Oh my god, I love the "similar threads" search that pops up when opening a new thread - nice going, Victor!

Anyway...

I'm tempted to buy into Orange's new broadband deal (£300 off a laptop, plus a discount for pairing up with a mobile contract) because I'm now out of contract with NTL/Virgin and I could do with a new mobile contract too.

Does anyone have any nightmare stories about them? I don't really do any heavy downloading so I'm not too worried about any transfer caps, but I am concerned about potential bandwidth profiling on stuff like LFS.

wannadoo orange bb

done some quick searching for ya
http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=387953
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/for ... adid=294267&forumid=2
http://www.google.co.uk/search ... band+complaints&meta=

don't look too nifty matey...

Why don't companies offering attractive deals ever offer a decent service?

To be honest the main reason I want to move away from cable is because the customer support has always been shocking and I fell out with them big time the last time I moved house in December, so if Orange also have crappy customer service I don't want to deal with them at all.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Why don't companies offering attractive deals ever offer a decent service?

.

hummmm...noone is able to get the pie and eat it too!...that just goes against what marketing stratagies are all about....but of course I don't use Orange and every company has it's complaints...research it for an hour or two using Google and decide for yourself...

YA RLY. I can't find any attractive broadband services. I've had three different providers over the years and I ended up hating all of them, so I'm wondering if it's even worth the trouble to look for a decent one.

...theres probably no point even bothering to shop around in this area Kev, just go for what the rest of the masses are going for.

What about a combined cable+BB+phone package?...is probably the only way you'll save money....No matter what happens and whatever provider you do choose they'll all piss you off, the reason? untrustworthy staff. Yep, plonkers on the other end of the phone trying to screw you out of five quid for their own pockets by fiddling with your service in some way or another. Here's an example:

Two months ago a friend of mine moved out and took his ntl box(in the upstairs back room) with him untill ntl could put the service in his new flat. Last week he brought me a new box, he took the new card, I kept the old one, everything back to normal.

As soon as I plugged in the new box(half an hour or so) my service(tv and bb) got cut off. So, I phones ntl and they said that I could'nt swap boxes and cards like I had done(she knew the address of my mates flat from the card numbers). A technician comes out the next day, replaces cards and does some other shit and leaves. The next day someone else rings me and tells me I had to pay them €100 for each month the card and box was not at my address. Looking at the terms and conditions on the ntl site I seen that was not the case at all, and I have every right to bring my box and card wherever I likes.

I sent a complaint mail(lofl) to ntl...whatever good that will do I dunno, but that ****er was chancing his arm.

Quote from thisnameistaken :

Why don't companies offering attractive deals ever offer a decent service?

Orange NEED to sell stuff to keep afloat - it shows something that even when their willing to give you a £300 laptop that you still need to stop and think...

Yeah when I moved in December, NTL sent me a new contract. I called them up and asked why, because I'd already asked before I moved if it would tie me into another 12 months and they'd said no. The guy on the phone said it was a new rule since the merger with Telewest and now they always set up new contracts when someone moves house.

I ended up calling them about a dozen times speaking to increasingly clueless people until I eventually got someone who told me that it was all a load of bollocks and I wasn't tied in to anything. That person then proceeded to apologise for the week of hell I'd had since moving house (there were problems with the installation and many, many hours spent on hold trying to get someone to sort it out) and gave me free TV for a year by way of compensation, but by then I'd already decided I didn't want to deal with them any more.

Maybe I will just take up this Orange deal, but it means getting a BT line back in and probably a Sky deal for TV so factoring in all that expense and effort I just don't know if I can be bothered. I bet apathy is what keeps most people tied to their telecoms providers.

A wise man once said:
"There is no such thing as a free lunch"

Rough translation, if they have to twist your arm with a £300 laptop just to get your signature, then even THEY realise that their product is sh1te!

Forget the free deals...bite the bullet, and shell out a few quid extra for a BUSINESS package...well worth the extra cost; and NO PORT-THROTTLING!!!!!
(at least, there isn't with my service!)

I assume youre talking bout the £300 off deal that currys and PC World are doing. If so, the actual laptop is provided by PC World and NOT Orange, so its PC world taking the hit on the sales.

Just to point this out - One retailer (PC World i think) give you £300 OFF a laptop, one retailer (Currys?) gives you a £300 laptop.

PC World are doing the free laptop, if you dont want the free one, i believe its 300 off any laptop.

PC World = Currys = Dixons = The Link..All the same company!

Anyone want to bet that they got some money invested in Orange as well? (or vice-versa!)

I'm using Orange, and I have no problems in 3 years. Not sure about other stuff, but their broadband is top notch stuff for me.

Thats why you keep cutting out on Teamspeak, dear niall.

I know what you are going to say. And I know I'll get flamed and kicked/banned for it too. But try AOL. Yes the customer service is crap but if you get a wireless router, you dont even need to install the AOL software on your PC! You could do it on the crap one downstairs and set the connection up through that one!

I find the service to be fine, very rarely cuts out, and on the rare occasions that it does, you always get an email appologising.

If only you could understand what they said on the phones..

I had to use AOL about 7 years ago when I couldn't get DSL and I had no other options available for flat-rate dial-up. I'll never use them again.

The only good thing about being an AOL subscriber is the opportunity to laugh at how aggressive they get when you call up to cancel.

I never cut out on TS noob man.

I find Orange to be very good and I have nooooo problems what so ever.