Technology catch 22
By Fleur
@Fleura (34935)
United Kingdom
February 4, 2016 5:35am CST
I have a basic mobile ‘phone that my partner bought me about 6 or 7 years ago. It’s a pay-as-you-go and I rarely use it except when I’m running late to pick up the girls or the car breaks down or something like that. I top up with £20 and it lasts about a year.
Now my credit has run out so I went to the local shop and bought a voucher. By this time I’ve forgotten what I should ask for; when I turn the ‘phone on I get a welcome screen from Orange but sales messages from ee. The shop sold me a top-up voucher which seems to be the right thing – at least it has the website for ee at the bottom of it.
I followed the instructions and entered the voucher number but it tells me it isn’t a valid number. I tried several times in case I’d pressed the wrong button, but got the same result. So then I tried the option of contacting customer support since I was having a problem topping up, but it tells me I don’t have enough credit to make a call. Well obviously that’s why I’m trying to top it up! So now I’m stuck, lucky I hardly ever need it!
All rights reserved. © copyright Fleur 2016.
9 people like this
10 responses
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
4 Feb 16
This is probably because the original service provider is Orange. I had a similar experience when I tried to use my old Orange mobile due to my other being broken. I was given a message on screen that the network was incorrect, which I was informed by the shop was because it was locked to the Orange service and I am using EE.
3 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
4 Feb 16
@Fleura That sounds wrong somehow because both Orange and T Mobile were taken over by EE. I have been an Orange customer for many years, but my account is now with EE.
Good luck trying to find an Orange voucher. Even if they exist I cannot imagine many shops stocking them due to the limited sales.
2 people like this
@Fleura (34935)
• United Kingdom
4 Feb 16
That is what I did, I found a number to call from a landline and got a very helpful man. Apparently I bought the wrong voucher and I will have to change it to an Orange one (not sure how that works if they don't exist but that's what he said!)
2 people like this
@TiarasOceanView (70020)
• United States
4 Feb 16
You have had your phone for a long time friend.
I got a small one about 3 yrs old and it is no problem what so ever.
I rarely use it only for emergency.
2 people like this
@Fleura (34935)
• United Kingdom
4 Feb 16
It is daft, you'd think customer support should be free. Luckily I found the number to call from a landline, and luckily we do have a landline and I am now at home so I tried that and they were very helpful. The number is 07973 100450 in case anyone else needs it!
1 person likes this
@aju007 (1460)
• Thiruvananthapuram, India
4 Feb 16
I had a similar problem with my service provider. The recharge voucher is of two types for this provider. One is for the GSM and the other for CDMA. People just cant notice the wordings printed there as it is so small. For me its GSM. It is when we try to recharge the phone that it says its not valid. As the voucher is scratched, the seller wont accept it back either. So I got stuck with a useless voucher and had to buy another once.
1 person likes this
@sueznewz2 (10409)
• Alicante, Spain
4 Feb 16
Sorry about your hassle...but i'm with ee and have found them to be good....
1 person likes this
