Cingular hangs up on some Michigan Customers

That doesn't sound like Raising the Bar to me!!!

 

I guess they are enforcing the 50% rule more then in the past, it is a shame that this is happening but the rule has been in effect for more then just recently in the T&C, at least I know it was on the AWE side of the T&C's & thought it was in Cingular's.

I wonder if this is a ploy to get more coverage for Cingular in these area's & a way to have the news & govt. help them?

I know I would be mad if it was me, and hopefully other carriers will help these people get migrated over painlessly & let them keep their phone #'s especially those out of area people, or they find a way for these people to keep their current plans-service and at least they aren't charging them an ETF on top of it.

 

Boy what a way to backstab their own customers or to put it another way, it's lowering the bar.

 

I always thought the 50% rule was in the ToS. I could've been wrong. I can understand their frustration especially if they specifically inquired about coverage before signing up. Obviously these people took the time to ask specific questions which most people don't. Cingular f***ed up on this big time.

 

If it was a Cingular store that sold them service I think they should be held accountable for misleading the customer. Let them pick up the cost of phones and migration which seems only fair, at any rate it seems such a poor way to run a business.

 

I've read that legal statement for years, not knowing exactly how or when it would work. NOw I do...interesting. These sound like college kids that got home phones and then plopped themselves at school without native coverage.

Something to think about if you plan on moving and keeping the same service.

 

i would certanly like to know the whole story, i know there is more to this.

 

That's stupid. No company should do that. If the customer is costing you money you shouldn't just cut out of a contract like that, you took the risk when you signed them to a contract, and unless the customer does something like not paying you have no right to do that (ethically). That would be like saying...."as the customer you drop my calls when am on a business call and that cost me money so I am terminating the contract with your cellular company." We all know you can't do that unless you want to pay the fee. The contract should be both ways. If we stab you in the back we pay you the money back, if you stab us in the back you pay us the money for the TOS. My opinion of Cingular just went down to the last cell phone company I will ever deal with.....

 

That is to bad that this is happening but it is all about the money.

 

In the long run i think this could be a public relations nightmare for Cingy.

 

It's one thing to have a 50% roaming rule. Sprint has it/ or used to have it, but their phones clearly state when you are roaming and when you are not roaming. How can a Cingular customer that goes to the store, sees the Cingular map that is orange in most parts of the country, traveling or living somehwere without native Cingular coverage (but the phone displaying "CINGULAR") know that he is roaming? IF Cingular wants to enforce their roaming rule, they need to make sure and let people see when they are roaming and when they are not just like every other carrier in this country. Of course they'd rather terminate customers' service for roaming too much, instead of having their phones show when they are roaming and not roaming and having some customers realize that the Cingular network actually isn't everywhere. With their raising the bar ads and having their phones show CINGULAR whenever they find a signal they want to make customers believe they have the largest and best network. That's one thing, but then don't hold the customer liable for knowing when or where he is roaming, if the phone doesn't show it, and neither do the maps.

~Andy

 

Yes. Cingular's GSM phones will only show 'Cingular' no matter what network the phone is actually on.

 

Very well said. You hit the nail on the head.

 

Very simple: just make sure you buy a Motorola GSM phone, learn some hex code editing and how to modify your phone's hidden alphatag settings at http://xlr8.us/hofo and let's not mention that to accomplish this you have to download, install and learn to use other programs such as P2Kman and a hex editor.

Of course, this is a sarcastic comment, but this is the only way I can imagine a Cingular customer will know when he's or isn't roaming.

The least Cingular can do is offer them to port their number to whichever carrier they are roaming on and waive the ETF. In addition, this also means that Cingular can't forget to unlock their phones so that they don't have to buy a new one and simply insert the new carrier's SIM card in the Cingular phones.

 

I believe they are waiving the ETF on these since Cingular is doing the terminating not the customer. As for offering free porting to the carrier the people are on now, that would make some sense if the people want to go to the carrier, and if they offer National plans for those that have kids staying at the college etc...
As for unlocking the phones for the people, I guess since they don't know what carrier the people will end up going to and if they are a GSM carrier they don't feel obligated to unlock them, plus they will argue that the software will make them incompatiable with another GSM carrier, which even though a new carrier can program the phones to their settings.

 

Nope they are dropping the customers AND charging them the ETF. Since the customer is in violation of Cingular's Terms and conditions.

 

i have gotten cingular to unlock several phones, v551, and 2 6230's that i can think of. but no luck on my 2 6682's. :lmao:

 

If that's the case, that's insane. I'm sure those customers didn't know they were even roaming because the ALLOVER network didn't show the proper alphatag. I think they could argue this in court. It is not their fault Cingular programs their phones so that nobody knows when they are roaming. After all, the ALLOVER network is advertised as that it includes the roaming partners. So I don't see how Cingular can justify charging an ETF and claim violation of TOS.

 

I agree. It's probably a case of the company trying to get away with as much as possible. I'm sure there are people who will pay the ETF and not fight it. Perhaps those that do put up a fuss will be let go without an ETF as a "courtesy."

 

Simple solution: Cingular should just put up more of their own towers and not rely on so much roaming agreements for their ALL OVER NETWORK!! I'm just being a smart a$$ here!

 

That's why they bought AT&T Wireless in the first place. So I don't understand why Cingular is making such a big deal about it now that they have a much larger network.

 

Because they can.

 

Nope you always see what Network you are On.
In a CDMA phone yes.
In a GSM Phone, No.
I go to PA, i see Immix in there.
i see T-Mobile in NY-NJ.
i see Microcell and Rogers when i was in Canada.
in Europe there's more than 2.

 

The average "joe customer" looks at their screen, if it say's Cingular they think they are on network. Not roaming, so they simply do not know that they are roaming.

 

i go to Canada i see Rogers
on the screen.