Hello folks,

For the past 3 years I have seen the continuous deterioration in the quality of service from Orange and despite their good prices (CHF 35.- for 30 free min + 1GB data + 3 preferred numbers), I am forced to resign the contract.

In the past 4 months they have dropped support for dialing several operators I dial on a daily basis abroad and today they called to say "sorry but we can't do much. You are free to resign". They are letting me go.

Looking at Sunrise, they have obviously lost it completely, with prices above Swisscom. Unfortunately for me, the matching Swisscom package is at CHF 75.- and that does not include free minutes or preferred numbers...

Anyhow, to stay in touch with friends, family and work, I have no choice and will have to bite the bullet. Reaching out to ask your tips and help on:

- is there a family/friends pack with Swisscom that will allow us to call each other for free (preferred numbers)
- is there a option/add-on which gives cheaper calls to abroad

Any other input on Swisscom is more than welcome - I should be moving in the coming day or two...

Hello there,
I unfortunately went through something similar with Orange; used to get 2 bills a month for some strange reason. I eventually got fed up with them and went over to Swisscom. They are a little bit more expensive but there are no hidden charges or bullshit charges on your bill. My wife and I have the Swisscom together package..free calls to 3 numbers(I'm not 100% sure if its 3 numbers), 0 minute allowance, 1 gig data package for 55 francs/month. All in all I end up spending about 75 francs a months with calls and texts.

Thank you for that! Do you have to have the fixed line with them also, or is two mobiles enough?

Cheers

Yes, we have our home fixed line with them. It makes it much easier but 2 mobiles should be enough.

I am also angry at Orange. They send me all kinds of messages saying that I didn't pay when in fact I did.

Does anyone know how and when you can cancel your contract?

My current contract ends in May..... I went to the store, and they
told me I had to send it in writing and was on the website.

Of course, I could not find it in the Website!!

Glad to know that I was't the only one receiving random bills when I had already paid. I guess they need the extra money since they have no business. I think you can cancel your contract 2-3 months prior to the expiration of your contract and you must do it in writing. If or when you go to their shop, you can ask them to give you their central office address who's responsible for cancelling your contract.

I was on Swisscom for about 5 years. (Switched for reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of their service - I was offered a unique deal on unlimited data and calls with Sunrise, hard to refuse.)

Good network coverage, confusingly large range of plans. Their prices for in country and roaming calls don't seem out of line with other operators in Europe.

Their site makes it easy to switch plans if you find yours needs improvement. Of course, it's marginally easier to switch to a more expensive plan, so you may want to pick a modest one first and move up as necessary.

You can even call them and speak English if you like.

sunrise have a load of new rateplans including things like free calls abroad, unlimited data etc etc, so you may want to check again at whats included before saying they have lost the plot

the problem in Switzerland that all the mobile companies are very bad and too expensive.

I've only been here 2 days and I have to agree! Prices and deals are woeful!

I was getting 300 minutes (national calls), 300 texts and 3GB of data for 25 EUR per month in Ireland. No such deal here!

Maybe you need to be here a bit longer before you can make such a sweeping statement.

I have a considerably better plan than the one you cite, for about the same monthly rate.

You need to shop around a little, talk to the customer reps really nicely instead of complaining that their plans are garbage, and you may find that they will discover there are a few plans that are not listed on the site, or that there is a special offer valid only for you, only for today.

I'm not complaining Marksmadsen! I was just saying that the value for money didn't really seem great for Swiss people. And I was comparing a Bil Pay package (in Ireland) to a Pre Pay package (in Switzerland) which is also a litte unfair!

I will actually work for one of these mobile service providers so I'll be getting a great Bill Pay deal! I just had to get a Pre Pay SIM card until next week (when I start work) and I did find the offers poor...

Didn't mean to upset anyone!

No upset intended or taken. Here's hoping that everything works out well for you, including your package.

If you want to cancel your contract then the address I used was:

Orange Customer Care
Rue de Caudray 4
Case Postale
CH-1020 Renens 1

I also follow the advice of the Forum founder Mark, when I signed my contract the next day I posted a recorded letter to Orange notifying them that at the expiry of my 12 month minimum contract I am cancelling the contract with them.

It worked in my favour - at the contract end they offered me the exact same deal for 10CHF less per month - which I took for another 12 months and repeated the process.

This is PURE GOLD advice, especially in Switzerland, where contracts are automatically renewed unless terminated 1-2-3 months in advance.

I will certainly send this letter to all my current suppliers and will adopt this approach! Thank you, Stu&Kara, Thank you Mark!!!

I have checked Sunrise; one thing they offered over the phone was 29.- off in case we take all our services to them (fixed+internet+mobile); even then, we are hitting 99.-CHF for the mobile subscription with 1GB data in it, i.e. 24 CHF above Swisscom.

In the past days, I have been scouting all possibilities and arrived at this scenario, closest to the current Orange+Sunrise+Naxoo package we have at home:

Mobiles = transfer to Swisscom @ chf 75.-
TV+Internet+Fix = transfer to Cablecom @ chf 59.-

Given that the fix line with Cablecom needs no landline from Swisscom (chf 25/month), this is adding up pretty nicely; better signal/coverage/service on the mobiles + cheaper yet matching offer on the tv+fix+internet.

So where can you get 3GB of data for 25 EUR here?? I don't see any publicly available plans in that range.

I am here a bit longer but I still find the Swiss mobile market inferior to the Irish one. I actually thought it's rather underdeveloped in Ireland comparing to other countries but now that I look at Swiss options I can see how much better it is over there.

Ireland: 3.5 mil people
Switzerland: 7.5 mil people

Ireland: 4 real operators (Vodafone, O2, Three, Meteor)
Switzerland: 3 real operators (Swisscom, Sunrise, Orange)

Ireland: Internet Vodafone, O2, Meteor EUR0.99 for 50MB daily, Three EUR4.99 500MB monthly
Switzerland: Swisscom CHF7.5 unlimited daily, Orange CHF10 300MB monthly, Sunrise CHF1 unlimited daily

Ireland: all 4 operators offer several hundred free Web texts online, 2 of them - international (Vodafone 600 intl, O2 250 intl, Three 333, Meteor 500)
Switzerland: Sunrise 50 intl, Orange 20, Swisscom - ?

Sorry, I didn't look in detail into voice options as SMS and Internet is what's most important to me. Those above are only the prepaid options as I'm not considering contracts.

To be honest, this new Sunrise Dataflat is a Godsend, it's not only cheaper than in Ireland but also unlimited. Though I have to tell its speed is rubbish as I constantly get just [250/110] at Speedtest. But it's still the only cheap option for browsing, email and even occasional Skype.

By the way, when exactly was this Dataflat first offered? I remember checking all operators roughly once a month but I saw this option just a couple of weeks ago mentioned here on EF.

I also have the same experience. I just went to contact them to upgrade my package and could not even get through !! When I signed 4 or 5 years ago their customer service was great, now there literally is no one to talk to. Just sent the request to transfer my number and business account to Swisscom ...

Suffolk

You could of at least told her the name of your carrier, or plan, or are you really getting what you say?

I get 1GB of Internet for 7.50 per month - as an option added to my prepaid. Got that deal a year ago, they have since changed plans but i'm pretty sure it's still there.