Cingular Suks

1.) does your daughter still have cingular?

if yes

2.) What rate plan does she have?

3.) how many months are left on the contract.

if no

4.) what did she pick as a replacement?

 

You're not the only one with problems using Cingular. I've been a customer for several years as well. Unlike most other providers, it seems like they haven't improved their service, rather, they've traded-in their towers and technicians for annoying TV commercials and junk mail.

I've already logged a complaint with the BBB about the ridiculous random taxes, fees, and charges they pile-on to the "actual rate" they quote in their stores. I haven't yet considered filing a complaint (with the BBB) about the despicable service, however, joining a class-action suit against shoddy providers like these jokers would probably make my day.

 

kick: i don't appreciate the taxes either, but that's not just them. That's every cell phone provider.

 

why did you sign a new contract in order to upgrade your phone you just have to have had the older phone or over 12 months then you qualify for a new phone upgrade........did you go from tdma to gsm ? then you would have had to sign a new contract because you are switching techologies. and about the taxes what r u talking about my bill is exatly what its supposed to be nothing more or less.....and for anyones info cingular dosent suk.......try to understand before throwing judgments around........

 

This is a very good point. Cingular is throwing all its resources on the marketing side of things rather than on actual quality. They're quickly falling into the T-Mobile trap of flash over function. Their TDMA sound quality is sub-par and their towers got overloaded with calls near the end of my run with them a few months ago. As far as taxes go, I never had a problem with them on my bill. They did double-charge me for things a couple of times but it was straightened out in a phone call.

Forget a class-action suit. Those things are a waste of time. The lawyers get plenty of money if you settle (which probably would happen), but the consumers get a few bucks each.

 

Why the bump? You dont' even have a question for people to answer...

 

If you move to another part of the country or travel to less populated areas, your enthusiasm for T-Mobile will drop. I guarantee it. Also, there's talk that Cingular and T-Mobile may merge in some way. I don't like Cingular myself, but their TDMA coverage runs circles around GSM so far in this country.

 

Ih my god
Cingular is the worst u can do!
I thought I had it bad when I once had Att and luckly after I finally cancelled I signed with Sprint. But now I might go to verizon which has superior reception and better call quality. My sister had Cingular for about a week , bad service, cheap phones, and ghetto sound quality. Get yourself a better service provided and go to verizon or if ur lucky and get a live in a good area and think u can get a better reception with sprint than i do, then try them. Trust me you will deff see a difference

)

 

why all this cingualr bashing ? i've had them for years now and i've been all over the country....never once did i have a problem....

 

Let me pass along some knowledge to you people. First- Cellular service depends on the market you are in. The original landline provider of an area will always have the best coverage in an area. I am in the Connecticut/Western Mass Market, and Cingular by FAR has the absolute best coverage here. This is because prior to the merger they were SNET, which is the local phone company. However, goto Boston, and the coverage is horrible- no service even on the streets---- There, Verizon is better, because they were formerly Bell Atlantic, which is the local telco up there. The only two providers anyone should even consider now is Cingular or Verizon, because they are the ones with the analog networks still in place, and if you can't get coverage on an analog site, you just won't get coverage. Do you know what happens when you go off of T-mobiles digital coverage? you get NOTHING. Sprint has the best ads by far though- "no roaming on our all digital network"..... well you can't roam easily if your phone has no other network to roam too! Would you rather make a call and pay a roam fee if there was an emergency, or not make a call at all- I think I'll take the roam fee.

Moving along- You talk about the "outrageous" taxes on your bill- Have you looked at your home phone bill? Yes, it's the same thing on the cell bill. You have state tax, federal tax, 911 tax, lots of tax.... It's a fact of life. Deal with it. Secondly- do you know how much cellular phones cost retail? I don't think you do. The 120t that you had retails for $249. If you would like to pay that, then Cingular would gladly give you one without extending your contract. However, since you are signing up for 2 years, they can give you a discount on it. Cingular subsidizes a large amount of the cost of the phone. This is also the reason they can sometimes give you a better deal on a phone when you sign up on a new $39+ plan. Also- have you considered Cingular's Phone insurance? You could have gotton yourself a new phone for $35 without extending your contract with an insurance claim.

Learn something about cellular service before you post again- you sound like an idiot.

Jay.

 

ALRIGHT INDYSTORM !!! HE# YES !! thats what i love to hear !!! CINGULAR>>>>CINGULAR>>>>CINGULAR ...........

 

Awsome post.

1.) Why is Verizon the best in NYC? Because they used to be Bell Atlanitc aka the local telco.

2.)Motorola t720 = $450 retail(motorola website.) Sign a 2 year contract with a provider and it gets knocked down to between $100 and $200. Contract = Discount.

