28 days without internet and no reimbursement!

Technology
#1

I’m coming round to @Jane_Williamson’s point of view that Orange are the worst service company on the planet!
Just had an appalling conversation with their accounts department (or whoever). I explained that I wanted a reimbursement for the 28 days that we have been without the internet (and phone part of the time) before an after Christmas.

And why had I not had the reimbursement that was agreed on the helpline with her colleague when our line went down in October?

She informed me that reimbursements were only given from the day you get in touch with Orange to notify them that your line is down.
No contact from the client - no reimbursement. :rage: :rage: :rage: :rage:

Since Orange has a computer that confirms when the line goes down and provides an estimated date when it will be back, why do I need to contact Orange?
And anyway, if I am sitting in a house with no internet, no phone (and no mobile because there is no signal) HOW am I going to contact Orange?

And how the hell am I supposed to know that I have to get in touch with Orange on day 1 to say my internet and phone are off, if I want a reimbursement? Where does it say that on their page that tells me about the “panne”?

Oh I am going to have fun composing my letter to the Head of Orange and to the Minister responsible for telecoms in France!!!

#2

Good luck with that Sue.
You will only receive payment for the abonnements you have paid and for which you have not had service.
I wonder how many suicides they are responsible for from their customer base and not just employees?

#3

Well I would be grateful for that Jane. The implication on the phone earlier was that I wouldn’t even get that because I was only letting her know now we’d had no service!!!

#4

We had to tell them when we first lost our service, but as we were one of thirteen homes they couldn’t really argue.

#5

We’ve been the same - don’t know how many houses affected. I may have to speak to the mayor.

#6

We were lucky because one of the houses affected was the Mayor’s secretary in one of the two villages concerned.
Our new Mayor became much more actively involved and we eventually got our line, but lower internet speed and each house had to ask individually to be reconnected. Totally amazing. Then, of course, it all went wrong again and they had to re-do some of their work.
The engineers said that it was almost impossible to tell which wiring belonged to which number.
If you are rural, I expect your system will be the same, hardy any maintenance and waiting for fibre.

1 Like
#7

I have been known to state exactly that on these very pages - more than once.

There are those who have reported satisfactory service from Orange. It’s a numbers game. Orange clearly can’t screw up every single customer: some slip thru’ the net and live lives free of the blight that is the Orange way with c/s.

Come the day, inch’allah, I will need to sort an internet service, I will not contemplate Orange as a supplier unless there is absolutely no alternative.

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#8

Several years ago we endured ten weeks without any service from SFR as the result of a damaged line and no reimbursement was proferred.
I started by banging my head on a brick wall but then gave up and went back to orange.

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#9

It’s odd - France, which is well up there on the European model of social responsibility and support has a reputation for absolutely awful customer service, whereas the US which pushes self-sufficiency to the point of having almost no national safety net has a reputation for excellent customer relations.

You’d almost have thought it would be the other way around.

3 Likes
#10

Hi,when orange went down i rang the english help line and they organised an Orange Air Box, which plugs into the Router. Immediately restors internet though , i belive, mobile phone technology… It costs, 9 euros, and ever since , the minute a problem, occurs, i plug itin, and internet, restored. Worth its weight oin gold. Just a thought. John

#11

Thanks for the info John. Unfortunately that assumes you can get quality Orange 4G. Ours is intermittent and in fact we rely on the livebox to give us wireless access to our phones.
Now on fibre. :grin: So hoping this is now all in the past.

Letter went to CEO - no reply yet.

#12

Lucky you. Fibre wont be in our neck of the woods for years.

1 Like
#13

No reply from the CEO, but 80€ has mysteriously appeared from Orange in our bank account. So I think the letter worked. :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: