I loath Cingular

Folks, a while ago I posted about my GSM service
in Central Mass kept going in and out all day,
around the same time. Cingular told me too bad.

NOW..these morons juts opened a store right in my
area, in fact, if I take my phone and try to call
from their doorstep, I get NO SIGNAL ! I can't
wait till they open, so I call Cingular's laughable
"..office of the President.." and explain things
AGAIN, and they tell me : <chuckle>

"You should be happy, now with a store in your
area, service will improve because of it.."

Mind you, when I signed up (re-uped) all was fine till
about 4 moths later, now my signal sucks in my own home,
high up on a hill, in a "DARK COLORED" area of their map.

I'm happy they value their creed before my need and
'fixed' the signal problem..they think. <chuckle>

I'm searching for a new service, it will be worth the
fee just to not be lied to anymore by these bastards..


JJT



"When you do things right, people won't be
sure you've done anything at all.."

---

› See More: I loath Cingular

"1234" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Folks, a while ago I posted about my GSM service
> in Central Mass kept going in and out all day,
> around the same time. Cingular told me too bad.
>
> NOW..these morons juts opened a store right in my
> area, in fact, if I take my phone and try to call
> from their doorstep, I get NO SIGNAL ! I

Are you sure it's not your phone? We've got two Cingular Mot. T720 GSM
phones in constant use in Central MA. I also travel extensively all over
New England, and occasionally to other areas of the country as well. No
problems to report at all. Cingular's coverage in Central MA in particular
is the best of all the major carriers, most specifically including Verizon,
who we dumped in favor of Cingular. It blows my mind to read that someone
is having a problem in CENTRAL MA on a Cingular GSM phone. I suspect it's
probably your phone. Don't get me wrong, if Cingular has a blind spot in
your very specific area, I think Cingular should correct that. But I'm in
the same area you are and I have great service on Cingular. ??? -Dave

"1234" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Folks, a while ago I posted about my GSM service
> in Central Mass kept going in and out all day,
> around the same time. Cingular told me too bad.
>
> NOW..these morons juts opened a store right in my
> area, in fact, if I take my phone and try to call
> from their doorstep, I get NO SIGNAL ! I can't
> wait till they open, so I call Cingular's laughable
> "..office of the President.." and explain things
> AGAIN, and they tell me : <chuckle>

Did you speak to Barbara? She is so rude. She interrupts constantly.
>
> "You should be happy, now with a store in your
> area, service will improve because of it.."
>
> Mind you, when I signed up (re-uped) all was fine till
> about 4 moths later, now my signal sucks in my own home,
> high up on a hill, in a "DARK COLORED" area of their map.

We are on a hill too.
>
> I'm happy they value their creed before my need and
> 'fixed' the signal problem..they think. <chuckle>
>
> I'm searching for a new service, it will be worth the
> fee just to not be lied to anymore by these bastards..

We tried a Verizon pre paid. If it doesn't work you can take it back.
Verizon never worked in our house until this Spring. It works like a land
line. I have a son in Springfield. While the Cingular went in and out and
was scratchy and garbled the Verizon worked perfectly. We will pay more
than with Verizon but I am so tired of Cingular's customer service and
Verizon gets high marks on theirs. Verizon recently lowered the price of
their Family plans by 10.00 (don't have to pay extra for IN) and they gave
that reduction to all their customers. Cingular never does that.

We got pre-paid phones and tried them out all over the state this last week.
Verizon won hands down. I would watch the bars as we were traveling. Best
of all it works in my house even in the very center of the house.

After talking to Barbara I hate Cingular.

T
>
>
> JJT
>
>
>
> "When you do things right, people won't be
> sure you've done anything at all.."

> We tried a Verizon pre paid. If it doesn't work you can take it back.
> Verizon never worked in our house until this Spring. It works like a
land
> line. I have a son in Springfield. While the Cingular went in and out
and
> was scratchy and garbled the Verizon worked perfectly. We will pay more
> than with Verizon but I am so tired of Cingular's customer service and
> Verizon gets high marks on theirs. Verizon recently lowered the price of
> their Family plans by 10.00 (don't have to pay extra for IN) and they gave
> that reduction to all their customers. Cingular never does that.
>
> We got pre-paid phones and tried them out all over the state this last
week.
> Verizon won hands down. I would watch the bars as we were traveling.
Best
> of all it works in my house even in the very center of the house.
>
> After talking to Barbara I hate Cingular.


