long story so get comfy.
Dec 08 - i decided to get a new phone still with orange but direct couldnt offer me the phone (and free gift) i wanted, so i rang orange up and cancelled my contract with them as told to, they tried to get me to stay with the same number but told them i had found a better deal. They then told me it was all cancelled but they would send me my old number on a PAYG sim so i could use it in a dif phone. I told them i didnt want it, but they sent me it anyway. I have never used it, it is sat on the side still sealed in its pack.
Dec 09 - i get a bill and i notice its for my old phone so i ring orange who inform me that because i didnt activate the PAYG sim, which i didnt want, within 30 days it had reverted back to my contract and i had been paying for it all year by DD. The man at orange was really nice and said how daft i had been for not checking my DD's before now (although we have 2 other orange phones taken out of the bank account and just thought it was one of them). The orange fella told me i could reclaim my money, £320.13, by doing a DD indemnity claim at the bank, i had never heard of this and he told me how to do it, and i did. He also said he had stopped the DD's and that would be the end of it.
Then at the end of Jan 10 i get a bill saying i owe £355, they had added another month. I rang them, they could find no record of me being told to do the indemnity and said i had to pay it all back. They took off the extra month as a gesture and stopped the DD as apparantly it hadnt been stopped but said i still owed the rest I rang a few more times and they said they would look into it. I then started getting letters from NRD their debt collection agency, so i rang yet again.
A different person then looked into it and after quite a few phone calls and another letter from NRD and me getting ill because of it all he said he had sorted it and there would be no further letters or action.
So today i get a phonecall from NCO europe another debt collection agency saying i owe the money so i asked them to ring me back in an hr and contacted orange yet again. None of the ppl i had spoken to where in so had to explain it all again to someone else, who said she could do nothing and said "Russell", the last one to say it was all finished, would phone me back in the morning.
In the meantime the debt collectors rang me again and i told him my side and he said the sim had been used and i told him it was not by me and in that case had been stolen etc, he then put me on hold and said he had talked to orange and they had told him it had been used. I asked for proof which he is supposed to be sending me.
A friend told me not to stand for it anymore and ring OFFCOM which i did and registered my complaint. They said the first part where i said i didnt want the sim and they got it was enough for a complaint.
They gave me a ref number and orange ex number which i had to ring and tell them i had logged a complaint.
They rang me back and said i had asked for the sim and it said there was a letter with the sim saying what i had to do. We spent an hour going round in circles with her saying that and me saying i said i didnt want it. She then used words like clawing the money, which i said was offence as it implied i stole it, she then said i had bounced all my dd's for the whole yr, but then realised it was because of the indemnity. Then she said she could see orange had told me to do the indemnity so i said so if orange agreed it why have i had all this!
I also complained to her about the debtors telling me they had access to my records and that they should not under data protection, she brushed this off and went back to her first point.
I then broke down and after another half hr she offered to half the bill, i refused and said the hassle i have had is far too much.
So that is where i am, they are ringing me in the morning for another round and i dont know how much i can take, one person against a billion £ company who have told me £320 is alot of money.
Please can someone advise me as its all getting too much for me,
Sorry for the huge post.
Dec 08 - i decided to get a new phone still with orange but direct couldnt offer me the phone (and free gift) i wanted, so i rang orange up and cancelled my contract with them as told to, they tried to get me to stay with the same number but told them i had found a better deal. They then told me it was all cancelled but they would send me my old number on a PAYG sim so i could use it in a dif phone. I told them i didnt want it, but they sent me it anyway. I have never used it, it is sat on the side still sealed in its pack.
Dec 09 - i get a bill and i notice its for my old phone so i ring orange who inform me that because i didnt activate the PAYG sim, which i didnt want, within 30 days it had reverted back to my contract and i had been paying for it all year by DD. The man at orange was really nice and said how daft i had been for not checking my DD's before now (although we have 2 other orange phones taken out of the bank account and just thought it was one of them). The orange fella told me i could reclaim my money, £320.13, by doing a DD indemnity claim at the bank, i had never heard of this and he told me how to do it, and i did. He also said he had stopped the DD's and that would be the end of it.
Then at the end of Jan 10 i get a bill saying i owe £355, they had added another month. I rang them, they could find no record of me being told to do the indemnity and said i had to pay it all back. They took off the extra month as a gesture and stopped the DD as apparantly it hadnt been stopped but said i still owed the rest I rang a few more times and they said they would look into it. I then started getting letters from NRD their debt collection agency, so i rang yet again.
A different person then looked into it and after quite a few phone calls and another letter from NRD and me getting ill because of it all he said he had sorted it and there would be no further letters or action.
So today i get a phonecall from NCO europe another debt collection agency saying i owe the money so i asked them to ring me back in an hr and contacted orange yet again. None of the ppl i had spoken to where in so had to explain it all again to someone else, who said she could do nothing and said "Russell", the last one to say it was all finished, would phone me back in the morning.
In the meantime the debt collectors rang me again and i told him my side and he said the sim had been used and i told him it was not by me and in that case had been stolen etc, he then put me on hold and said he had talked to orange and they had told him it had been used. I asked for proof which he is supposed to be sending me.
A friend told me not to stand for it anymore and ring OFFCOM which i did and registered my complaint. They said the first part where i said i didnt want the sim and they got it was enough for a complaint.
They gave me a ref number and orange ex number which i had to ring and tell them i had logged a complaint.
They rang me back and said i had asked for the sim and it said there was a letter with the sim saying what i had to do. We spent an hour going round in circles with her saying that and me saying i said i didnt want it. She then used words like clawing the money, which i said was offence as it implied i stole it, she then said i had bounced all my dd's for the whole yr, but then realised it was because of the indemnity. Then she said she could see orange had told me to do the indemnity so i said so if orange agreed it why have i had all this!
I also complained to her about the debtors telling me they had access to my records and that they should not under data protection, she brushed this off and went back to her first point.
I then broke down and after another half hr she offered to half the bill, i refused and said the hassle i have had is far too much.
So that is where i am, they are ringing me in the morning for another round and i dont know how much i can take, one person against a billion £ company who have told me £320 is alot of money.
Please can someone advise me as its all getting too much for me,
Sorry for the huge post.