Very Poor Cingular connection. Is there a site for filing compliant?

I have a V180 phone since December last year as a Xmas gift. I can't
wait until the 1 yr anniversary to toss this phone away.

I live in zipcode 85044, less than 3/4 miles from a Cingular store, and
<2 miles from I10 freeway. I get 1-2 bars inside the house, and 0-1 bar
in major grovery stores on Chandler blvd. I went to the Cingular store
to complain and they gave me new SIM card. Got upgraded, yet no
difference. The service is still stink.

More bar in more places. Right. The bars are only seen on freeway
poster, not on the phone. I have not seen any new bar in last 8 months
since the merger.

I get extreme good reception at work (5 bars). AT&T and now Cingular
gave special deal for my company employee, so probably they have
installed an antenna nearby. Why can't Cingular improve service in my
zipcode which is a very populated area.

My wife Sprint phone consistently have 4-5 bars all over the town. If I
don't see improvement before year end, Adios Cingular.

---

› See More: Very Poor Cingular connection. Is there a site for filing compliant?

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

In <[email protected]> on 17 Aug 2005
23:53:08 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>I have a V180 phone since December last year as a Xmas gift. I can't
>wait until the 1 yr anniversary to toss this phone away.
>[SNIP]

Why didn't you return it within the grace period???

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

>I get extreme good reception at work (5 bars). AT&T and now Cingular
>gave special deal for my company employee, so probably they have
>installed an antenna nearby. Why can't Cingular improve service in my
>zipcode which is a very populated area.
>
>
For any mobile provider, it's always tough to get new towers up not
because of laws or licensing, but because of the protests that residents
start. Cingular, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint-Nextel are all victims
of this. Some people complain about terrible reception, then when their
service provider proposes a new site nearby, they complain about not
wanting that ugly thing near them.

TH

"Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 17 Aug 2005 23:53:08 -0700, [email protected] wrote:
>
> >I live in zipcode 85044, less than 3/4 miles from a Cingular store, and
> ><2 miles from I10 freeway. I get 1-2 bars inside the house, and 0-1 bar
> >in major grovery stores on Chandler blvd. I went to the Cingular store
> >to complain and they gave me new SIM card. Got upgraded, yet no
> >difference. The service is still stink.
>
> You evidently do not understand how cellphones work. Just because
> you're 3/4 of a mile from a cingular store and 2 miles from I-10
> doesn't mean squat. It makes a difference where the nearest tower is.
> Do you *know* where the nearest *cingular* tower is? Unless you do
> that's probably where your problem is.
>
> >I get extreme good reception at work (5 bars). AT&T and now Cingular
> >gave special deal for my company employee, so probably they have
> >installed an antenna nearby. Why can't Cingular improve service in my
> >zipcode which is a very populated area.
>
> Your neighbors have likely been opposed to building new towers in your
> area fearing that it will ruin property values. Blame them. They're
> the NIMBYs (not in my back yard) people who keep new towers from being
> built.

Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner..

"davit" lives in Awatukee, otherwise known as richy ***** snottsville. They
would never dream of blighting their "village" community with something like
a cell tower, but they *would* be the ones complaining the loudest if their
cell phone didn't work when they were out buying their latte from the
Starbucks.

What a moron.

It looks like you have good coverage to me. Even if you have no bars,
just the antenna symbol, it indicates you have signal. And you should
be able to make a call. If the antenna symbol also goes away then you
have a coverage issue. If you can not make calls, or drop calls more
often than your wife, then switching carriers seems prudent. Whatever
carrier you end up with, having both you and your wife on a family plan
may save you some money.

I recently ran into the same situation after moving. What I
basically had to do first was research which phones
Cingular carried that had the best reception on fringe
areas. That gave me the Nokia 6230, 6620 and Motorola
RAZR. My SE T616 and my wifes Samsung X426 were
essentially useless.

