I’ve finally got around to looking at my Orange mobile phone bills as they’ve been £5 more per month for the last four or so months. I could see from my online statements that my £5 loyalty discount suddenly stopped late last year so I gave Orange a call.
The first woman I spoke to said that the loyalty discount had expired after 9 months of my new contract and that this matched with the notes on my account from the time when I renegotiated my new contract. That’s incorrect I told her, so she put me through to the cancellations team who’d left the notes in the first place.
I got frustrated with the second lady. She was friendly enough but very inflexible, claiming as the first lady had done that my loyalty discount wasn’t supposed to be ongoing. How can that be? No one mentioned that at the time. Have you ever heard of anything like that?
She went on to explain that I didn’t have enough ‘credit’ at the time of renewal and that most of it was used to give me my new phone for free. What nonsense - initially they said I was on too low a ‘band’ to get close to the deal I eventually got. To tell me now that the tariff I had was always going to increase after nine months?! First things first, I’m going to get rid of my Internet bundle as I hardly use it and it costs £5/month.
So it’s time to launch a complaint, either via e-mail or good old letter.
When I got back to the UK I ordered an iPhone on Orange, but after ordering it, I found out about the Orange SIM-only packages they do, and in the end plumped for using one of those with my old Japanese iPhone (and sent the new one back). It’s the last model, but the fact the SIM only costs me just £20 per month including unlimited texts, 200 minutes, and 500mb of internet data, it’s FAR cheaper than the contract would have cost me, and with SIM-only there is no contract!
And judging by the service on Orange since I’ve been back the last month (reception is AWFUL most everywhere I go) there’s a big chance I might change networks at some point. It’s a very eye-opening experience after using Softbank in Japan for 18 months previous. Needless to say it’s another UK service that is way behind.
Anyway I just wanted to mention SIM-only, as it seems like a good cheap way of having a phone without the hefty bills and contract, assuming you already have a phone you can make do with.
(I also picked up an Orange “Internet Everywhere” USB dongle with 3gb/month for £15, again with no contract, so I can use my laptop anywhere. That’s nice - again *when* I can get a decent signal.)
Mark,
You can use your Japanese iPhone? Handy! That SIM only deal isn’t bad, is it. But as you say, that’s assuming you have a phone you want to keep on using. In my case, whilst I’m tempted to battle on with the horrendous button pressing experience that is the C905 simply because of it’s fantastic camera, the likeliness is that I’ll want to upgrade to the next generation iPhone by summer.
I’ll definitely be considering a move away from Orange as I doubt their idea of loyalty will stretch to a discounted iPhone tariff.
I’m surprised about your coverage issue. Where do you spend most of your time?
Down on the south coast, where I usually get a strong (full) 3G signal when I’m outside. Go inside though, into shops or the supermarket, and … no signal. Other Orange phones too (my wife, my mother), but friends on O2 etc are, more often than not, fine, under the same circumstances.
The other day I visited Bodium Castle, and despite a clear view over the surrounding countryside, in all directions, no signal at all. A friend, on O2, had a signal no problem.
In both my hometown and London, even when I’m outside, I’ve had more dropped calls since I’ve been back (1.5 months) than I ever had on Softbank in Japan (using the same handset). I guess that only people who’ve lived in another country, with better infrastructure, know any better. But it (clearly) makes me frustrated.
Orange’s mobile coverage page would seem to suggest there’s ample coverage across most areas of England. As I’ve said before, I spend most of my time in London and rarely have issues with reception.
I’ve lived in Japan too, don’t forget, but didn’t feel as much pain as you are with mobile phone reception. What annoys me the most about phone contracts here are the 18th and now 24 month packages you often have to sign up for to get the latest technology.
After coming back from Japan, the area I noticed the biggest difference in was Internet infrastructure. I don’t even want to know what speeds the Japanese use these days.
That comment about people who’ve lived abroad was meant to include you too, sorry I didn’t make it clear. I’ve been reading your blog for a good long time now.
Yes, the Internet infrastructure too! I was paying about 6500 yen a month for a ‘hikari’ fibre-optic line which gave me (theoretical) 100mbit in both directions. I regularly got download speeds of 6-7MB/sec, meaning 350mb TV episodes would come down in 1 minute(!).
No problem
I’d have to look it up but I’m sure I had some kind of fibre optic connection when I was in Japan five years ago. Whatever it was, it wasn’t 100mbit, though! Here I’m content to go with slower than the UK’s top speeds if I get a reliable connection and decent ping for a good price. 6500 yen is quite pricey!
Yes, it’s certainly a bit pricey now, looking at it now. When I arrived in Japan though, the exchange rate was about 240 yen to the pound, so less than 30 pounds for fibre I thought was a bargain.
Unfortunately for me, the rate then proceeded to drop down to a low of about 120 yen, meaning the cost (of that, and my rent, and everything else) doubled, as my income was in pounds!
Sorry, I’ve turned your post into more of a rant than you probably originally intended.
As you can probably guess, I miss my life in Japan, and am keen to get back there. The plan is to head back there next year (permanently) once some ends are tied up.
I’m sure you must have compared things (re general life and living) here to there. Do you think you’d live back in Japan *if* you could get the same job/career/prospects there as here?
No problem - rants are the source of many a good discussion.
Living in Japan. That’s a very good question but the same job/career/prospects in Japan as the UK is a massive ‘if’.
Under that assumption, though, I’d like to live in Japan for at least a couple of years. As to whether I could live there long-term is something I couldn’t really say for sure at the moment. What makes you so settled there?
Besides the language barrier and job issues, things that really put me off are the Japanese summer, the crowded tranport system (assuming I was to live and work in Tokyo) and the inescapable feeling of being an outsider however good your Japanese is.
I might make a separate blog out of this…
I agree with you about the problems in the big cities in Japan. I can tell you now, I really don’t think I could live somewhere like Tokyo or Osaka with their crowds and oppressive summers. But I didn’t have such transport/overcrowding problems where I have been, over in Nagano. The winters though…brrrrrr…and what’s with the lack of central heating?!
Instead though, I was surrounded by mountains, with all they had to offer (snowboarding in winter, trekking in summer), with a car to get around. Those environs, coupled with the varied delicious food, good service mostly wherever you go, the safety of being able to walk anywhere and leave things unlocked, feeling at ease cycling everywhere I wanted to go and not being worried about being knocked off around every corner. I could go on.
I have been very lucky with my wife’s family too, as they’ve made me feel very welcome and accepted. So it all helps to making me feel very happy to live there.
Of course, and this is a big (nay the biggest) unknown, I haven’t *yet* had to deal with working for a company in Japan. That could very well change everything, and it’s something both the wife and I are aware of. We shall see. But I do find myself, at the moment, having patches of feeling very “homesick” for my life there.
Although I have my concerns about how overcrowded Tokyo is, if I lived in Japan I would like to work in the Tokyo area. I can’t imagine living miles away from a big city. I don’t think Osaka is nearly as bad as Tokyo so maybe that would be a good place to live?
Yeah, the summers are tough for us hot blooded Westerners! Nagano sounds fantastic (I guess there aren’t many big cities there?) in terms of climate and beautiful scenery.
It sounds like you’ve got a great situation in Japan. Not having to work for a Japanese company is undoubtedly a huge factor in your enjoying your time. I’d like to work for a foreign company in Japan.
I get homesick for Japan quite a lot but not as much as when I’d just come back from living there. After spending a couple of weeks there on holiday each year I think I’ve had enough but that’s because I’m not living there, just on a short trip. Then, after a week or so I’m itching to get back!
We’ll see what the future holds.