent out otherwise it would have been after the 17th July . The problem was caused by an oversight on their part and 8 days is just not acceptable. The cover here is patchy for my mobile. I have 2 friends with SFR and when there are any issues they are resolved rapidly. Also they provide a Femto box that boosts the signal free of charge.
Yes I realise that now, I hadn’t seen your reply to David when I posted.
Oh heck - frying pan and fire spring to mind. Sometimes it really is a question of ‘better the devil you know’!
Indeed:
and the fact that sfr is in partnership with the UK’s infamous Vodafone who got a record fine from Ofcom last year for ripping customers off puts me off sfr as well; but then, find a telecoms provider with good reviews!
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True Anna. However I must say I’ve had ok service from Bouygues so far using their 4G box. Just one little glitch with a lame brain customer service agent but their hardware and 4G service is amazing!
http://www.survivefrance.com/t/review-home-internet-4g-box-from-bouygues-telecom/15396?u=simonflys
Oh dear this one too … Avis de Bouygues Telecom | Lisez les avis clients de www.bouyguestelecom.fr
Can’t get 4g here either !
Maybe I should just flip a coin 
No question they’re all pretty crap service wise - no surprises there. I’ve tried Orange, Free, SFR and am now with Bouygues - the best thing about it being I don’t need a fixed line. We’re really lucky here in the Ariege Pyrenees - brilliant 4G coverage and low population.
I was with Alice for many many years, never a problem and they used to give you Loyalty Rewards so every year or so you got a fee-free month, I used to like that. Then 3 or 4 years ago my alicebox died and I got shunted off onto Free who had taken Alice over. Fortunately I haven’t had a problem with Free yet, in fact the speed seems better, but I know they have a bad rep for customer service so am dreading the day I need it. But on the plus side, they’ve always been cheap though these days all the other providers seem to be matching their prices.
@Anna
After recent usage of Free Customer Service… for my modem… and I give them 4 stars. 
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I called Orange-English-support line at 2 PM when my internet&phone died the other day. They told me it would be fixed within next day. Still they managed to fix it the same day, nice.
5 years ago, our line was disconnected (by accident they said!!!) when the neighbours came over from St Barts for their 2 month holiday. We contacted Orange but had to wait 2 months before the line was re-connected, the day after our neighbours went back to St Barts we got our internet and telephone connection back…funny co-incidence eh… we companied but never received a reply…normal…its France.
I had to contact them a couple of months ago. I always do a line test online on the Orange website, using my smartphone. This automatically tells you what the problem is. It turned out it was a problem with the line and they emailed me with an appointment and came a day later. They even offered me a temporary 3G modem that I could collect from the local shop so that I wasn’t without internet connection. The engineers turned up on time, tested the line outside and inside and even disconnected some unused phone lines in the house to speed up our connection speed while they were at it.
No charge for this service as the main problem was outside the house at the phone line connections.
Sorry you had a problem with them, but it is not my experience. Maybe try the online method of reporting in future. I have done it a few times using free WiFi hotspots before, it’s excellent.
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Hello Sara
How to contact online without an internet connection ! I live in a rural area and WiFi hotspots are some distance from me. The fact that my elderly disabled mother cannot be left without her tele-alert (non functioning due to no 'phone) meant that I was unable to leave my house for 8 days too! Thank goodness there wasn’t an emergency with her ! As I stated they didn’t even have the courtesy to keep an appointment that they made ! Your experience was good, mine wasn’t.
Do you have mobile phone coverage?
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good question David… some mobiles have an Emergency button on them…and internal GPS signal (or whatever) helps Emergency Services locate it and the person in distress…
I have had good results calling the Orange English language customer service line - 09 69 36 39 00
Sympathies - we found them a horribly unhelpful and dishonest bunch. You only have to see the permanent queue of dissatisfied looking customers at our local branch to know that others feel the same way.
Also, Orange sold us an internet package in the sure and certain knowledge that it wouldn’t work properly - of course, they didn’t tell us this. We live in quite a hilly area - forget Livebox, we used to call it the Deadbox!
The minute we decided to take our business elsewhere - SFR briefly - the SFR guy checked our postcode and instantly said, I can’t recommend you take out our internet option, it’s not going to work where you are.
Then we found out about Nordnet phone/internet by satellite - for which we even got a grant - and haven’t looked back. 
Had a similar situation, 2 lines to the house as have seperate work line, utterly unhelpful, either the French business support line or the english helpline…guess who is going elsewhere as soon as contract is up
Just got our phone line back after 18 days, was originally told it was a tree fallen on the line and would be repaired by 12th July, then “it’s more complicated " and will be done by 17th, Then " we really meant between 17th and 24th” As always, left until the last minute, literally! Back on the phone to them now to try and get some compensation , not holding my breath…