Orange data bill: £178 --> £10

Now, if you’re in the middle of getting nailed by Orange for your data usage, do talk to Orange.

A MIR reader had the following issue. He thought he was on the £1.50 per day, unlimited data usage tariff.

But, er, no.

Call it a billing issue. A feature. Or whatever you like. He was actually hit for £3/megabyte ‘data overage’ fees.

“I was just watching a few Youtube videos,” the reader tells me. When pressed, he explained he was watching TorchWool. As you do.

The reader’s mistake? Using his ‘friends and family’ civilian device on Orange. If he’d used 3, he’d have been perfectly fine.

As it happens, Orange whacked him with a stupendous 178 pounds (inc VAT) bill. Which was swiftly reduced after a few conversations with various customer service executives at Orange. They swapped him, retrospectively, to their £1.50/day unlimited usage deal.

This makes sense. Satisfied the customer. Revenue for Orange. And I don’t have to write another How-Shit-Is-Orange post. So everyone’s a winner.

If you’re caught by this, do bear the above example in mind. When you talk to Orange, stay polite — be reasonable — and remind them that £3/meg overage charge is rather a lot compared to their equivalent 3p/meg with their £1.50/day ‘unlimited’ offering.