STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

Cingular Customer Service *WARNING-LONG*

lsubatgirl · Gucci

At this point I say pay the $150 and go with Verizon. Cingular in my opinion sucks and I can't stand them.

curiouscookie · BCBG

I second that !! In fact I personally know 4 people who have had the same experience!!

Basically about 6 months ago a bunch of my friends decided to switch to Cingular all for different reasons, ranging from owning the RAZR to chatting with their GF long distance on the same network and me for the roll over minutes!!

Since then its been nothing but dropped calls, crappy reception, no voice mail notification, also most irritating is the problem with their billing and crediting us with rollover minutes. As a result we all have our monthly calls to Cingular CS and have had the same experience of being sent running around and gettting different answers each time.

DO NOT ever join Cingular

.

Wish I had stayed with Verizon!

Hermione · Kate Spade

girl, i was stuck with cingular for two and a half years, and for all the billing mistakes and bad customer service i've had with them, i wish i had just cancelled the contract when i initially thought about it - would have been worth WAY MORE than the $150 i would lose.

i am now with t-mobile and could NOT be happier. the customer service is awesome and i has been ranked number #1 this year (and in years past i think) by JD Power ...

I love my plan, my service, my customer service ...

wicked · Coach

I've found the people who work in the cingular stores to be incredibly incompetant, but I recently used the customer service on the phone and I found them to be really helpful and thorough.

I would try calling again and explaining what happened and insist they clear it up. I wouldn't throw $150. at cingular (think of all the clothes/shoes you could get w/$150.). Also cingular can mail you a phone so you don't have to deal with the boneheads in the store and you can also "sign" a contract over the phone.

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

I think I am going to do the warranty thing and get a new phone first, although lke I said, I'm going to turn right around and demand to re-sign, because Motorola phones are pieces of crap. If I can "sign" a new contract over the phone, I'm definitely doing that, because you're right, the store employees are idiots and obviously know nothing about their phones...

Bottomline: I WILL be getting a Nokia phone; I refuse to use another brand

beachgirl · Kenneth Cole

I totally agree that Cingular sucks! I hate them so much. I started to post a rant about them earlier but it got too long so I just didn't bother, but, they are horrible, bad customer service, bad reception, etc. Basically I've been told that the only way to get a phone that works is to extend my contract another 2 years which is ridiculous! I told them there was absolutely no way I would extend my contract & that once it was up I would never use them again. I only have 4 months left on my contract so I'm stuck sticking it out with a phone that doesn't work. I just can't justify spending the $180 to cancel when I have only a few months left, plus, I don't want to give them money for nothing & for horrible service.

I even called the Office of the President of Cingular & got nowhere, the guy was so rude, put me down, I was in tears when I hung up. I don't see how they keep any customers, other than blackmail which they were trying to do to me.

wicked · Coach

^^^^^^ Is there a way that you can determine where different companies towers are located? I get excellent reception from Cingular, but it's because I live at the foot of a mountain and there's a Cingular tower on top of it.

beachgirl · Kenneth Cole

There's actually a Cingular tower only a half mile away from me, but the phone they sent me as an "upgrade" last year is awful, so I get horrible reception & tons of dropped calls. My phone doesn't even work at my house. They said that the problem is the phone, but the only way I can get a new phone is to sign a new contract with Cingular *I originally signed up w/AT&T* and to switch my plan to one of theirs. There's no way I'm signing up w/them, so I'll just ride out my contract & then I'm going to get Verizon.

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

This is kind of funny: Since Cingular wants me to basically prove (by doing a warranty exchange) that my current phone does indeed suck before they let me re-sign and get a different phone, I called the warranty exchange number yesterday to get that part started. Now, the guy did some troubleshooting on my phone, part of which involved him resetting something and then me trying to make a phone call on it to see if I heard static.

Now, remember, my whole issue here is reception.

The funny part? He told me to call a number and then tell him if I heard static. The second I dialed, what did my phone do? It said "Call Failed", because of the CRAPPY RECEPTION cutting me off right away, as I've been trying to tell Cingular all along. I just about busted out laughing, because if that's not proof, then I don't know what is. I'm thrilled that my phone did that when I was on the phone with them

-- Edited by CarrieS at 12:36, 2005-11-29

gruiz · Kenneth Cole

Here's a very helpful lesson I learned while dealing with Cingular. I used to hate them, but then I found out that most of the Cingular stores are independently owned and operated and THOSE are the ones with horrendous service. There are some Company Stores and you will get better service from them and over the phone. If you call customer service, they'll be able to tell you what locations are company owned. Ever since I've stopped dealing with Joe Schmoe's Cingular Store, I haven't had any problems.

CarrieS · Marc Jacobs

Yeah, I'm definitely going to try not to deal with the actual stores around here and just try to get my business done though customer service...

