-----------------------------------Orange History-----------------------------------
Believe it or not, Orange only started up in the UK as a small business in 1994. The idea was simple, to help people communicate all over the world at affordable prices.
The company obviously hit the spot as it soon became the fastest growing mobile network until March 2001. The best thing about Orange is that as they have become bigger, they have been offering more and more things for the customers instead of grabbing more money. Well obviously they are making a profit but they haven’t gone crazy. They now have over 12 million customers in the UK alone and 30 million customers worldwide. One of the reasons they may be doing so well is because of their outstanding customer service. It has just been ranked number 1 telephone service for customer satisfaction for the fourth year running.

-----------------------------------What they offer-----------------------------------
There are great offers available for both contracts and pay as you go customers which is probably why they hit the spot so many times.

Pay As You Go Customers
You can purchase a sim card on its own for £10 or if you top up £10 instead you get it from free making the second option the better of the two. If you are really smart you can actually get a sim card for free. Unfortunately the only way you can do this is to encounter an orange pop up on a page like Myspace.com. You fill out the information and they send you one for free, simple as. It’s probably easier to go into the shop and spend ten pounds getting the credit too though.
Once you have a sim card, the world is your oyster. All you need to do is call 450 (or go to the Orange website) and register your new mobile number. After this you are able to use many different pay as you go benefits. This includes purchasing text bundles which last up to a month. The more texts you purchase in one go, the more money you get off. For example, one of the biggest text bundles costs £14 and you get 400 text messages which last 31 days. Normally being ten pence each you are making the huge saving of £26. You can also get similar bundles for any time minutes (any network, any time).
There are also loads of different little offers. They include
50% top ups back – What ever you top up, they will give you 50% back. So £10 becomes £15 at the end of the month.
-or-
1000 free texts – Every £10 you top up each month you get 50 free text messages. £20, 200. £30, 300. £40, 500 and £50 1000. So this would work well if you talk a lot on the phone but also like texting.
Magic Numbers – You can add three orange phone numbers to your magic number list and you can call each one for up to three hours each day for only 15 pence an hour.
Orange Wednesdays – Most cinemas are a part of this scheme. You text to the Orange number every Wednesday and get a code. This enables to you ‘buy one get one free’ on cinema tickets.
Emergency Calls – Ever ran out of credit and needed to make that emergency phone call? Orange gives you either one free 60 second call or two free 30 second calls every day, just in case.

Pay Monthly Customers
Recently Orange have responded to worldwide customer complaints about there being too many different contract types and getting confused. To respond they came up with four simple contracts under the names of animals – each had their own theme.

Dolphin – this is the most popular among students and works on the theme of unlimited weekend text messages. The contracts start at £20 and go up to £35. The main idea is that you pay the set amount and get a certain amount of text messages and any time minutes. Then during weekends you are free to text all you want (with a fair usage agreement of 3000 texts a month). This is the contract I am on and it works perfectly – I am on about 2200 texts a month.

Racoon – Starts at £25 and goes up to £35. This focuses on unlimited weekend calls to landlines. Unfortunately the text messages and other any time minutes are average. But this all about what suits the person so may be perfect for younger members of the family who are busy over the weekend.

Canary – Only two contracts of £30 and £40. This is similar to Racoon but about unlimited weekend calls to other Orange Mobiles.

Panther – Starts at £45 and goes up to £75. This is the contract of flexibility. It enables you to mix the top three contracts in to something that suits you more. As you can see though, being a bit fussier is also a bit more weight on your pocket.

Being a pay monthly customer also gives you Magic numbers for 3 hours a day at no extra cost, Orange Wednesdays and the longer the contract you get then the more money you get towards your ‘free’ phone. I am a priority user – meaning that every month I spend a ridiculous amount of money on my mobile phone. This means that if and when I want an upgrade then they will give me whatever I want. The longer you have your contract for (12, 18 or 24 months). The more they will be willing to spend on you.

