Confused with an apparent Orange debt

[Danielle94]

I've been sent a letter from Lowell's claiming that a debt with Orange for £224.40 has been sold to them. I'm not really too sure what to do about it.

I'm 18 years old and this debt claims to be from 05/01/2010, when I was 15. I've never had any sort of dealings with Orange, and it seems just ridiculous that I could have had a phone contract at that age! I'm also pretty sure that in England you can't form contracts at that age.

Is there anything I can do about it?

I've not been able to get a student bank account for university due to poor credit rating, which is very odd considering I should not have any debt, and I think this may be why. If I can get this wiped how long would it take for my credit rating to become normal?

[labman]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

I would send an email of formal complaint to the Chief Executive Officer of Orange explaining what has happened, the consequences of what has happened, and stating you need this resolved within x working days (30??????), or you will be seeking professional advice with a view to claiming damages as a result of their wrongful default.

olaf.swantee@ee.co.uk

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

the youngest you can have your own mobile phone contract is 16.

Before this date an adult (16 plus) must be the account holder, there is no way a responsible phone company would open an account for a 15 year old.

[Danielle94]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

I wouldn't have thought they would have let me have a contract, plus my current one is the only one I've had and that is 3 and always paid on time :S

I'm not entirely sure exactly what I can do about it though, as their phone number charges and I can't really afford to run up an actual debt trying to get through to them. Would there be a sort of other organisation I could speak to, or bring this up against a court? Though the latter seems extreme, it's what they're threatening me with...

I will try writing to Orange in the meantime, although I'm not certain if they'll be able to help seeing as I've never had any contact with them previously, not even had a pay as you go phone with them, let alone a contract :s

[labman]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

There's always the ignore it for the first letter, then send a prove it letter if you don't want to scan the letter from Lowells and email it to the CEO.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

I wouldn't have thought they would have let me have a contract, plus my current one is the only one I've had and that is 3 and always paid on time :S

I'm not entirely sure exactly what I can do about it though, as their phone number charges and I can't really afford to run up an actual debt trying to get through to them. Would there be a sort of other organisation I could speak to, or bring this up against a court? Though the latter seems extreme, it's what they're threatening me with...

I will try writing to Orange in the meantime, although I'm not certain if they'll be able to help seeing as I've never had any contact with them previously, not even had a pay as you go phone with them, let alone a contract :s

strange question but are you on Twitter?

Orange have free advisors on Twitter you can ask for help... and ask them to ring you

[labman]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

What's wrong with going straight to the CEO? They will deal with it quicker than anyone.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

Orange are idiots for proceedure

if you havent gone to the C/S first, the CEO wont even acknowledge the letter. so if the OP just says i have a problem, can you ring me back, and they refuse, she can go to the CEO and say C/S refused to help.

[labman]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

Orange are idiots for proceedure

if you havent gone to the C/S first, the CEO wont even acknowledge the letter. so if the OP just says i have a problem, can you ring me back, and they refuse, she can go to the CEO and say C/S refused to help.

Thank God I'm not with Orange, T Mobile, EE, whatever they like to call themselves now. If the CEO's department can't take ownership of a complaint, they really don't deserve customers.

[swifty]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

I found this on another forum, hope it helps.

Orange deliberatly makes it impossible for us to search their head
office address in the UK because the law requires us to send our
complaints to a non-p.o.-box address before we can request court
action against Orange no matter how badly Orange has screwed up. I've
written to their Correspondence Department (P.O. Box 10, Patchway,
Bristol) and they ignored me. Their head office address can only be
found if you search for career options with Orange on their website.
This address will then appear in a JAVA box. That's why no search
engine result will bring this up.



Just in case Orange will change this once they know we've found it,
here's the address to send your complaint to

Orange Centre Office
The Point
37 North West Road
Paddington
London W2 1AG

[Danielle94]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

Is writing to Orange definitely the best thing to do?

Only Orange have never had any form of contact with me personally, Lowells' letter is the first indication of a debt that I've had, and I'm not even sure how or if they are legit and if I should call their number, or will I be charged an extortionate amount to rid myself of a debt that shouldn't exist... I know I can't call them until at least after boxing day anyway but I'm quite worried.

[Hurricane Puffrose]

Re: Confused with an apparent Orange debt

I would suggest Orange as a first point of call as there is a possiblity they have no idea Lowells have written to you, I worked in close quarters with Orange and as long as you followed their processes, they are a delight to deal with, but not if you try and skip stages.