How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

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Unicorn
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How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Unicorn » Sat Mar 18, 2017 7:56 pm

Anyone know how easy/difficult/time consuming/much hassle it is to change from Movistar to Orange. Orange has fibre optic where I am and Movistar doesn't.

I want to change fixed, mobile & internet.No telly.

Help, anyone with recent experience :thumbup:

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby gerryh » Sat Mar 18, 2017 8:24 pm

When I changed from Movistar to Vodafone, Vodafone did everything as they wanted my custom.
So I would be surprised if Orange didn't do all that was needed to move you from Movistar.
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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby knowal » Sun Mar 19, 2017 9:25 pm

Remember to cancel your direct debit with Movistar before you start the procedure. They have a habit of charging ridiculous cancellation fess, and charges for "unreturned equipment".

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Enrique » Sun Mar 19, 2017 9:52 pm

Hi Unicorn,

Don't hit me with those negative waves ............... 8)

Sounds like Gerry's is the way to go for a start...... get final stop date and bill from Movistar and once paid Cancel Direct Debit.

If you have to do it manually Phone Movistar they will give Termination date and depending on your Billing Period (Monthly ?) will issue a Final Bill , once this has been paid by DD , cancel Movistar DD. They will promise to send Termination Paper work but don't hold your on this one.

We have recently Terminated with Movistar , phone line only, no equipment.
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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Unicorn » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:03 pm

I remember I was,ages ago, being charged for Movistar equipment and I had to dig it all out and take it back although should have sent it to a museum really
They were charging x euros for a domo phone, x + whatever euros for an ancient router and I had to take them back to the shop
A palaver.............

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby El Cid » Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:12 pm

There is more info on this thread

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=36667

Sid

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby northandsouth » Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:07 am

Unicorn, I'm sure Orange will handle it for you but if not and you want to be sure about the Movistar cancellation then wander up to Calle Real to the Movistar shop. Speak to Marina or Paula they can do the cancellation paperwork there for you. If your Spanish is bad they both speak perfect English by the way. Oh and take every piece of paperwork pertaining to you and your existing contract with you.

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:44 am

Check the thread linked to by Sid, but basically when I switched from Movistar to Orange it was surprisingly easy. You will need to ring for the "Codigo de Baja" from Movistar, and have to take your router and any other equipment into a shop, but otherwise Orange will do everything else. Be aware that Orange don't issue one factura for everything the way Movistar do, even though they quote a combined tariff - you get one for landline/fibre and another for the mobile, and the first couple of months the bills can be very confusing, but it works out in the end!

Now...I'm going to be cancelling Orange soon (not transferring to another provider either). Anyone got any experience of their cancellation procedure?! Something tells me they're not going to be as easy as Movistar. Their website says you have to send them a fax. :wtf: The staff in their local shop says that's old info (you don't say!) and that you just have to call 1470 and give 24 hours notice. As for the equipment, the shop staff told me they'd collect it, but that it usually takes 2 or 3 months. When I said I'd be long gone, they asked if I could leave it with a neighbour. :shock:
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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby masterob » Mon Mar 20, 2017 12:30 pm

Miro, when we left at the end of 2014 and I no longer needed a Spanish mobile, I notified Orange by e-mail two months beforehand. They said my contract did not expire until a month after our leaving date, fair enough, and I agreed to pay for that period although I ceased to use the phone the day we left Spain. I paid their invoice before we left.

I assumed that would be the end of it. Not so! Six months back in the U.K. I received an e-mail from Orange demanding payment of Euros 19.25. I queried it and was told they had no evidence of my cancellation, nor were they forthcoming as to what the amount was actually for. I had to fax copies of the earlier correspondence (they wouldn't accept e-mails). These days using faxes is not common in the UK so that in itself was a challenge finding a fax outlet - the local library did!

Nothing further heard from Orange in response to the faxed info until a month later when another final demand by e-mail for the same amount. I managed to contact an English speaker at their Customer Services who basically said not their problem but mine and that I would have speak to someone elsewhere at Orange who would not speak English. Couldn't argue with the language issue but not impressed by their total indifference.

I did nothing for a couple of months despite further demands. Finally I thought that while I still had a Spanish bank account albeit with a minimal amount in it, I shouldn't continue to ignore the matter. I succumbed and paid the demand by a transfer to Orange from my HSBC account. I felt that the paper trail via HSBC was totally dependable in the event of further demands from Orange. Guess what, two further demands which I ignored in the comfort of knowing the account had been paid! After a further three months the demands stopped! I assume they finally realised the account had been settled but, of course, no confirmation in the form of a zero statement! I guess that was too much to expect.

Sorry to relate this negativity about Orange and it still bugs me to think I paid the demand knowing I owed them nowt but, such is life. I like to think such nonsense would not happen here in the U.K., well certainly not the poor customer service!

On a positive note, I cancelled our landline with Movistar by phone and it went smoothly, they asked about apparatus and I said I had replaced the handset and modem in the 10 years since they were first provided. They were content. I must say that throughout our time in Spain our experience of Movistar was always very positive.

My advice regarding Orange is to make sure you have cancelled and paid all bills and to double check you have a zero account from them before you step foot out of Spain!