My history with Orange
At the age of 12 I was handed my first mobile phone – ok, so it looked like a brick but it was still cool at the time. It was at the time known as One2one and soon changed to T-Mobile. After having nothing but trouble with them on both pay as you go and contracts I finally switched to an Orange Contract in 2003 and I haven’t looked back since. I have used the shop in town, my phone to call the operator and when I’m not in the mood for people, the online service too. The customer service has on most occasions been outstanding and Orange has done nothing but take care of me.

I have a badddddd history with phones – I lose or destroy one every month. Orange never hesitates to give me a new one, on many occasions the latest model as well – without even having to upgrade my contract. This is on top of the amount of time I must have clocked in with queries about my contract or phone. Orange is always happy to help. I have even called the operator at 3am and got a tutorial for how to use my phone. If I have even hinted that I am slightly unhappy they have given me free photo messages or online time for a couple of months too.

-----------------------------------Store Location-----------------------------------
There are over 280 Orange stand alone stores, the best way to find one is to go to the Orange website and use the store locator. Otherwise all other big phone companies like phones for you and Carphone warehouse also represent Orange and are happy to help you with your queries. Most stores within the UK are based in Major towns within the centre. My store in Cambridge is right in the centre and stands out like a sore thumb.

-----------------------------------Store layout-----------------------------------
Many stores are now getting a new layout. If I had to sum the appearance up with one word I would use the word sleek. As everyone knows, the Orange logo is an orange square with the name written in bold white at the bottom. Before you walk into the shop this is the first thing you see on the outside header. The main colours for Orange tend to be Orange, black and white. When I walk into the store I always feel like I have entered a mans world. And I’m telling you now…he is a right stud muffin.
The majority of the store has a black metallic theme going on. It’s the colour of the walls, the majority of the till point and so in turn the sales assistants wear black shirts too. Then the colours white and orange are used to break up the store. So the white is used to make displays stand out and the orange tends to be used for text.

The best way to explain it is to give you a point of view so I’m going to walk into my store and see what happens. Here goes:
Ok, so I’m walking up to the store whilst pulling my jeans up (I really should wear a belt you know) and there is no way I would be able to miss it. The surrounding stores are bright and colourful and it’s because of Orange’s dark contrast that it stands out like a sore thumb. There is a small window to the left and right of these huge double doors. The doors are open and because they are big they leave a large section of the store to be seen, making your initial thought that of an inviting one.
The windows are both displaying various Orange offers available to both pay monthly and pay as you go customers. There is enough there to catch your eye but not so much it makes you dizzy which is a refreshing change.
I walk in and there is this cool aired environment. No music, only the sounds of chatter from sales advisors, customers and the till going crazy. I’m not greeted at the door by an advisor but one of the guys serving someone else does smile and nod. I feel the acknowledgment is nice….maybe I will get his number later (even though my fiancée may kill me if I take it). So I have a quick nosey. Right in front of me at the centre of the store is a long table. Looks a lot like a dinner table. Its glass yet has a black tinge to it like the rest of the store. Laid out on both sides are the latest pay monthly models. Each can be picked up and played with a little – bear in mind though that it is also a dummy and you can only walk so far before the elastic band will snap you back into place. Then to the left and right are white boards with the rest of the phones. All again have the elastic bands on then but can still be played with. Each of the phones has a little bit of information to the right on a white card with black text. It states the company that made the phone, features, battery life and what it would cost on pay monthly/pay as you go. Its really easy to follow and if you would like to play with a real phone all you have to do is talk to one of the advisors and they will give you a walk through.
To the right side at the back there is an ATM like machine which actually tops up your pay as you go phone. So if its busy you don’t actually have to talk to a member of staff, all you have to do is have a top up card and follow the instructions. The left side has a tree load of leaflets on all the services that Orange offers to all its customers and all the areas are neat and fully stacked. Then bang in the centre at the back is the till. When I look at it I think James Bond bad guy desk. Similar to the table in the centre of the store but smaller and with a computer (so probably the till) on it. You can also clearly see the chip and pin machine letting me know I can use my card.
The store is neat and tidy. No rubbish what so ever and the environment is that of a friendly one. I feel comfortable walking around and browsing and even though it seems small I don’t feel as if I will be pounced on by a member of staff which is a nice feeling. I can look at my own leisure.

