Cingular Suks

bobolito in response to your posts that was in august and towers are going up every day cingulars overlay is nearly complete and gsm is getting a better day by day. and when i made my trip cross country i was actually on tdma with my nokia 3360 i had back in the day. When i made that trip i diddnt have a problem reciecing a signal..granted i roamed for a bit but the signal was stil there...now as far a the signal around here it used to be horrible for gsm and tdma was ok in most areas. gsm today still has its faults but not as much as it did when i first relocated. theres dead spots that have been filled all over.....

 

Kick: I agree with you that all taxes should be given to you before you buy the phone. They should tell you that a 29.99 plan will cost you 37 dollars. However, do not bash cingular for that. Every single cell phone company is the same. No company includes taxes on the price they sell you. So it's not cingular's fault, it's the cell phone industry that's to blame.

 

When you go to Sears and buy a camcorder, do they tell you that to buy a $400 camera you'll end up paying about $600? When you go to Radio Shack do they show in the price tag that the $99 portable CD player will cost you way over $100? When you signed up for Cable TV, did they tell you that the $29.99 package will cost you $37.56 per month? I don't think so. Nobody shows the total price including tax. Why should we expect wireless phone carriers to show taxes with the base price? Besides, for telecommunication services, it is impossible to show the exact total price because it varies from market to market.

 

Hmm... I did not know about ATT being one of the original wireline/non-wireline providers..... hmm.... guess you put me in my place, but I couldn't pass up spouting off at some of the comments previous to mine......


Jay.

 

As far as the companies posting the taxes online or in their retail stores it would be more confusing on you if they did it.... You are generally taxed on the Federal, State and even Local level. When I worked in Virginia the local county rolled out a tax on wireless service, so every customer that had their billing address in that county had a new tax at the begining of the year, we had many customers disconnect their service over the new tax, we "the carrier" got the blame for the tax even though we tried to keep it from happening, and actually pushed it back for about six months until the locality got their tax code worded correctly. After the first couple days of answering phone calls on the new tax, I started giving out the County Administrators office number....ironically that same county administrator that pushed for the tax on wireless was convicted of embelzement a few years later....So the problem is not with the wireless companies, it would be just about impossible to train all sales channels with the proper information on who is going to get what tax on their bill...generally I tell my customers to just add about 10% to their rate plan, and that should cover it.

 

See... THAT’S what I am talking about! VIABLE INFORMATION! Had I received an answer as concise as yours from any of the people I spoke to several months earlier, I would have probably been a little less reluctant to pay the additional cost. All I wanted was to know what exactly I was paying for- that’s all.

I agree with you that confusion would most likely ensue if taxes and fees were disclosed, however, I would think that C/S and sales reps (especially) should be able to handle giving out a respectable answer such as yours. How do some of these people get hired- lottery?

I still say, though, that the provider's *known* fees and charges (not taxes and government costs) should be plainly displayed and explainable by all working at the store.

 

kickhisass: the fees are explainable. Did you ever ask?

 

The amount you pay for certain cell phone taxes varies depenfding on which polan you use, how many 411 calls you make, any raoming charges you incur, basically anything that changes the price. I have nexer had 2 identical phon bills and I have never payed exactly the same amount in Taxes.

When i walked into a TMobile store one of the sales guys when i asked him how much the $39.99 plan realy cost he told me that i would be apying $47-48/month due to taxes. Thats all they realy can honestly tell you.

 

When I first signed up at a Cingular store (not a kiosk), I asked the guy there what exactly I will be paying per month not including taxes. I was aware that there were certain taxes and whatnot that I would have to pay; I was specifically asking about the service fees and "hidden charges."

The sales guy DID say the price on the flyer would be all I would have to pay plus sales tax and an excise tax every month.
He made NO mention of the fact that they would charge me a "special fee" to call 911.
He DID tell me about the 411 charge, but that's a given anyway.
He made NO mention of any ADDITIONAL charges that would take place if someone text-messaged me (which I didn't want).
He said the billing was rounded to every 1/4 minute, which it was not at all.
He said that the phone would "always" be able to place a call as long as it had ONE bar of signal strength, which is a flat-out lie.
He said that my plan would be "local" even in NY, and MA, which I certainly was not because not matter where I went in those states I was CHARGED roaming fees.
He said that free nights and weekends for me would always be from 8pm to 7am on weekdays, and that even if Cingular changed it that I would be "grandfathered" into the new pricing plans and still retain the 8pm to 7am guidelines- another blatant lie.
He lied to me about the features of the phone I purchased that day as well, not to mention charging me a much higher price for the phone than every other Cingular store I went to the following weeks. (I found this out after signing up and trying to get some help from another store.)
I was unhappy with the phone because it had horrible reception where the service map clearly showed "full coverage" - the only thing the guys at the store would do is offer to send it out for service and also let me know that when it came back that I would have to pay a 40.00 re-activation fee- I could NOT return it for a refund because I had about 100 or so minutes on the phone by that time.

