| Author |
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puenil
Posts: 16 |
 
Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:53 pm |
Thanks for reading this thread.
Long story short; I was 6 months from my contract ending. I went ahead and renewed my contract so that I could get "better pricing" for a new phone, a PalmOne Treo 650. I paid $450 + tax out of pocket, plus a 2 year contact.
The first phone didn't work so I took it back. Second phone had issues so I took it back. Now I am on the 3rd phone. After MANY MANY hours on the phone with support, I finally got a phone that works.
During a conversation with a rep, I find out that I could get the same phone for $50 more with NO contract, which would have been GREAT!!!! for me! Unfortunately, now I can not pay the additional $50 and eliminate the contract.
When I bought the phone, the local rep told me that I can get insurance for $3/month. PERFECT! SEAL THE DEAL! I bought it! I also signed up for MediaNet Unlimited - $20 / month.
Fast forward 2 months (currently...) Cingular now says "No insurance on Treo's". 
I also get billed the first month for almost $400 extra. I called and of course, it was a billing error and they "forgot" to add me to the Unlimited MediaNet package. The phone rep quickly credited my account.
This month, the bill not only charges me for Unlimited MediaNet but also for all of the data used, which is $130. It's Sunday, so tomorrow I will call YET AGAIN.... and see about this billing error.
Before this feascio, the bill was always irregularly incorrect. My uneducated assumption is that they either have a crappy billing dept. or they just HOPE that you will pay the incorrect bill.
After tomorrow, I will file a complaint with the Attorney Generals Office as will as with the BBB.
Thanks for reading my rant.
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steva11
Posts: 1680
Phone Model:
w810i/pearl
Service Provider:
Rogers |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:10 am |
hopefully this helps when you speak with customer care tomorrow:
The Medianet package cannot be used on the treo. The treo needs a "Data Connect" plan that are priced as so:
19.99 = 5mb
29.99 = 10mb
39.99 = 20mb
44.99 = unlimited
the Medianet package is only applied to non-PDA phones. the voice plan would be an additional add-on.
you can see this information at cingular.com
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puenil
Posts: 16 |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:27 am |
Thanks for the info... but the local sales rep said the MediaNet package was fine, but the data package would allow for "so much more" but could not specifically say what "so much more" actually was. I also called Cingular and verified with a rep that MediaNet would work. I told him I wanted to email and surf the Internet. He said that MediaNet was what I needed.
Besides, does the Treo use a different type of data than any other phone? Or are they just thinking that "if they can afford a Treo, they can pay more for media".
Maybe I was mislead. But, even if I was, why would they credit me the first month? Let's see what they do the second month.
As a side note, I know many people that are using the MediaNet with Treo's. Many have been doing it for 10-12+ MONTHS.
Last edited by puenil on Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:31 am, edited 1 time in total |
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steva11
Posts: 1680
Phone Model:
w810i/pearl
Service Provider:
Rogers |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:30 am |
check this link:
http://www.cingular.com/media/media_phones#palmone
then check the rate plans.
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puenil
Posts: 16 |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 12:59 am |
Steva,
One thing.....
If you read that page that you pointed me to it says:
| Quote: | | Compare our current line-up of phones to be sure your next phone is compatible with the services and features you want in your wireless life. |
The definition of "compatible" it is:
1. Capable of existing or performing in harmonious, agreeable, or congenial combination with another or others: compatible family relationships.
2. Capable of orderly, efficient integration and operation with other elements in a system with no modification or conversion required.
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=compatible
And yes, the Treo is compatible with the features that MediaNet offers. It woks FINE with MediaNet. In other words, I took a gamble that the Treo was compatible with MediaNet AND I WON! IT WAS COMPATIBLE! Cingular doesn't say that you MUST have the Data package, do they? As I stated before, why is the Treo not allowed on the MediaNet package?
If you are saying that I am at fault here, that further validates what I have stated before about the communication break down from Cingular.
If the rep that adjusted my bill the first month had told me that the Treo HAD to have the data plan, I would have returned the Treo under the 30 day money back policy.
Besides, I have the contract that I signed that has MediaNet as well as the insurance on it. I am sure that is what I agreed on, nothing else.
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steva11
Posts: 1680
Phone Model:
w810i/pearl
Service Provider:
Rogers |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:35 am |
the difference is that the treo can support HTML instead of only accessing regular WAP sites. the data things that are available on the data connect are not available on Medianet. If you do access stuff outside Medianet, it is charged at the out-of-plan rate.
that's what i meant.
...and I know what the definition of compatible is...I don't need to look it up in a dictionary.
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puenil
Posts: 16 |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 1:52 am |
| steva11 wrote: | the difference is that the treo can support HTML instead of only accessing regular WAP sites. the data things that are available on the data connect are not available on Medianet. If you do access stuff outside Medianet, it is charged at the out-of-plan rate.
that's what i meant.
...and I know what the definition of compatible is...I don't need to look it up in a dictionary. |
Interesting. You must be a Cingular Rep?
However, how does HTML change what I signed up for? And what the phone rep adjusted my bill for? And what my contract states? As stated before, if I would have known, I would have exercised my 30 day return.
| steva11 wrote: | If you do access stuff outside Medianet, it is charged at the out-of-plan rate.
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And that is what exactly? HTML sites? Or something else? Is there something on their website that states what this is? Or maybe a hard copy that could be scanned and posted?
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elmo01
Posts: 2198
Phone Model:
Samsung SPH-M510
Service Provider:
Bell Canada |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:00 am |
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a phone does not read HTML it reads WAP... your treo reads HTML not WAP...and if you need a definition there are several online glossaries available
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Kvalich
Posts: 36
Phone Model:
Motorola v551
Service Provider:
Cingular |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 10:51 am |
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Basically what they are saying is that your medianet package covers WAP site which are sites that you can acess from a regular cell phone such as a horoscopes or weather page, your treo can acess almost any regular internet web site (HTML) which a normal cell phone cannot, therefore you needed a data connect package instead of a medianet package if you are going to be acessing regular web pages. I'm not saying its your fault as the rep should have explained this to you ( now if he did and you just didn't understand or failed to ask questions thats differnt) but I don't see you having a problem getting this solved through customer care but just as a heads up the unlimited data connect is $40 instead of the $20 for medianet and yes that is in addition to you normal rate plan.
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puenil
Posts: 16 |
Mon Jan 30, 2006 11:37 am |
Just called Cingular, the rep quickly took the additional charges off the bill.
I asked what the difference in the MediaNet and Data plans were and his reply was:
"Data plans allows you to SEE web pages just as if you are looking at a computer. MediaNet can not translate those same pages so they simply would not be accessible via the phone".
WRONG! My Treo view pages the same way as a computer and I am using the MediaNet package.
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