3.) IF Cingular's GSM network is on par with Verizons Network in the Northeast in November 2003 i will think about switching. (GSM has cooler phones but Verizon is King in NYC, ATT is a very good second place)

 

"The only two providers anyone should even consider now is Cingular or Verizon, because they are the ones with the analog networks still in place, and if you can't get coverage on an analog site, you just won't get coverage. Do you know what happens when you go off of T-mobiles digital coverage? you get NOTHING"

You do realize you're on T-Mobile's coverage in our area, right? He's referring to Cingular TDMA. You're on their GSM, and the digital coverage he's criticizing is yours as well?

 

Hey Indy, Who sounds like an idiot? ATT also picks up analog.

 

Yes ATT picks up analog...but not very well.

 

Yes, and when ATT picks up analog, they are picking up CINGULAR's analog tower--- bet you didn't know this.... ATT operates on 1900mhz ONLY... The only time you are on 900 a/d is when you are on Cingular--- This is why Cingular and ATT use the same phones.... ATT should depict their coverage as opposed to when they are picking up Cingular coverage--- you would be shocked. If you have a nokia phone you can see what band your on by typing in *3001#12345# into the phone and by turning on field test mode. If it displays A or B then you are on a cingular system, if it displays something else you are on an ATT system. You must remember--- going back to the beginning-- there were only two types of carriers, wireline, and non-wireline.... This PCS stuff is brand new, so of course they aren't going to have the number of towers up that the traditional cellular providers have! Also... Cingular is going to kick butt when they go GSM within the next year--- those of you complaining about system busies won't be for to much longer! oh- and by the way- they are using their own gsm850 system as opposed to a 1900 system... which means better coverage in buildings and in valleys!

Cingular ROCKS!

Jay.

 

I would give a vital organ to have a GSM phone with Verizon's coverage in NYC.

 

I have a GAIT phone as well as my t720 so i also have tdma and analog

 

I guess you lucked out, Cingular doesn't offer TDMA in my area.

 

yea i'm in the NYC market we've got both......reception's great......

 

On their website, they don't offer TDMA...am I blind?

My zip is 10016

 

im int he nyc market but i live in NJ so the stores here sell both tdma and gsm phones HENCE the gait phones...

 

Yello: you can get a multi-band phone (gait) from cingular in your zip code. Just check out www.cingular.com, put in your zip, and then you have to pick one of the 'preffered nation plus" plans.

 

IN REPLY TO bat about the fact that all poviders have taxes and fees...

I am aware that the taxes and fees are associated with every cell phone provider, but there is no reason for them to hide the charges so blatantly. You will NEVER see any of these providers clarify the charges, fees, and taxes in the stores, kiosks, or even on the phone- that?s because the sales people are practically told to lie about them. When I first signed up, I specifically asked about hidden charges, TWO different people told me that everything was "built-into" the monthly fee. When I called the CS department after several statements, I got conflicting answers about how much I should budget for the phone every month. Its like once these guys get your signed contract, they don't care about answering any questions completely. In any case, I just think that cell phone providers should AT LEAST be REQUIRED to display ALL charges in their stores and on their web pages. There is no reason that they can't give people the WHOLE picture unless they don't want to.

-SR

 

Thanks guys. I've been looking for a phone that works well in both NYC and Shanghai. TDMA works OK in my home area (Douglaston) but GSM doesn't work at all.

I appreciate the help.

 

Some of the previous post just plain made me laugh...but anyway, I am too in the NYC market and I use Cingular TDMA so I am actually served from AT&T towers. How did I get it? It just so happens I live up here and I went down to Central NJ to get a cell phone some 5 years ago...but anyways, I am going to adress you one by one:

njscngulrgsm:
You claim: "i've had them [Cingular] for years now and i've been all over the country....never once did i have a problem...."

But then, we can't forget about your first messages in this forum:

indystorm:
Let me pass along some knowledge to you:
Like you rightfully said, cellular service depends on the market you are in. Therefore, when AT&T picks up analog, IT DEPENDS where you are if it is good or bad. AT&T has many 800Mhz licenses -bet you didn't know this-- and it is 800Mhz, not 900. They have 1900Mhz in Philly, Boston, Providence, Chicago, and many other areas. But, in the markets where AT&T uses 800Mhz, they also have to offer analog. AT&T has 800Mhz service in Los Angeles, Orlando, Miami, San Antonio, New York, Reno, Allentown, PA, among many other cities. They are also obtaining the 800Mhz system from Cingular in Hawaii. Therefore, AT&T is NOT 1900Mhz only. Whenever you pickup an analog signal, it is not always Cingular.

Also, FYI, analog service in a region is as good as its embedded TDMA service because TDMA uses the same towers analog networks use, therefore the signal is the same. However, on a digital TDMA phone, you can never notice this since it will always pick up the digital signal. Therefore, let's not blame AT&T for bad analog service. If their analog is bad, so is their TDMA. Once again, this depends on the region. Of course, there are other areas where networks are analog only, and there are areas in the Carolinas where AT&T actually roams on Verizon's analog system! Finally, let's not forget that AT&T and Cingular ARE NOT the only TDMA/Analog carriers. There's also, Cellular One, US Cellular, Centennial Communications (Indiana), Dobson Cellular, etc. So you see, it is more complicated than you think.