Venting.....About my first bill from Cingular $266 for 2 weeks

Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the 27th
of Dec.
Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
(Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint that was
being ported over to my new phone. It took 4 days to finally fix the problem
and after several hours of talking to tech support. I look online today at
my account and there is my first bill for $266.00
After a very unsatisfying conversation with a rude rep, I find that they
have charged me for numerous things that were
not explained to me in any way, shape or form. I purchased the family
plan1250 with 4 free phones, so I was thinking my first bill was going to be
about $150'ish. Boy was I wrong.
Is this going to be typical from Cingular? I was a long-time Sprint
customer, and in a way, I am regretting leaving.

---

› See More: Venting.....About my first bill from Cingular $266 for 2 weeks

"Jim P" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the 27th
> of Dec.
> Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
> (Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint that was
> being ported over to my new phone.

When did Sprint start using SIM cards or SIM-based phones?

In article <[email protected]>,
"Jim P" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the 27th
> of Dec.
> Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
> (Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint that was
> being ported over to my new phone. It took 4 days to finally fix the problem
> and after several hours of talking to tech support. I look online today at
> my account and there is my first bill for $266.00
> After a very unsatisfying conversation with a rude rep, I find that they
> have charged me for numerous things that were
> not explained to me in any way, shape or form. I purchased the family
> plan1250 with 4 free phones, so I was thinking my first bill was going to be
> about $150'ish. Boy was I wrong.
> Is this going to be typical from Cingular? I was a long-time Sprint
> customer, and in a way, I am regretting leaving.

Sorry; in this case, I need to defend Cingular.

Cingular like Sprint charges for the month in advance. Your first bill
is likely for 5 weeks, not 2 weeks. Your first bill will include
Activation charges and charges for a partial month before your regular
billing period kicks in. Those charges will never appear again; same as
Sprint. Unlike Sprint, you likely have a better phone than a
biodegradable Sanyo or Samsung that gets V E R Y hot in use.
Unlike Sprint you will have Rollover minutes. In most parts of the
country using 850 Mhz instead of 1900 MHz for the Network, indoor
penetration will be far superior with Cingular than with Sprint.
Should you travel outside the United States, cellular useage is greatly
facilitated by owning a GSM phone, not regularly used by Sprint.

It's hard for us to tell what your regular bill might be, as you didnt
tell us whether you have 4 or 5 lines (I will assume 4), and what
additional services you may have signed up for. Likely if you calm down
and subtract out the one time charges, you can pretty well predict what
your bill should be next month.

As I read The Cingular web site for the FamilyPlan1250, its
$109.96/month plus taxes and fees, likely ~$35 for 4 phones. So your
regular monthly rate should be under $150. The first bill would have one
time activation fees of $72 and about $35 for a partial month + tax,
accounting for the ~$110 extra you see. It looks perfectly normal to me.
Car chargers, headphones, insurance plans, data plans would add to your
costs.

I'm assuming you didn't read or remember reading the text at the bottom
of the order screen that plainly says:

" Your first month's statement will include a one-time activation fee,
prorated monthly charge, as well as one month's charge in advance."

"Jack Zwick" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "Jim P" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the
27th
> > of Dec.
> > Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
> > (Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint that
was
> > being ported over to my new phone. It took 4 days to finally fix the
problem
> > and after several hours of talking to tech support. I look online today
at
> > my account and there is my first bill for $266.00
> > After a very unsatisfying conversation with a rude rep, I find that they
> > have charged me for numerous things that were
> > not explained to me in any way, shape or form. I purchased the family
> > plan1250 with 4 free phones, so I was thinking my first bill was going
to be
> > about $150'ish. Boy was I wrong.
> > Is this going to be typical from Cingular? I was a long-time Sprint
> > customer, and in a way, I am regretting leaving.
>
> Sorry; in this case, I need to defend Cingular.
>
> Cingular like Sprint charges for the month in advance. Your first bill
> is likely for 5 weeks, not 2 weeks. Your first bill will include
> Activation charges and charges for a partial month before your regular
> billing period kicks in. Those charges will never appear again; same as
> Sprint. Unlike Sprint, you likely have a better phone than a
> biodegradable Sanyo or Samsung that gets V E R Y hot in use.
> Unlike Sprint you will have Rollover minutes. In most parts of the
> country using 850 Mhz instead of 1900 MHz for the Network, indoor
> penetration will be far superior with Cingular than with Sprint.
> Should you travel outside the United States, cellular useage is greatly
> facilitated by owning a GSM phone, not regularly used by Sprint.

