Continuing on from my previous post about leaving Orange... I got a call from Orange Customer Relations (07973100194) this morning about the PAC code I ordered on Saturday. The woman calling was very nice and polite, was calling to get me back as I am a "high valued customer". Once I explained why I was leaving, she got the point that I had made up my mind, and instead asked if I could elucidate so she could pass on my comments as constructive criticism. We had a long and pleasant chat.
I basically told her all the points in my original post, gave her all the information she needed about the new tariff on Three, and explained what I thought Orange needed to do to become really competitive again. She didn't argue my assumption that they weren't going to be able to give me a deal as good as the one Three have given me (ten times the minutes for half the price).
In fact, she mentioned that she hadn't heard about the offer I got from Three, and that it was only through conversations like this that Orange really got an idea of what's out there and popular. Glad to be of help. (Incidentally, it's this one.)
She was interested that they'd given me a refurbished handset, and I explained that that might be a way of reducing the tariff cost: perhaps even offering an ultra-cheap no-handset tariff, for those with existing phones and those with knowledge of eBay!
She brought up an interesting point when I mentioned that Three's 2G service was going to be moved from O2 to Orange, therefore giving me the coverage I'm used to. She said that I should be careful with that because Orange wasn't going to give them full UK coverage. I'm not sure exactly what she meant by that, but interesting to know all the same. We also talked about Three's heritage and how one of their directors was ex-Orange.
My final point was about how I felt that Orange had lost their innovative lead, and that to get me back would require them to start being smart again, rather than being just another network. Giving their customers features and offers because they should, not just because they *need* to. I explained that Three was trying a lot harder than Orange seemed to be and that if they got that feeling back, I'd be happy to return to Orange once my new contract expired.
Anyway, I was happy to have this conversation, as I'm always happy to give companies any feedback they need to improve their service. The woman calling was very pleasant and polite, and incredibly well-trained and informed. It wasn't the hard sell that I got on Friday morning, which as I said before didn't exactly endear me to the idea of staying with them.
It's a shame I had to leave before they decided to take on my feedback, though. Orange used to be very big on loyalty. Nowadays, you've got to leave (or threaten to leave) to get a good deal out of them. Of course, preferential treatment to new customers makes sense on the balance sheet, but real common-sense says to keep existing customers happy to prevent churn.
In the meantime, I received my Three phone on Saturday morning: next day, as promised. I'll talk about that in the next post.