France Telecom (Orange) is Crap

This follows on my previous post about TPS being crap which is part of a long, long, long series of posts about France being crap.

My TPS contract ended last week without notice. That wasn't too bad in the end because I was paying over 50 euros per month to watch a lot of rubbish. I decided to just keep the free channels but to do that I had to change my plan. I went to France Telecom (Orange), and they said I had to call. Presumably because the call costs 34 cents per minute which no doubt proves to be a significant souce of income for the telecom.

I went home and called the number they gave me and I couldn't get through. I tried a few times then gave up for the day. The next day I had the same problem so tried another number and got through. They told me to try another number (10 14) which I think is a free call. I spoke to a very nice lady who changed my plan. She put me on hold and then I got disconnected. Not knowing whether or not it was all done I had to call again.

The next lady I spoke to said I had to go to France Telecom to get a new decoder because my old one doesn't work with the new system. I went to Orange and they said I needed a numero de savi, whatever that is.

I went home again and rang the number he gave me but of course that wasn't the right number. After a few calls I found the right number but because I didn't know the decoder model number they couldn't give me the numero de savi. After a lot of pushing he eventually gave it to me.

Back to Orange and I got the new decoder. I tried to confirm that my plan had in fact been changed a couple of days earlier. When he checked the computer it said they were waiting for a signature to change the plan. I don't know how that was going to happen over the phone.

Got home and plugged in the decoder and it worked first time! Yay. I should now be paying less each month but I'll wait for the next bill to see that that is in fact the case. Otherwise I'll have to call them again. Fingers crossed it'll be ok