Pleaseant Cingular CS experience

I know it's not cool to say good things about customer service, but I'm
going to anyway.

I've got a wife & two kids on an AT&T family plan, with phones over two
years old that were starting to die. The on-line site wouldn't allow me to
upgrade, but listed a number to call. So, with a certain amount of fear &
trepidation, I call the number.

Hold time? Close to zero. Took maybe a minute to navigate the decision tree.
Got connected to a very pleasant woman in Canada, who ran down the details
of the old account, came up with a new, less-expensive plan that will work
better, got rid of some services she noticed aren't used, and set us up with
3 new Razrs at $79.99 after rebate (with a two-year commitment). Yes, I
would have preferred that they were free, but I can live with this. And
priority 1-2 day shipping was only $14.99 for all 3 together, not the silly
$14.99/phone that I half-expected.

She also quicky removed a recurring charge for international service on a
separate account that I only need one month out of year.

All in all it went very well, and saved me a trip to the Cingular store.

--Mike--

---

› See More: Pleaseant Cingular CS experience

>I know it's not cool to say good things about customer service, but I'm
>going to anyway.

And even less cool to reply to your own post! But just an update... phones
arrived today, less than 24hrs after talking with customer service.

--Mike--
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com

"some guy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>I know it's not cool to say good things about customer service, but I'm
>going to anyway.
>
> I've got a wife & two kids on an AT&T family plan, with phones over two
> years old that were starting to die. The on-line site wouldn't allow me to
> upgrade, but listed a number to call. So, with a certain amount of fear &
> trepidation, I call the number.
>
> Hold time? Close to zero. Took maybe a minute to navigate the decision
> tree. Got connected to a very pleasant woman in Canada, who ran down the
> details of the old account, came up with a new, less-expensive plan that
> will work better, got rid of some services she noticed aren't used, and
> set us up with 3 new Razrs at $79.99 after rebate (with a two-year
> commitment). Yes, I would have preferred that they were free, but I can
> live with this. And priority 1-2 day shipping was only $14.99 for all 3
> together, not the silly $14.99/phone that I half-expected.
>
> She also quicky removed a recurring charge for international service on a
> separate account that I only need one month out of year.
>
> All in all it went very well, and saved me a trip to the Cingular store.
>
> --Mike--
>
>

On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 22:34:41 GMT, "some guy" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>I know it's not cool to say good things about customer service, but I'm
>going to anyway.
>
Anecdotal individual stores prove zero.

Large scale surveys tell one more, and

Yankee Group, J.D. Power, and Consumer Reports rate Cingular poorley,
but Sprint always rates worst.

> Anecdotal individual stores prove zero.

It wasn't an individual store; rather, it was a customer service rep on the
phone. In my opinion, that's probably a better way to start the process,
since you have less of your own time invested, and are thus more likely to
turn something down that isn't to your liking.

> Large scale surveys tell one more, and

Agreed.

> Yankee Group, J.D. Power, and Consumer Reports rate Cingular poorley,
> but Sprint always rates worst.

I don't dispute that, but for some of us, there's "momentum" in staying with
the same wireless carrier. Perhaps just not wanting to change, perhaps we
have others in the family with the same carrier (and thus want to continue
to free mobile-to-mobile calling).

But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer service
isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things will
be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always the
customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 22:34:41 GMT, "some guy" <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>>I know it's not cool to say good things about customer service, but I'm
>>going to anyway.
>>
> Anecdotal individual stores prove zero.
>
> Large scale surveys tell one more, and
>
> Yankee Group, J.D. Power, and Consumer Reports rate Cingular poorley,
> but Sprint always rates worst.

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 20:24:55 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>> Anecdotal individual stores prove zero.
>
>It wasn't an individual store; rather, it was a customer service rep on the
>phone. In my opinion, that's probably a better way to start the process,
>since you have less of your own time invested, and are thus more likely to
>turn something down that isn't to your liking.
>
>> Large scale surveys tell one more, and
>
>Agreed.
>
>> Yankee Group, J.D. Power, and Consumer Reports rate Cingular poorley,
>> but Sprint always rates worst.
>
>I don't dispute that, but for some of us, there's "momentum" in staying with
>the same wireless carrier. Perhaps just not wanting to change, perhaps we
>have others in the family with the same carrier (and thus want to continue
>to free mobile-to-mobile calling).
>
>But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer service
>isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things will
>be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always the
>customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.
>
>--Mike Jacoubowsky
>Chain Reaction Bicycles
>www.ChainReaction.com
>Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA
>
><[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 22:34:41 GMT, "some guy" <[email protected]>
>> wrote:
>>
>>>I know it's not cool to say good things about customer service, but I'm
>>>going to anyway.
>>>
>> Anecdotal individual stores prove zero.
>>
>> Large scale surveys tell one more, and
>>
>> Yankee Group, J.D. Power, and Consumer Reports rate Cingular poorley,
>> but Sprint always rates worst.
>
You'll learn that saying anything positive or good about Cingular or an
individual is apparently forbidden in this group. It's mostly used for
*****ing and moaning !