Verizon's network is very reliable (almost as reliable as Cingular in the
New England region), but their billing system is totally ****ed up. Wait
until you start getting overage charges for calls that were made in months
that you were nowhere near using all your anytime minutes, but didn't get
CHARGED until a month that you were close to using all your anytime minutes.
That will happen to you now that you are a Verizon cusstomer. That's what
made us leave Verizon. Note that these weren't "roaming" calls. These were
calls made ON the Verizon network IN OUR HOME AREA. But because we were
billed months later than the calls were made, unnecessary overage charges
were assessed. Verizon told us (Verizon LIED) that all carriers do this.
I've had several wireless carriers and no, Verizon, you are the ONLY company
that has such a screwed-up billing system. And yes, Verizon, you are the
ONLY company that expects your customers to pay for YOUR OWN billing
rrors. -Dave (still bitter over that fiasco, couldn't dump Verizon fast
enough, and GOOD RIDDANCE)

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <bq%%c.62729$3l3.50285@attbi_s03> on Thu, 09 Sep 2004 16:21:27 GMT,
"Turbocane" <[email protected]> wrote:

>"1234" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...

>> Mind you, when I signed up (re-uped) all was fine till
>> about 4 moths later, now my signal sucks in my own home,
>> high up on a hill, in a "DARK COLORED" area of their map.
>
>We are on a hill too.

Being high up on a hill is bad for cellular, because systems are designed to
minimize upward signal propagation.

>... We will pay more
>than with Verizon but I am so tired of Cingular's customer service and
>Verizon gets high marks on theirs.

Only by comparison to other cellular carriers. Just like other carriers,
Verizon has it own problems and horror stories, just somewhat less of them on
average.

>Verizon recently lowered the price of
>their Family plans by 10.00 (don't have to pay extra for IN) and they gave
>that reduction to all their customers. Cingular never does that.

You can freely change rate plans with Cingular.

>We got pre-paid phones and tried them out all over the state this last week.
>Verizon won hands down. I would watch the bars as we were traveling.

Signal bars aren't comparable between different phones, much less different
technologies -- you have to actually make calls to know how good they are.
Because GSM has dedicated channels, whereas CDMA is shared, it can perform
better than CDMA in less good signal conditions.

>Best
>of all it works in my house even in the very center of the house.

That is of course the best reason of all. Just be warned that you can't count
on that continuing, any more than you could with Cingular -- it might get
worse in the future.

>After talking to Barbara I hate Cingular.

With all due respect, I think that's an overreaction.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

"Dave C." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> > We tried a Verizon pre paid. If it doesn't work you can take it back.
> > Verizon never worked in our house until this Spring. It works like a
> land
> > line. I have a son in Springfield. While the Cingular went in and out
> and
> > was scratchy and garbled the Verizon worked perfectly. We will pay
more
> > than with Verizon but I am so tired of Cingular's customer service and
> > Verizon gets high marks on theirs. Verizon recently lowered the price
of
> > their Family plans by 10.00 (don't have to pay extra for IN) and they
gave
> > that reduction to all their customers. Cingular never does that.
> >
> > We got pre-paid phones and tried them out all over the state this last
> week.
> > Verizon won hands down. I would watch the bars as we were traveling.
> Best
> > of all it works in my house even in the very center of the house.
> >
> > After talking to Barbara I hate Cingular.
>
>
> Verizon's network is very reliable (almost as reliable as Cingular in the
> New England region), but their billing system is totally ****ed up. Wait
> until you start getting overage charges for calls that were made in months
> that you were nowhere near using all your anytime minutes, but didn't get
> CHARGED until a month that you were close to using all your anytime
minutes.
> That will happen to you now that you are a Verizon cusstomer. That's what
> made us leave Verizon. Note that these weren't "roaming" calls. These
were
> calls made ON the Verizon network IN OUR HOME AREA. But because we were
> billed months later than the calls were made, unnecessary overage charges
> were assessed. Verizon told us (Verizon LIED) that all carriers do this.
> I've had several wireless carriers and no, Verizon, you are the ONLY
company
> that has such a screwed-up billing system. And yes, Verizon, you are the
> ONLY company that expects your customers to pay for YOUR OWN billing
> rrors. -Dave (still bitter over that fiasco, couldn't dump Verizon fast
> enough, and GOOD RIDDANCE)

Well, sorry to say we have had the same kind of luck with Cingular. Since
there was no "plan" contract two years ago we never knew exactly what plan
we had. We were supposed to have mobile to mobile and we didn't. We were
charged calling each other on a family plan. We went through about 2 months
or maybe three of having our bills adjusted and our plan changed and no one
could tell us what plan we had. Phones were disconnected and messed up.
Every person told us a different story. Finally, Finally I got an exec
pinned down and I told him I wanted everything in writing. I wanted to see
exactly what my plan was. He actually told me he couldn't, it wasn't
policy. After several emails, He did it. We wanted to quit then but we
had just started the contract with our phones and we would have had to pay
ETF. Now the phones don't even work. Check out any customer satisfaction
survey and you will find Cingular at the bottom. ATT is the bottom and I
imagine when they merge - bigger company more problems.

