Communication Breakdown
Communications from the world of, er, communications. And other stuff.
Monday 2 July 2007, 10:39 AM
Orange faces up to dissatisfaction
As a former Orange customer myself, I can testify to the above. I also find it particularly caring of Orange to have named its customer feedback campaign "Dave" - thanks guys, I didn't think you'd noticed my departure!
Seriously though, those tariffs do need a serious refresh, especially on the mobile data front! As Orange's own internal memo states: "If we charge a little bit more, our products and services have to be better than everyone else's". You don't say.
PreviousComments on this post
I had my concerns when Orange followed the stampede of operators into the FMC home market and by all accounts this has done serious damage to their customer satisfaction levels. Existing customers who signed up to Livebox have had their image of the brand tarnished, new customers have probably just given up.... As a customer who has perservered, they have now sorted out many of the teething problems with the service but clawing back their reputation will take time...
The mobile data tariff was a disaster. Ironically all of the operators have made ludicrous amounts of money from data charging, largely by 'forgetting' to tell customers how much a MB would cost to download - Orange tried to lead the way and introduce tariffs to counter this and got them wrong. Now all of the other operators are moving towards fixed tariffs realising that customers want 'all you can eat' offers and more importantly that the regulators will not accept overcharging in the future.
So where have Orange gone wrong? the brand that used to be unique amongst faceless tech companies in genuinely inspiring customer affection seems to have lost its way. Some people think the rot set in when they were acquired by France Telecom, others point to a loss of brand direction - compare the early 'future's bright' campaigns with the dreadful 'hard nosed businessman' on the tennis court..
Any other views?