Jack Mac wrote:
> You'll learn that saying anything positive or good about Cingular or an
> individual is apparently forbidden in this group. It's mostly used for
> *****ing and moaning !

Navas excluded.

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 20:24:55 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer service
>isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things will
>be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always the
>customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.


Nice try. If a given carrier requires reps to strictly meet handle
time limits, gives them upsell quotas, and restricts them on
escalating calls, your attitude going in won't help.

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 21:58:25 -0500, Jack Mac
<[email protected]> wrote:

>You'll learn that saying anything positive or good about Cingular or an
>individual is apparently forbidden in this group. It's mostly used for
>*****ing and moaning !


This group works best when people help others with their problems.
Anecdotal stories of individual good experiences don't help one
whose AT&T phone won't connect to the next work at the Univ. of
Wahington today.

some guy wrote:
> 3 new Razrs at $79.99 after rebate (with a two-year commitment). Yes, I
> would have preferred that they were free, but I can live with this. And
> priority 1-2 day shipping was only $14.99 for all 3 together, not the silly
> $14.99/phone that I half-expected.

Cingular never offers the best prices. You could have gotten the same
stuff for free and a $25 rebate on top from Amazon...

--
Peter Headland

>>But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer
>>service
>>isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things
>>will
>>be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always
>>the
>>customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.
>
>
> Nice try. If a given carrier requires reps to strictly meet handle
> time limits, gives them upsell quotas, and restricts them on
> escalating calls, your attitude going in won't help.

Why would that matter? Yes, the rep is under pressure, but why would they
work better with an unpleasant customer than a pleasant one?

In any event, I wasn't upsold; she actually dropped my "family" plan from a
$79.99 base to $59.99 because she said we weren't using enough of the
minutes. *She* said that, not me.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA


<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 20:24:55 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer
>>service
>>isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things
>>will
>>be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always
>>the
>>customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.
>
>
> Nice try. If a given carrier requires reps to strictly meet handle
> time limits, gives them upsell quotas, and restricts them on
> escalating calls, your attitude going in won't help.

>> 3 new Razrs at $79.99 after rebate (with a two-year commitment). Yes, I
>> would have preferred that they were free, but I can live with this. And
>> priority 1-2 day shipping was only $14.99 for all 3 together, not the
>> silly
>> $14.99/phone that I half-expected.
>
> Cingular never offers the best prices. You could have gotten the same
> stuff for free and a $25 rebate on top from Amazon...
>
> --
> Peter Headland

Peter: I did look into that; it appeared that all such offers were only for
new activations. Seems to me that, if it were practical for them to do so,
somebody could make a killing offering deals to *existing* customers like
that, because it's a market that appears to be ignored. Thus I question if
that's actually the case (because otherwise, someone would be advertising
"Contract up, but want to stay with the same carrier? Looking for a great
deal on some new phones? Try us!")

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA


"Peter Headland" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> some guy wrote:
>> 3 new Razrs at $79.99 after rebate (with a two-year commitment). Yes, I
>> would have preferred that they were free, but I can live with this. And
>> priority 1-2 day shipping was only $14.99 for all 3 together, not the
>> silly
>> $14.99/phone that I half-expected.
>
> Cingular never offers the best prices. You could have gotten the same
> stuff for free and a $25 rebate on top from Amazon...
>
> --
> Peter Headland
>

On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:21:56 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
>>>But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer
>>>service
>>>isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things
>>>will
>>>be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always
>>>the
>>>customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.
>>
>>
>> Nice try. If a given carrier requires reps to strictly meet handle
>> time limits, gives them upsell quotas, and restricts them on
>> escalating calls, your attitude going in won't help.
>
>Why would that matter? Yes, the rep is under pressure, but why would they
>work better with an unpleasant customer than a pleasant one?
>
>In any event, I wasn't upsold; she actually dropped my "family" plan from a
>$79.99 base to $59.99 because she said we weren't using enough of the
>minutes. *She* said that, not me.


