Re: Cingular unauthorized change of GAIT plan to NATP

Do you have any proof of this, like a bill showing charges for the Night
calls? According to their website at:
http://onlinestoree.cingular.com/web...&svcAreaId=SBC
You get NO N/W minutes on the $30 plan, 1000 on the $40 plan and
Unlimited on the $50, $60 and $80 plan. Note that nights are from 9pm to
7am.
If indeed you can prove this and it's happening systemwide then you do
indeed have a juicy class action claim.

From:Barry Horowitz
barry_horrowitz@yahoo.com

> Cingular Take Charge lies without shame in their promos and brochures,
> and they have trained their personnel to repeat the lies, that late
> evenings and weekends are "free minutes". No wonder all you others
> are angered by your relations with Cingular customer service.
>
> Without the lies, Take Charge would be a little better than most
> prepaid plans in that one pays on average about 13 cents a minute
> rather than 25 cents a minute, which is what most companies charge for
> prepaid unless you have a very special deal.
>
> Why Cingular [have they outsourced Take Charge to a subcontractor who
> has no qualms about ethics?] makes these preposterous claims and
> offers is simply surprising, but it is in essence ILLEGAL, and
> deserves a class action lawsuit.
>
> What you get when you pay for Take Charge is a debit on your checking
> account monthly, for $29.99 or $39.99 or $49.99 [plus about 12 percent
> federally mandated taxes], which is easier than inserting a prepaid
> chip into your cell phone, you can purchase online with your debit
> card for Take Charge.
>
> But in effect it is no more than a $50 or $40 or $30 prepaid card,
> that debits your card amount around $13 to $15 cents per minute, and
> then you are out of funds and service.
>
> There are no free night and weekend minutes, Cingular is
> pathologically insincere in offering this to foolish consumers, and
> they did it to outcompete the other prepaid suppliers who have not
> yet resorted to such institutional lies, even though they too might
> have a few gimmicks up their sleeves also.
>
> AT&T is no longer the "friend" of the consumer, like long ago.
> Cingular is ATT and they brag about it while you are put on hold
> waiting endlessly for customer service.
>
> Amen.
>
> barry
>
>>>
>>>
>
> CORRECTION: I meant "crammed" not "slammed".
>
> http://www.ehow.com/how_15888_protec...f-slammed.html
>
> Most problems with cell phone companies are either a matter of 1) not
> getting what you paid for in the agreement, and then 2) paying way too
> much on top of it as a big surprise.
>
> This means you were lied to at many levels, especially when you are
> condemned to 10 to 30 hours of dealing with a customer service which
> is unhelpful and lubricious for fear of losing their job[s] with so
> many supervisors listening in to their calls and monitoring them, a
> form of facism and the heart of outsourcing.
>
> Class action lawsuits and letters to fed reps and fed agencies is the
> one true path to reform and to your swift rebate for your unsolicited
> troubles.
>
> We are the NEW AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Stand up tall and be a Paul Revere
> or a Dolly Madison. Don't be a putz.
>
> barry
>>>
>
>
> what the **** is this guy going on about? If you have a problem
> With Cingular (or any phone company), write a hand-addressed letter to
> the President of Cingular, and make sure that you clearly c.c. the NY
> Attorney General, the US Attorney General, and the Federal Trade
> Commission. If necessary, say that you were "slammed" or lied to about
> your service. You will get a call back from the president's admin
> within two days apologising profusely and dropping all money charges.
> \
> Cingular are the worst, and have just paid out millions in a class
> action suit in California. We also had a nightmare with them two years
> ago, until in desperation Helen resorted to the above strategy. Just
> recently, we had a similar problem with AT&T, who had offered to lower
> our long distance then charged us 3.00/minute to call UK, when we had
> been paying 0.10/minute!!!.
