I would be intersted in hearing if anyone else has had problems with contacting Orange. My home telephone ( and internet connection ) went out of action on the 6th July following some work on repairing damage to a cable, 56 homes were affected, and 55 were reconnected the same day except me ! A friend contacted Orange on their 24/7 number for me but the ‘robot’ just stated that there was a problem and it would be rectified by the 12th July ! As I have an elderly disabled person living with me whose tele-alert was also affected I asked for the Mayor’s help. He has a number where he can contact them direct and told me a technicien would be coming on the morning of the10th July. No one turned up and a message was passed to the Mayor about this. Finally yesterday evening a friend was able to contact the Mayor at home for me and lo and behold a technician arrived this morning and took 2 minutes to re establish connection. I find it incredible that Orange left me without any means of communication for 8 days, especially as I have a ‘fragile’ elderly person in my charge. Needless to say that I will soon be changing everything to SFR as recommended by a friend because at least you get to speak to a person!
As it happens I had to contact Orange SAV this week because the landline where I was working went down. I discovered various possible ways but I didn’t discover a 24/7 number! I couldn’t get anywhere with the online options because they all asked for passwords that are lost in the mists of time, but what worked in the end was calling 3900 on a mobile and waiting for about 10 mins which probably cost a fortune but did the trick, and after negotiating the voice recognition menu which I always hate, I did get to speak to a person. However the options may be different for business contracts.
I had a recent problem with my Internet connection in the past two weeks and, I must say, the service from Orange was excellent. My connection had been slow so I shut down my Livebox and restarted it but it would not complete the startup procedure. I reported the fault using my Orange account on my mobile phone and was immediately told that they were checking the line. A couple of minutes later I was informed that the fault had been discovered and that as it was outside my house it would be repaired without me needing to be involved and at no cost to me. They suggested that it should be fixed within 4-5 days. Within an hour I received a text offering me a free Domino 4G receiver and SIM card so I could continue to use the Internet while my line was down. I decided that, given the repair time quoted, it wasn’t worth getting one. The following day I received another text informing me that the repair couldn’t be carried out before an additional six days so I went to my nearest Orange shop and picked up the Domino. It’s brilliant. I can see why Simon and others have said that 4G is the way to go. On the expected day I received a final text from Orange informing me that the line had been repaired and I restarted my Livebox. I am able to keep the Domino until the beginning of September without charge. A great service from Orange.
Hi Anna
The 3900 didn’t work for me as my mobile kept ‘fading out’ , my French friend tried it and could only get the ‘robot’ that said it would be fixed by the 12th July ! The internet said the same! The whole point is Orange knew that there was a problem with the line and took 8 days and 3 calls from my Mayor to fix it!
Hi David
Pleased that you had a great service from Orange. I didn’t, what’s more they knew about the problem for 8 days before they sent a technician to fix it. Oh and by the way the technician said it was due to an oversight during repairs with the connection 8 days previously ! Why 8 days and 3 calls from my Mayor before someone was finally sent out I will never know. Thankfully I wasn’t ill during those 8 days as how would my eldery disabled mother be able to get help for her and me
?
Who knows. Orange work in mysterious ways. But you could also look at it that they said the problem would be fixed by 12th July and it was fixed on 12th July. Maybe there was a known reason why it couldn’t be fixed before then and maybe the 3 calls from the Mayor made no difference whatsoever. I’m not particularly defending Orange, just trying to help bring your blood pressure down 
I think it’s pot luck to be honest, have also heard negative views of SFR.
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!
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. 
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.
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.