At&t/cingulair is the Devil! Help me beat them!!

[jaredirl]

Ok.. Here's the situation. I need ideas on how to phrase a letter, or who I should be yelling at in order to have em fix it. Sorry if it's long, i'll try to be brief..

At&t and cingulair merged. Yay. I've been a at&t customer for 5 years, and have kept renewing my plan, so the deal I have is far better than what you can get today. Not to mention, i'm on a family shared plan with my fiance, and am currently perfectly happy with what I have.

When I fell and killed my ankle, I lost my cell phone. I was more concerned about the fact that I couldn't feel my leg, and my dog was running away, and accidently left the phone. Poof. Gone..

I called At&t to have em replace it. They usually have reman. phones for cheap. To me, a phone is an appliance. I don't need color screens or internet access. Just one that works...

They said no. At first, the guy said that they stopped with the remanufactured program to get everyone to move over to cingulair (more on that later), but later, when I started getting mad, he said that they don't have any stock left... (they're the biggest cell phone company in the world. No stock?!?!)

I then asked what he would like me to do, with no phone, and no way to replace it. He said that I needed to convert over to the new cingular, and they'd give me a phone..

Here's the benefits, according to the sales guy:
1) I get to pick a new plan
2) I get a free, new technology phone
3) It's only a $18 conversion fee
4) He'd give me a reach around

Here's what I see:
1) I like my current plan. I've compared the cingular plans, and they blow. Especially the family plans. I'd end up paying $35 more, for 100 less minutes, and my nights/weekends wouldn't start at 7pm anymore...

2) I don't need a 'new technology' phone. just give me a beater. But, now that we're on the subject, since I am converting my account to the 'new technology', what do I do with Amy's phone? It's new, and I paid for it.. Oh, it's useless? So she needs a new phone too? Great...

3)$18 per phone? Yeah? Ok, so that's $36. For what? To convert from At&t to Cingular? Aren't they the same company? yes? what?

4) If i'm getting the reach around, that means he's behind me doing what? Hmm. No, I'm fine, thanks...

So...

How do I get myself a phone? I'm good at raising a big stink, and still being professional...

Gimme some ideas!

[MansonOzz]

Contact JP, he's the master!

[NutMeg]

Do you have the insurance?

Cause a stink, my mom has been having similar issues, only her phone has been faulty.

I say go to an att store and say your phone is broken, and you'd like to get a new one to continue your plan. They keep telling my mom cingular crap as well.

If they refuse to let you buy a new phone to put on your current plan, tell them you want your contract terminated then, without the cancellation fee. That, in no way, will you pay to use their services, when you don't have a phone to use them. Take it as high as you want.

Don't take the crap.

[sta63bmx]

I'll respond in a few hours on this. Oh, how I love Jesus! If you really want my opinion on Cingular, well...it might break the filters.

[jaredirl]

Awesome. I knew I could count on you for some corporate whoopass...

I'll be waiting.

[MansonOzz]

Speaking of causing a scene, this was great:

Years back, my dad's Verizon phone had been beaten to crap. It barely got reception, kept cutting out for no reason, etc. For whatever reason, they said that he couldn't get a new phone and transfer the number & service (even if he wanted to pay for the phone fully). But his phone doesn't work, and he's stuck with basically no service. They argue back and forth, the store not understanding that the phone is basically worthless. To get the point across, my dad, an impatient fellow to begin with, threw the phone on the floor, smashed it with his foot into pieces, and yelled, "IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!" at the guy. Pieces went flying all over the place, and he walked out with a new phone. /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If nothing else, doing something like that and having Amy tape it is definitely worth it for future entertainment.

[littleamazon]

[ QUOTE ]
Speaking of causing a scene, this was great:

Years back, my dad's Verizon phone had been beaten to crap. It barely got reception, kept cutting out for no reason, etc. For whatever reason, they said that he couldn't get a new phone and transfer the number & service (even if he wanted to pay for the phone fully). But his phone doesn't work, and he's stuck with basically no service. They argue back and forth, the store not understanding that the phone is basically worthless. To get the point across, my dad, an impatient fellow to begin with, threw the phone on the floor, smashed it with his foot into pieces, and yelled, "IT DOESN'T WORK!!!!" at the guy. Pieces went flying all over the place, and he walked out with a new phone. /forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif

If nothing else, doing something like that and having Amy tape it is definitely worth it for future entertainment.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then you can post it here at ABC, together with JP's video on throwing his rock! LOL

*Don't know if the JP video exists but it would be enterntaining too*

Amazon

[MansonOzz]

I still want the "JP stepping on a wagon and falling down the steps at 5am" video.

[sta63bmx]

Why is my pain and suffering so **** funny? I swear, people take perverse delight in me getting beat to hell. I hit my head on the bar hard enough Monday morning that I had a headache. That was kind of funny, I admit.

That's awesome about your dad. I hate how those people act like it's something YOU are doing wrong. That was a nice way to say "F YOU" to those people AND end any questions about whether the phone worked. Plus, the intimidation value of breaking stuff can make people more willing to help you sometimes.

Here's what I'll tell you: CANCEL YOUR CINGULAR SERVICE NOW and switch to another provider with better customer service.

We got involved in a nasty situation with Cingular that led to them sending us to collections for $600 and me threatening a lawsuit. Their customer service is from the dark prince of evil himself, Satan. No, not Ted Turner. The salesgirl told us that certain areas WERE in our home area and that we DID get free unlimited mobile to mobile. Both untrue, and our first bill was about $300. A complaint got that taken care of, but then they tacked $10 a month on to cover something they told us was included, and customer service could never resolve it. Their customer service is from Satan. I have been hung up on by them before and they are all full of shi'ite. We wanted to cancel because of all this, and they were like "You're going to have to pay the early termination fees, tee hee!" ANd I'm like "You can suck my hole if you think I'm paying them, you rat-faced urethral scum." They sent us to collections, we wrote letters to the Better Business Bureau, their president, the state's attorney's office, and collections finally quit calling us. I don't know if they cancelled the debt or not. They may have.