I got the 6230 and it worked 10x better than my old T616,
but I decided to take a chance and swap it out for the 6620 which
is supposed to have equal reception. My wife didn't want to
splurge for the RAZR, so went with a Motorola V551. Big
mistake. The 551 was FAR worse than her Samsung, so
we're waiting for the RAZR to arrive now.

Incidentally we had 9 months left on our ATT contract out
of 24 months so we weren't eligible for equipment upgrade
price brakes according to ATT/Cingular's policy. I managed
to reach the customer retention group and explained the
problem and they had the pull to cut me some deals if I
signed on for another 1 or 2 years. Basically I ended up
writing a check for $200 for the 6230 and V551, my
Cingular account was credited $400, then when we swapped
out the 551 for the RAZR, I had to write another check for
$200 and they credited my account another $50. Basically
I have a free RAZR, 6230 and came out $50 ahead of the game.

This is not easy, quick or for the undetermined. Be prepared
for making a dozen calls and spending a LOT of time on the
phone (much of it on hold). If you're persistant yet professional,
you can usually get some sort of deal through customer retention
groups. This has worked for me for ATT, Cingular, Verizon and
DirecTV.


"Jerome Zelinske" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> It looks like you have good coverage to me. Even if you have no bars,
> just the antenna symbol, it indicates you have signal. And you should be
> able to make a call. If the antenna symbol also goes away then you have a
> coverage issue. If you can not make calls, or drop calls more often than
> your wife, then switching carriers seems prudent. Whatever carrier you
> end up with, having both you and your wife on a family plan may save you
> some money.

Incidentally I can't report on the 6620 yet, I'm waiting for it
to arrive. Cingular couldn't give me a decent price on it
so I sold the new 6230 on ebay and bought a 6620 on ebay
for about $10 more. I'm waiting for it to arrive.

"RobR" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:OvjOe.2286$p32.1537@trndny06...
>I recently ran into the same situation after moving. What I
> basically had to do first was research which phones
> Cingular carried that had the best reception on fringe
> areas. That gave me the Nokia 6230, 6620 and Motorola
> RAZR. My SE T616 and my wifes Samsung X426 were
> essentially useless.
>
> I got the 6230 and it worked 10x better than my old T616,
> but I decided to take a chance and swap it out for the 6620 which
> is supposed to have equal reception. My wife didn't want to
> splurge for the RAZR, so went with a Motorola V551. Big
> mistake. The 551 was FAR worse than her Samsung, so
> we're waiting for the RAZR to arrive now.
>
> Incidentally we had 9 months left on our ATT contract out
> of 24 months so we weren't eligible for equipment upgrade
> price brakes according to ATT/Cingular's policy. I managed
> to reach the customer retention group and explained the
> problem and they had the pull to cut me some deals if I
> signed on for another 1 or 2 years. Basically I ended up
> writing a check for $200 for the 6230 and V551, my
> Cingular account was credited $400, then when we swapped
> out the 551 for the RAZR, I had to write another check for
> $200 and they credited my account another $50. Basically
> I have a free RAZR, 6230 and came out $50 ahead of the game.
>
> This is not easy, quick or for the undetermined. Be prepared
> for making a dozen calls and spending a LOT of time on the
> phone (much of it on hold). If you're persistant yet professional,
> you can usually get some sort of deal through customer retention
> groups. This has worked for me for ATT, Cingular, Verizon and
> DirecTV.
>
>
> "Jerome Zelinske" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> It looks like you have good coverage to me. Even if you have no bars,
>> just the antenna symbol, it indicates you have signal. And you should be
>> able to make a call. If the antenna symbol also goes away then you have
>> a coverage issue. If you can not make calls, or drop calls more often
>> than your wife, then switching carriers seems prudent. Whatever carrier
>> you end up with, having both you and your wife on a family plan may save
>> you some money.
>
>

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

In <OvjOe.2286$p32.1537@trndny06> on Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:26:22 GMT, "RobR"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>I recently ran into the same situation after moving. What I
>basically had to do first was research which phones
>Cingular carried that had the best reception on fringe
>areas. That gave me the Nokia 6230, 6620 and Motorola
>RAZR. My SE T616 and my wifes Samsung X426 were
>essentially useless.
>
>I got the 6230 and it worked 10x better than my old T616,

I assume that's hyperbole, because the actual difference much smaller than
that.

