Orange does it again!!!!!

Phone bill mix-up sorted by Gazette
A FATHER from Robin Hood's Bay who claimed his teenage daughter was badly treated by mobile phone company Orange has praised the Whitby Gazette for sorting the problem out.
Dad Cliff Southcombe told the Gazette: "I don't think we would have got anything done if it hadn't been for the Whitby Gazette."
The trouble for Mr Southcombe's 16-year-old daughter Laura, a student at Whitby Community College, began when Orange persuaded her to upgrade her mobile phone because she was a loyal customer. They sent her a new phone and assured Mr Southcombe, who signed the original contract with the firm due to Laura's age, it would not cost her any more than the £30 a month she had been paying for almost a year.
But then she found she was overdrawn on her bank account because Orange had taken £214 from it. When Mr Southcombe contacted them they admitted they had made a mistake and refunded £150. That still left £64 and when Laura herself tried to find out the reason for the charge she was so rudely treated she was reduced to tears.
Further attempts by Mr Southcombe to sort out the problem failed and the charge went up to £94. Despite his phone calls and letters to the firm he could get no reply and Orange then cut off Laura's phone and threatened to hand over the alleged debt to a credit agency.
The charge went up to more than £100 and it was at that stage, that Mr Southcombe contacted the Whitby Gazette.
A phone call to Orange from a Gazette reporter brought a swift response. A spokesman for Orange said they had investigated Mr Southcombe's case and admitted that due to a clerical error he was incorrectly charged an upgrade fee and full reimbursement would be made.
Some days later, Mr Southcombe was able to tell the Gazette that the matter had finally been settled.
He said: "They have completely written off the so-called debt and re-instated her original contract so this month her bill was only £26.
"We had tried everything, letters and lengthy phone calls – one Sunday afternoon I sat for two hours trying to get through without success, and we were getting nowhere.
"We're happy about it now and we want to say a big thank you to the Whitby Gazette."
The Gazette ran the story about Laura and her dad's trouble with the firm last month.
19 January 2007

No comments: