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What to do with my orange pay as you go mobile


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Hi,

I've had an Orange Pay-as-you-go mobile for some time now but it really doesn't suit me because

a) I don't use my mobile very often (just keep it for emergencies)

b) it doesn't always work in the valley where I live anyway so I can't use it instead of my fixed line

c) I have to buy 15 euros worth each month (orange have an offer on that gives you an extra 5 euros each time you top up which only makes it worse for me) and

d) I now have 142 euros of calls on it that I'll lose if I don't top up or forget to top up.

Any suggestions on how I should tackle this problem WITHOUT losing the 142 euros worth of calls.

I remember many, many years ago in the UK, when mobile phones were becoming popular, British telecom had the same system and customers were in the same boat there. If I remember rightly, OFTEL then made this practice illegal and forced British Telecom to discontinue the "enforced" regular top up plan and then started Pay-as-you-go as and when you needed it with no restriction how much time you took between top-ups. How come Orange France can continue with this ridiculous and unfair system without being forced to stop it? It's not like they need the money!

Thanks
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How come Orange France can continue with this ridiculous and unfair system without being forced to stop it?

Because Orange France  who also own  Orange UK  are in France .......and France unlike the UK  lets them get away with ripping you off !  I dropped Orange  and now use these people ...http://www.lycamobile.fr/home/fr

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First thing I would look at is if the actual phone has a value so I would look on www.ebay.fr and see. If it does then get the phone unlocked and as you say you have had the phone for some time I suspect you mean more than 6 months in which case it will be free. At least there is an English speaking help desk to assist you with the technical side if you don't speak good technical French. I say to do this first as it is much easier if you have the original SIM in the phone when you unlock it. You can do it without but it is more complicated.

I have no idea how legal this is but you can block the direct debits via your bank (Banque Populair charged me 16 Euros for this service, other banks may vary) and then perhaps sell the phone unlocked with the remaining credit. BUT if you went this route I would suggest you create an invoice, signed by you and the buyer (with their name and address and if French their ID card number) with a caveat saying that the buyer takes full responsibility for the phone and its use then keep a copy just in case. If you go this route and want to check with Orange if it is OK I wouldn't mention it when I get the phone unlocked but via a separate call as they might make life difficult for you when getting it unlocked.

You sound like you have the same problem as me with coverage. In my case I found I get full 'bars' with SFR where I would have been lucky to get even one with Orange. I am not saying SFR would be OK in your case, you need friends with different network phones to see what actually works. Of course if you find one and you unlocked your Orange phone you could simply get a SIM from a different company and fit it in your unlocked phone.

Good luck.

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Well I would use the lot and dump Orange. Christmas is coming up and so I would take all my phone numbers out with me and find somewhere where it works and call friends and family wishing them seasons greetings.

I have a 'dead' Orange France phone in the UK that has been unblocked by Orange France, but no one can get it to accept a new sim, not even Orange UK, whose staff seem unaware that it is a french company. If I have tried once, well, I have spent hours of my time in touch with many people trying to get it unblocked. And so I would not touch Orange UK now either. I don't like what feels like dishonest trade. 

We had a few problems with mobile phones in France and their contracts.

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Frank

I had a simialr situation with Virgin (fr), but it wasn't quite so bad; their top-up lasted for 90 days if you spent 15€ or more, so I was doing a similar thing to you (by carte bancaire not standing order/direct debit), topping up in order to retain the number and service, and eventually I got to around 45€ credit which it was obvious that I wasn't going to use under normal circumstances. I don't need a mobile phone for daily use, otherwise I'd have a contract as I did when I was working; I just keep the phone in the car in case of accident or breakdown.

I spent a couple of weeks using the credit for normal calls and then ditched the SIM.  When I was over in UK I got a basic Tesco PayGo SIM which I can top-up online and it works fine over here; the calls and texts are not expensive and certainly cheap enough for infrequent use. It has the added bonus, like all UK SIMs, of not expiring if you don't top-up!!

