Orange and Mobile Phones

[beenee]

I've just finished my 12 mnth contract on Orange and would now like to upgrade my phone to a Samsung V200. The problem is that Orange don't do the V200 as an upgrade phone and I will have to open a whole new connection, on another network to get one for a reasonable price.

Apart from my complaint that Orange have taken a really nasty policy to existing, loyal customers I want to know if it's possible for me to terminate my existing contract with them, re-open a brand new one (thus giving them that comission they so desperately seem to want) and then get my old (current) phone number back? Anyone?

[lisaj]

AFAIK, you own your phone number and if you terminate your contract Orange couldn't reassign it for 6 months. This said, I'm not aware of any provision to switch your number to another contract on the same provider, only to move from one provider to another. This said also, the OFTEL form to move number should allow you to specify any target account, so in theory if you signed up a new account with Orange with the new phone, you could then close your existing one, porting the number over to your new account. By the by, I agree that Orange are useless with their existing customer base. If you think you've had problems, you should try their data support staff - they're REALLY rude, not to mention incompetent beyond belief.

[beenee]

Thanks lisaj! Orange told me that they could only 'pac-code'(?) my current number across networks, not within. Is this what you mean? About their customer service - so much for their adverts about making their staff perfect, eh?