>
> PAcBell was going to cut us off for non-payment of an erroneous $487
> bill for one month's worth of international calls. AT&T service
> reps refused to listen, kept denying all or any previous
> conversations until Helen did the above again and immediately got the
> same reaction- grovelling profuse apologies from Corporate HQ, plus
> all money charges dropped. The phone companies really do NOT want any
> more flack--the heat is on them big time from various Fed consumer
> agencies.
>
> Barry
>
>
>
> Bryan Adrian wrote:
>
>
> I was ****ed over by Cingular after I purchased their Take Charge
> services. And more "evidence" can easily be supplied.
>
> And i am not mincing my words by saying "****ed over". "Screwed" is
> not descriptive enough.
>
> If you care to stop posturing and lend a helping hand rather than
> being a blow hard, email me and stop me from closing the account on
> Tuesday morning.
>
> Cingular in no way is 'honoring its terms of service'.
>
> Where do you get such words, from MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE?
>
> Most people who use prepaid cards or chips in their cell phone do not
> have time to joke around on the internet usenet groups like you do all
> day ... this does not indicate a "revolt" is not brewing -- that few
> are posting, as you implied.
>
> A class action lawsuit is soon underway. I will post the name of the
> aggressive law firm very soon so you can digest the meaning of this
> and so that the few prepaid customers who bother with Usenet can be
> informed of where to seek comfort re: Cingular Take Charge skull
> duggery.
>
> Yes, you are very welcome.
>
> John Navas wrote:
> Snipped to the nubes....
>
> ...
>
> Pick up the Take Charge brochure, they are plastered all over Cingular
> outlets, and read it. Cingular states that it provides 400 free
> minutes from 7am to 9pm, absolute free usage from 9pm to 7am, and the
> entire weekend to enjoy the free minutes. This is their deal. This is
> their measure of honesty at Cingular, they set their own bar. Those
> are Cingular's terms upon purchase.
>
> In actual practice, there are never any free minutes with TAKE CHARGE
> and one uses up the $49.99 much quicker than with a simple prepaid
> chip...
>
> The Cingular Take Charge customer service computers do NOT register
> the monies deducted for each minute of each call [12.5 cents per
> minute], although the money is deducted from your account on another
> database system they are not privy to, so the CS reps do not have a
> clue what you are talking about when you call in to complain for
> corrected services regarding this error. They see only the TOTAL
> AMOUNT date for each itemized call [which is nearly always a $0.00
> charge to them from their viewpoint]. It looks like you have scads of
> free minutes to them, but in practice you never even get one lousey
> free minute ever with this Cingular Take Charge account, which is
> raking in money for Cingular like a new kind of underhanded prepaid
> scam.
>
> Each minute used receiving or making a Take Charge call, is billed at
> 12.5 cents per minute, be it after 9pm weekdays or weekends too, the
> alleged FREE MINUTES hours.
>
> Also, if you do a *777# to see how many minutes are left of your
> alleged 400 FREE HOURS DURING DAYLIGHT WEEKDAYS, you get only a
> balance of how much of your $49.99 is left after all the minutes
> associated with your cell number are deducted at 12.5 cents [this is
> called your MAIN ACCOUNT BALANCE]. Lord help the person who calls
> after 9pm or on weekends to a family member or spouse or relative and
> chats away for an hour or longer. Busted!
>
> This will all be deducted from your $49.99 rather than ignored as free
> minute time. It really adds up !
>
> Also, you can see what kind of chicanery is going on in the corporate
> heights when you do a *646# or a *MIN# to see how many of your free
> 400 daytime weekday minutes are remaining. You get a text message
> back. that says your TAKE CHARGE account is not allowed this service,
> even though there is a recording while you are on hold that
> encourages you to do just this with your Cingular account.
>
> The customer care reps never get a view of your MAIN ACCOUNT BALANCE
> [totally different from your TOTAL AMOUNT, which in itself is very
> Orwellian in its suggestion] which you can see as a paying customer
> online on the web at www.selfincharge.com --but the CS reps cannot
> locate on their screens nor database this MAIN ACCOUNT BALANCE for
> each itemized call, unless you give them your pin number and they go
> online themselves on the internet to look at your account history,
> but they have been trained not to do this, i.e, accept your pin
> number.
