SFR and Orange - 2 separate bills

[chessie]

Oh dear - modern techno and big companies.

Our phone won't let us make out-going calls.   We can receive calls, but have been unable to speak to family in UK over Christmas.

I've checked bank statements;  last bank statement shows 2 payments to Orange, one for the Live box/internet, and the other for the fixed telephone line.

For some odd reason we also receive bills from SFR which just seem to relate to actual cost of any phone calls but nothing else.

Anyone any idea how this could have happened - why SFR is charging us for calls only - what have we done, or not done ?

We do not owe any euros either to Orange or SFR;  cheque sent last week to SFR for calls in previous month and next Orange direct debits are at the end of the month, with the previous direct debit having been paid - no problem.

But, we cannot make telephone calls out - incoming calls we receive, but can't phone out.   Even trying the helplines leads to an immediate disconnect and a recording stating 'service unavailable'.

SFR website useless;  can't login as requires password; do I have a password - nope.   Try to log-in as 'new customer' and there's nothing helpful - just information about 'fabulous deals', and when I tried using the 'contact us' e-mail - the e-mail was 'bounced back' as undeliverable.   Scream............

SFR helpline is useless - no English helpline.

Orange - can't contact them.

SFR - sent e-mail, which was returned !!

Anyone got any ideas ?

And no, we don't have mobile phone - so have to rule that one out.

How do we arrange to cancel whatever it is we have with SFR and go back to Orange charging us for line-rental and calls ?   Will that be difficult.

Struggling at the moment to understand what's gone wrong.  And whether it is Orange or SFR who have caused the problem.

Kind words of guidance would be very much appreciated - I'm at screaming point right now - and really, really fed-up. 

Happy New Year - Chessie

[nomoss]

You could try going to your nearest Orange "boutique" so you can speak directly to an actual person.

I found them very helpful when local workers dug up and severed the main telephone cable to our town last year.

They loaned us a magic gismo which enabled me to connect our laptop to the normal services via the mobile phone network and WiFi (Our PC doesn't have WiFi), so we could continue more or less as normal until the cable was replaced.

They did not offer this through any direct contact with us on their part, presumably because the whole town (pop. 2.000) was cut off, and they didn't have the resources.

The banks and several businesses closed down until the cable was replaced, about 10 days, so I assume they didn't know an alternative was available, and if you don't ask you don't get.

[suein56]

Hang on Chessie .. so who do you have your contracts with ?

You cannot have 2 companies concerning themselves with your Internet and your phone calls .. it doesn't work like that.

Who or which is providing what ?

Why should SFR be charging you for phone calls .. that is most odd as they are Internet providers with phone calls provided free through their (equivalent of) livebox/router.

A little bit more info would be helpful.

In the meantime a visit to Orange might just help .. might.

[nomoss]

If you do go to the Orange shop, make sure you take all the relevant bills, from both Orange and SFR.

[suein56]

nomoss wrote: If you do go to the Orange shop, make sure you take all the relevant bills, from both Orange and SFR.

Or rather .. when you go to the Orange shop .. then, as nomoss suggests, ask just what is going on.

Edit : SFR is best contacted online .. they have a great online 'chat' option where you explain in writing your problem and someone .. who knows what they are talking about .. writes you an answer .. or rings you (if you have a useable phone line that is) .. I have used this for various people who have had probs with SFR and it has worked. But maybe this might not be possible in your case.

[BritinBretagne]

Do you have SFR for your Internet connection but pay for fixed line phone calls through an Orange line rather than using the SFR VOIP? I can’t think of any other reason that you would have for being billed by both companies. If so it sounds as though you have a fault with your Orange analogue line.

Re-reading your post it sounds as though you have an internet connection via an Orange Livebox so why are SFR involved at all? It seems even stranger that you are paying SFR by cheque on top of your Orange direct debits. Who did you set up you phone through?

[chessie]

OK everyone - thanks for your guidance.

More info - we started with Orange for both landline and internet - and we've stayed with them.  Absolutely no change there.

We pay monthly for the Internet/Live box and then bi-monthly for the landline.

The phone doesn't go through the LiveBox;  we have a phone socket, with a 'filter' adapter - with 2 sockets - one cable for the land-line phone, and the other socket takes the cable for the LiveBox.   Been like this for years, possibly 10 when we got ADSL in this area.   Have I made a mistake ?

