To just cancel this orange direct debit? Nightmare!!

[musicposy]

I've been with orange now for years. I had a contract ending in a couple of weeks. Due to the fact I had been consistently messed around and overcharged and it's impossible to speak to anyone without queueing for hours, I phoned (after many many tries) to cancel my contract.

I got a very nice bloke who offered me a really good deal upgrading my iphone3GS to a 4S and like a fool I agreed. He said I had 14 days cancellation.

Phone arrives today and it is a 4, not a 4S. I queued for hours to speak to them and got the rudest woman ever.

In a nutshell, I have to return the phone by post at my expense and then they will either send out a 4S or I can cancel after then giving 30 days notice. I asked could I take it to an orange shop but she said no.

That can't be right, can it? I asked to speak to manager but she then put me on hold for an hour and it was obvious was never going to answer.

So now I have a phone I never wanted and a new 2 year contract they won't let me cancel. What happens if I just cancel the direct debit and let them take me to court? She wouldn't even give me a return address to send the phone to.

If you are within your 14-day period, you can cancel without any problems, whatever she says. If you are not you're a bit fucked. My route would be mis-selling, ie you got a 4 not a 4S, but you'll have to prove that you were offered a 4S.

Call up Orange again, ask to speak to a manager. Ask for the person's name FIRST, explain what happened last time, inform them that if you don't get to speak to a manager this time you will contact Ofcom to complain about mis-selling and poor treatment. (My DH often asks for a call-back as he is a lawyer but I'm not quite balls to the wall enough.) I bet you can take it to a shop if you get to speak to someone with authority like a manager.

Get on twitter and tweet EE - they hate this as it's in the public domain and everyone can see their poor customer care. you will get a VERY quick response - think same day.

I managed to get a contract with phones4U cancelled, and what I think about them is unprintable. EE/Orange are less evil but you have to be firm - note: not aggressive, just firm.

These are the guys you complain to: www.ombudsman-services.org/communications.html not Ofcom, sorry.

You can't return the phone to an Orange shop for various boring company policy reasons BUT if you take the phone and any paperwork you have into the shop, they will help you call up customer services and sort through this mess. Obviously go at a nice quiet time and ask to speak to the manager. I used to work for Orange and we did this for people if they had a problem and hadn't gotten anywhere calling up from home.

I wouldn't advise you to just cancel the DD ad ignore it. All that means is that you have cancelled the payment, not the contract. If you can't prove what was said in that phone call to the obstructive call handler, you could end up liable.

If this went to court, you'd probably win no problem. However, your credit rating could be trashed in the meantime if Orange pass on your account to a debt-collection agency - which they probably will do. Annoying as it is, you really need to persist until you have the contract cancelled formally.

Good luck. I appreciate how incredibly frustrating this is. I had similar issues with Vodafone, but the threat of the ombudsman created a dramatic turnaround in customer service and a good result.

Thank you!
I will go to the orange shop first this afternoon and see if they can get anywhere. They are always pleasant in there, although they often can't get far either!

The silly thing is I would have happily just taken an apology and a swap for the agreed phone but the woman I spoke to was so unbelievably rude. I wasn't agressive at all but I did get cross after a while as she was so unpleasant. I asked to speak to a manager. She refused. I insisted. She put me on hold for an hour

I agree with the mis-selling it's the proof - though I wrote down everything that was said and I guess they record it - probably for their own benefit! But I'm well within my 14 days (only 2 days ago) so I know I can cancel!
The question is how when the person you are speaking to refuses to accept your cancellation?

They can't not accept your cancellation during the 14 day cooling off period - it's illegal. This website has very good advice.
www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/action/how-to-cancel-a-contract-without-being-penalised/ - seems to me she had to tell you to cancel in writing. You can put in a complaint about her if you want.

They will definitely have phone records which protect you as much as them.

Seems to me like the route is shop (v good to know thanks Smite), twitter, ombudsman.