Cingular Reps - Where Stereotypes Come From!

After researching different carriers and options, I chose to go with Cingular. So far that has been a mistake. Here is a chronological order of events:

Friday, May 13, 6:00pm: Ordered Phone

Friday, May 13, 10:45pm: Noticed credit card payment did not match price quoted. Called in to verify order, but was unable to. Told to wait for delivery and verify then.

Friday, May 13, 11:00pm: Registered with My Account, began browsing the service available there, and noticed that there were errors in my order. The errors were the length of contract and features that I did not sign up for.

Tuesday, May 17 1:57pm (7 minutes after my phone was delivered): Been on phone for 20 minutes so far. Still waiting for escalation. I received the wrong phone and was told it was already activated despite it not even being in my possession for 5 days.

I figured Cingular would not be the best in customer support, however, I did not expect them to start off a business relationship so poorly.

Originally this is how it worked.

I checked with my bank to see if my payment had been processed. It had, but it was for approximately $30 less then it should have been. This immediately sent up a red flag to me.

I called in to verify that my order was correct but was unable to. I was told basically I would have to wait til I received the phone, even though it had not been shipped yet.

I logged into "My Account" and discovered that I had been signed up for MediaBasic at $9.99 a month and had a contract length of two years.

I had explicitly stated that I wanted a one-year contract and understood it would be more expensive. The representative during the call even made the comment "oops, I have your down for a two-year contract, let me go back and change that to a one-year contract... ok .. all fixed."

I also explicitly stated that I did not want any of the Media packages, and that I would be disabling the pay as you go service available. I even double checked that *611 would be the number to dial to do this.

When I received the phone, I immediately saw that it was the incorrect model.

I called in to resolve the model of phone and the other issues and was informed the phone had been activated, and that if I returned it, I would be liable for the activation charge.

This made no sense to me. Firstly, I was told that I would be the one to activate the phone. Secondly, I was told that by activating the phone, I would be agreeing to the terms of the contract.

I asked how I could have activated the phone while it was not in my possession and was the representative was unable to provide an answer.

I asked to be escalated to Tier2 and/or a manager and the representative at first claimed unable to be able to do that, because she wasn't clear on what my issues were.

I restated my issues, again, and after about 15 minutes on hold, I was finally able to speak to the manager.

The manager I spoke to handled things fairly well. She apologized for the "mistake" and I stated that while I was thankful for the thought, that it was not her "mistake" to be apologizing for.

I made it abundantly clear to her that I am in the belief that I was intentionally deceived. I made it abundantly clear that I wished the representative that made the sale would be reprimanded or reported for this infraction.

A couple of times during the conversation I would have to reference the contract and legal terms to correct the issue of activation, consent, and charges.

Ultimately, the manager claimed that I would be receiving a RMA label to affix to the return box and would be able to return it for a full refund, including all charges and activation fees.

That remains to be seen at this time. I recorded the phone call for documentation if necessary.

Now sixteen days later - I have yet to receive my refund.

I was told when I canceled my account, I would receive my refund then. Untrue!

I called in one week after mailing back my original phone and was told it would take up to 14 days. Untrue!

I called in fourteen days after my original cancellation of the account and was told it would take 1 to 2 billing cycles. 1 to 2 months. I can only assume that this too is a lie!

Raising the bar, to hit your customers over the head with it.

ya know when you call in to CC and bitch and cuss everyone out, it makes us care even less and once that starts half the time we just stop listening, so just remeber that when you call back ing raising hell

when I was cutomer service the dumb ass customers that called in bitching and cursing I would do everything in my power to hide behind policy to not help them unless I HAD too.

On the flip side if they were nice I would go out of my way to help them.

Oh, I am polite, but when I am told a blatant lie, I will call a rep out on it.

Like I posted in my other thread:

The last person I spoke today read the notes on my account, and was pissed. Not with me, but with the level of service I received. Not only did she confirm for me that the previous information given to me by "managers" was wrong, she confirmed that I had been flat out lied to about the bank "not showing my refund" immediately in my most recent call.

This earlier call, of which I spent nearly 40 minutes on hold and ultimately ended with the "manager" hanging up on me because I told her I was going to call my bank on 3-way calling so they could hear what she was trying to tell me. Apparently she did not wish to be publically exposed for lying. I had spoken to my bank prior to this and knew that she was not being honest.

Also Frost, before you claim that I am whining, why don't you look at the facts of the matter. I seriously doubt anyone here would put up with the level of incompetence I encountered, and if you would, you are a fool.

did I say put up with it? No. I said dont call up and curse acting big and bad. Did I say you did that? no. Tyvm.

And also, did I even say you were whining in my last post? Where did that come from? putting words in my mouth?....ya ok. o.O

So you got someone who lied to you. Newsflash. that shit happends. this is a world full of human beings that lie cheat and steal. Every company has the select few that do that shit. nothing they can do about it till the bust them red handed and fire them.

Wow.

:laugh:

no matter what company you have there will always be customers that got screwed/lied to.

If I remember right there was a thread that was asking what service provider to go with and everyone said something different. There are always good things and bad things with every company.

However if you want the best customer service, goto T-mobile. and thats from a nation wide survey saying they have the best customer service. I used to work for them and they put me through 6 weeks of training b4 putting me on the floor. they are serious about there cusr care. Its a shame Cingular doesnt take the same route as T-mobile does.

share your experencies is one thing. crying in every thread you go into it different.

dont see why ur laughing tex. It was customer service that put him in this mind set. In store when We set people up We make sure there on the right rate plan, they have the right phone and most of the time (some of my Co-reps dont) we make sure they understand there plan. Not saying we never cause problems but I would never order something over the phone or internet.

Cingular Reps - Where Stereotypes Come From!

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