Customer Beware: Cingular's new Phone Upgrade Policy

OMG!! One has to wonder if any other wireless company is using something like this:loony: I feel for the people who want just the basics but they use more than a prepaid subscriber. Alas, these companies (I'm sure that Cingy isnt the only one) are out for profit and could care less about the captive audience. The message that is put forth is to pony up $$$$ or dont let the door hit you on the way out the door; loyalty doesnt matter. I think these policies are only going to get worse for the consumer... and the companies wonder why there isnt any exponential growth

Since this info is internal, whose head will roll?

 

Ok, since I have unlimited data which is a pricy add on and about 85% of my usage is m2m or n&w so I qualify for another upgrade again?

Jay

 

man, cingular is and their and on top of that there, , thats all i gotta say about thout.:browani:

 

Well lets just off the world.

:loony: :loony:

 

What lots of people fail to realize is that monthly costs of service, per line, range from about $22-28 on average, so if you are on a lower plan, carriers don't make much money off you. The number above doesn't include your handset subsidy, it's average monthly costs to provide service, customer care, etc.

 

Sprint had (had when I worked for a call center, don't know about now but I'd bet they still do) a customer value rating system based on the kind of revenue they were making. It was tied to how generous a CSR could be with free add-ons and how far retention was willing to go.


If Cingular is really doing this, they're going to take some major hits in churn.

 

From a business aspect it's a smart move. Give the upgrades to who make you money and don't to the ones that don't make the big bucks. Pretty simple economics on this one. I'd assume that most wireless customers with data plans and what not are probably all going to be at least LV3's.

 

How would it suck if you and your friend both have Cingular service. One gets a subsidised phone, the other doesn't get any discount at all when they try to upgrade their phone just because they may not have as many add ons and stray off-network(maybe not even knowing they do) a lot.
This seems like a rather bad move, unless you look at it from their business perspective, even though I can see churn go up.

 

well i know for sure that T-Mobile probably uses a similar system.......when you go to access your account on the Internet and then select upgrades they have eligibility requirments......things like: your plan must be 29.99 or more on a single line plan and 49.99 or more on a pooled Family plan

 

Sure you have to be on a plan $35 and up, but then you get your NE2. It's and official rule that anyone can openly talk about and not have to secretly put you in a level that will decide what kind of discount you will get also depending on your off-network usage, etc. etc.

 

Cellular isn't the only industry that does this though. The cable tv and satellite companies do this in regards to service calls. The internet companies do this when working a 'save'. Your credit card company does it to you every month.... so what's the big deal? Spend more, get treated better. Why shouldn't a bigger customer get better treatment than a customer that spends half of what the bigger does. Look at a client like the County of Los Angeles. They pay for thousands of handsets a month with Cingular. According to the chart they'd be about a LV456. Does the $25/mo customer deserve to get the same offers the county does?

 

This doesn't sound very good to me. But every company does this to a certain degree, even to their employees when giving out limited stock options or limited raises. They just keep quiet about it.

I must be LV5+: 1.5 years ago I received a letter from Cingular from nowhere saying that " they valued me as a customer" and gave me 250 anytime minutes per month free for 18 months, on top of my 850 current plan. I didn't complain about anything, the letter just came in the mail. Go figure.

I imagine the guy who has a $19.95plan w/ 50 minutes and free weekends, and doesn't use it at all is fine: they make some money and he doesn't use it. There are some TDMA users still with this plan.

However a different guy with the same plan who racks up a few thousand minutes a month on free weekends, will get hit.

So what is a Unit and how is ARPU figured for family plans? Plan cost/1 or plan cost/number of family members

 

But the question is: How much does it really cost Cingular to process a call on their native network??? The infrastructure is already there and most areas aren't maxed out capacity wise so they could care less if I use 50 weekend minutes or 3000.

 

i think unethical is a bit strong....but yes if they are willing to coax the rich customers to by handsets and stay with them and tell the cheap customers they don't get anything it is really "classist" of them....they basically favor the rich and give them presentsso that the rich will favor cingular...


.....and this is putting it bluntly

 

If you think that companies dont track stuff like this, you are fooling yourself and need to learn how business works. If you didn't expect this sort of treatment, why so many use this argument....I have been a customer for XX years, or I spend $XX a month with you....

 

Yes, NE2 requires a certain rate plan, but that's clearly stated upfront. Also, that customer would still get a handset subsidy, just not the NE2.

 

That is exactly my sentiments also, which is why I fail to understand the fuss that this information is generating.

I have always used those arguments with Cingular and it has always resulted in extra minutes, limited time unlimited data, or some other perk. I rarely buy Cingular branded equipment but I bought my V557 couple months back outright with no contracr but I got it for the 2 year contract price. Now I know why it works......

