Other issues FAQ

In article <[email protected]>,
Steven J Sobol <[email protected]> wrote:

> > "If you are on an automatic payment plan, and Carrier is taking money
> > from your credit card improperly for wrong bills, it's trivial to call
> > your credit card company, report your card lost, and get a new card
> > with a new number."
> >
> > There is nothing fraudulent is reporting your number lost/stolen or
> > misused, so the bank will issue a new card number. However, in most
> > cases, you just have to request a new number, and they are more then
> > happy to give grant one.
>
> "Lost/stolen" implies that it's lost or stolen. I suppose you could make a
> case for "misused."
>
> Instead of cancelling the card, it would make much more sense to call
> the bank and tell them not to accept further charges for the merchant, and
> explain why. Better yet, dispute the charges when they come in, because the
> merchant gets spanked hard by the bank if they have recurring disputes and/or
> chargebacks.

Strange but when I did exactly what Mr. Sobol suggested mt Bank told me:

" We can't do that lets just report your card as lost and issue you a
new one."

The FAQ post was exactly correct and based upon experience not guess
work from someone who is always hostile to any one not sharing his views
as a bling Sprint PCS apologist loon.

---

› See More: Other issues FAQ

In article <[email protected]>,
Steven J Sobol <[email protected]> wrote:

> Mind you, Sprint's
> not perfect. I've had problems with them; other people have had problems
> with them;

Thats the first honest thing I've seen from Sobol in months.

In article <[email protected]>,
Steven J Sobol <[email protected]> wrote:

> Anyhow, my claim of "fraud" stems more from my knowledge of "Robert's" past
> actions. He supposedly switched to AT&T and then started spewing the same BS
> he was spewing in the Sprint newsgroup and is now back complaining about
> Sprint, even though he supposedly ported his number over and left Sprint for
> good.


All the above is based upon some totally false guess by some other
SprintPCS loon. I have been a SprintPCS customer continuously for 5
years. I have NEVER been an AT&T Wireless customer.

P.S. The FAQ only discusses SPRINT specifically in one item,
and there it is mentioned as identical to Cingular. The whole
FAQ is generic. For Sobol to regard it as spewing against SPRINT, shows
subconciously he must really have more disdain for SprintPCS than I do.

Sobol, you are a pip.

======
And for those that should be reminded:

This FAQ is in no way authored by any carrier. By reading on, you agree
that you are fully aware of this. I see many questions asked repeatedly
about problems with cellular service, and thought an "Unofficial FAQ"
was in order. I have no association (i.e. never been employed by any
carrier) and there is a greater than zero chance there may be errors
herein. I believe everything to be correct, but use the information at
your own risk. This FAQ comes not from any carrier, so it is unofficial,
but apparently has useful information some carrier's apologists are
upset about being made public.
===========

= Customers may be better off buying a phone from Costco or a major
Department store chain, who will stand behind the phone for defects that
their carrier won't (or claim they can't cause cellular manufacturer
won't reimburse them).

= Customers CAN get out of contracts if their service has deteriorated
where they live or work to make it unusable. Send certified letter to
company HQ, with copy to your State's Attorney General. A phone must be
"fit for purpose".

= Customers at end of contract can negotiate on their contract and get a
better plan than they may have realized. Carriers have unpublished deals.
"We can't do that", may not be true, ask for a supervisor.

= There are ways of downloading Ring tones, without having to buy them
from your carrier.

= When porting a number, it's supposed to take 3 1/2 hours. Don't accept
"It may take a week". ESCALATE, ESCALATE, ESCALATE, and keep calling
every 3 hours. The Director of Porting's number has been posted for some
carriers; use Google to look for corporate phone #'s at HQ.

= Customers can demand and receive compensation if their carrier has
screwed up their number porting; improperly disconnected their service,
or incorrectly filed a credit bureau complaint.

= If Customer Service refuses to help on a major issue, Executive
Services often is only too happy to help a customer. With a major
complaint, start at the top, not the bottom. Customers should not accept
long wait times when calling 800 numbers. I personally believe anything
above 5 minutes is unacceptable.

