Is this £1.70 charge for Orange to send him a hardcopy through the post only?

Bills can be downloaded from Orange's website. Does this charge apply to them? If it doesn't, could he live with downloading them?

Are you saying that anyone who agreed to basic billing will now be switched to full itemised billing at their cost?

Or are you saying that pay monthly customers who opted to have no paper billing (basic or itemised) will now be opted in and charged?


I would feel inclined to write to drop an e-mail to the executive office.

Just for your information I have an o2 'pay up front' contract and they charge me 99 pence plus VAT for an itemised bill every month.

Yes I did Barbara. I had the choice of wanting it or not. Mind you this was something like ten or so years ago and I decided at the time I did, it has remained the same price since then.

I agree with you, your son's case is not right. Call their bluff and pull out of the contract, they don't usually like losing customers. If they say he can't because he is breaking his contract, tell them they are breaking theirs. Good luck

This seems like a back-door way of introducing a charge for paper billing, which is becoming the norm in the telecoms business. It sounds as though those who are already paying for itemised bills will be charged nothing extra, although the option for a summary only bill has been removed.

My tip would be to call Orange Customer services, taking the "I'm thinking of leaving Orange" option for a chat. The staff on that service are usually fairly clued-up on the ins and outs of issues, including the concessions available to retain customers. Unless there is a serious intention to leave, I would go for a write-off of the itemised billing fee for as long as I could get away with - ideally the remaining duration of the contract.

If writing to say that you find electronic billing unsuitable, for goodness sake don't do this by email. That would immediately weaken or destroy the argument. If only communication on paper is acceptable to you, then you need to demonstrate this.

I personally feel that only those with no reasonable access to the Internet have a gripe against a reasonable fee for paper billing, but sadly they are those least willing and able to make their voices heard as we push forward with "Digital Britain". I am sure that this change offers grounds for cancellation of the contract, indeed it was the threat (and reality) of mass defections that caused Orange to cancel the recently announced price rises for contract customers.


As for my situation with Orange, I am totally confused. I find that I am paying £1.28 per month for an itemised bill. It is so long since I joined and saw any paperwork that I have not got a clue what I have signed up for. (Does anybody understand any mobile tariff? - I have found a list of the eight different types of bill that Orange offers, but no table of charges.) I sometimes check the calls online, and dutifully file away the unread paper copies out of habit. I will have a chat with them later to see if I am paying for something I do not want. If I discover anything worthwhile I will post again.

Hi there, yes, my son did phone Orange (delayed as he had had tonsilitis & couldn't speak).  The woman did agree to waive the charge having consulted her manager but did say "when you sign the contract you agree Orange can change the terms & conditions" which is a very wide-sweeping statement, I had thought, like many others, this would only apply to minor things eg statement date, not actual charges which are significant or something where you had specifically signed an opt-out such as the statement charge.  When I get time, I do intend to speak to Trading Standards (or Consumer Direct as I believe it is now called) to see what level of changes are considered acceptable in law otherwise Orange could double the monthly payment & it be considered OK which I am sure is not the case.

Brymboman wrote on Sep 22^nd, 2009 at 1:23pm:

IIRC, when Orange stopped allowing free calls to freephone numbers on pay monthly tariffs, people reported ringing up and being given them for free for the remainder of their contract.