>but I decided to take a chance and swap it out for the 6620 which
>is supposed to have equal reception. My wife didn't want to
>splurge for the RAZR, so went with a Motorola V551. Big
>mistake. The 551 was FAR worse than her Samsung, so
>we're waiting for the RAZR to arrive now.

Either you got a defective V551 or your SIM was programmed for the wrong
network, because the V551 gets very good reception.

>Incidentally we had 9 months left on our ATT contract out
>of 24 months so we weren't eligible for equipment upgrade
>price brakes according to ATT/Cingular's policy. I managed
>to reach the customer retention group and explained the
>problem and they had the pull to cut me some deals if I
>signed on for another 1 or 2 years. Basically I ended up
>writing a check for $200 for the 6230 and V551, my
>Cingular account was credited $400, then when we swapped
>out the 551 for the RAZR, I had to write another check for
>$200 and they credited my account another $50. Basically
>I have a free RAZR, 6230 and came out $50 ahead of the game.

You shouldn't have had to write so much in checks.

>This is not easy, quick or for the undetermined. Be prepared
>for making a dozen calls and spending a LOT of time on the
>phone (much of it on hold). If you're persistant yet professional,
>you can usually get some sort of deal through customer retention
>groups. This has worked for me for ATT, Cingular, Verizon and
>DirecTV.

Good advice.

>"Jerome Zelinske" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> It looks like you have good coverage to me. Even if you have no bars,
>> just the antenna symbol, it indicates you have signal. And you should be
>> able to make a call. If the antenna symbol also goes away then you have a
>> coverage issue. If you can not make calls, or drop calls more often than
>> your wife, then switching carriers seems prudent. Whatever carrier you
>> end up with, having both you and your wife on a family plan may save you
>> some money.
>

--
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 Sun, 21 Aug 2005
23:37:44 GMT, Jerome Zelinske <[email protected]> wrote:

> It looks like you have good coverage to me. Even if you have no bars,
>just the antenna symbol, it indicates you have signal. And you should
>be able to make a call. If the antenna symbol also goes away then you
>have a coverage issue. ...

Not necessarily. There is no standard for bars of signal, which varies from
model to model and even from firmware to firmware. There are many phones
where 1 bar of signal can be essentially unusable.

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

In article <XhqOe.10182$p%[email protected]>,
John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:

> Either you got a defective V551 or your SIM was programmed for the wrong
> network, because the V551 gets very good reception.

I'm a Cingular Blue customer with a V180. A colleague of mine is an
orange customer with a V551.

We went to one location, side by side, inside a building. Me: no
signal whatsoever. Colleague: participates in a 1.5 hour conference
call.

I work with the corporate accounts team at Cingular to see what they can
do about my sudden (as of May this year) problems with reception,
making/holding calls, voicemails not alerting for an hour, etc. I say,
my friend had great reception; maybe a V551 would solve the problem.
Sure, they say. We can send you one to try for 30 days. $160 if you
keep it. Fine, I say. Send it to me.

I try the V551. NO DIFFERENCE. It's no better than my V180.

I send it back.

Fast forward a few weeks. I call back to talk to someone else, because
this whole issue is getting frustrating. I get someone on the blue FAN
side of things who admits, finally, that yes, their network is under
construction--and yes, I will probably have problems for awhile.

But here, she says. Let me send you two Nokia 3120 phones, no charge.
Nokias are better for this. Well, I liked my old 3360 a few years back;
sure, go ahead.

And indeed, the Nokias are much better--MUCH better--in my current
situation than either of the Motorola phones.