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Mon Mar 20, 2017 1:01 pm

Thanks for the heads up. The problem is, I want to keep my internet connection live up until the last possible minute - although we will have 2 or 3 weeks here after the sale, before actually leaving. I also want to transfer my mobile onto PAYG, to keep the number active just in case I need it for anything (cl@ve for example) or anyone here needs to contact me. Hopefully by keeping the mobile with them, albeit on PAYG, they might not make life too difficult for me. Not holding my breath though...
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Fri May 12, 2017 6:36 pm

Well...I went along to the local Orange shop today, where a nice young man had said he would help me when I wanted to put my landline & fibre optic on baja and switch my mobile to prepaid. It all started off OK, with the same young man being very friendly and helpful, sympathetic & understanding that I find it difficult to understand rapid-fire South American accented Spanish on the phone. He used my mobile to ring customer services to get the ball rolling.
After the first half hour he was starting to get a little bit less patient.
After an hour he was clearly regretting his kind offer to help.
After two hours I think he was losing the will to live, and his attitude towards me clearly indicated that he wished I had never walked into the shop.
I lost count how many times between us (passing the phone to & fro) we had to explain that I am leaving Spain permanently, so do not wish to put my line on temporary hold, do not want to switch to a better tariff, and do not want to just give up and pay Orange for ever more for a service that I no longer have any need for. :evil:
Eventually, I received an e-mail with a link to a form to officially request the baja, which I duly completed & returned, with the requested documents attached (it took many attempts to explain that I do not have a DNI card with my photo on, so I can only hope that my passport & "green paper" will suffice).
Since then (several hours ago now) my mobile appears to have been switched to the Ardilla prepaid tariff (despite clearly requesting that I go on the Ballena prepaid tariff, but no worries, I can surely upgrade it later), but I still have a fully functioning landline & internet. When it will go off (or even if), even the chap in the shop couldn't say. How much I may have to pay on my next factura, and when that may be, again, not a clue. And no idea either if I'm supposed to return the router (which is less than 18 months old). Only time will tell. But I wonder - these companies must spend a small fortune on debt collection agencies, chasing debts that they themselves have in effect created / caused, and that they have no realistic chance of recovering. I personally know of at least three people who simply gave up trying to cancel (admittedly all with Movistar) and just closed their bank accounts when they left. They are all still receiving threatening letters at their old Spanish addresses.. Two of them have even since passed away. (Not joking)
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Enrique » Fri May 12, 2017 7:16 pm

Hi,
We too have joined the " Cancel Movistar challenge"............It started back in early February and now it's May......

Movistar are currently winning 2 - 0......they are still issuing Bills.........the DD was cancelled over a month after the last one should have been raised.

Just got off the phone and "all paper work will be with you next week regarding the termination." ............ :yawn:
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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Sat May 27, 2017 10:33 am

Miro wrote:How much I may have to pay on my next factura, and when that may be, again, not a clue. And no idea either if I'm supposed to return the router (which is less than 18 months old). Only time will tell.
I spoke to Orange again, who told me my next factura (which will only be for few days' usage) will not be issued until the end of my normal billing cycle - by which time I'll be long gone and my bank account will be closed. I told them this, but they don't seem to care. They said I can pay over the phone by debit card when I'm in the UK, but how I am going to know when and for how much the bill is, I don't know - as my landline & internet are now cancelled, I can no longer access my account online!
As for the router, I returned it to the Orange shop and insisted on a receipt, so when and if I need to prove it, I can. :think:
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Sun Jul 02, 2017 10:58 pm

Well, Orange duly debited my account for the final invoices, which of course I didn't receive and couldn't view online because my account has been cancelled. I rang them and they agreed to e-mail me copies of the facturas (mobile & fijo/internet) and they checked out. But then a few days later I received a text message saying they will charge me €50 if I don't return their router within 15 days.
Miro wrote:As for the router, I returned it to the Orange shop and insisted on a receipt, so when and if I need to prove it, I can. :think:
I rang them and told them they already had it, but they weren't interested! Just said not to worry, if they have the router they will refund the €50 after they've charged me. WTF?
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby knowal » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:09 pm

Hope you've cancelled your direct debit instructions.

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby wollie » Mon Jul 03, 2017 9:45 pm

This is all a waste of time.
All we all really need is a mobile phone that can make calls and texts.
I have not time to read this thread thread.
Mas vino tinto por favor...

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Mon Jul 03, 2017 10:15 pm

Makes no difference cancelling a direct debit in Spain, any company with your account number can debit you. It's then up to you to reject it. But then they can debit you again......
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby knowal » Wed Jul 05, 2017 11:19 am

Miro, I have not found that to be true. Cancelling direct debits have always worked with my bank. It's tantamount to theft to debit an account without authority. You can even return them online within a certain time period, can't remember exactly may be 15 days? (Unicaja)

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Re: How Many Years of My Life Will I Be Wasted?

Postby Miro » Wed Jul 12, 2017 5:39 pm

I have cancelled the direct debit, but I believe they will still try to charge my account. As you say, you have (16?) days to return any debits, but I don't feel I should have to keep checking. I received another text from Orange saying I now have 7 days to return the equipment or else be charged €50. I rang again, and was told that if I have already returned the equipment, they won't charge me. So why the messages?????? Idiots.

From another thread:
Miro wrote:I logged on to our Endesa account a couple of days ago to discover an outstanding bill for about 4 times our normal monthly bills, with a meter reading (that says "actuál") way over what it probably is even now. Guess what? they can sing for it!
More idiots. I sent a sh*tty e-mail to Endesa, and the offending factura has now disappeared from my account. But still no final factura for the correct amount, which I'm more than happy to pay, if only they can get their sh*t together - nearly two months on.....

By contrast, back here in the UK I had all my utilities, phone, internet, mobile, council tax etc. etc. set up within literally hours of moving into our new property. I even received in the post today (totally unexpectedly) a cheque for £50 cash back on my internet supply (Plusnet). Meanwhile, I'm still trying to tie up all the loose ends in Spain....
Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often

"Acquiring a dog may be the only opportunity a human ever has to choose a relative," Mordecai Siegal 1935-2010.


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