Not true at all.
When my number from Sprint was porting over to Cingular, I still had both
phones working with
the same number. I went to Canada for my sons hockey tournament and the
Cingular phone would not work
and my sprint phone (sanyo) worked fine. Inside the ice rink I had no
signal at all with the motorola phone. Sprint does not have coverage in
Canada, but because I was so close to the water (border), I was still
getting signal.
With cingular, I keep getting dropped calls even when my wife is only a 1/2
mile away at her moms, and static....
lets not talk about the static. (yes on all 4 phones)

Also, everytime I put my Cingular phone near my computer at work or home, my
computer starts making weird noises.

I am not here to bash Cingular, I am just trying to get over the "sticker
shock" of my first bill.
It is bad enough I had to pay the early termination over at Sprint ($165)
and now to have to another bill
of $266.



> It's hard for us to tell what your regular bill might be, as you didnt
> tell us whether you have 4 or 5 lines (I will assume 4), and what
> additional services you may have signed up for. Likely if you calm down
> and subtract out the one time charges, you can pretty well predict what
> your bill should be next month.
>
> As I read The Cingular web site for the FamilyPlan1250, its
> $109.96/month plus taxes and fees, likely ~$35 for 4 phones. So your
> regular monthly rate should be under $150. The first bill would have one
> time activation fees of $72 and about $35 for a partial month + tax,
> accounting for the ~$110 extra you see. It looks perfectly normal to me.
> Car chargers, headphones, insurance plans, data plans would add to your
> costs.
>
> I'm assuming you didn't read or remember reading the text at the bottom
> of the order screen that plainly says:

Must of been some of that small text that nobody ever reads.


>
> " Your first month's statement will include a one-time activation fee,
> prorated monthly charge, as well as one month's charge in advance."

On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 09:54:50 -0700, "Scott Stephenson"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Jim P" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the 27th
>> of Dec.
>> Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
>> (Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint that was
>> being ported over to my new phone.
>
>When did Sprint start using SIM cards or SIM-based phones?

Did you not see the word *ported!* That means that the number was
ported over from Sprint PCS. It has nothing to do with SIM cards.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In article <[email protected]>,
Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Wed, 5 Jan 2005 09:54:50 -0700, "Scott Stephenson"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >
> >"Jim P" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the 27th
> >> of Dec.
> >> Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
> >> (Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint that was
> >> being ported over to my new phone.
> >
> >When did Sprint start using SIM cards or SIM-based phones?
>
> Did you not see the word *ported!* That means that the number was
> ported over from Sprint PCS. It has nothing to do with SIM cards.

Sprint was/is second only to AT&T Wireless in WLNP porting grief caused.

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

In <[email protected]> on Thu, 06 Jan
2005 13:08:53 GMT, Jack "Chicken Little" Zwick <[email protected]> wrote:

>Sprint was/is second only to AT&T Wireless in WLNP porting grief caused.

Proof?

