Fone Forum

Orange users have suffered a 'double whammy', in that their network has refused to pay up for 0871 calls in two successive months ( so 0871 topups have been barred in consequence ), and there are currently no SMS topups available for them also.        :'(

Both Mikael and I are very concerned to do something about this.        :)

Mikael has done some research, and has found out that Orange charge 50p only for calling a 50p flate rate 09 number.  Mikael has tested this on an Orange contract, and I have conducted a test on an Orange pay & go SIM.  Both were charged just 50p.        ;D

My proposal therefore is to establish a 50p 09 number which can be called from any Orange mobile.  Mikael has indicated that as premium rate numbers are much more efficient than premium texts, he would be able to provide people with 18 mins per topup for 50p on the 3 min service, and 30 mins on the 5 min service.

This seems a good idea to me: are there any Orange users here who would be interested in such a system ?

Please post in reply below.

Yes - exceptionally interested !

Do you know if the free £1 credit for registering a PAYG sim van be used for calls to 09 nos ?  If this is so then, it could potentially allow for 60 mins on the 5 min service.

Also how would linking work if it is not possible to send a sms to the existing top-up nos (an alternative linking only no) ?

Is there a separate way to link, that would not involve sending an sms or a chargeable call (a web service maybe ?) ?

That is good! As far as I know the free credit can be used for all chargable calls. On this service the linking would be able to work via the actual top-up number itself. As the call charge is fixed, it will allow a user to enter a number to apply the credit to if they don't wish to apply it to the actual phone they are calling from. The process would involve calling the top-up number and hearing an announcement for the number the credit will be applied to. There would be an option of pressing one or something to assign the credit to a different number during the top-up call, if the number you were calling from was not the one you wanted to apply the credit to.

Sorry Mikael, the free registration credit cannot be used for many sorts of expenditure.

You cannot use it for calls abroad (even on a camel SIM).

You cannot use it to pay for a day's internet access (though paradoxically ad hoc internet use will be charged against it if you have no other credit available).

And Orange have many other undocumented and illogical exclusions also.

The case of 09 calls is unknown and untried, by me at least, but I would caution against jumping to any assumptions that they would be allowed out of registration free credit.

You are correct Dave,

Orange has some strange policies regarding the use of free credit. I tried utilising it to use the web for a day but no joy. I contacted customer services and they told me free credit was for calls and SMS only.

In theory the 09 number is a call so no 'rules' are being broken. The only way to be sure is to test it out.

moonandstar.

I was aware that Orange prevented their "free" credit being used for some services, but I really did think that any UK calls would be covered. Still, the best would be to test it! If anyone with such free credit is willing to do a test, let me know, and I will arrange something.

I dont have any sims with free credit on at the mo - as it expires after about a month right ?

Anyway I have a few more unactivated sims which can be activated.  I take it at the mo the 09 service is yet to be made available for use.  Or if this is not the case, how can i get the details ? (send me a PM if you like)

If I do partake in the experiments, will my credit survive ?  Is the a central Pre-dial system for credit on the 3 min and 5 min systems ?  I have "accounts" on the 3 min system, but would like to go with the 5 min system as my destinations are cheap.  For me an 09 no for 5 min system would be of most use...

TIA

Answering from my own experience, the Orange registration free credit lasts for 30 days only.        ;)

There is no organised system in place now: just a test number to call.  You hear an announcement that the test was successful after 5 seconds.

This will not generate any credit for you, BUT Mikael's post above mentions:


In my case, he promised me to have the credits manually added to my chosen number as soon as he could get the network to arrange this.  I am sure that he would have a similar offer in mind for another volunteer.        ;)

It's entirely up to you A1ia5, but if you are willing, please send Mikael a direct PM.

Thanks.

I have now added a 50p per call top-up number to the first version of the top-up service, and also the second one.

Linking is not in place yet for them, but will be added in the near future.

This is potentially excellent news - as Orange users, who have been unable to topup through 0871 calls for some time, can now do so.        :)

However, Orange pay and go users, like myself, whose call charges are 10p or even 15p / min., will be well advised to await a new linking mechanism, before spending their balances on 0901 calls to gain credit.

Its been a while, but it is still of interest to me :

* Are there still 09 nos that will provide a 50p or £1 top-up ?
* Is the new linking system in place ?  (I have no idea how this works as I haven't used the pre-dial system for over 1 year and have only used the standard sms top-up service)

Can any one comment on calling 09 nos from other networks ?  I'm particuarly interested in three, Virgin  and BT Mobile, but any that provide small amounts of free credit for registration or any thing else, is of interest.

There has been progress on this. There are now 50p and £1.50 per call numbers that can be used with the top-up service that was working from the O2 network. However there is no linking system in place on it. However, I am getting a new system ready soon that will offer these numbers with linking and other features.

Thanks for the reply and good to hear of the progress !

Just to clarify; are the 50p and £1.50 numbers only usable from o2 ?  Or would this also work on Orange ?
Also, is there no linking system on any of the 09 top-up numbers or only if called from o2 ?

Thanks in advance.

I don't want to be either wrong, or to fall out with Mikael with my reply, but AFAIK none of the 09 topup services work on the O2 network ( as yet. )        :o

The 50p one works on Orange, and the £1-50 one on T-Mobile.        ;)

At least that is what I understand from the posts on the forum.