Cingular CHARGES for Call Detail info. on Statement in WA State - WTF?

I understand that quite a few people don't really care about detailed billing but, for me, I only have a dialup connection at home and no 'net access at work. My time is valuable and it would be nice to have a paper copy of my bill in its entirety for no cost. I honestly do not understand how significant a savings this gives Cingular as I am positive that the bill generation is fully automated and 1 or 2 pieces of paper could cost no more than a cent or two. When you couple that with the relatively exorbitant $2.99 cost that Cingular charges for Detailed Billing alone in my area, well, it seems like Cingular is really screwing those customers who opt to subscribe to DB.

 

That's all good but I am sure you are aware that the National plans typically cost $5-10 more than the "average" regional plan. Due to my current financial situation, as well as my very low usage, I cannot justify spending the extra bucks for something that should be included (Detail Billing) with a person's statement. Imagine your 70-ish year old Grandma getting her bill and wondering WTF was going on with the charges because she can't see the details of her calls. Also, what if Granny doesn't have Internet access or is not too web-savvy? What if Grandma is on a fixed income and has precious few bucks to spend on a "service" like Detail Billing??

I am getting so sick of billion-dollar companies squeezing every last damn cent out of consumers in the name of "increasing the bottom line." I am a die-hard capitalist and philosophically I lean towards the laissez-faire (roughly "as the market demands") aspect of capitalism but our society has taken this concept way beyond the extreme. Rationalising a fee for every conceivable "service" as well as putting the burden on the consumer to know and be fully aware of every single line-item of their contract (that are often times specifically designed to maximise the bottom line for guess who - it ain't you) is really getting my ire up, and I have precious little Irish blood to begin with.

 

With all due respect, I have to differ with you. I have a Cingular Region 300 plan that costs $29.99 a month. The next available plan, cost-wise, is their Nation 450 Rollover plan for $39.99 - a $10 dollar difference. They are certainly not "giving" away anything - they're just bundling options and "services" like Detail Billing which, IMO, could and should (in the case of DB) have been provided at no extra cost.

And what is the advantage to the consumer for Cingular and other carriers to "wean" customers off of a regional plan? I virtually never travel outside of Wahington state and I bet that if you polled the majority of wireless users a good percentage would say that they typically do not travel out-of-state, unless to a neighbouring state. "Weaning" is nothing more than a marketing strategy by Cingular (and others) that is specifically designed to increase their bottom line while, in many instances, providing little or no actual, in dollar terms, value to the consumer.

 

Believe me, I am fully aware that I may be over-reacting. As a whole so far, I do not think that Cingular is an "evil company." I went with them because I was able to get the best dollar value on my T637 thru Amazon and I figured that since AT&T will, in all likelihood, be "absorbed" by Cingular in the near future I might as well go with the company of the future. I now see that I should have not saved the $50 (Cingular rebate) and went with AT&T (50 more minutes and the same type of regional plan for the same price, $29.99 and no-charge detail billing) Just because companies A, B, or C charge for detail billing does not make it right. Please see my above posts for my views on what I think is "right" - aka a true and honest value to consumers.

 

Well, my 14 days are up so I will just have to live with it. That's the one downside of mail-ordering a phone. I realise that this is a fairly minor issue to lots of people, but for me it is indicative of how Cingular runs their company as a whole. Generally speaking, I am quite satisfied with Cingular so far, although their "native" ringtones (the ones that come with the phone) in the T637 are miserable compared to AT&T's.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have already considered calling CS to complain but I really hate doing the "CSR shuffle" (where the 1st CSR says "No" and maybe the 2nd or 3rd CSR will take pity on me and agree...jeez, what a world!).

 

After discussing this issue with Jacob who works at the Smokey Point (Wa.) Cingular Co. store I have decided to somewhat alter my position on the cost of paper. It was brought up to me that some people have bills that can have Detail Billing lists that number as high as 50 pages. I can understand Cingular charging in a case like that but I really wonder if that is a common problem both with the Region Plans and with the majority of users...