= Using web based email to contact a cellular carrier, typically gets a
response in 48 hours to call the 800 number. Many companies have now
outsourced this function to India, where the clerks have zero authority
to resolve problems. Seems like a waste of money to have this function
when it so typically provide no help.

= Buying phones off the web is a hassle with some carriers.
Order fulfillment clerks may not know about this weeks "Free Car
Charger". Do all buying with a Credit Card, so you can ask the bank for
a "Chargeback" if you are improperly charged.

= If you are on an automatic payment plan, and Carrier is taking money
from your credit card improperly for wrong bills, it's trivial to call
your credit card company, report your card lost, and get a new card with
a new number.

= Many carriers' billing software have known issues.
- If you move
- If you change plans
- Changing the date on a contract expiration

= Combined plan discounts (i.e. Southwest Bell landline and Cingular,
Sprint landline and Sprint PCS) may not be the bargain they seem.

= Company stores may not always give best service for problem phones,
and carriers have secret lists of phones with issues that
WILL BE REPLACED if one complains. Make sure you are dealing
with a Company owned store.

= Extended warranties are usually a total rip-off, with the possible
exception if you have a $600 phone and tend to have problems.

= One is much better served to get cellular service through their
employer if possible. Monthly discounts. Discounts on new phone
purchases. Waiver of all activation fees.

= Carriers will give credits for dropped calls, but you have to ask
in some cases.

= Buying accessories from your Carrier is the MOST EXPENSIVE way to get
cases, car chargers, etc. Places like Target or Wal-Mart have good
selections of cellular accessories, typically at half the price or
better.

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Steven J Sobol <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > In alt.cellular.verizon Brent Geery
<[email protected]>
> > wrote:
> > >> There are better ways to cancel service than that, but again, why
should
> > >> you care if your advice gets people in trouble?
> > >
> > > You really sound like a hostile idiot.
> >
> > Perhaps
>
> No, Brent Geery has it exactly right.
>
> Mr. Sobol is very hostile to any one that is not also a Blind SprintPCS
> apologist loon.

Not true, troll. You are the only hostile coward.

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> The FAQ post was exactly correct and based upon experience not guess
> work from someone who is always hostile to any one not sharing his views
> as a bling Sprint PCS apologist loon.

Nice to see you admitting to credit card fraud- I expected as much.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> > = Customers may be better off buying a phone from Costco or a major
> > Department store chain, who will stand behind the phone for defects that
> > their carrier won't (or claim they can't cause cellular manufacturer
> > won't reimburse them).
>
> Do your homework before choosing a phone seller. This statement by Phil is
> extremely broad, and does not represent the true environment in a great
> majority of cases. While the 'supermarket' avenue is certainly available,
> and has merit, think about the level of technical support you will receive
> from the person selling your phone. Basing your decision solely on a no
> questions asked exchange policy may not be the best course of action for
> you.

SprintPCS stores for one will provide firmware upgrades for Sprint PCS
cell phones regardless of where they were purchased, and other carriers
support their phones similarly. So much for spread Fear and Doubt about
buying somewhere whey they might actually refund your money for a
defective phone.

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Steven J Sobol <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Anyhow, my claim of "fraud" stems more from my knowledge of "Robert's"
past
> > actions. He supposedly switched to AT&T and then started spewing the
same BS
> > he was spewing in the Sprint newsgroup and is now back complaining about
> > Sprint, even though he supposedly ported his number over and left Sprint
for
> > good.
>
>
> All the above is based upon some totally false guess by some other
> SprintPCS loon. I have been a SprintPCS customer continuously for 5
> years. I have NEVER been an AT&T Wireless customer.

I do have Phillipe filtered, where his new messages come up as read ... and
wouldn't normally reply to this toad, but he's once again showing another
lie. Below is a post (including the header info) from one of his aliases -
Jonathan, as posted on the ATTWS newsgroup ....

