Talk:France/@comment-90.84.144.38-20130609211306

Orange horror story (mobile internet for iPhone 5) This is a long story so I'll give my advice at the start: arrange for your mobile internet before you go to France, if you don't want to spend hours of your precious holiday time in telecom stores, getting frustrated.

We went to France well prepared: my nr 1 choice for mobile internet was SFR, having the best price for two weeks mobile internet, and second Orange. Both providers have a shop in the same Carrefour shopping center of Perpignan (Claira), near our holiday location.

I walked into the SFR shop the day we arrived. The shops there all have the same system. There is a small intake desk where they ask you what you want and write down your name. Then you wait until its your turn. I had to wait 45 minutes. The SFR employee that helped me did however not succeed in getting me a sim with mobile internet. He said this was a known SFR problem and he could not help me. I don't know why they did not tell me at the intake and saved me the long wait.

So I went to the Orange store. After only 15 minutes of waiting the Orange staff were able to tell me that there was a nation wide shortage of sim cards, so they could not get me connected, and chances were slim somebody else could.

Two days later I happened to spot another Orange shop in Perpignan. I walked in, asked at the intake desk if they maybe could get me an internet only sim for my iPhone 5, referring to the sim shortage I heard about. They checked, said they had sims in stock, so there would be no problem. After half an hour of waiting a friendly lady sold me two Orange Mobicartes Let's Go (8€ each), one for my iPhone, the other one for my wife's iPad. The latter worked right away, but mine still did not work 24 hours later.

So I went to the nearest Orange shop, which is the one I visited first, in the Claira Carrefour shopping center. There the staff told me the solution was a 'recharge', so I bought a 10€ recharge. I received a message on my phone saying my recharge was activated, but still no internet. So back again to the Orange store. Now the staff said the problem was the sim, it was not suitable for an iPhone. I asked my money back. They said they could not give it back, only their boss could, and he would be back in an hour. As I had already spent over an hour that day in the Orange shop, I left, frustrated of course, and did not come back until several days later.

Yesterday, I went back to the Orange store, and at first I did not get past the intake lady. Her answer, after hearing my story and consulting her manager, was that the problem was caused by the other Orange store, so I should go there. I insisted, saying that her shop sold me the wrong solution. Some minutes later I was allowed to talk to the manager...

He came up to me, raised his chin and said: Listen, I am not refunding anything, you bought this sim in another shop, go there. I said: your store sold me the wrong solution, and besides: it is does not matter which Orange shop sold me the wrong sim, it is an Orange problem. He raised his voice and his finger shouting (in the middle of a crowded store, full of waiting people) that I was not listening to him, and he repeated what he had said earlier: it was not his store's sim, so no refund - not a chance. He was practically trying to bark me out of the store, it felt threatening.

I then mentioned that I was going to put this story on the internet, and then he got really angry. But he did start acting. He made phonecalls, though he did not tell me what he was doing. But after 20 min of calls he concluded he was right: the recharge was on the sim, the sim just did not match with the phone, so no refund. But... he did have a solution for me, he said. A sim fit for my iPhone plus recharge for 19,90€ total. It seemed strange to me, as so far the staff of this shop told me they had no such sims. Why did they not offer this on my first visit?? So I bought this new sim. It works perfectly, and I am very happy I am 'connected' again. But I do think Orange owes me an apology, for more than one reason. And they owe me 18 euros for nonfunctioning products. I am now looking where I can file a complaint. I'll keep you updated.