My list of problems with Cingular goes on and on, however, I think it's just my luck because some of my associates that use Cingular as well said that they only had problems with repeated double-billing and over-charging, which I also dealt with. I really don't have a hair-trigger or anything. I gave the c/s people at the store and on the phone several chances to correct the problems. When the problems persisted, that?s when I filed a complaint with the BBB and other offices. ONLY THEN, did I get a call back from the manager!

To make a loooong story shorter, I asked for a complete explanation about the phone and the service agreement. I said I want to know everything I should know before I leave the store with the phone. It was my mistake for actually listening to the sales guy and not reading **ALL** the fine print.

At this point, I'm just excited that GSM is coming out finally because both the phones you see listed on my profile are junk! I'm just bummed that Cingular is using an odd GSM-850 setup. If Congular's service and coverage improve with GSM, I might sitck around because the worst problems are probobly behind me, although it WAS NOT a fun ride at all.

 

kick: your initial complaint was not about what the guy told you about your phone and the service, but about all the fees. I completely agree with you that he should tell you the truth about making calls with one bar, about the night calls, and all that stuff. However, he told you that you would pay whatever the plan was + taxes. Unfortunately for you, the cell phone industry considers the 911,411 and all that stuff to be "taxes". Those are charged by every single cell phone company and are not included in the price of your plan. It's unfortunate you were lied to about the night times, the rounding, and all that business, but you have very little ground for complaint on the taxes issue.

As for the "weird" gsm: 850 GSM is not weird at all. Just because t-mobile started their 1900 gsm so many years ago when the new technology wasn't out doesn't make the new technology "weird". 850 was recently finished in a lab and will give much better signal strength with less towers. That makes it better, not weird.

 

its true gsm 850 will give you much better coverage in weak areas.........

 

KICKhisASSseabass, I guess you found the solution to your problems: Read the fineprint!

GSM 800 (aka 850) is not odd/weird, it is NEW and also the next step for TDMA carriers with licenses in the 800Mhz band. GSM 800 will be just as popular as TDMA 800. Same frequency as always, just a different technology.

 

You didn't really want me to see this post did you? lol...

First, for the salesrep to give you a list of every single tax on your bill is absurd.. generally with a $40 plan you can expect to pay anwhere from $44-$47 depending on your provider.... That's about all they can say- the 911 tax was recently reduced, as well as some other taxes... but then again, new ones come in all the time.

with text messaging--- it states in bold print on the price plan sheet that text messages cost .10 per sent or received, and if you didn't see it thats your problem.

As for the 1/4 minute charge, again, plan sheets state rounding is to the full minute, and it is on your contract as well.... When in doubt, read your contract.... the back is FULL of good information for you...

YES- cingular does grandfather old plans if you'd like, or you can choose a new plan at anytime with no contract extension or any fees.

As for him telling you about your calling area--- you signed up with the contract-- didn't you read what you signed?

Cingular nights starting at 8? That's well before my time, I was only aware of the 7pm on analog plans, and 9pm on digital plans--- again- check your price plan sheet!

service maps showing full coverage huh? which map where you looking at? Not the map that shows your home coverage area I hope! this is a depiction of where home and roam rates apply... not actual service. Any cellular provider is going to have some dead spots--- (yes, even cingular in ct)

and now for your most ridiculous comment--->

odd gsm-850 setup? what are you smoking buddy? cingular's gsm-850 network is going to be the best thing since sliced bread-- do you know ANYTHING about radio wave propagation?? how signals higher in frequency go more in a straight line? What you will see with gsm-850 is much better coverage than any 1900mhz system.... the frequency is actually more important than the digital encoding in fact--- there's much debate as to which technology has the best sound quality-- cdma/tdma/gsm/iden.... but there is absolutely no dispute than 800 has a much easier time getting out than 1900.... here's an example--- 1900---> signal bounces off building 800---> signal passes through building.... in reality it's not that simple--- 800mhz signals are still extremely line of sight, and mountains and buildings will affect signal, but not nearly as drastically as a 1900 system.... you've never used sprint in a hilly area have you???

So in short-- read your fine print, read the boards, and happy cingular shopping!

Jay.

 

FIRSTLY- when I said "odd," I MEANT "few and far between," not "weird." I am not one to ever call any kind of technological advance "weird." I was merely stating that GSM-850 networks are not the most well-know networks out there. I, myself, was under the impression that GSM 1800/1900/900 networks are generally what other people think about when GSM coverage is talked about.

