Cingular SUCKS

Never never go cingular. This company sucks.
My contract was end on Sep 10,2004.On Sep 12,2004 I called the customer service and said i wanna cancel this plan.One guy said ok,but you have to wait till next billing cycle since it's in the middle,and blar,blar... Even i am not really happy with that.I said ok,so the phone gonna be closed on Oct 10,2004.After that,i used my wife phone since she got another one from Tmobile which means i rarelly touched this dammed cingular phone.To be surprised,i found there is a huge amount ($141)charged on my CC on Nov 6,2004 from Cingular.I called the customer service a few time(each time it took more that 10 minutes to response).Everyone could see how they treat customers.Finally i got someone who i guess is a black lady.I tried to explain this situation and said there was somthing wrong cause i never used that much amount minutes(that lady explained me i over 260 minutes).Suddendly she raised her voise ,almost shouting at me."You used that amount of minutes,if not you,that should be someelse.And you must pay this bill..blar blar"Dammed,i locked this phone in my desk.Who the hell gonna use this phone except the ghost.So i replied cool but a little bit angry"I need to get a copy of this bill and before i confirm all those charges i would ask my CC company to disbute this charge.(i never authorized them to charge my CC without notice.)"Before i finished my talk,she just disrupt my speaking rudely.And almost yelling at me"No matter how,you have to pay this bill."
Now i am waiting for them to send me this ridiculous bill.and i am so curious to know how Cingular could make money like this way.Actually,before this incident,i heard a few of my friends complaied Cingular about such kind of huge bill after you closed your cingular account.Now i do hope i can let them give me back this credit(even Seems no much hope).The last effort i would do is to take legal action against Cingular.But for sure no one would like this to happen.It's not just for 141 bulks,but for the cunsumer's rights.Not just that,i would go as many local cingular stores as i could to share this experience with those who potentially wanna buy a cingular phone.
Once again,never never go cingular.They suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I'm not trying to be rude, but taking a writing course may be a good option for you. I don't know if your verbal communication is as confusing, but that might be part of your problem.

I'll be interested to see what happens when you get the bill. You now have 30 days to tell them you don't want to have service with them (adopted from AT&T - upped from 14 days, though if you started in September you're well outside 30 days at this point). I think if you look at the line items in the bill, it might help with some of the confusion. For example, there is probably an activation fee, a cost for the phone (if not paid POS), and the bill a month in advance (like cable).

Once you look at the line items (you can download the .pdf file from the website within a couple days of the close of your cycle), I'll be interested to see what your opinion is then. Chances are, you're locked into a contract and you made the calls. If not, call in the fraud - you won't be responsibile for any calls from the time you report the fraud on.

If you have been wronged, I would call again and present the facts. If you didn't cancel in time, you're bound to the contract. If there were calls you didn't make on your bill and you didn't report it, you're responsibile for those. I think your "Cingular sucks" will likely be an education in the terms of the contract you signed...

Cingular has an excellent site for checking minutes usage. I've reported billing issues in the past, and have been told they're my fault when they weren't. I find that sometimes it takes a couple calls (which is wrong - but not limited to Cingular only - I spend more time on the phone with other providers than Cingular) is what it takes. A couple months ago, I called with an errenous international call on my bill - it was $2. On the second call, I got a wonderful person who credited my account $50 for the hassle.

Again, if the facts (and the law) are on your side, speak them clearly and calmly. Talk slowly - it forces the rep to do the same. You can get your point across without yelling. If the rep is rude to you, ask for their name and employee ID - you'll find they tend to calm down. In the instance I noted above where she said I'd have to pay for a billing error on their part, I remember asking for her name. She said it was "Dana". I asked what call center, she told me. I then asked if she was the only Dana at that call center - she said, "I haven't taken a survey." Rude people exist everywhere. If I hung up the phone everytime I got a rude airline reservation agent, I would never fly.

The manager I spoke to on the next call said this wasn't the first call she'd received about Dana, and there was a strong chance Dana wouldn't be available to take future calls. Translate it as you wish.

harvardpipi:

We feel your angry and frustration. But you need not duplicate your post in ever forums.

if i'm getting your convoluted story correct, you're pissed because you think you were charged for calls that you did not make? well, did you make those calls? is it possible some1 made those calls without you knowing? if you were smart you would check the your call detail and log. do you have proof that you didn't make those calls? you should know if you check your log when, where, and to who the calls were going to. was your phone or sim stolen? if not, you are responsible for the minutes you use period.

in my experience blasting a csr won't get you anywhere. as jc said, you need to explain to them clearly and calmly. and yes, it has happened to me in the past. i had m2m minutes (~1500) charged as regular minutes putting me way over but i was able to get that resolved and credited.

lastly, to your comment and opinion about cinglar....that's what is is - your opinion. your post does not point out any glaring errors by cingular. if there are errors, you should be seeing that before you get a bill. also, welcome to the real world - you will find that no one company is perfect. good luck.

ok,let me make this straight.
First,i didn't receive any bill about this charge from Cingular.
Second,Cingular cancelled my account right after i chose to close my contract,so there is no way i could check my minutes usage online.
yes,u r absolutely right.I felt so angry about Cingular.That's exactly what u said.

