I've read in several places that Cingular (ATT) would send a user the subsidy code for a phone after 90 days of service if the account is in good standing. In fact, ATT emailed me that information. So, the account is in good standing, I've had the service for 90 days, and now I've been told that if I want the subsidy code, I have to sign each account up for international roaming, even though the point of the code is to avoid their high roaming charges by using a prepaid card in the phones. Maybe someday the federal government will regulate the industry in a rational way and prohibit this senseless price gouging.
eric reps make mistakes.. I am one and I have made them... a lot fewer nowq than when I first started doing CSR work... I read over the rules... NO WHERE in the rules does it say that... call back... if you get a similar response...escalate to a supervisor...regrettably you got a rep that needs a little more training in all likelyhood you wont have to escalate here is the info you will need The customer must fax a valid proof of purchase or Transfer of Ownership letter clearly indicating it is for the Cingular device. Instruct the customer to fax (rep will give this to you for your market) the receipt with the following information displayed prominently on the cover page and/or the receipt: "Subsidy Unlock Request" on the coversheet your name BAN/Account Number (supplied by rep) MSISDN (phone number that was / is active with the device) Contact information home phone number and email addy if possible Clarify Case Number (supplied by rep)
Thanks for the response. But before I posted, I asked that a supervisor confirm this information, and this is what I received: ==================== Dear Mr. ----, Thank you for taking the time to e-mail AT&T regarding your request for the subsidy unlock code. I am happy to help you with your inquiry and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Upon reviewing your email, AT&T does not unlock handsets for the purposes of international travel except for our International Roaming customers (customers who qualify for and have AT&T International Roaming feature on their account). * * * Bridget ______ AT&T Online Customer Care Professional ==================== However, inspired by your response, I called 611 on the phone. The rep said that someone will call me back by the 29th and give me the codes. We'll see, but I hope they do. Thanks.
but international roaming is just turning on the phones capability to roam..........with T-Mobile the international roaming capability an you get charged per minute in international countries........ are they asking you to sign up for a bucket of international minutes???
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.1; U; en-us) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 es70) I was under the impression that you could add the international roaming feature on your account for no additional cost (unless you actually make use of it). I believe that you can remove the feature at any time.
thats exactly what i thought...........it was a feature that activated roaming but doesnt charge you until you use it......
What you have to have is the standard features that don't bill you a monthly charge. You do have to have those on the account before they will approve the subsidy unlock code. Have the International Provisioning Center add those standard features then call CCare and have them submit a case for a subsidy unlock code.
You can also send an e-mail from your OLAM ("my wireless account"). Include your phone's IMEI number and your request in the "question" area of the e-mail. I obtained mine this way several months back - if you call customer service, they complete a form for your request and submit it to another area - either way it will be approx. 3 to 5 days before you will receive an e-mailed response to your request.
You folks were correct. The International roaming feature didn't cost anything to add. I'm surprised that customer service didn't mention that when I objected to paying for another service. The prices even for receiving voice mails when I'm out of the country are crazy high though. I'm not sure how this all works, but I'll just turn this service off after I get the subsidy codes. For example, if I get a voicemail when I'm out of the country, I get charged unless the phone is off. Each text sent to me is 15 cents. I wonder if I get charged for voice or text sent to me if the sim from Canada is in the phone. The phone wouldn't technically be off. Also, text messages might be charged whether the phone is off or on - I don't know. The prepaid sim I put in the phone would give me another number, but would the messages sent to my subscribed number count against me even though the sim isn't being used? If they do, I could have 100 texts and several voice messages waiting for me when I come back to the US. That would get expensive fast. Anyway, I'm sure I can get the subsidy codes now so thanks for the help.
No, so long as your SIM isn't in a phone that is roaming int'l you won't get billed anything extra. It'll just come out of your bucket if you have one. The reason why you'd get billed for calls while int'l even if you don't answer and it goes to voicemail is because the network is having to complete calls to a foreign carrier. If the phone is turned off however, it'll never get completed it'll stay local and just be routed to your voicemail.
If you take your Cingular SIM out of the phone, it's like the phone is off -- even if you have a Canadian SIM in. GSM carriers don't track the phone, they track the SIM. So, for example, I am supposed to be charged HK$11 (about US$1.40) if a call to me goes to voicemail while my phone is roaming abroad. But, if the phone is off or the SIM is out of the phone, for all my provider knows, the SIM, the phone and I are all wandering the streets of Kowloon... so no charge. And this is why I buy phones from Asian vendors who sell them unlocked to begin with -- yes, it's more expensive, but I don't have to worry about crap like this, I can switch SIMs with impunity, which is nice, because it's cheaper for me to call England from my HK SIM roaming in the US than it is for me to call England from my native US T-Mobile SIM.