 

Very well said! In the same light, there was a thread a while back saying that Cingular would not give you a NE2, if you weren't paying your bill on time. It is not clear if that ever was true, but why shouldn't Cingular expect you to pay a bill on time? We certainly explain loudly when our call doesn't connect, or in some other way our service is effective, no manner how reasonably. But we expect Cingular to carry credit and pay their employees and maintain equipment without cash flow? Imagine, if every one of the 53 Million plus customers payed late by one day, that's 53 million times say $50 per unit or $2.6billion they need to meet payroll or whatever that month. Some companies take short term loans to cover that situation

So yes, I agree with you that every company does this, and you don't know that your getting better treatment than the next guy. So if you expect great service responses because your a loyal customer paying you bills, don't be surprised if the company is looking at you to see if it is worth it.

BTW, in the long run, as america becomes saturated with coverage, this is the kind of thing we will see more and more of. I think N&W and other perks will be a thing of the past, for all the carriers.

 

Average customer probably costs the company around $20/month regardless of if they actually use the service. That's just what it costs to have it available to them. That's paying for the site leases, the CSR's, the techs, CEO's etc. Consider this, the average cell site lease for a rooftop in the Los Angeles MTA is over $3000 a month. That's just for the site, power not included. It takes at least 60 on time paying customers to pay for that one site's lease. Now add in the initial site costs, long term loans, the continual part replacements and the monthly backhaul fees and you're looking at upwards of $5000+ a month for a number of years after the site is initially built with it dropping a bit after the equipment costs are recouped. It's not a cheap network to build nor maintain.

 

I don't understand why everyone's freaking out. Companies don't exist to give things away, they exist to make money. You don't GET a free phone, you earn that phone by paying higher rates (because of the loss-leader business plan). You don't GET a new phone for free, you 'earn' it by making more money for the company.

Should they tell you what level you are? I don't see why. They don't tell you what your credit rating was when you set up service.

I hate when people whine about how "it's not faaaaaaaaaaaaaair". If Cingular were the only company selling wireless service, it might be less fair, but they're not. I hear so many people at work who say, "Well, I don't like my wireless carrier but everyone I know is on it, so I don't have a choice." Of COURSE you have a choice... you just like the other choices less than the one you've made.

I'll say it again. Cingular exists to make money. They can make the most money by pleasing those people who spend the most and trying to slough off the people who are drains on their profit. If you don't like it, don't go with Cingular.

 

http://www.vzwshop.com/MTH12_survey/survey.aspx

this is a survey for Verizon customers....i found it in the Verizon Wireless forum...........at least we know someone is taking people's opinions into thought......Verizon is one of the only companies that has the best customer care.....I haven't spoken to them too much because i am not a Verizon customer but i talked to them when I was buying my first phone and decided on T-Mobile instead......(<3).....btw T-Mobile does have just as good of a CS as Verizon.........they are both the nicest companies i ever called.....Cingular is too proud.....Sprint has too long a wait time and isn't open 24/7.......Alltel doesn't get service in my area so that leaves regional carriers who charge you extra for roaming and long distance

 

I agree. At my business I have told customers that they may be happier elsewhere, because of exactly that. Sometimes it is cheaper to let a customer go than to keep them. Everyone's got their panties in a wad right now over this, but the fact remains that very few customers are there on the bottom L1 & L2 rungs. As far as I can tell I would be an L4, borderline L5 so this would mean that I might get some really cool deals, but the L2's & L3's will still get deals. I think the difference will be like the difference between getting a free V557 and a free V3, or maybe getting an extra $50 off an upgrade. This doesn't mean that you won't qualify for an upgrade at all (unless you're an L1) I just think it would translate to the value of the phone they offer you.

-Jay

 

agreed......i used to have problems with this too but waiting on hold for CSRs to pick up has taught me patience and appreciation for what I have and to not bother them...

now im a bit more content :biggrin:

and yes if the companies didn't make money they wouldn't have workers to run it and therefore you wouldn't have a company to give you service anyway.....so quit complaining because most of them do the best they can......nobody's perfect :devil:

 

I noticed in the article that it only includes Orange Customers, so Blue customers still have a chance to upgrade without a problem.

When they calculate family plans, do they add both the main line and all other lines included, as well as SMS plans? (It does seem this way from the chart, but want to know for sure).

For me I am paying $59.99 + 3 more lines at $9.99 each, then another $13.99 for shared SMS. So without the taxes I am paying $103.95 a month. Of course we use a lot or N&W Minutes a month with my daughters.

 

Bobolito I get a national discount via work on my own personal line are these accounts also affected by this or no because I am considered on a business account? I read everything I could but did not see Premier/business accounts mentioned.

Thanks

RH

 

yes a the total peak (non N&W and MTM) are added becaus a family plan has a common pool of minutes....you are safest if you get at least 3 months concsecutive...look at the high, low and average peak airtime and compare to the current plans

a point to remember... with any plan its not what you have that matters,... its what your peak useage is

the shared SMS plans are not available as of yet (no info as to whether the will be in the future either) the sms plans on cingular are billed to each phone number separately