--
Best regards,
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/>

"A little learning is a dangerous thing." [Alexander Pope]
"It is better to sit in silence and appear ignorant,
than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." [Mark Twain]

[email protected] wrote:
> Tens of CONSUMER REPORTS ON CINGULAR BILLING DISPUTES
>
> http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_...r_billing.html
>
> Carolyn of Mullins SC (1/28/03):
> We purchased a nationwide plan knowing we were going on an extended
> vacation to California and needed to keep in touch with family here. We
> were told we had nights and weekends free up to 3500 minutes. We
> received no written proof of this transaction, and called twice to be
> sure we had the free minutes and were told we did. We didn't have it in
> writing, so when our bill came when we returned, we were furuous when
> told we were charged for **roaming** charges to the amount of $2000. I
> think the employees of this company...

I think consumers should learn what a calling area is. I think they
should also learn what roaming is/is not applicable (for example in
Cingular Preferred Nation, roaming rates do apply in certain areas, as
do roaming rates in certain areas of Verizon Wireless' America's Choice).

> Tamie of Wilsonville AL (10/3/02):
> I have been overcharged every month since February, and paid the bills,
> averaging $220+ for one phone. I even upped my minutes to 1000/mo for
> $69.99 and just got my bill -- $188.65 for under 600 minutes! I cannot
> afford these bills. Every month I think it will be straightened out.
> Everyone I talk to has similar problems.

Does it specify all charges are for voice? Maybe someone is using the
phone for data.

> Paige of Noblesville IN writes (7/23/01):
> I was not told about roaming charges at all when I signed up for free
> long distance..the company finally agreed to eliminate the roaming
> charges but now want to charge me for any overage ... taking away one
> charge but adding another!

One should know what long distance is before signing up for any type of
phone service in his own name. Ignorance is no excuse.

> I am extremely upset with their desceptive practices, I cannot trust
> them...the rep would not send me their new terms in writing until I
> agreed to them first! I was duped and tricked!

Duped and tricked by your own ignorance.

> Angela of Jacksonville FL (1/14/03):
> I signed up for a 250 anytime minute plan plus 3,500 nights/weekends
> with no roaming or long distance. I have been using Cingular since
> 1996, not always on this plan. The last time I changed my plan, it was
> to cost me $29.99 per month for a gross bill of $38.00. My monthly
> bills have ranged anywhere from $45 to $198 with Cingular, which is a
> far cry from the $38.00 per month that I always anticipate.
>
>
> Since June 2001, I have only paid the minimum $38.00 7 times. I became
> concerned at the amount of the monthly bills. Therefore, I began
> attempting to track my usage. However, as usual, the total minutes
> billed did not match my estimates. I was reading on the Internet some
> fine print about being charged airtime for checking your voicemail. In
> addition, when I requested the National plan, I did not sign a
> contract, therefore I was not aware of the $.40 per minute peak
> overlimit charge. I thought I was supposed to be paying around $.19 per
> minute or less.

Wow...that's cheap. Why didn't you verify this?

> I have asked for detailed billing, but it still does
> not clarify all of the charges. I am concerned that Cingular is
> engaging in illegal billing activity. As a consumer, I would hope that
> someone is reviewing the billing practices of cell phone companies.

Maybe sit down with a friend and add up the charges. If there is a
billing error, Cingular will be more than happy to fix it. They provide
the service, however a software firm does the billing software, and bugs
happen.

Okay, enough is enough, I'm not going any further with this message.

Point is -- consumers need to be aware of what's going on. Most
consumers are becoming more and more ignorant. Always look at all
angles and base your decisions on the information you have. When you
could get more information but choose not to, you are letting yourself
be ignorant.

Now, I'm not saying Cingular is perfect here. In fact, my replies have
nothing to do with Cingular. It's just that those customers had no idea
what they were getting, and apparently chose not look deeper into the
situation. I'm sure Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Nextel, and Sprint all
have their share of ignorant consumers.