Bottom line, their customer service is worthless and they write down things that are untrue. If they won't give you EXACTLY what you want, cancel and find another provider.

Dealing with Cingular is like not having catastrophic coverage on your health insurance. It may seem ok until something bad happens, and then BAM! you are totally screwed for no reason.

When it gets warmer, I will play with my rocks outside again. I have to try and press the bigger one (153 lbs.) over my head. That may be tough.

[jaredirl]

JP. I'd love to cancel the service and say Feck all to the early termination fee, but I'm working on restoring my credit, and a hit like that would crush it...

Here's my new angle...

Can they outright deny me the oppurtunity to purchase a new phone that would work on their network? I am, after all, under contract for another 1.5 years.

How can they hold me to a contract when they're flat out telling me to f off when I tell them i no longer have a phone to use? I mean, sure, don't give me one for free, but they're denying me any oppurtunity to purchase the means to use the services that i'm under contract for...

How's that legal?

[nozzle]

Have you tried going further up the command chain?

[jaredirl]

not yet. I don't have a cell phone to call em on... :/

I'm gonna do it when I get home from work tonight, and then I'm gonna start writing letters and faxing em/mailing em to everyone at corporate.

I love these fights as much as JP does. This just caught me off guard, because it doesn't make any sense at all to me..

[sta63bmx]

Just send it to the president's office. Don't F with anybody else. Whatever you're gonna send, send it to the office of the president. As the Chinese philosopher My Dong once said "It is more difficult to avoid the surprise pigeon squirt from above than the dog feces from below."

[short bus ridah]

I just ran into this exact same situation. I just went on ebay and bought an ATT wireless phone off of someone. You can either buy an ATT wireless phone or another phone but make sure its UNLOCKED otherwise it wont work. A salesman from cingular store actually told me to do this. I got the phone, put in the sim card from my old phone and BAM it worked fine. Didn't have to call customer service or anything. Good luck...and this merger blows by the way

[MansonOzz]

[ QUOTE ]
JP. I'd love to cancel the service and say Feck all to the early termination fee, but I'm working on restoring my credit, and a hit like that would crush it...

Here's my new angle...

Can they outright deny me the oppurtunity to purchase a new phone that would work on their network? I am, after all, under contract for another 1.5 years.

How can they hold me to a contract when they're flat out telling me to f off when I tell them i no longer have a phone to use? I mean, sure, don't give me one for free, but they're denying me any oppurtunity to purchase the means to use the services that i'm under contract for...

How's that legal?

[/ QUOTE ]

See my above story with my dad.

What I have done in the past, without having to smash or throw any phones, is add a new year of service. Sometimes the phones they have available are unavailable for sale without a contract agreement.

short bus ridah has the idea; buy your own phone. I got my first Sprint phone from Staples, for $5 after a huge amount of rebates. I called up Sprint's 888/800 number that night, got a plan and was rollin' immediately with no other expense.

When that phone was damaged, I just went to ebay and bought another. Drop by (or call) the store, tell them the number on the back, and it works in no time flat. No cost. I did this until I finally upgraded phones to a color one w/the camera deal, and even that I got from ebay as well. Had it working the next day within 30 minutes.

And JP - you're so entertaining no matter what you do. Seeing people get hurt is always funny, especially when it's people you know. As long as there's no lasting pain, all is well!

[CheezitMan22]

We had the same thing happened to us. Gave us a number to call. only other option is a 70 buck phone, at least.

[short bus ridah]

i bought an erickson T637 for $150 on ebay by the way. Its nice but it frickin sucks paying that much

[psaturn]

Jaredirl, what service in ATT were you on ? The Digital Trimode or the GPRS ? I do have an old NOKIA that was on the old system before I switched to this GPRS system.

My receptionist was able to buy new phone at the ATT store without changing plans as the plan that she has and I have is the best ! and she did not want to change it. She bought the new one because she had hard time reading the screen on the NOKIA phone so she get a Samsung for $29 and she got three, one for her hubby, one for herself and one for her son and they all share the same minutes. She does pay $10 extra for each line. She did this like couple months ago.

If you are on the GPRS system, the trouble is the small chip was lost in the old phone. But I cannot imagine why they could not program in a new chip on the new phone.

Talk to the manager or supervisor or maybe talk to the local ATT/ Cingular store.

I noticed the reception on the phone is worse since the merger and the call connection has a long delay and I get lots of drop offs. I have a friend in Central California who has a guy in his bible study that works for ATT and explained why they had difficulties lately. It should be fixed once all Cingular lines are switched to the ATT towers and Cingular's are taken over by T Mobile.

Again, Jaredirl, if you could tell me what system you were on, I may help you. If you are in the new system, I could ask my receptionist if she could sell you hers but the trouble is the little chip, you would have to get it somehow as her little chip was transferred to the new phone.

[sta63bmx]

Just burn their store to the ground. I bet a couple phones will survive, and you can just take them.

[MansonOzz]

Or go in with a gun and ski mask, demand to pay for a phone and for them to make it work. Be sure to tape THAT.

[psaturn]

I did ask my receptionist if she was willing to sell you her NOKIA GSM phone to you if you had GSM line and a SIM card you have to get from Cingular.

If you had the previous system, then that would be no problems in getting them to program for it to work with your system.