“Why I was Forced to Switch from Orange to Telenet After 22.5 Years of Loyalty”

After 22.5 years at Orange (previously Mobistar, and before that Orange France) I was forced to switch from Orange to Telenet. In November last year I had network issues with my e-sim which I requested from day 1 when they started offering it. Worked perfectly for 2 years, then had a small problem and they had to request my e-sim again via the app, and then the problems started. Nr still existed, but was no longer known on the orange network, they said. But it was still under my account, couldn’t do a sim swap, nothing. I was then without any network for a full week, were it not for my data-only extra SIM, even whatsapp would not have been an option. Neither privately nor professionally (have secondary occupation) people could reach me. No texting, no calling. Nothing, neither incoming nor outgoing. Only solution they came up with after a few weeks and a dozen visits to the orange store, temporarily switching to another so that the number was registered on the GSM network again.

Done, because I had to be available because they quickly delivered new furniture and they would call 30 minutes before. Missing them was not an option. Then back to orange. 22 years seniority is of course not nothing. Well, same problem. I added a 2nd number (since my new phone can put 2 numbers on the network at the same time, pixel 7 pro), problems again. 2nd no active > all incoming calls on primary (e-sim) went straight to voicemail. Cell phone didn’t even ring. Strangely enough, outgoing calls / texts worked but incoming got the message “you do not have access to this number”. Searched for weeks for a solution without solace. Went to the store several times without a solution, customer service was a big 0. Had file after file drawn up, but no solution was found. And I paid € 44 / m for that (2x Go intense = multi-product benefit to € 22 per subscription) 140GB, and they could not restore my seniority while it was because of THEM (Orange) that I had lost it at all.

At Telenet, I paid about €70/m for all-Internet + giga speed boost. Together with orange, that was € 110 / month for what in my case was nothing but problems for 5 months after November last year. At the end of March I was so tired that I transferred the entire trade to Telenet. 2nd number discontinued, primary to telenet and that switch saves me money.

Because of my switch with mobile phone, the logical jump was from all-internet + giga speedboost > OneUp with 1 number. And this for €90/month and 300GB of mobile data. If I add a free data sim, I get 600GB!, and that for €20 less than what I paid with orange + telenet together. And visual voicemail at Orange? That hasn’t worked properly for years. My phone app kept saying “visual voicemail not working”, and that had also worked before until I had to request the e-sim from orange again.

Too bad, I would have liked to have reached 25 years, but it was not allowed to be. I gave them (Orange) dozens of chances for 5 months, but to no avail, they were allowed to solve problems and issue credit notes for 5 months. I don’t pay a penny for what doesn’t work. Telenet? The new SIM was active in less than 24 hours (it was requested on Friday at 5 PM, it was active on Saturday morning), and coverage was immediately in order. No problems with calling or texting. The only thing I miss now is visual voicemail, and e-sim, but unfortunately they won’t see me again at orange. Their “Orange Thank You’s” never really caught my eye anyway. What good is 4GB of mobile data if you already have 70…