Good Luck!

T
>
>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <zN00d.163255$mD.67639@attbi_s02> on Thu, 09 Sep 2004 17:54:39 GMT,
"Turbocane" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Well, sorry to say we have had the same kind of luck with Cingular. Since
>there was no "plan" contract two years ago we never knew exactly what plan
>we had.

There is *always* a "plan" contract (service plan). If you don't have a copy,
you can get it from Cingular or access it on the Cingular website.

>... We wanted to quit then but we
>had just started the contract with our phones and we would have had to pay
>ETF.

That's because you didn't return the phones and cancel within the 15-day grace
period.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

"1234" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Folks, a while ago I posted about my GSM service
> in Central Mass kept going in and out all day,
> around the same time. Cingular told me too bad.
>
> NOW..these morons juts opened a store right in my
> area, in fact, if I take my phone and try to call
> from their doorstep, I get NO SIGNAL ! I can't
> wait till they open, so I call Cingular's laughable
> "..office of the President.." and explain things
> AGAIN, and they tell me : <chuckle>
>
> "You should be happy, now with a store in your
> area, service will improve because of it.."
>
> Mind you, when I signed up (re-uped) all was fine till
> about 4 moths later, now my signal sucks in my own home,
> high up on a hill, in a "DARK COLORED" area of their map.
>
> I'm happy they value their creed before my need and
> 'fixed' the signal problem..they think. <chuckle>
>
> I'm searching for a new service, it will be worth the
> fee just to not be lied to anymore by these bastards..
>
>
> JJT
>
>
>
> "When you do things right, people won't be
> sure you've done anything at all.."

You might want to wait a while before changing. They will put in a repeater
close to the new store, you can bet on that. They will have plenty of signal
at the new store and since it's in your neighbor hood it might solve your
problem as well.

bamp

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 9 Sep 2004 16:24:08 -0500,
"bamp" <bampatcenturyteldotnet> wrote:

>You might want to wait a while before changing. They will put in a repeater
>close to the new store, you can bet on that. They will have plenty of signal
>at the new store and since it's in your neighbor hood it might solve your
>problem as well.

Not necessarily or even likely. Unless they can get a tower permit, which is
often difficult and at best a very lengthy process, they'll just put a
microcell in the store, which would only help if you're right next to the
store.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

>
>"1234" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>>
>> Folks, a while ago I posted about my GSM service
>> in Central Mass kept going in and out all day,
>> around the same time. Cingular told me too bad.
>>
>> NOW..these morons just opened a store right in my
>> area, in fact, if I take my phone and try to call
>> from their doorstep, I get NO SIGNAL ! I
>
>Are you sure it's not your phone? We've got two Cingular Mot. T720 GSM
>phones in constant use in Central MA. I also travel extensively all over
>New England, and occasionally to other areas of the country as well. No
>problems to report at all. Cingular's coverage in Central MA in particular
>is the best of all the major carriers, most specifically including Verizon,
>who we dumped in favor of Cingular. It blows my mind to read that someone
>is having a problem in CENTRAL MA on a Cingular GSM phone. I suspect it's
>probably your phone. Don't get me wrong, if Cingular has a blind spot in
>your very specific area, I think Cingular should correct that. But I'm in
>the same area you are and I have great service on Cingular. ??? -Dave
>


Nope..I thought of that.I have 2 phones, and other Cingular
users have noticed it. I will say, I started using Cingular
BECAUSE of the good signal..and it was fine for a few months
after we 'had' to use GSM. I have no other problems except
here, in my home block. And why would it be time related?
4-6am and 4-5 pm. HERE's the kicker..

Signs went up in the store, I think they open this week,
and GAWDESS ALL-MIGHTY GLORY BE ! The signal has improved
somewhat. See, I know there are blind spots, but why all of
a sudden the bad signal..and now, WHY is it getting better.

I've been *****ing long before they thought of opening the
store there. They told me too bad. NOW it's getting better
ONLY because they have a store opening. wow !

