Never ever ever sign up with Cingular!

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bobalex
New User

May 20, 2004, 3:27 PM

Post #1 of 6 (5474 views)

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The people are rude, the service is horrible, and they take advantage of the fact that they have you by the balls in a contract. After only 12 days they disconnect, charging $36+ over a $39 (or less) bill.

Bastards!

Where else can I use my Sony Ericson that aren't so greedy? (email davidme@email.com)

bigsmiff
Novice

Dec 10, 2004, 11:10 PM

Post #2 of 6 (3766 views)

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I agree. I had a dispute with them a few days ago and ended up cancelling my service. I tried to bargain with them due to a bad phone, and they would not compromise at all.

doubled
New User

Jan 3, 2005, 1:52 PM

Post #3 of 6 (3392 views)

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wow...happy with t-mobile huh. Must be happy with the crappiest cell network other than nextel in america. I've been a happy cingular customer for years now and not once ahve I had a rude employee, or a billing issue that wasnt handled well. The only provider I did have issues with was T-mobile and i paid the fee to get outta my contract cause i couldnt even use the phone in my house, and you want rude customer service?....goto T-mobile

r1thibo
New User

Feb 28, 2005, 7:32 PM

Post #4 of 6 (2726 views)

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12 days of what? Not paying your bill? Lets get this right, you get your bill ten days before the due date, cingular then gives you 10 more days grace before late fees, and then two days later after getting automated calls you get disconnected. Please tell me why this is unfair?

bobalex
New User

Mar 15, 2005, 1:21 PM

Post #5 of 6 (2515 views)

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No, from what I remember, it's 12 days PERIOD. Then they cut you off and charge you 36 bucks. If I were able to charge $36 to every random Joe that owed me for over 12 days, I'd be rich. And they do it en masse by hiding the crap in small print! Bastards, I say! <br> <br>2 days is NOTHING to go without using a cellphone for some people. Mine is for emergency use mostly. If I want to talk casually, I use a land line. So automated calls don't help. Email would, for me, but they don't really want to try TOO many ways of contacting someone or they'd lose THIRTY-SIX F'ING DOLLARS PER "EPISODE"! BASTARDS! <br>

robertplattbell
New User

Mar 19, 2005, 7:27 AM

Post #6 of 6 (2366 views)

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I have to agree. I have been a long-time AT&T subscriber and just switched to a 1250 minute per month plan with Cingular using the new GSM service. You'd think that would be a "no brainer" right? Nope. Cingular and AT&T are still operating like they are separate companies.

The big problem is in the sales and the website. They do not make it clear what you are buying. My old AT&T "anywhere" plan had no roaming charges anywhere in the USA and no long distance. And the customer service was pretty decent.

Cingular sells plans calling them "nationwide" when in fact they mean free long distance. Roaming charges DO apply. You have to read the fine print, and what the sales rep says on the phone is usually whatever lie it takes to get you to sign up for service.

I recently bought their PC Card service for my new computer. For some reason, they use the Sony Ericson GC83 which is a CELLULAR ONLY device. I read the website a hundred times, as most of these devices are Cellular/WiFi compatible. I CALLED CINGULAR to confirm. Like the "nationwide" plan, the salesman will say "yea, sure" to get you to sign up.

The card was $149.99 and the monthly unlimited service was $79.00 Since I thought the Sony card had WiFi I ordered a new laptop computer without wireless networking capability (why have the device conflicts?).

The device and new computer arrive. Plug it all in and install the software. No Joy. Three hours on the phone later, and I learn this:

1. No one at Cingular understands how the Sony Ericson GC 83 cards work, how to install them in your computer, how to troubleshoot them, or how the system works. You are the BETA TESTER!!! Fun! There are some good Q&A forums on the AT&T sites. I guess the AT&T guys are more techy.

2. The GC 83 card does NOT have WiFi. So much for "portable computing". You will have to install a separate wireless network card if you want to access your own wireless network, or run a Cat-5 cable out to the pool.

3. T-MOBIL has the Sony Ericson GC 79 card for $99, which has BOTH Cellular AND WiFi capabilities. The punchline? Their all-you-can-eat service is $29.99 a month. Cheap!

I cancelled the Cingular plan (we'll see if they try to ding me for a cancellation charge) and returned the GC 83 card (total POS).

Bad customer service, misleading website and sales force, high prices, and poor performance (and a much lower cost competitor!).

It wasn't a hard choice.

Now I have to ask myself if I shouldn't be switching my voice service there as well....