| Author |
Message |
cbarber83
Posts: 1 |
 
Sun Jun 24, 2007 3:13 am |
Last month, for many reasons i do not really need to go into but pertaining to customer service and coverage issues, i termintated my contract with cingular.
I agreed to the termination charge, mainly because i was so frustrated with cingular as a company. I immedietly went to sprint and got a new plan/phone quickly.
I needed to port my old phone number to sprint, and their customer service people told me that i had to get the service from cingular reinstated in order to port the number. I called cingular, had the service reinstated WITH the implicit understanding it was only to port the number to sprint and that it would immedietly be terminated after the number was ported. Done and done.
Until today when i recieved my last cingular ( now the new att, WTF-ever) bill and was charged twice for termination and a reactivation charge.
I have tried calling their customer service people, but cingular customer service does not work nights and weekends, so will wait till monday.
Anyway, i am familar with the terrible customer service they provide, and after reading through the posts on here, have come to find out i am not the only one. Does Anyone have a trick up their sleeve for dealing with them?
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computerslayer
Posts: 121
Phone Model:
Blackberry 8820
Service Provider:
AT&T |
Sun Jun 24, 2007 12:29 pm |
Be polite.
Maybe that seems a little ridiculous, especially after seeing two bills for the early termination fee, but the people you talk to didn't make the policy or write up your bill.
I've had nothing but good experiences with customer service at AT&T/Cingular. They've helped me out several times and even cut me some slack when I went over on minutes. I think that particular instance went well, at least in part, because I was polite to the servicewoman on the other end of the line.
I'm curious about the second termination fee. Unless you purchased a phone with your re-activated plan, you shouldn't have gotten charged twice - provided that you discontinued it before the 30-day trial period was up. I would ask the representative about the fees involved with (re-)activation, termination and number transfer.
To the best of my knowledge, there is an activation fee (though I don't know the particulars). But I don't know of any number transfer fee and the early termination fee (again, to the best of my knowledge) shouldn't be applied before the 30-day trial is up.
But maybe there are fees involved. Its worth researching (or calling just to ask about that without addressing the bill itself, yet). Did you keep a copy of the contract you signed when you re-activated - or the original contract of the account? It would be worth examining.
Above all, please remember that the customer representatives are folks too. They do want to help you out, and its not their fault for any errors other representatives may have made or policies that are in place. If you can keep that in mind, despite the frustration of multiple fees & problems, you'll probably get a lot farther - or at least have a more pleasant time at it.
Respectfully,
Jacob M.
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PhoneMonkey
Posts: 11 |
Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:03 am |
A wireless account would need to be active so you could port the number over. Once the number is ported the account will close.
Why would you pick Sprint over Cingular? If you want lousy customer service, idiot reps who are more concerned about sales quotas then customer service, poor service, immoral billing practices and dozens of other issues, then Sprint would be your choice provider.
Also, if you give anyone attitude, they will go out of there way to NOT help you.
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Malibu21
Posts: 1002
Phone Model:
V3xx Lightly Modded, V6 Maxx Tweaked nicely.
Service Provider:
The New AT&T |
Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:19 am |
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Yeah you're right, BigRUSS will pwn you lol jk
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PhoneMonkey
Posts: 11 |
Sat Jun 30, 2007 2:25 am |
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I have no idea who that is.
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Kimba
Posts: 23
Phone Model:
Razr V3
Service Provider:
before/AT&T after/T-Mobile |
Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:23 am |
cbarber83 - seeing that your post was originally 6/24, you've probably already solved your issue; however, if not, try filing a formal complaint with the local Better Business Bureau.
Worked for me.
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Trinigirl34
Posts: 5 |
Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:02 pm |
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At the end of the day the customer is always right. Period! If you don't like your job. Quit! Why should anyone have to kiss anyone's butt to get better service? When last I checked noone gets a free bill each month! It's always some shcmuck who can pop s&it but won't back it up!
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BigRUSS
Posts: 2105
Phone Model:
two cans ( del monte) and some string,
Service Provider:
RussCo |
Tue Nov 13, 2007 1:59 pm |
accutaly the only way a ETF would be waived is if the service was restored with in 30 days of the cancelation, if it was outside of those 30 days BOTH etf fees would be valid charges.
I also like how ive been falgged as the forum pwner, i usually give out good and helpfull information, but ask a stuipd question and get a stupid answer, or dont do your research and the rant and rave over somthing where you are in teh wrong and feell the rath 
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Naelyan
Posts: 70
Phone Model:
Samsung M620 Upstage
Service Provider:
SaskTel |
Wed Nov 14, 2007 8:00 pm |
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It's actually 59 days. If you restore a cancelled account within 59 days, AT&T will waive both the ETF and the activation fee. So in this case, the customer was right, should have only been charged one ETF (the second one). The first ETF and activation fees should have been adjusted at the time of activation. This isn't even one of those "if the customer asks for it, they'll get it", this is right in policy and should be done automatically.
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