Hello All, I have a problem with Orange and looking for a reply from anyone who can give me some sensible and useful advice.

I used to rent a house and had orange ADSL and landline, after 10 months I needed to move as the landlord wanted to take the property back, Orange told me I could put a hold on the contract until I found a new place, my new pad is in the campo and Orange do not have any service here or I would have continued the contract. I called and told them this and the guy said to me that it was ok I only had to pay 1 final bill and my 12 month contract was over, so last month they took the normal amount from my account.

I have checked my bank today and they have take 194Euros with no bill, no phone call, no explanation, I called them and my spanish is ok but all i can work out there telling me its a penalty for ending the contract early, if anyone can give me advice of where to go for help or what i can do as 200 Euros is not easy to come across for me right about now.

thanks in advnace

First thing is go into your bank and ask for them to pull back the money as you no longer have a contract with them, they will do this instantly.
Instruct them to block any further attempts from Orange as this they can also do.

When those shysters call you, tell them that you are no longer under contract & as such ....... piss off.

Good advise!

It's also worth remembering when ending any contract in this country to inform your bank to stop any direct debits, also tell them not to make any further payment to the company.

Hello, thanks very much for your kind advice, i'll tell you what happend if your interested jeje.
I spoke to the english department who said they would sort out a refund in thee next couple of days as it was a mistake ! (nearly fell on the floor) they have sent me an email this morning to say they will refund the money but at some point in January, so instead of waiting that long i have asked the bank to claw the money back for me, and see which one happens first ! nightmare, thanks for all your help both x

I think you would be well advised to check the length of the contract you took out with them. If it was 12 months or 18 months then my suspicion is you will have to pay.

Much as I dislike Orange(I am No 1 on their list) you won't have a leg to stand on. No matter how many phone calls you make, they will pass the debt on in the first instance to outside debt collection agencies. They will then pester you.

They make the contracts a specific min duration to "get their money back" in case you cease at the end and switch to someone else cheaper. If you cease my advice is to do so by recorded letter or by "recorded" fax. They just lose any correspondence that is inconvenient and don't record details of verbal conversations.

Getting money back from them is a bit like getting blood from a stone- only harder. I am still waiting over twelve months on despite involving OMIC, and the Ministerio for Industry. Maybe they are all hoping I will die.

haha thanks Olive farmer, the bank have put the money back in my account today, then I will pay orange what i do actualy owe them, its not up to them to just take my money and then say they will pay it back when they feel, my contract was for 12 months and i only cancelled on month 11, and was told by them as long as i pay my last bill there will be no charges !

That seems fair enough.