Nobody likes to pay more at the end of the month. If you have a fixed rate with Orange and you see that the bill you receive asks you to pay more, it may be due to an extra expense. Whether you have a mobile phone or Internet plan, the telecommunications company warns you of possible reasons why the price goes up in a certain month.
Orange has extra charges that make your bill with the operator more expensive at the end of the month. Sometimes, we may be using some services thinking that they are free, but in reality, they are not. Sometimes, we end up paying that extra for several months without realizing it and, when we do, we tend to complain without paying attention to whether we are really to blame for not having read the fine print.
The French operator with a subsidiary in Spain warns you about this on its website. But, in your rush, you may not have noticed. That’s why we’re summarising everything that falls under the category of Orange’s extra charges. This way, you’ll avoid using them and you won’t want to pay more under any circumstances.
«Payment on Orange bill»
Google Play, Windows Phone or Galaxy Apps allow Orange customers to buy something and have it reflected on the bill they receive at the end of the month. This function exempts the user from paying at that moment by entering their bank details, but that does not mean that it is free. In other words, it will appear on their Orange bill.
If you click on “pay on Orange bill” when you buy some online content or an app, you can be sure that this will appear on your monthly bill. This is a safe and fast payment method, but when the end of the month comes, you may forget and become scared when it comes time to pay. Don’t worry, if you think about it carefully, you will surely be able to remember what you paid with this feature.
Premium SMS
There are some text messages via SMS that have an additional cost. By sending what we know as Premium SMS, we are carrying out an action that costs a certain amount of money. Sometimes, we will have subscribed to a service and we will have to unsubscribe so that it stops being reflected in the bill. However, there are cases in which we will only pay once and it will not cause you any problems again.
Typically, text messages classified as Premium SMS are used for:
- Get special content, such as games, music or ringtones.
- Voting in TV contests
- Donations to charities
Special rate numbers
Even if you have a mobile plan where every call is free, there are certain exceptions. These are usually numbers that have a special rate. The additional charge depends on who you call, but some can be excessively expensive per minute.
The prefixes that cost money are:
- 803: Adult Services
- 806: entertainment (gambling)
- 807: professionals (doctors, counseling)
- 901: Public Administration (Social Security, Tax Agency)
- 902: electricity and gas companies
- 905: televoting
- 907, 908, 909: provision of a service
Unpaid invoice
There is a chance that the extra money you have to pay on your Orange bill is what you have not paid on previous bills. In this way, the operator reminds you that you are not up to date with your rate and, if you are, you could suffer certain consequences.
If Orange detects that they have not received the money you were previously owed, they may apply a charge for “Debt collection”. This extra charge will be applied to new bills. If you have paid, you should call the company to try to resolve the issue and not pay the same bill twice.
Roaming
Roaming is the service that is automatically activated by default if you use your mobile phone to call or use data abroad. Orange customers can use this function without any extra cost as long as they do so in one of the following countries:
- Germany
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Finland (including the Aland Islands)
- France (including Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Martin, French Guiana, Reunion and Mayotte)
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Iceland
- Italy
- Vatican City
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- malt
- Norway
- Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal (including Madeira and Azores)
- Czech Republic
- Romania
- Sweden
Outside the countries mentioned, Orange customers can opt for Roaming Destinos Plus. This plan has a daily rate of 2 GB of data for 9 euros and 20 minutes of calls for 1 euro; and a weekly plan of 20 GB for 25 euros. However, this offer is only available in 49 countries and, in the rest of those not included in the conventional rate, you should know that the price shoots up. All this is reflected in the bill.
MultiSIM
If you want to separate your personal and professional life in your mobile plan, you may have decided to opt for Orange’s multiSIM. This service, which you can contract with any operator, offers you a second or even more SIM cards with the same phone number and data plan.
This way, you can have all your work apps on one phone and the ones you use for leisure and to talk to friends and family on another, with the same rate. This proposal is very interesting, but it has a cost that you should consider before asking Orange for it.
As stated on their website, the mutliSIM service costs 2.95 euros per month and allows you to add up to 4 cards. In addition, there is an activation fee of 5 euros and, if you want a Max Velocidad multiSIM, it costs 5 euros per month.
Mobile insurance
The teleoperator allows Orange customers to take out insurance for their mobile phone or tablet. This way, if someone steals it, the screen breaks or it falls into water, the company promises to repair it or replace it with a device of the user’s choice.
Even though the company’s insurance is very comprehensive, and even covers a maximum of up to 2,000 euros in fraudulent calls, for example, it costs money. And this must be taken into account when contracting it, to avoid getting a shock when we see the bill at the end of the month.
Orange mobile or tablet insurance can be taken out from the moment of purchase or during the six months following. If you take out insurance for a smartwatch, the time to take out the insurance is reduced to 90 calendar days after the purchase.
Orange TV
Now that Euro 2024 has been held and we are in the middle of the Paris Olympic Games, it is possible that, as an Orange customer, you have decided to subscribe to Orange TV. The television service of the orange operator is not free and has an extra cost that must be taken into account. Especially if we do not want to get a shock when we receive the monthly bill.
In addition to European football and the Olympics, Orange TV also offers LaLiga and beIN Sports for sports fans. And if you’re not interested in sports competitions and are interested in movies and series, Orange TV has a wide catalogue available for you.
Caller ID
There are people who are interested in having a caller ID service at home. This is very useful to know which number has called you on your landline and, if it is important, to return the call.
However, as nice as it sounds, caller ID is not free. It costs an extra 2 euros per month. In addition, the company reminds that the number will only be detected if the caller has not activated the number concealment.
If, despite knowing that it costs money, you decide to take out the service, you must call 1470 if you are a private customer. And, if you are a business customer, you will have to do the same by calling 1471.
Call establishment
Nowadays, most customers pay attention to free calls. However, not all Orange plans have free call setup. This means that if you let the answering machine ring and continue the call, the operator will make this clear on your monthly bill.
As an example, Orange offers its Colibrí plan. This cost 11.95 euros per month, offered 1 GB of browsing and calls at 0 cents per minute. However, if we read the small print, we saw that the call setup did cost money. Specifically, 20 cents. Therefore, when calling we did have to pay.
Commitment to stay
When you sign up for an Internet or mobile phone service, regardless of the operator, you should always read all the conditions. There are promotions that oblige you to remain with the contract for a certain period of time. When you sign it, you agree not to cancel or change your rate to a lower one within the company until a certain number of months have passed.
If you decide to change, Orange will force you to pay a penalty. For example, the initial offer may have been very cheap and the contract stated that it would be more expensive after three months, which does not convince you. Or there may be a promotion that you have found that offers you the same or more things for a lower price.
You will have to decide whether the change is really worth it or whether, on the contrary, you want to stay until the end of your contract and avoid the penalty. If you change, you can be sure that you will notice it on your bill at the end of the month. The price to pay will depend on the rate and the benefits you obtained by switching to Orange.