Bob

Path:
newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!stamper.new
s.pas.earthlink.net!newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net.POSTED!5ab7a9fb!not-for
-mail
From: Jonathan <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: alt.cellular.attws
Subject: Re: TYPICAL Goodbye present from AT&T Worthless
Organization: Break Up Microsoft
References: <[email protected]>
<[email protected]> <[email protected]>
User-Agent: MT-NewsWatcher/3.3b1 (PPC Mac OS X)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Lines: 8
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 15:03:26 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: 66.32.48.64
X-Complaints-To: [email protected]
X-Trace: newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net 1071587006 66.32.48.64 (Tue, 16
Dec 2003 07:03:26 PST)
NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 07:03:26 PST
Xref: news.earthlink.net alt.cellular.attws:42212
X-Received-Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 07:04:33 PST
(newsspool2.news.atl.earthlink.net)


From: "Jonathan" <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: TYPICAL Goodbye present from AT&T Worthless
Date: Tuesday, December 16, 2003 10:03 AM

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

> Actually we have had several customers question their 1st months bill and
> apparently they do bill a month in advance now. It would have been nice
if
> they would have communicated this to their Dealers.

I just got a first bill 2 weeks ago, and it did not bill in advance.

------------------------------------------- End of Post.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Nice to see you admitting to credit card fraud- I expected as much.

I did no such thing. I wanted a vendor not to charge my card again.I
called my bank, they said they could not put a continuing block against
a single vendor, and unless I wanted to call in every month, they'd
report my card as lost and issue me a new one wit a new number that the
vendor could have no access to.

So it is hardly fraud, just following the banks recommended procedures.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Scott Stephenson" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > Steven J Sobol <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > In alt.cellular.verizon Brent Geery
> <[email protected]>
> > > wrote:
> > > >> There are better ways to cancel service than that, but again, why
> should
> > > >> you care if your advice gets people in trouble?
> > > >
> > > > You really sound like a hostile idiot.
> > >
> > > Perhaps
> >
> > No, Brent Geery has it exactly right.
> >
> > Mr. Sobol is very hostile to any one that is not also a Blind SprintPCS
> > apologist loon.
>
> Not true,

Sorry the loons are out. The FAQ is as follows:

This FAQ is in no way authored by any carrier. By reading on, you agree
that you are fully aware of this. I see many questions asked repeatedly
about problems with cellular service, and thought an "Unofficial FAQ"
was in order. I have no association (i.e. never been employed by any
carrier) and there is a greater than zero chance there may be errors
herein. I believe everything to be correct, but use the information at
your own risk. This FAQ comes not from any carrier, so it is unofficial,
but apparently has useful information some carrier's apologists are
upset about being made public.
===========

= Customers may be better off buying a phone from Costco or a major
Department store chain, who will stand behind the phone for defects that
their carrier won't (or claim they can't cause cellular manufacturer
won't reimburse them).

= Customers CAN get out of contracts if their service has deteriorated
where they live or work to make it unusable. Send certified letter to
company HQ, with copy to your State's Attorney General. A phone must be
"fit for purpose".

= Customers at end of contract can negotiate on their contract and get a
better plan than they may have realized. Carriers have unpublished deals.
"We can't do that", may not be true, ask for a supervisor.

= There are ways of downloading Ring tones, without having to buy them
from your carrier.

= When porting a number, it's supposed to take 3 1/2 hours. Don't accept
"It may take a week". ESCALATE, ESCALATE, ESCALATE, and keep calling
every 3 hours. The Director of Porting's number has been posted for some
carriers; use Google to look for corporate phone #'s at HQ.

= Customers can demand and receive compensation if their carrier has
screwed up their number porting; improperly disconnected their service,
or incorrectly filed a credit bureau complaint.

= If Customer Service refuses to help on a major issue, Executive
Services often is only too happy to help a customer. With a major
complaint, start at the top, not the bottom. Customers should not accept
long wait times when calling 800 numbers. I personally believe anything
above 5 minutes is unacceptable.

= Using web based email to contact a cellular carrier, typically gets a
response in 48 hours to call the 800 number. Many companies have now
outsourced this function to India, where the clerks have zero authority
to resolve problems. Seems like a waste of money to have this function
when it so typically provide no help.