Again, one individual experience means zip, nada, nothing.

Thousands of experiences measured by:

The Yankee group
JD Power
Consumer reports

Shows Cingular Customer service is poor, and Sprint is worse.

<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:21:56 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>
>>>>But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer
>>>>service
>>>>isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things
>>>>will
>>>>be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always
>>>>the
>>>>customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.
>>>
>>>
>>> Nice try. If a given carrier requires reps to strictly meet handle
>>> time limits, gives them upsell quotas, and restricts them on
>>> escalating calls, your attitude going in won't help.
>>
>>Why would that matter? Yes, the rep is under pressure, but why would they
>>work better with an unpleasant customer than a pleasant one?
>>
>>In any event, I wasn't upsold; she actually dropped my "family" plan from
>>a
>>$79.99 base to $59.99 because she said we weren't using enough of the
>>minutes. *She* said that, not me.
>
>
> Again, one individual experience means zip, nada, nothing.
>
> Thousands of experiences measured by:
>
> The Yankee group
> JD Power
> Consumer reports
>
> Shows Cingular Customer service is poor, and Sprint is worse.

The ONLY experience that counts for me is the one I have, and my few call to
CS have been good as far as I am concerned. T-Mobile which I left after
being with them for 8-9 years has the reputation of the best CS, and I found
that to be true for me. Cingular CS has so far been the equal to the T-M,
and as I said the ONLY experience that counts for me is what I have and I am
happy with Cingular.

Double Tap wrote:
> <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> On Fri, 29 Dec 2006 00:21:56 GMT, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>>> But I also think it's important for people to realize that customer
>>>>> service
>>>>> isn't invariably a bad experience. If they go into it believing things
>>>>> will
>>>>> be bad, it's more likely such expectations will be met. It's not always
>>>>> the
>>>>> customer who's demanding who gets taken care of best.
>>>>
>>>> Nice try. If a given carrier requires reps to strictly meet handle
>>>> time limits, gives them upsell quotas, and restricts them on
>>>> escalating calls, your attitude going in won't help.
>>> Why would that matter? Yes, the rep is under pressure, but why would they
>>> work better with an unpleasant customer than a pleasant one?
>>>
>>> In any event, I wasn't upsold; she actually dropped my "family" plan from
>>> a
>>> $79.99 base to $59.99 because she said we weren't using enough of the
>>> minutes. *She* said that, not me.
>>
>> Again, one individual experience means zip, nada, nothing.
>>
>> Thousands of experiences measured by:
>>
>> The Yankee group
>> JD Power
>> Consumer reports
>>
>> Shows Cingular Customer service is poor, and Sprint is worse.
>
> The ONLY experience that counts for me is the one I have, and my few call to
> CS have been good as far as I am concerned. T-Mobile which I left after
> being with them for 8-9 years has the reputation of the best CS, and I found
> that to be true for me. Cingular CS has so far been the equal to the T-M,
> and as I said the ONLY experience that counts for me is what I have and I am
> happy with Cingular.
>
>
I will have to ditto completely what Double Tap has said. Have been
with Cingular for over a year and have had nothing but good experiences
with both the quality of calls, as well as the quality of CS the couple
of times that I have called. One example is that I cannot remember the
last time that I had a dropped call and that includes calling from
several places in the US.

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
>Peter Headland wrote:
> > Cingular never offers the best prices. You could have gotten the same
> > stuff for free and a $25 rebate on top from Amazon...
>
> Peter: I did look into that; it appeared that all such offers were only for
> new activations.

Please note that I am not posting this to grind you down, just to
inform others who might be in your position, but acually you can indeed
do a "new activation" or "new contract" even with your existing
provider once the original contract has expired. I know this because I
was in exactly the same situation as you just a few weeks ago -
existing Cingular customer with an expired contract who got a great
deal on new Cingular phones with a new contract from Amazon (in our
case because they had started hitting us with a $10/month surcharge for
using TDMA phones).

The only catch was we couldn't keep our old numbers, but that wasn't a
big issue for us. In fact, had I been with with any of the other
carriers I could have done the same thing (for example T-Mobile ->
T-Mobile) and kept our old numbers, it's just Cingular+Amazon who force
the number change, because they don't have a deal (lame).

Did they actually waive the activation fee for the new phones? We did
have to cough up $60 or so for that, but that seemed to be an artefact
of the TDMA->GSM switch.

--
Peter Headland