The SFR involvement comes about, I think (?) because at one time there was another company around - Tele2 - offering cheaper phone calls to UK using a 4044 number - rather than phoning UK through the Orange telephone system.

Think that's clear, so far - I hope.

So maybe the SFR bit comes about because Tele2 'disappeared/was taken over' by SFR - but the bills we get from SFR cover only the cost of phone calls - nothing more.

Yeah, I know - it's weird - but that's how our life seems to work out here - I get confused.

And with an OH who is becoming forgetful, but gets cross when asked about money matters and bills, I do worry about things.

Can't work out the SFR site - keeps asking for password - which I haven't got.   And can't sign on as new customer in order to get a password because none of the screen options cover my problem - and it's out of hours time anyway.

Did an on-line computer/live box test with Orange.  Guess what - oh dear, we've got a problem, but they can send a tech around at a cost of 69 euros.   Surprise !!   Don't have internet problem;  just can't make phone calls.

And because we can receive phone calls makes me think that there's no problem with the landline, no problem with our telephone - but for some reason (late payment ? - but we've just paid last bill) we've been blocked from making calls out.

But that just doesn't make sense because we don't owe anyone any money.

Feel it's the old Catch 22.

Can't phone the Orange english speaking line - I get the 'service unavailable' bit.

SFR - no English help-line.   Lovely American lady answers the phone, then it promptly moves over to French.... aaarrrgh.

Actually - that's strange.   Can get response from SFR;  but when dialling the Orange help line I get the 'service unavailable' bit;  weirder and weirder.

So yes, it does look as though we're going to have a bit of a drive to the nearest Orange shop.   And good advice, thanks - to take bills and payment/bank statements with us - and hope to get it sorted.

Was just so hoping that it might be some simple answer - like unplug phone, give it a shake, leave for half an hour, and connect up again, but seems not. 

Oh well - thanks for help -

Happy New Year everyone

Chessie

[BritinBretagne]

That explains the SFR connection. You are quite unusual in that you pay for a fixed line and phone calls, most people prefer to not have to pay for the fixed line and make their calls via VOIP which are free to most non mobile phones worldwide. I haven’t paid anything above my monthly Orange premium for years. If you go to the Orange shop ask for more details, apart from anything else Orange are ceasing to offer the fixed line option in the near future.

[pomme]

In the late 1990s France opened the market to alternative telephone operators and you could sign up to their services. But you could also use another operator than your default. If I remember correctly, France Telecom charged by the minute or part minute. Other operators might charge a fixed sum for initiating a call and then a lower per second/per minute charge and this was often cheaper overall for longer calls.

To allow you to access the other services each operator had their own code number. Rather than dialling a number with a starting 0 (I think 0 must have been the default for your main phone operator?) you could use a different initial number (e.g. 4 for Tele2, 7 for Cegetel, 9 for Neuf Telecom) and FT/Orange were allocated 8 (so you could use SFR as your main phone service provider but still use FT by dialling the number starting with n 8 rather than a 0). I think all those alternative operators are now under SFR after several buyouts/mergers.

It was possible to program some telephones so they defaulted to a different service so, even if you dialled 0044 to make a call to the UK the phone might automatically change that to 4044 to use the (usually) cheaper Tele2 service.

I think in the early 2000s it became possible to set up automatic preselection of an alternative operator. This was done by asking FT to set up the new default.

chessie, I'm a bit puzzled when you say you can't make calls out but at the same time you are being billed by SFR for calls made?

I think you could try the following;

If your telephone is programmable in any way, check whether you can change the default initial number to 0 rather than 4 (or possibly just reset it to the default settings or just make sure you dial 8044.

Contact FT and ask them to remove the preselection of Tele2/SFR

[nomoss]

[quote user="BritinBretagne"] ............ most people prefer to not have to pay for the fixed line and make their calls via VOIP which are free to most non mobile phones worldwide. ............[/quote]

We have Orange "Livebox Jet", which gives us free calls to fixed phones, and also to mobile phones in many countries, including all Europe, USA and Australia, but unfortunately not New Zealand, where our daughter lives, so we only call her land line unless it is urgent.

I can't check the countries I can call free via my Espace client any longer, as I get the message:-

L'ancienneté de votre offre ne permet pas l'affichage du détail de vos

services et options. N'hésitez pas à découvrir nos nouvelles offres.

which makes me think they would rather I moved to a different contract.