TH

TH

Tropical Haven wrote:
> [email protected] wrote:
>> Tens of CONSUMER REPORTS ON CINGULAR BILLING DISPUTES
>>
>> http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_...r_billing.html
>>
>> Carolyn of Mullins SC (1/28/03):
>> We purchased a nationwide plan knowing we were going on an extended
>> vacation to California and needed to keep in touch with family here.
>> We were told we had nights and weekends free up to 3500 minutes. We
>> received no written proof of this transaction, and called twice to be
>> sure we had the free minutes and were told we did. We didn't have it
>> in writing, so when our bill came when we returned, we were furuous
>> when told we were charged for **roaming** charges to the amount of
>> $2000. I think the employees of this company...

~50 hours of keeping in touch with the family? Why did they go on
vacation? and what did they have time to see?

-Quick

"Tropical Haven" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Now, I'm not saying Cingular is perfect here. In fact, my replies have
> nothing to do with Cingular. It's just that those customers had no idea
> what they were getting, and apparently chose not look deeper into the
> situation. I'm sure Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Nextel, and Sprint all
> have their share of ignorant consumers.

This is all true, but it's a sad commentary on society today that many of
the representatives of the companies you list will knowingly let ignorant
people get themselves in trouble, and even mislead them in order to make a
sale when they know that what they're selling isn't what the customer
desires.

For any of you out there angered and fed up with the CINGULAR TAKE
CHARGE services of Cingular, which offers free minutes after 9pm and on
weekends, on the accounts valued over $40 per month, but does in no way
give or award or service the free mintues, please contact the Class
Action lawfirm of Lieff Cabraser, they are great at this kind of case
and will easily prove that the free minutes are never received by the
Take Charge clients, even though the customer service computers for the
Take Charge Cingular customers show zero charge for weekend and after
9pm calls -- the outstanding team of investigators of LCHB and their
friends in politics can quickly root out the problem.

http://www.lieffcabraser.com/

AND, they would LOVE to hear from you! Do not be shy.

**************
DIEBOLD and ES&S FRAUD

THANKS JOHN NAVAS!

John Navas wrote: "US needs UN election observers to
rescue
our voters from
corruption..."


Did you know.... ?????????? DIEBOLD is the Devil !!!!!!!

1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only
two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting...804landes.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diebold


2. There is no federal agency with regulatory
authority or oversight of the U.S. voting machine industry.

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0916-04.htm


http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting...804landes.html


3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president
of ES&S are brothers.


http://www.americanfreepress.net/htm...e_company.html

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting...804landes.html


4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush
campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was
"committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the
president next year."


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in632436.shtml

http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1647886


5. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel used to be
chairman of ES&S. He became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S
machines.

http://www.motherjones.com/commentar...03/03_200.html

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting...4fitrakis.html


6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, long-connected
with the Bush family, was recently caught lying about his ownership
of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.


http://www.blackboxvoting.com/module...article&sid=26

http://www.hillnews.com/news/012903/hagel.aspx

http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/000896.php



7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George
W. Bush's vice-presidential candidates.

http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_28/b3689130.htm

http://theindependent.com/stories/05...w_hagel27.html


8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer
in the U.S. and counts almost 60% of all U.S. votes.

http://www.essvote.com/HTML/about/about.html

http://www.onlinejournal.com/evoting...804landes.html


9. Diebold's new touch screen voting machines have
no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to
verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was
legitimately put in by voters.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

http://www.itworld.com/Tech/2987/041...s/pfindex.html

10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and
ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can
generate a paper trail.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm

http://www.diebold.com/solutions/default.htm


11. Diebold is based in Ohio.

http://www.diebold.com/aboutus/ataglance/default.htm


12. Diebold employed 5 convicted felons as
consultants and developers to help write the central compiler
computer code that counted 50% of the votes in 30 states.

http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,61640,00.html

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/10/301469.shtml


13. Jeff Dean was Senior Vice-President of General
Election Systems when it was bought by Diebold. Even though he had
been convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree, Jeff
Dean was retained as a consultant by Diebold and was largely
responsible for programming the optical scanning software now used in
most of the United States.


