Ive had my number almost 9 years now, and in that time its been on all 4 major networks (before all this "piggy backing" started; virgin,tesco etc etc).
I found t mobile ok,but the after service rubbish, Vodafone very very expensive (my bills broke the £100 mark most months), O2 ok apart from they didnt want to look after loyal customers+at the time orange were offering a good deal. From what my friends say, O2 have improved since i was with them.
Im in my third year with Orange now, and id rate them 7/10 overall. Unfortunately, to get anything done, you have to know how to "work the system". For example, when upgrade time comes,always threaten to leave even if u have no intentions of doing so. The normal operator has no negotiating powers. However the department you get put through to, have loads. They always offer me loads to make me stay, ie>discounted line rental, free stuff like bluetooth headsets etc, thats the normal operators never offer.
Ive just had a problem with them this week too. All the time ive been with Orange, ive had my phone insured,paying my £5 a month. Ive claimed once before, but thats it. At the start of september, i smashed the screen on my fone. So i went to asda and bought a £30 samsung, and have been using that since, because i didnt hav time to sort it out. Recently tho, ive been getting pissed off with having no camera or bluetooth, so i made the decision to finally get it sorted. I foned orange up, and they told me ive violated my terms and conditions, because i didnt notify them within 24hours of damaging it, therefore the normal £15 excess doesnt apply..........it would now be £90!!!! I told him i wasnt paying that, and i wanted to make a complaint. So he put my case to the complaints department, who would contact me within 24 hours. Which they did.
The guy told me, very calmly that my appeal has been rejected, and the £90 excess stilll applies. I went mad, told him how long ive been with them, how much i pay them every month, hw many times iv claimed before+this is how they treat me?!?! The phone went quiet, i heard a lot of button pressing, then he said "on this one ocasion mr o'brien, as a good will gesture, we will completely waiver the charge" so asked him what that ment, and he said i owe them nothing!! So the courier has just dropped my new phone of this morning, and its cost me nothing
To sum it up, i believe all the networks are as bad as each other, but up to now, orange have provided a good service for me, not to mention the dolphin 35 package im on, saves me a fortune on txts, lol.