I seriously doubt that you'll get anything back for your unused credit.

Sid

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The Lycamobile France  free sim I got two years ago I put 20 euros on. They added another  10 Euros as a start up offer  I still have 12 Euros on it. It switches over to Vodaphone  when I enter the UK and lives in the car as an extra and only gets used if go out leaving my other mobile on charge .

 Lycamobile use whatever signal is best  for your area  it seems .It keeps switching between providers in the Vendee and I have never been without a signal . I have found them a good and  cheap option for use in France and with the  account use record easy to access on line to check calls and top up in English or French it all works well

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[quote user="Quillan"]If you do find SFR works they do a plan for 9.90 per month with 1hr of free calls. There are cheaper, like Free, but it depends which service works where you are.[/quote]

Cheapest at the moment is B and You (Bouygues telecom) that are offering a contrat illimité (calls, textos and data) sans engagement for €9.99 per month.

Funny isnt it how less than a year ago they were amongst those accusing Free of concurrence déloyale at twice that price? [:'(]

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[quote user="sid"]

Frank

I had a simialr situation with Virgin (fr), but it wasn't quite so bad; their top-up lasted for 90 days if you spent 15€ or more, so I was doing a similar thing to you (by carte bancaire not standing order/direct debit), topping up in order to retain the number and service, and eventually I got to around 45€ credit which it was obvious that I wasn't going to use under normal circumstances. I don't need a mobile phone for daily use, otherwise I'd have a contract as I did when I was working; I just keep the phone in the car in case of accident or breakdown.

I spent a couple of weeks using the credit for normal calls and then ditched the SIM.  When I was over in UK I got a basic Tesco PayGo SIM which I can top-up online and it works fine over here; the calls and texts are not expensive and certainly cheap enough for infrequent use. It has the added bonus, like all UK SIMs, of not expiring if you don't top-up!!

I seriously doubt that you'll get anything back for your unused credit.

Sid

[/quote]

 

Sid I got a Tesco sim recently and a mini contract that I can cancel with a months notice and they said that the sim wouldn't work abroad.

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[quote user="sid"]

Frank

I had a simialr situation with Virgin (fr), but it wasn't quite so bad; their top-up lasted for 90 days if you spent 15€ or more, so I was doing a similar thing to you (by carte bancaire not standing order/direct debit), topping up in order to retain the number and service, and eventually I got to around 45€ credit which it was obvious that I wasn't going to use under normal circumstances. I don't need a mobile phone for daily use, otherwise I'd have a contract as I did when I was working; I just keep the phone in the car in case of accident or breakdown.

I spent a couple of weeks using the credit for normal calls and then ditched the SIM.  When I was over in UK I got a basic Tesco PayGo SIM which I can top-up online and it works fine over here; the calls and texts are not expensive and certainly cheap enough for infrequent use. It has the added bonus, like all UK SIMs, of not expiring if you don't top-up!!

I seriously doubt that you'll get anything back for your unused credit.

Sid

[/quote]

 

Sid I got a Tesco sim recently and a mini contract that I can cancel with a months notice and they said that the sim wouldn't work abroad.

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I have just had a look at B and You (Bouygues telecom) and it looks almost too good to be true...

There is a 4.99€ option where you can top up a minimum of 10€ and you never loose the money(Aucune durée de validité).

I am with Bouygues and each topup has a credit limit between 1 week and 6 months but works for me but it is not ideal. 

If the reseau quality for 'B and You' is the same as my Bouygues telecom then this is a no brainer...

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  • 4 weeks later...
Like you say 'no brainer!' I have been using a 19.00euro contract with Bouygues for a number of years, that gave me 45mins of calls to french landlines and french mobiles, plus 200 or so texts. internet was extra as was calls to europe. I have just changed to B&You 19.99 so now have unlimited calss french landlines and mobiles, unlimited landlines europe, 3Mb internet reduced debit after, unlimited SMS/MMS. Calls to USA inluding mobile (not that I know anyone with a USA mobile!) but still I am paying roughly the same price with more options available, just need to avoid calling UK mobiles.