http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0312/S00191.htm
http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf


14. Diebold consultant Jeff Dean was convicted of
planting back doors in his software and using a "high degree of
sophistication" to evade detection over a period of 2 years.

http://www.chuckherrin.com/HackthevoteFAQ.htm#how

http://www.blackboxvoting.org/bbv_chapter-8.pdf


15. None of the international election observers
were allowed in the polls in Ohio.

http://www.globalexchange.org/update/press/2638.html

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/200...oc_elexoh.html


16. California banned the use of Diebold machines
because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold's claims that
the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it!
(See the movie here:
http://blackboxvoting.org/baxter/baxterVPR.mov.)

http://wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,63298,00.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4874190


17. 30% of all U.S. votes are carried out on
unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/...in632436.shtml


18. All -- not some -- butallthe voting machine
errors detected and reported in Florida went in favor of Bush or
Republican candidates.

http://www.wired.com/news/evote/0,2645,65757,00.html

http://www.yuricareport.com/Election...sBushIsOut.htm

http://www.rise4news.net/extravotes.html

http://www.ilcaonline.org/modules.ph...rticle&sid=950

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0411/S00227.htm


19. The governor of the state of Florida, Jeb Bush,
is the President's brother.

http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/talla...al/7628725.htm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004Oct29.html


20. Serious voting anomalies in Florida -- again
always favoring Bush -- have been mathematically demonstrated and
experts are recommending further investigation.

http://www.yuricareport.com/Election...sBushIsOut.htm

http://www.computerworld.com/governm...,97614,00.html

http://www.americanfreepress.net/htm...thousands.html

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/1106-30.htm

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2004/110904.html
http://uscountvotes.org/

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

In <[email protected]> on 10 Jan 2005
12:14:33 -0800, "Debbie Smythe" <[email protected]> wrote:

>For any of you out there angered and fed up with the CINGULAR TAKE
>CHARGE services of Cingular, which offers free minutes after 9pm and on
>weekends, on the accounts valued over $40 per month, but does in no way
>give or award or service the free mintues, please contact the Class
>Action lawfirm of Lieff Cabraser, they are great at this kind of case
>and will easily prove that the free minutes are never received by the
>Take Charge clients, even though the customer service computers for the
>Take Charge Cingular customers show zero charge for weekend and after
>9pm calls -- the outstanding team of investigators of LCHB and their
>friends in politics can quickly root out the problem.
>
>http://www.lieffcabraser.com/
>
>AND, they would LOVE to hear from you! Do not be shy.
>[SNIP]

LOL! I'm willing to bet this won't go anywhere. Any takers?!

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

On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:07:46 -0500, Harry Krause wrote:

> Cell phone company business practices make streetwalkers look honest.

Yep. At least with a streetwalker you get what you pay for and you only pay
for what you get <G>......

Strongbox wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:07:46 -0500, Harry Krause wrote:
>
>
>>Cell phone company business practices make streetwalkers look honest.
>
>
> Yep. At least with a streetwalker you get what you pay for and you only pay
> for what you get <G>......

No that is not quite right, sometime a streetwalker will give you more
than you bargained for!

JDa wrote:
> Strongbox wrote:
>> On Mon, 10 Jan 2005 16:07:46 -0500, Harry Krause wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Cell phone company business practices make streetwalkers look
>>> honest.
>>
>>
>> Yep. At least with a streetwalker you get what you pay for and you
>> only pay for what you get <G>......
>
> No that is not quite right, sometime a streetwalker will give you more
> than you bargained for!

Ya but at least you don't have to pay extra and sign a new contract to get
screwed in a way you never even heard of before. You can also use what ever
equipment you have on have and you don't have to buy it from her. Her ugly
overages will still look better to you when you are done and when it's over
it is really over as you don't have to wait for the final bill and the lies
she will tell you will not have to be explained by tech support.

J.