>
> So it is a Catch-22 and the customer is the big time loser, and
> Cingular prospers!
>
> Have a prosperous New Year !!
>
>>>>
>
> Please BEWARE !!
>
> Cingular-ATT has been offering to people with no credit card a new
> cell phone account TAKE CHARGE, which promises for $49.99 per month
> 400 free minutes during non-free times, and free calls after 9pm and
> all weekend.
>
> They can debit your checking account or your debit card once per
> month.
>
> Well, here's the rub.
>
> The database for Cingular for the TAKE CHARGE account is divided into
> two dissociated databases, one which shows to Customer Care for
> Cingular a ZERO charge for all calls made during so called free minute
> times of day, and this is called the TOTAL AMOUNT column. This is ALL
> Customer Care can see on their screens.
>
> Yet, on the customer online CALLS LIST a Take Charge user/customer can
> go to the full detail history list of all calls and on the extreme
> right hand column of the complete calls list, there is a blue ball
> with a white carat in it that is called CALL DETAIL for each
> individual call. If you click on this, you get many more details than
> are given to the Customer Care call center rep.
>
> You must scroll down in this pull down box past the ZERO amount and
> just below is the MAIN ACCOUNT AMOUNT which charges your debit card
> and/or account balance for your Cingular service at 12.5 cents per
> minute DURING the free minutes times of the week!! Your calls from 0
> to 399 of the free 400 minutes are billed at 12.5 cents per minute
> also!!
>
> So, if you made an hour call on your cell phone account on the weekend
> it will be deducted about $5 ASAP and your phone service will be
> discontinued quickly due to this ploy unless you address the issue
> brought up by voice and text mail to you that YOU MUST CHARGE ON YOUR
> DEBIT CARD as soon as possible either $15 for 100 minutes or $25 for
> 150.
>
> This is a reprehensible business practice that should blemish the
> reputation of ATT also, and not just Cingular cell phone company.
>
> Dec. 24th, today, Christmas Eve, is a day off for most of the 'Take
> Charge' Cingular call center helpers, so the bulk of the complaints
> about this criminal billing procedure practice at Take Charge are
> going to the main general Cingular help center workers, who are much
> more helpful than the usual Take Charge specialist call center
> workers [have the Take Charge customer care center workers been
> trained to be uncooperative and play dumb about this horrible glitch
> and thieving tactic of the Cingular management?].
>
> Each time [about 15 times i have called and had to spend over an hour
> trying to resolve this snafu to no avail and to suffer the damage of
> severe microwave headaches from the cell phone radio waves after so
> much exposure], the Take Charge staffers are very rude in putting the
> fault of the service charges and billing during free minutes on the
> stupidity of the customer/client. It is a crime up there with Enron,
> Halliburton, and Global Crossing scams. Cingular is blaming the
> consumer for a rip off product.
>
> Nothing else could promote WORSE customer relations on the globe !!!
> Would anyone disagree?
>
> Please call your Better Business Bureau and your local 'CONSUMER
> COMPLAINT, SHAME ON YOU' local TV network to look into this,
> investigate it, and report it.
>
>
> DoctorZ wrote:
>> Lawyers on retainer (i.e real ones) could handle the case and win,
>> but for my $20K+ in fees, it would take 3-6 yrs to get my money
>> back. Given Cingular idiot policies I have the risk they would go
>> chapter 7 before collecting. Then I am left holding the bag.
>>
>> Its possible a class action will pop up, but once again is it worth
>> my time (i.e. money). My losses so far are $7K plus and unless
>> something turns up, hardly worth the significant effort a lawsuit
>> will involve.
>>
>> Before someone advises "complain to the federal state x agency" I
>> can assure you Cingular has not done anything to offset their
>> poltical and legal connections.
>> Time will tell if Cingular is being a World Comm or if for whatever
>> reason I am in a subclass of customer they want rid of.