I'm really looking for some help or advice.

I have a Nokia N97

I was a new customer to Orange in June 09 and registered my first complaint in October 09.

I have had no problems with phone, Internet works fine, no dropped calls, sends texts immediately, sends mms immediately - but i'm suffering a major delay in receiving texts - anywhere between an hour and 8 hours, this doesn't just happen in one particular place (so they can't argue that the problem lies in the signal inside my home) it's happened in other places even though i have a full 3.5g signal.

It's also happening if not every day, then every other day.

Having been through many stages of readjusting my phone, and checking aspects of connectivity they have now told me that there's nothing they can do, that the signal will, every now and then, go through a "black hole" causing the delay in receiving text messages.

My husband is on Vodafone (nokia n97) and my daughter is on Virgin (nokia 5800), they are not having any such problems.

I have been informed that if i want to get out of my contract i will have to pay £550, I can't afford to do that, but i can't put up with this problem for much longer, and honestly, i don't see why i should.

Any ideas ?

Many thanks
angie

The only thing I can think of is contacting Citizens Advice to see if they believe you have a case which you could pursue.

If it were me I'd get some evidence, for example send a text from your husbands phone and photograph the timestamp that displays on the phone. Then when it arrives on yours, do the same.

On a personal note I have avoided Orange like a plague since my first and last contract with them where I sufferred from terrible signal, hidden charges and general lack of any support.

Companies like Orange think they can bury you because you're one small customer, but the fact is they're not providing you with a service you're paying for. Ask to be provided with a copy of your contract (if you don't already have one) and read through it to find where they're in breach. Then advise them you have evidence (the photos) of their poor service which gives you grounds to terminate the contract, and that if it does not happen for no extra cost, you will be contacting your lawyers.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.