Changing plans..

Can the Customer Service folks make a change in your rate plan to be
effective for the CURRENT billing cycle?

I just called them, trying to get on a higher-priced plan (I'm already maxed
out on daytime minutes, half a month to go until the next cycle).. and was
told that I'd have to wait until the next billing cycle for the change to be
made. Are they lying to me?

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"MacDog" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Can the Customer Service folks make a change in your rate plan to be
> effective for the CURRENT billing cycle?
>
> I just called them, trying to get on a higher-priced plan (I'm already
> maxed
> out on daytime minutes, half a month to go until the next cycle).. and was
> told that I'd have to wait until the next billing cycle for the change to
> be
> made. Are they lying to me?
>
>
I changed plans recently from the old 1000 min. TDMA plan to 850min. GSM.
They started mine at the next billing cycle.

bamp

On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 13:18:11 -0500, "MacDog" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Can the Customer Service folks make a change in your rate plan to be
>effective for the CURRENT billing cycle?

Never say never, but AFAIK, they will not do this.

>I just called them, trying to get on a higher-priced plan (I'm already maxed
>out on daytime minutes, half a month to go until the next cycle).. and was
>told that I'd have to wait until the next billing cycle for the change to
be
>made. Are they lying to me?

No.

And it only makes sense. They don't want people adjusting their plans
according to each month's usage or projected usage. "Rollover" minutes,
like Sprint PCS' "Fair & Flexible Plan", have reduced the risk of huge
overages. In a similar way, the reduced costs of the Nation GSM plans
have hopefully made huge roaming charges a thing of the past -- the $39.95
1000 minutes Nation GSM plan is a super deal here.

What some people have done with Cingular is signed up with a larger plan
than you anticipate using and banking up rollover minutes. After a few
months, they determine their average usage and downgrade to the plan that
best reflects their average monthly usage, but with a ton of rollover
minutes banked up for a "rainy day". But that won't save you here.

Put your phone away until the end of the month or pay overages on your
next bill. Decide which you hate the least and pick it.

"MacDog" <[email protected]> wrote
> Can the Customer Service folks make a change in your rate plan to be
> effective for the CURRENT billing cycle?

I know that SunCom will do this, but all my experience with Cingular
is that they'll start a new plan immediately and pro-rate it (so
you're still half-screwed). If you're out of contract you might have a
bit more leverage by threatening to defect to SunCom (and depending on
what market you're in, you'll be right back on Cingular in a few
months :-)

tg.

They prefer to wait until the next billing cycle, but will change it the
same day if you ask. Keep in mind, though, that if you have a 400 minute
plan, and ask to change mid-month, then you only get the 200 minutes for
the first half to that date, and half the rest from the new plan after
that date. That means you may have to pay for anything exceeding the
pro-rated minutes.

JPH

MacDog wrote:
> Can the Customer Service folks make a change in your rate plan to be
> effective for the CURRENT billing cycle?
>
> I just called them, trying to get on a higher-priced plan (I'm already maxed
> out on daytime minutes, half a month to go until the next cycle).. and was
> told that I'd have to wait until the next billing cycle for the change to be
> made. Are they lying to me?
>
>