-----------------------------------Stock Availability-----------------------------------
This is one of the big problems I found with the store. Mainly all the latest models are in store which is good. They all have a dummy phone which means I can be sure before hand too. You do notice very quickly that if you want a cheap phone for some reason you will have little or no chance of finding one. All of the dummies are out but ALL of them have an ‘out of stock’ sticker placed neatly across their product information sheet. I found this really annoying. I would prefer that they only had the models out that they had in stock because the first thing I look at is the phone, not if they have it in. On several occasions I thought I had found a quick replacement to quickly find there wasn’t any left.

-----------------------------------Customer service-----------------------------------
Each member of staff is dressed smartly from head to toe in black. Smart black shoes, black trousers and a black shirt with an Orange logo on the shoulder of the sleeve. Every time I have walked in there has been no less than 3 members of staff and on every occasion I have either got a hello or an acknowledgement. They can read body language really quickly and know weather o leave you to browse or to ask if you need help. If they are serving no one they will walk within arms distance for if I need them but not so much I can smell what they had for lunch. It’s reassuring to know that they are there to help.
The great thing about the staff is that they know what they are talking about and on the rare occasion that they don’t they are not afraid to say so. There is nothing I hate more then someone that wastes my time lying. Instead they will find someone that will be able to answer my question. I have never been victim to ‘the sale’ with Orange staff either. You know what I mean, where you feel like you are being reeled into a contract which you know will be a bad idea the minute you leave. Granted, once they get the sale they are eager to pull on it but I have honestly never felt any pressure to get anything from them. They all have an amazing knowledge of each company and the pros and cons of each phone meaning that every time I have been in and got an upgrade I have fallen instantly in love with the phone chosen for me.
The best example I have is when 8 months ago I got a horrendous phone bill of £300. I opened the letter and thought they had sent it to the wrong person. When I went into the store with a look of panic in my eyes a sales assistant was with me within seconds and was straight on the phone to the Orange operator. She confirmed for me that the bill was mine (which followed with a smell whimper from me). She looked at my previous records on the computer – all she needed was my phone number and post code which I found a bit scary. She reassured me that she never gave out details would only tell a person their phone bill or use it to help them.
We soon pinpointed the problem – I stupidly kept calling my mate at peak times to another network. Without another word from me she was on to the operator again negotiating for me, saying I was a loyal customer and always paid my phone bills and I had made a genuine mistake. Soon after my phone bill was cut down to £100 – I couldn’t believe my luck. Then to add to it she reminded me it was time for my phone upgrade. I didn’t have to add any time to my contract, it was just a thank you for being a loyal customer.
She must have stayed with me a total of an hour and a half. She didn’t sell me a contract or take any money from me either. If anything she saved me a tonne of money. And she did it all as if she really wanted to help and with a smile on her face the whole time.

The only bad point I have ever found with the customer service is the dreaded ‘trainee’ badge. Now I know everyone has to learn but it drives me crazy. I spend half of the time trying with all the will I can summon trying not to crack because the trainee has to run back and fourth between myself and another college to ask questions. I feel that the new staff should have a bit more training off the shop floor instead of being thrown straight onto it.

-----------------------------------My opinion-----------------------------------
Orange has honestly been nothing but an amazing company for me. They have taken care of me from day one and I have now got half of my family to join the company as well. The offers are good for both pay monthly and pay as you go members and I love that some of the things included aren’t directly to do with your phone – like Orange Wednesdays. There really is something for everyone and the Orange store is just another way that Orange continues to grow. The majority of staff are an amazing help and allow me to keep my faith in the company. Despite the stock not always being available I guess at least they tell you on the side sheets instead of finding out by asking the staff over and over again. Just try and avoid the trainees in less you have a lot of time to spare. Only have your lunch hour? RUN – run like the wind…