I am not here to tick anybody off, nor make myself sound like a fool. I would think that anyone here who DOES have such a good grasp of this technology would cut people like me some slack- I am trying to learn some things here after all.

SECONDLY- I never mentioned that I was an expert on radio wave propagation, nor have I ever said that I was an expert of any other kind for that matter. I was not aware of the advantages of GSM-850, but I thank you for your answer explaining them to me. In any case, however, I think you might do yourself some good by calming down when reading and answering posts. Why do I detect so much hostility?

THIRDLY- In a nutshell, my earlier post was just stating my opinion and my experiences with Cingular. I found the salesperson I had to be evasive and unreliable in his dealings with me, and the customer service that I received after that to be sub-par. In my original post, I plainly stated that the "list goes on and on," and that I did give several other sales people a chance to start on a clean slate with me. I asked those people direct questions, and it too-frequently turned out that I did not get correct or true answers. Picking apart my earlier post does NOT help your defense of the people I dealt with at all because from the very beginning, I always plainly stated what I wanted, including an explanation of the terms when I first signed up.

The salespeople are direct representatives of Cingular, it's services, and subsequently, of it's contracts and terms- there is no excuse for the sales people not to know all the details of any of Cingular's consumer-sales contracts. If I ask for the information- it should be given to me regardless of whether or not I read the fine print **unless** the salesperson tells me to read the fine print as an answer to my question in the store- he did NOT. The situation is as SIMPLE AS THAT.

After a lot of time, nerves, and digging, I found the information I needed from various places. Not a single person I spoke to in the stores knew ALL the facts they were supposed to. I felt like a pinball in a pinball machine being sent from person to person and store to store to get some things resolved. In retrospect and with all honesty, In the Cingular stores and kiosks, I RARELY EVER got the impression that a salesperson was trying to help me rather than trying to sell me something or get more money.

As far as making excuses for the Cingular employees I dealt with, please keep in mind that I am one of their customers, this is the way I feel, and I know I'm not the only one.

FURTHERMORE- I did also mention in my original post that I know now that I should just read the contract and not listen to any salespeople (a difficult lesson). I would find it rather humorous if an actual Cingular employee posted here telling me to do the same; the stores might as well be staffed with box-shuffling kids if this is the case.

Please keep in mind that I am NOT trying to start any arguments, I am just stating some facts, and my experiences.

 

kick: I agree with what you're saying (for the most part). However, go to any other cell phone company or call their tech support and try to find out what you need to know...chances are it isn't happening. I was with verizon for a year and tmobile for another. Not the best experiences I'd say. But whatever, i'm not going to judge them all against each other. They each have their selling points and their weaknesses. Cingular's customer service though, in my experience, is pretty good. At least the people on the phone are very polite and mostly know what they're talking about (but yes, sometimes you need to talk to a few people).

 

I agree with you about the phone support, batigolaso, Cingular's phone support has been one of their saving graces with me (for the most part).

 

While I agree that salespeople should be less misleading (to put it mildly), there's one lesson I've learned: After a store reps tells you something, do you know what that becomes? PURE AIR. Words coming out of anyone's mouth are just that. They vanish into thin air to become something in your memory that cannot stand as viable proof to anyone else when you need to complain. Later on, you realize that what the salesperson told you is not what it is and then trouble begins. This is why I first read brochures, all the fineprint, go to the websites and compare information and as a last resort, ask anyone. Written information does not become thin air after you read it. Do it this way, and you'll be less likely to be misinformed.

 

Rock on bobolito--- Don't trust the salesman to tell you absolutely EVERYTHING you need to know, for such a process would take HOURS..... I don't think the salesperson or the customer would like to spend.

Jay.

 

When the Nation Preferred Plus came to NYC, I went to my local Cingular store, and what did I do first? I grabbed a couple of brochures and looked at them. When the salesperson came over I spoke with her, not to get information, but to get a feel just how well informed she was and to see a 6340 in person since they came out in NYC back then (November). I took the brochures home and compared information with that from Cingular reps over the phone and their website. If people worked this way, there would be less misunderstandings IMO.

 

Indystorm or anyone who can answer,

I have Cingular TDMA for 3 years (central New Jersey) and have been happy with it. I am desperate to find an answer to my question. I got a call from a Cingular agent (Keep in Touch Stuff) trying to switch me to GSM in New Jersey. I have a grandfathered Nationwide (yes full Nationwide, not Nation preferred) plan I do not want to lose and a brand new $250 phone. He is offering me the same phone for $25, if I act fast. Is Cingular ready for this in my area or will I get dropped calls and bad service as one of the ground breakers for Cingular GSM?