Good to see they are doing a prepay now that doesn't run out, think orange was the first in the UK to do that? I have never grasped the fact that a company could be so forward thinking in one country and so backward in another ?????

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[quote user="idun"][quote user="sid"]

Frank

I had a simialr situation with Virgin (fr), but it wasn't quite so bad; their top-up lasted for 90 days if you spent 15€ or more, so I was doing a similar thing to you (by carte bancaire not standing order/direct debit), topping up in order to retain the number and service, and eventually I got to around 45€ credit which it was obvious that I wasn't going to use under normal circumstances. I don't need a mobile phone for daily use, otherwise I'd have a contract as I did when I was working; I just keep the phone in the car in case of accident or breakdown.

I spent a couple of weeks using the credit for normal calls and then ditched the SIM.  When I was over in UK I got a basic Tesco PayGo SIM which I can top-up online and it works fine over here; the calls and texts are not expensive and certainly cheap enough for infrequent use. It has the added bonus, like all UK SIMs, of not expiring if you don't top-up!!

I seriously doubt that you'll get anything back for your unused credit.

Sid

[/quote]

 

Sid I got a Tesco sim recently and a mini contract that I can cancel with a months notice and they said that the sim wouldn't work abroad.

[/quote]

Idun

I'm sorry to be SO late replying to this, I've only just spotted it.

Mine isn't a contract SIM, it's a simple Pay-as-you-go SIM.

My Tesco Paygo SIM works very well over here. I've been using it now for about 18 months, absolutely no problems. The call charges are reasonable (I don't use it a lot in any case). I had a basic Tesco SIM some years ago which didn't work abroad (from UK) but this one sends me a text message as soon as I arrive in France "Welcome to France..." and goes on to outline the basic charges. I've used it in Spain and Tenerife too. It's certainly the best option for me; cheap, doesn't expire, and works in the countries I visit most often.

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Thats what I have, its recently evolved to 2 hours and now you can also ring other countries using the inclusive minutes, not mobiles though.

One up from that, the next best deal is B and You at €9.99 for illimité. Expect Free to reduce the price soon of their similar offering.

The Free contracts are also cheaper if you have your internet/telephone/television from them, for me and other abonnés the €2 forfait is completely free of charge.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I have just changed from  Bouygues to 'B and You' even though they seem to be one and the same company.  I now have my old mobile phone with unlimited time credit all for a one off payment of 4.99euros and I get to keep my old number.  Before I was paying PAYG 30€ per quarter and losing about 20€ of credit after each charge.  So I am happy... So far all is working as expected, and it all happened it a couple of days.

I should mention that the main reason for going this route as that I know Bouygues works here and others dont although I believe that free works too.

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We're between houses for about 2 - 3 months so we've signed up for B&You with Bouygues. For €19.99 a month we get unlimited calls to fixed and mobile phones in France, plus unlimited calls to fixed phones in lots of parts ofthe world (including the UK). It also includes internet (although our old basic mobile phone isn't up to that!) and we can cancel (or change package) at any time. SFR do an identical offer, although both are only available on-line, not in their shops.
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I seldom use a mobile so don't want an expensive monthy contract.  I tried to sign up online for the 2 euros a month Free option but after asking for my French bank details, I still couldn't get it as they also insist on French bank card details and I don't have one!  (Having had various problems with Credit Ag, we just use the account for paying bills by direct debit or cheque.)

I have a PAYG UK phone, but people here don't like to phone me as it's more expensive than phoning a French mobile.

At home we went from FT to Orange for the phone.  Mistake!  The Livebox doesn't always work and we don't know people have been trying to phone us (and assumed we were out) unless we go online and check messages and missed calls.  It was supposed to be cheaper to have Internet and phone from Orange but I'm not sure, we still seem to be paying FT as well.

Is there a reliable fixed line cheaper than FT?  We don't make many international calls and Skype is very cheap so free international calls isn't a great attraction.

 

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