As far as company-owned stores, there are none in my state

There was no Cingular in Iowa before they bought out AT&T, so the nearest company store is in Kansas City or Chicago.

nyc_shopgirl · Dooney & Bourke

I feel your pain. After countless hours on the phone with their customer service and service is used loosly we were able to migrate 1 phone not two and finally resolve all of our billing issues (i think)

crazyshopper · Nine West

GET OUT WHILE YOU STLL CAN!!! The $150 sucks, but it will definitely pay off in the long run. I just ate the $150 to switch from Cingular to T-Mobile. I went through the same thing as you... trying to get a discounted phone by re-signing with Cingular after they merged with AT&T. They wouldn't let me do it. I figured the cost of buying a phone at retail vs. the deal I could get with signing up with a new company would compensate for the early cancellation fee anyway.

T-Mobile had a good deal on the new Nokia flip phone, which I really like so far. So if you want to go with Nokia, you should look into it. Also, T-Mobile was the highest rated (JD Power) for customer service, which was a huge selling point to me. My Nokia has never died on me in the month I've used it...and what you said about trying it's hardest to retain service is true. It sometimes fades a little so the person on the other end sounds far away, but it never dies.

I'd recommend going to a T-Mobile store, but one of the small ones, not the big corporate-y looking ones. You'll get more personalized service and it won't be crowded with other customers.

I hate Cingular and I'm glad to be rid of them. Aside from feeling like I'm getting a better deal with T-Mobile, there's something satisfying about just cancelling with a company that has treated you poorly...even if you have to pay. The reason AT&T couldn't sustain itself is that so many people left after the whole "keep your number" thing came out. So one person can make a difference!!

enough of my rant.......

esquiress · Marc Jacobs

oh gosh, you guys, now i don't know what to do! carries, i'm in the same position as you, started out w/ at&t then they got bought out, etc, etc. anyway, my reception is AWFUL, i'm always dropping calls and it's just so annoying but i thought it was partly because i'm on some old towers and my old phone (the little nokia from like five years ago, literally). so anyway, my contract is finally up in march and i was going to go w/ verizon but then i heard they are all the same and verizon is just more expensive and then the razr came out in magenta which i think i want but then i'd have to stay w/ cingular, so now i'm torn!

does anyone have any advice about what service/plan/phone i should get?

crazyshopper · Nine West

I heard bad things about the Razr from two different sales reps (one at Verizon, one at T-Mobile). They said it looks good, but the quality of the actual phone is lacking. I know - they're cute, though!

I did research before I switched and Verizon apparently seems the best in terms of actual phone reception. If you go to this website (www.firefly.com) you can compare the different services in your area to see how they're rated on reception, customer service, etc.

crazyshopper · Nine West

Duh - It's WWW.WIREFLY.COM - not firefly. sorry!

Hermione · Kate Spade

esquiress -

seriously, i am so so so happy with t-mobile - and they have the pink razr too! (which i am dying for, but can't afford, yuck!)

anyway check out their plans - they have some really good ones right now but in comparison theirs are always at least as good as everyone else's. since i switched to them i've never had a problem with reception adn the customer service has always been great!

when i needed a new phone b/c mine had finally had it (after alot of dropping and abuse) they found a way to get me a deal even though i wasn't yet eligible for an upgrade.

i could not be happier! ( A HUGE change from cingular - it was almost a monthly battle with them with the bills)

the only reason i haven't told any of my cingular problems on here is that i still get so frustrated when i talk abotu them, but they were ridiculous and terrible!!

blubirde · Chanel

esquiress wrote:

oh gosh, you guys, now i don't know what to do! carries, i'm in the same position as you, started out w/ at&t then they got bought out, etc, etc. anyway, my reception is AWFUL, i'm always dropping calls and it's just so annoying but i thought it was partly because i'm on some old towers and my old phone (the little nokia from like five years ago, literally). so anyway, my contract is finally up in march and i was going to go w/ verizon but then i heard they are all the same and verizon is just more expensive and then the razr came out in magenta which i think i want but then i'd have to stay w/ cingular, so now i'm torn!
does anyone have any advice about what service/plan/phone i should get?

I have Sprint and I'm super, super happy with it. I've never had T-Mobile but I've had just about every other phone service you can imagine (Cingular was by far the worst).

Sprint hardly ever drops calls and my plan is stellar. I like how you can add sprint to sprint for $5, nights (starting at 7) and weekends free for $5, extra 500 minutes (or so - I can't remember the exact amount) for $5, etc.

And their customer service has always been good for me. The store experience sucks, not because they're bad but because it's always crowded, but the online CS is great. Fiscally, it makes the most sense for me. I've only had one issue ever with billing in Sprint and CS took care of it right away.

Okay, end sales pitch! Congrats on getting away from Cingular.

amazingfruit · Nine West

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack your thread but can you all tell me which areas you guys are having crappy cingular reception? I am thinking about switching to cingular and am in the LA/Culver City area. Thanks in advance!