Orange Hero 2.1 - customer service is useless

[Killocity]

So after waiting and waiting for Orange to release even the first part of the updates for the HTC Hero, I decided to email them myself. Lo and behold, the reply was absolute trash. Here it is in full first:

Thank you for your email regarding your HTC Hero handset.

I am sorry to learn that you are unaware of our process regarding firmware updates for Orange phones. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience this has caused.

I would like to advise that Orange customers are not able to obtain firmware updates not direct from HTC themselves, this is due to the Orange branding that you have on your phone that allows you to use this on our network.

Please find below a link to our website where you are able to check in the future if an update via Orange has been released.

http://www2.orange.co.uk/servlet/Sa...96364420640&product=Feature&t=Product&tabid=1

I have also supplied below the required steps that you will need to take in order to organise an update to your phone. Be advised to follow the on-screen instructions as it will give you necessary and required information regarding your phone.

"your phone's features" > "download software updates" > "how do I download the latest software update" > "HTC Hero ROM update"

When a new update is made available by a handset manufacturer they will pass a version of this to Orange so that we can run the required tests to confirm that this update they have released will co-exist with the Orange branding that you are required to use on your phone.

It is possible that the new update that is released may not co-exist with the Orange branding and thus we will not be able to release the update for the HTC Hero, if they can not co-exist and we were to release this to your phone, this could effectively be detrimental to your handset and Orange will not process for this reason.

If the update version can not co-exist with the Orange branding then we will wait for Samsung to release a new update to which we will restart the testing process accordingly.

Be aware that it is not possible to advise of any estimated timescale for the testing of this update by Orange, furthermore, we can not guarantee that an update will be released at all regarding the HTC Hero as the updates that could be released may never work alongside the Orange branding on the phone.

Because some of this information is speculative and based on situations regarding the testing of updates that may or may not ever be released by Samsung and the time it takes to complete the testing of the new updates, please accept my sincere apologies that we can not be more specific regarding your query.

Please be advised that the answers to many common queries can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section in the Help and Support option on the Home page of our website.

Mobile Phones | Broadband & Mobile Broadband UK Deals | Free Web Email | Orange.co.uk

I trust this information clarifies your query.

Kind regards

Apparently, Samsung are also involved in this update!

 

[colin4unow]

wow... so you may not get an update ever. My wife got a hero last week on orange and was looking forward to 2.1 or 2.2 soon. I just wish the people at orange would tell customers the above info when talking out a new 18 month contract. I do hope im not in the same boat with my xpera x10 and android 1.6 on T-mobile..

 

[colin4unow]

Just a thought ... if orange branding will not co exist with android 2.1 or 2.2 then surely orange must unlock the phone. Im no techy and i may be talking crap but its just a thought

 

[TheBrit]

wow... so you may not get an update ever. My wife got a hero last week on orange and was looking forward to 2.1 or 2.2 soon. I just wish the people at orange would tell customers the above info when talking out a new 18 month contract. I do hope im not in the same boat with my xpera x10 and android 1.6 on T-mobile..

The Orange HTC Hero will get the update. That's just a standard reply that seems to be designed to start a riot.

Some customer service reps are clueless.

 

[Killocity]

Just a thought ... if orange branding will not co exist with android 2.1 or 2.2 then surely orange must unlock the phone. Im no techy and i may be talking crap but its just a thought

Problem is, Orange probably think Nokia has to unlock the phones...

If the update can't co-exist with Orange then:
-Orange officially sucks and I will never go back to them
-I'll be forced to Goldcard my Hero. *sigh*