If the V551 gets good reception, then the Nokia gets absolutely
fantastic reception.

Or, to say it differently, the Motorola does *not* get "very good
reception".

Yes, you should file a complaint with the FCC against the lousy
bastards:

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html

If you want to start up your own CINGULAR SUCKS! web site, go here to
get material :

http://www.truthtree.com/cingularsucks/index.htm


On 17 Aug 2005 23:53:08 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>I have a V180 phone since December last year as a Xmas gift. I can't
>wait until the 1 yr anniversary to toss this phone away.
>
>I live in zipcode 85044, less than 3/4 miles from a Cingular store, and
><2 miles from I10 freeway. I get 1-2 bars inside the house, and 0-1 bar
>in major grovery stores on Chandler blvd. I went to the Cingular store
>to complain and they gave me new SIM card. Got upgraded, yet no
>difference. The service is still stink.
>
>More bar in more places. Right. The bars are only seen on freeway
>poster, not on the phone. I have not seen any new bar in last 8 months
>since the merger.
>
>I get extreme good reception at work (5 bars). AT&T and now Cingular
>gave special deal for my company employee, so probably they have
>installed an antenna nearby. Why can't Cingular improve service in my
>zipcode which is a very populated area.
>
>My wife Sprint phone consistently have 4-5 bars all over the town. If I
>don't see improvement before year end, Adios Cingular.

There is a large Cel tower behind a Fire station in front of the
grocery store, and several cell towers next to freeway within 1 mile
from my house. 1/2 mile away is a major internet backbone where Verizon
Wireless, AT&T, and Global Crossing centers are. So what's a problem of
putting a decent GSM antenna on one of the tower.

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

In <[email protected]> on Mon, 22 Aug 2005
21:40:42 -0400, "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In article <XhqOe.10182$p%[email protected]>,
> John Navas <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Either you got a defective V551 or your SIM was programmed for the wrong
>> network, because the V551 gets very good reception.
>
>I'm a Cingular Blue customer with a V180. A colleague of mine is an
>orange customer with a V551.
>
>We went to one location, side by side, inside a building. Me: no
>signal whatsoever. Colleague: participates in a 1.5 hour conference
>call.

Apples and oranges, or more accurately, blues and oranges -- you can't make a
meaningful comparison between phones on different networks.

>I work with the corporate accounts team at Cingular to see what they can
>do about my sudden (as of May this year) problems with reception,
>making/holding calls, voicemails not alerting for an hour, etc. I say,
>my friend had great reception; maybe a V551 would solve the problem.
>Sure, they say. We can send you one to try for 30 days. $160 if you
>keep it. Fine, I say. Send it to me.
>
>I try the V551. NO DIFFERENCE. It's no better than my V180.

Again, blues and oranges. You should get the same good performance as your
colleague *if* you are on the same network with the same phone. Note that a
Cingular V551 with 64K (ENS) SIM can be Homed to either blue or orange (and
can be changed on request), so you would want the same Home as your colleague.

>I send it back.
>
>Fast forward a few weeks. I call back to talk to someone else, because
>this whole issue is getting frustrating. I get someone on the blue FAN
>side of things who admits, finally, that yes, their network is under
>construction--and yes, I will probably have problems for awhile.
>
>But here, she says. Let me send you two Nokia 3120 phones, no charge.
>Nokias are better for this. Well, I liked my old 3360 a few years back;
>sure, go ahead.
>
>And indeed, the Nokias are much better--MUCH better--in my current
>situation than either of the Motorola phones.

It may well have had a different Home network.

>If the V551 gets good reception, then the Nokia gets absolutely
>fantastic reception.

If anything, the Nokia 3120 is worse than the V551 *if* Homed to the same
network.

>Or, to say it differently, the Motorola does *not* get "very good
>reception".

"Assumes facts not in evidence." In fact the V551 does get very good
reception, as confirmed by my own carefully controlled tests against other
models and brands, including Nokia and Sony Ericsson.

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