Last edited by JCMyersIV on Wed Nov 24, 2004 1:30 am, edited 1 time in total

I felt like I was reading the communist manifesto in the last quote about all big corporations are after is money. That type of thinking is correct; profit maximization is a key business goal. You Vilify "big corporations" without a basic rudimentary understanding: Corporations do not exist to serve themselves, they exist to serve their stakeholders - the people that own their stocks and bonds, their employees, and [while I agree it doesn't always seem this way] their customers. Own some stock in SBC/Bellsouth and see how your opinion changes about greedy corporations.

One point you're incorrect on is the churn numbers. I don't know where you get your 40% number from, but AT&T recently had the highest churn at 3%. Now, 3% of their 20+ million customers is a lot of people. You're also dead wrong about customer retention vs. acquisition. As you've encouraged research into service providers and cell phones manufacturers (thanks for the links), you should do some research into marketing strategy. Widely published data suggest it often takes between 10 and 20 times more money to attract new customers than to keep existing ones happy.

My guess is that T-Mobile is getting that message loud and clear. Friends of mine have gushed about how T-Mobile is bending rules to keep them happy, and it shows in their performance statistics (JD Power, churn, new “adds”). I don't like them for a couple reasons 1) I can't get GPRS on their entire map as they will often roam with smaller, regional players instead of Cingular/xATT (Madison and Appleton WI they use Einstein PCS - in Iowa until recently Iowa Wirless didn't have GPRS); 2) They don't use the voicemail waiting icon, they send an SMS message; 3) they don’t have rollover; and [most importantly] 4) they only have two devices currently that support 850mhz (bb 7100t and Nokia 3595 – they may have more now, but that’s the last I checked)- and I spend a lot of time in rural areas w/o 1900 coverage. Compare the coverage maps - you'll see the difference between the spider web and more complete coverage between Cingular and T-Mo.

Those aside, if you’re only going to be in major population centers, or along major highway arteries, go with T-Mobile (unless you want to go with CDMA). There is nothing that shows a company they're not doing enough to keep their customers happy than to leave. The churn statistics are widely posted by the companies and analysts, and is seen as one of the key hurdles to the success of newcingular; Verizon and T-Mo are betting on picking up disgruntled customers like yourself and the initial post-merger period. If you think you can do better elsewhere after researching it, go with it. Providing the rest of us emotional diatribes about how you're getting screwed isn't going to help you or us; I don’t like Cingular any less b/c you don’t.

Respectfully,
John

harv,
I was struggling thru your babbling, is so far as it was possible to understand, till I got to the "Finally i got someone who i guess is a black lady" part. That's where I stopped. If ever there was an example of the pot calling kettle black (literally) this was it.
I have no doubt that Cingular is treating you badly, but this could be a good think for you. Take a look in the mirror and see the real problem. You. JC gave some good advice. You need to work on your communications skills. If you don't, life is gonna be a long series of financial and social struggles.
try www.verbaladvantage.com

Richard

Quick fact checks on earlier postings:

Churn - here's a note about it from the [what I'm guessing will be the last] ATTWS quarterly report in October

http://www.attwireless.com/wirelessir/downloads/3Q04EarningsPressRelea se.pdf

Churn for the quarter was at 3.7% - which if you multiplied by 4 quarters, you're at 14.8% - far from %'s mentioned in your note. AT&T had by far the highest churn with their CRM woes.

You also mention that there are now only two GSM wireless players in the country; that is false. Prior to the Dobson acquisition of NPI Wireless and Cingular's acquisition of AT&T WS, there were at least six in the state of Michigan alone - Cingular, ATT, T-Mo, NPI, Dobson (dba Cellular One), and Centenial . You would be correct in saying there are now two national players, but there are dozens of small players that fill in the gaps - you may want to check out:

http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/gsminfo/cou_us.shtml

...the list will likely surprise you.

Cingular SUCKS

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