JJT









-------------------------------------------------------------
Don't go away MAD, here's a SASE for you to fill out telling
me how tasty my dust is, and an order blank for re-fills....

...ok....NOW you can go......
-------------------------------------------------------------

>>After talking to Barbara I hate Cingular.

>With all due respect, I think that's an overreaction.


Hold on there..

I don't remember if I spoke to a 'barbara' or not,
but Cingular's tech support and/or cust_service
just plain in no uncertain terms.. SUCKS...

And that 'laughable' office of the president?

COME ON NOW. Do they think we are THAT stupid..

I've been laughed at, hung up on, told I was drunk,
told I was on drugs, told to calm down, etc etc ONLY
after getting pissed off to the max by their actions.

And when I asked where the corp office was, I was told
(quote) "..we don't know.." or "..it's not <my> business.."
or "..go look it up yourself..".. Then they hang up.

I've fired people who did less..

JJT






..........The moon showed up..and it started da show........
.......TONIGHT there will be Ice Cream....Ice Cream for Crow....

>You might want to wait a while before changing. They will put in a repeater
>close to the new store, you can bet on that. They will have plenty of signal
>at the new store and since it's in your neighbor hood it might solve your
>problem as well.

>bamp

Well, I'm on the hook for 2 years last Nov, so I'm
early, but it's just that MY problems ment nothing
to them, but their greed did. ALL they told me is
that I should of canceled under the 15 days, but it
was great from Nov last year till Feb this yr.

Then, it's like someone turned up the SUCK control..

When I tried to explain it, all they said was the same
(read off some card, I'm sure) 15day crap. AGAIN,
I said it was fine then. They say there is nothing
they can do. I support people with my money, and
will not re-new with Cingular, even if they solve
world hunger, AIDS, and my cell phone problems..

JJT







-------------------------------------------------------------
Don't go away MAD, here's a SASE for you to fill out telling
me how tasty my dust is, and an order blank for re-fills....

...ok....NOW you can go......
-------------------------------------------------------------

>Not necessarily or even likely. Unless they can get a tower permit, which is
>often difficult and at best a very lengthy process, they'll just put a
>microcell in the store, which would only help if you're right next to the
>store.


Well, then that should be a hoot, cause in their parking lot,
today at 4:30, no signal. No signal for the entire block(s).

AGAIN, the bastards don't care about customers if they even
thought of such action (unit in store only). I've lived
around here since '61. Folks will not put up with it.

WHY should they..?


JJT












-------------------------------------------------------------
Don't go away MAD, here's a SASE for you to fill out telling
me how tasty my dust is, and an order blank for re-fills....

...ok....NOW you can go......
-------------------------------------------------------------

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 09 Sep 2004 18:15:51
-0400, 1234 <[email protected]> wrote:

>... I will say, I started using Cingular
>BECAUSE of the good signal..and it was fine for a few months
>after we 'had' to use GSM. I have no other problems except
>here, in my home block. And why would it be time related?
>4-6am and 4-5 pm. HERE's the kicker..
>
>Signs went up in the store, I think they open this week,
>and GAWDESS ALL-MIGHTY GLORY BE ! The signal has improved
>somewhat. See, I know there are blind spots, but why all of
>a sudden the bad signal..and now, WHY is it getting better.
>
>I've been *****ing long before they thought of opening the
>store there. They told me too bad. NOW it's getting better
>ONLY because they have a store opening. wow !

Perhaps Cingular was working on the tower, and now has it back in service.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 09 Sep 2004 18:25:37
-0400, 1234 <[email protected]> wrote:

>>>After talking to Barbara I hate Cingular.
>
>>With all due respect, I think that's an overreaction.
>
>Hold on there..
>
>I don't remember if I spoke to a 'barbara' or not,
>but Cingular's tech support and/or cust_service
>just plain in no uncertain terms.. SUCKS...

Not in my experience -- virtually all of the people have been pleasant and
have done their best to be helpful.

>I've been laughed at, hung up on, told I was drunk,
>told I was on drugs, told to calm down, etc etc ONLY
>after getting pissed off to the max by their actions.

Perhaps your approach is part of the problem.

>And when I asked where the corp office was, I was told
>(quote) "..we don't know.." or "..it's not <my> business.."
>or "..go look it up yourself..".. Then they hang up.

It is pretty easy to look up (hints: SEC Edgar, Hoovers Online), and it's
quite understandable that they don't want to give it out willy-nilly. .

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>