= Buying phones off the web is a hassle with some carriers.
Order fulfillment clerks may not know about this weeks "Free Car
Charger". Do all buying with a Credit Card, so you can ask the bank for
a "Chargeback" if you are improperly charged.

= If you are on an automatic payment plan, and Carrier is taking money
from your credit card improperly for wrong bills, it's trivial to call
your credit card company, report your card lost, and get a new card with
a new number.

= Many carriers' billing software have known issues.
- If you move
- If you change plans
- Changing the date on a contract expiration

= Combined plan discounts (i.e. Southwest Bell landline and Cingular,
Sprint landline and Sprint PCS) may not be the bargain they seem.

= Company stores may not always give best service for problem phones,
and carriers have secret lists of phones with issues that
WILL BE REPLACED if one complains. Make sure you are dealing
with a Company owned store.

= Extended warranties are usually a total rip-off, with the possible
exception if you have a $600 phone and tend to have problems.

= One is much better served to get cellular service through their
employer if possible. Monthly discounts. Discounts on new phone
purchases. Waiver of all activation fees.

= Carriers will give credits for dropped calls, but you have to ask
in some cases.

= Buying accessories from your Carrier is the MOST EXPENSIVE way to get
cases, car chargers, etc. Places like Target or Wal-Mart have good
selections of cellular accessories, typically at half the price or
better.

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

>
> SprintPCS stores for one will provide firmware upgrades for Sprint PCS
> cell phones regardless of where they were purchased, and other carriers
> support their phones similarly. So much for spread Fear and Doubt about
> buying somewhere whey they might actually refund your money for a
> defective phone.

I stand by my statement, Phil- ask the cashier at Costco questions about the
phone and see what level of technical expertise you are met with.

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>

<snip>

Thanls, Bob- I was searching for that post, and couldn't remember which of
the 50+ names he was using when he wrote it.

You want to start it again, don't you Joseph of Seattle. It is proper to
include the message that you are replying to as someone that did not see the
message knows what the reply is concerning. I think you'd better reply to
all the other posters that included the whole FAQ. Now I know why you have
been banned from Google.

Chris

"Joseph" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 16:04:58 GMT, "Chris Russell"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >Go home Philly, you trolling fool.
>
> Get a clue and learn how to edit. You reposted the whole freakin'
> message you clod!
> - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply

On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 11:37:37 GMT, "Robert M." <[email protected]>
posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>= Customers CAN get out of contracts if their service has deteriorated
>where they live or work to make it unusable. Send certified letter to
>company HQ, with copy to your State's Attorney General. A phone must be
>"fit for purpose".

Warrantee of Merchantability. Make sure that your state has one. (I
think all do, but IANAL, etc.)

>= If Customer Service refuses to help on a major issue, Executive
>Services often is only too happy to help a customer. With a major
>complaint, start at the top, not the bottom. Customers should not accept
>long wait times when calling 800 numbers. I personally believe anything
>above 5 minutes is unacceptable.

Tell that to Verizon. Their V60P to V60S swap number has wait times
in excess of an hour. (That's when I hung up - more than once.)

>= Using web based email to contact a cellular carrier, typically gets a
>response in 48 hours to call the 800 number.

I got a much faster response. My email - sent from their web site -
got bounced in a couple of minutes.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 00:20:07 -0600, Steven J Sobol
<[email protected]> posted in alt.cellular.verizon:

>I didn't read this copy of your "FAQ" but the one in alt.cellular advocates
>reporting your credit card stolen if you don't like the cellular carrier's
>policies, just so you can avoid having them charge you.

This version suggests that if you're being improperly billed. It's
easier to just permanently deauthorize the charge and go back to
paying by check or on line.

On Sun, 08 Feb 2004 11:13:39 -0600, Jer <[email protected]> posted in
alt.cellular.verizon:

>Setting legalities aside for a moment, the problem is lying about losing
>your damn card - it's not lost, it's just being abused.

Abuse (it's not, though, it's *MIS*use) is a perfectly good reason for
changing your card number, and card issuers will do so on request.

Of course that means that you'll have to notify everyone who's
charging your account properly, change the card information on all web
sites you have it stored, etc.