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

Discussion in 'GENERAL Wireless Discussion' started by R32VW, Jul 12, 2004.

  1. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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.
     
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  2. AnthroMatt

    AnthroMatt Big Meanie
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    You must be on the SBC side...I can't imagine BellSouth ever operated west of the Mississippi.
     
  3. ComicalMoodyDan

    ComicalMoodyDan Gold Senior Member
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    Verizon Wireless charges $2 a month for detailed billing for all customers. SunCom also slaps you with a $2 charge for detailed billing. It's not really that uncommon to pay for Detailed billing although most companies do seem to give it away for free now.

    Cingular appears to always give you Detailed billing for free on Nation GSM Plans. If you look though Cingular has changed the Region Plans. They no longer have Rollover and in many places charge extra for features that are included in Nation Plans. Region plans also have no MTM. Cingular like pretty much all the other national carriers right now are trying to wean customers off of local and regional plans. So thus they are giving more to the customers on National plans and stripping the regional plans down a bit to get customers off of those plans.
     
  4. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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. :cool:
     
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  5. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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.
     
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    #35 R32VW, Jul 14, 2004
    Last edited: Jul 14, 2004
  6. ComicalMoodyDan

    ComicalMoodyDan Gold Senior Member
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    I guess it really depends on your usage. For me the Nation Plans fit me better even though I don't really travel out of the Region Calling area. I need those Mobile to Mobile minutes and I want Rollover. The Region plans have neither.

    You say most users don't travel. That's proabely true and that's really how they make money on national plans. You take a cut in minutes and if you go over them then you will have a higher bill because boom you went over your minutes. Yes most companies throwin Unlimited MTM now but many customers don't even really use those. I myself do which is why I have a Nation Plan. Too many people I know have Cingular so I just have to have those Mobile minutes.

    I think you are overeacting to. You act like Cingular is some evil company for charging you for Detailed billing. Verizon does it, SunCom does it, and I'm sure there is some other companies out there that charge for it to.
     
  7. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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.
     
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  8. ComicalMoodyDan

    ComicalMoodyDan Gold Senior Member
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    AT&T Wireless might have been a better choice for you then. In my opinion Cingular is better if you want a National plan while AT&T seems to be a better choice if you just want a local plan. Verizon and Cingular's local plans aren't that good.
     
  9. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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.
     
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  10. ComicalMoodyDan

    ComicalMoodyDan Gold Senior Member
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    If you call Cingular CS and complain about having to pay extra for Detailed billing they might be able to waive the monthly fee for you. I have a internet friend that lives in Knoxville and on his old plan he had to pay for "Cingular Basics" so when he called CS about a problem and meantioned that he thought he shouldn't have to pay for those because other carriers give those features away for free. Customer Service waived the fees of Cingular Basics.

    You may not be able to get them waived but hey its worth a try!
     
  11. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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!).
     
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  12. R32VW

    R32VW Senior Member
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    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...
     
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