I finally got around to calling Orange (a UK mobile phone network provider) today and asking them why my final bill was double what was expected. In the end, I didn’t end up wishing I’d recorded my previous call to them.
The first call I placed through Skype (international calls to a British mobile number are expensive on Kazakh landlines), and 12 minutes into the call, all seemed well – they found out where the problem was, seemed amicable to discussing removing the extra month’s charge from the bill, and had just transferred me to the next department I needed to clear things with, when either Skype or my internet connection went very dodgy. The audio had large gaps with silence, but no skipping, so there were huge delays. Deciding to cut my losses, I called back from a normal phone, and spoke to a couple of very helpful and friendly lads. We’ll have to wait and see whether the final paper bill (due in just over a week) confirms what was offered on the phone, but it looks like the superfluous month will be knocked off, and even a bit extra deducted to cover the cost of me calling them internationally!
I’m the first to shout from the rooftops if I am at the receiving end of bad customer service, so I wanted to take a minute to say Thank You to Orange for their customer service attitude and ability to see beyond “losing” 18 pounds and realising that keeping a customer happy (and loyal) makes more sense in the long term. (I’m switching to PAYG whilst in Kazakhstan, as I rarely use that phone and SIM card unless in Britain).