Cingular updates roaming rules (MORE RESTRICTIONS!)

I pay for nationwide coverage. I very seldom roam but I could easily go over that if I had a large project out of town.

:headscrat :headscrat

 

That sucks.

 

That is not fair, Cingular phones do not show when you are roaming, so you cant even prevent it if you wanted to!

 

That blows my mind....

This really doesn't affect me because I only travel through "offnet" areas on occasion. I can see where this could really hurt a family on a family plan when one line goes off to college in an offnet area.

How strict will cingular enforce this? Or is it one of the rules they will selectively impose?

 

I was thinking the same thing. My son has been looking at schools for next year.
:loony:

 

Cingular is quite possibly going to make themselves crappier than Verizon.

I'm happier I dumped Cingular and VZW and went with Sprint every day!

 

This just seems to wierd. Is Cingular really taking that big of a hit when it comes to roaming? If so maybe they should revamp some of their roaming agreements. Also makes me wonder why the other carriers arent enforcing the same rules ie. Alltel, Sprint, USCC, etc. They all have this clause but seem to keep it a bit more hush hush. Verizon doesnt have it but I've heard if you roam a lot in a non-friendly area (usually a carrier besides Alltel or USCC) you may get a call from them. I'm not sure if that's true or not though. I wonder what Cingular is really trying to accomplish?

 

Is Cingular the only carrier that does not let you see if you are roaming? I agree with Yankees,it certainly seems unfair.Cingular wants to make rules and us to abide by them but yet they are not playing fair.

 

I think if they continue down this path they will get a class action from persons dropped because they don't let you see if you are roaming.

-Jay

 

Glad I switched. I was roaming in parts of town on T-Mobile..

 

They have to keep up the illusion of largest network, they probably won't change it. This is one of the many reasons I don't like Cingular, their business practices.

 

The thing is they can fix this problem of people knowing if they're roaming or not with an OTA update. The alpha tag database that the phone uses by default in the phone's SIM card has all networks named Cingular. They can create an accurate database and send it to the phones.

-Jay

 

But that would mean people would know they don't have a real national network everywhere.

With this new tighter restrictions, they keep proving they are just greedy and I agree that Verizon isn't the evil empire anymore. Just goes to show, being the #1 carrier doesn't mean they are reasonable & fair.

I also heard if they decide to cancel your contract for going over these minutes, they will charge you for the roaming minutes.

 

I would rather they let you know when you are roaming, and allot you a certain amount of roaming minutes per month, and after that then you are charged for roaming. They should not be selling "unlimited roaming" plans if they're not really unlimited. However, I've never been able to roam, except on Suncom years ago. The only other network I have ever seen besides the 2 Cingular networks is TMO, and I've never been able to register on TMO w/o my phone displaying "EMERGENCY ONLY"

-Jay

 

I agree that this is very unfair, if they don't display an roaming icon. I wonder if part of the reason for the new online coverage map (that shows roaming areas), is the plan to enforce these rules and give consumers tools to understand when they are roaming.

Clearly Cingular is not targeting the causal roamer, but the one that sits in a roaming area for an extended stay.

I think Cingular needs to communicate better. They

1. Should clearly advertise the policy change
2. Give a roaming icon on the phone
3. Be upfront about this in the stores.

They can't assume the most of their customers are 'informed' as well as WA members here are.

But, from my experience during the old analog and TDMA days when there was all roaming (and roaming icons), when you went outside your township, there are some things we can do also:

1. If you know that you will be on extended relocation, look at the new Cingular interactive map to see if your in a probable area of concern.

2. Call up Cingular and explain the situation. ie, 'I have an ill parent that needs care', or 'I'm on business relocation for two months', etc.

3. I know from personal experience, Cingular prefers to know in advance a difficult situation and not find out after the fact. You will benefit too. Unless your're moving for years instead of months, I have found that they have worked with me favorably.

4. Just don't 'test' the system defiantly and see if they cancel you, and then complain; call them up and see how they can help you. They really would prefer to keep you as a customer...unless your moving for good into a roaming area.

my thoughts on how I plan to deal with the situation. We really don't know how different each roaming agreement may be for Cingular: you will only find out by calling for your specific roaming area.

But, I have to say, that according to the interactive map, this really is not going to effect me or my college student. Chose a college with Cingular store in town!!!

viewfly

 

You put this very well said.

 

:lmao:

"I know you had your heart set on XXXX for college son, but you need to pick a school where your phone won't roam."

 

So let me get this straight: Is this 750 minutes/or 40% of your anytime minutes for one month or for two months?
Say I live in a Cingular native area but one week out of the 4 weeks every month my work takes me to a Cingular roaming area. During this week I use a ton of minutes to stay in touch with my wife/girlfriend. I use 500 minutes the week I'm gone(which is on the low end because when I'm out of town I usually use a ton of minutes) and only have a 450 anytime minutes plan...I'm screwed right???

 

Yeah I believe that is right.

 

Has this clause always been in place (but unenforced) or is it new? If it is new, wouldn't it seem to be an adverse material change to the T&C's of the contract, and thus a means for lots of people to leave early without penalty?

 

"ok Dad, I'll drop my plans to go to State U for $5,000, and go to my other choice U of $40,000...that has a Cingular store there...think of the money we'll save on phone calls! Thanks, Dad!"

 

Thanks. In fact I know of one case where a friend had to care for a dying relative out of town and went over their anytime minutes. Cingular covered the whole extra charge. I don't remember whether it was a roaming situation or not.

 

Native Cingular Coverage for me does not extend beyond central WI, so anytime I visit my father in Wausau or go into MN I am roaming on Einstein PCS, I Wireless, or T-Mobile etc. I can only see this as a problem if I was staying with my father for an extended period of time over a couple of months and made lots of phone call from there.

This would be an unsusual situation, and I would notify Cingular that this would be happening.

PS: I can actually tell when I am roaming since I have a blank operator logo on my 6131 and the "cingular" logo comes back when I am not on "home" network. The only problem is that until integration is complete, it treats Cingular Blue as roaming also. That is one thing about the Moto phones I could mod them to read the ID tag from the network and not the SIM card.

 

I personally think you are wrong, the problem here isn't on our side but on Cingulars, first of all it's like the entire thing with only using upc's to advertise price (not printing price on the product) part of that federal requirement is to have prince scanners available to the consumer... The basic premise I'm getting at here is to a. not be deceptive and b. make information on network (roaming for example) available easily and readily to the consumer. We shouldn't have to jump through hoops to use our phones.

 

Oh okay...so let's say I don't use any anytime minutes but only use 749 M2M and NIght and Weekend minutes I'd be okay but If I had a 450 anytime minute plan and used 400 anytime minutes while roaming and no n/w or m2m I'd be screwed?
If that's how it is it does make sense but this may be confusing for some.

 

Are the other carriers this strict concerning roaming?
:headscrat