Honest Question

I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market (Sprint
PCS)?

By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless came
about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people take
advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?

Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a topic.

---

› See More: Honest Question

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

> I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market (Sprint
> PCS)?
>
> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people take
> advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?

I am sure Radio Shack carries brands based on profittability for
themselves not on any altruistic motives.

"Kev" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market
(Sprint
> PCS)?
>
> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless
came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people
take
> advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?
>
> Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a
topic.

To me, it does not matter where the purchase is made. It can be on the
internet, at a mall kiosk, or a store. It does not matter. What counts is
that the company must have a money back policy so I can try their service
without obligation for at least two weeks. I was on SprintPCS once - but the
coverage and voice quality was awful - with a really silly short message
system where you had to basically log onto the internet to send a short
message. Really STUPID.

So I learnt that the fancy desk at Radio Shack does not impress me much. Buy
it, try it. If you don't like it then return it...

One of the accounts I have with Cingular I've had for nine years. It was
originally SNET out of CT. At that time there were only two services in
western MA and SNET was the only one that covered my town. It became
Cellular One and then Cingular. I've had great service from them since day
one in my home area and traveling up and down the east coast. I wouldn't
even consider leaving Cingular. I've also had a Sprint PCS account since
last year and I've been very pleased with them to.

As far as Verizon, although their maps show coverage where I live, putting
in my zip code at their site says they don't cover my town. I wouldn't
switch anyway. They are too expensive and I don't like their selection of
phones.



"Kev" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
: I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
: I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
: services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
: Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at
least)
: on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market
(Sprint
: PCS)?
:
: By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that
the
: largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless
came
: about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people
take
: advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?
:
: Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a
topic.
:
:

Hmm...well I've been doing my business with RadioShack for years, and did in
fact make my personal wireless purchase there. I can't think of any other
electronics store that has been in business as long as them. 70 years is
it? My point here is that I'm sure they more often than not, have the
customer in mind, probably one of the ways that they've managed to stay
alive through this economy.
Take my word for it though folks, where you buy your phone makes a huge
difference on owning your phone. The nearest Carrier owned store is a solid
hour away, and typically has wait times. A sketchy kiosk in a mall doesn't
have any interest in helping you out with any kind of hardware probs or
questions you might have after you've signed up. All they do is tell you to
call customer service. yuck.
My point on the whole Radioshack discussion was that they have without a
doubt the most credibility in the wireless industry, as they practically
invented it. Does it not make sense to take a cue from them, at the very
least?

"Kev" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market
(Sprint
> PCS)?
>
> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless
came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people
take
> advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?
>
> Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a
topic.
>
>

"Kev" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market
(Sprint
> PCS)?
>
> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless
came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people
take
> advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?
>
> Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a
topic.
>
I got cingular when they moved into the Seattle
market because they had the lowest price, and I
was waiting for cell phones to reach my personal
price point.(at the time 29.99) I am nearing the end
of my second contract (three 1/2 years later) I have
had good coverage, no billing issues to speak of,
and good coverage that seems to be improving
as time goes on. I bought my phone at a corporate
store, not a booth in a mall.

Bernard

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed how soon after a post
Phillie, Robert M, etc of his 59_ names he uses.

Kev wrote:
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market (Sprint
> PCS)?

Those here that chose Cingular would be the same reason why people
in the Sprint and AT&T NGs chose their respective carrier - whatever
product works best for them.

The size of a carrier's network is irrelevent as everyone partners
coverage with each other and the customer could care less. All
carriers blanket the NFL cities - a term used about 20 years ago
to describe the initial rollouts in the top National Football League
cities.

It doesn't matter who "wrote the book", TDMA is TDMA and CDMA is CDMA.

I use Cingular for work because parent company owns a Radio Shack
franchise and sells Cingular which is the only carrier that offers
local numbers in the county, but Sprint has better network coverage.

I use Sprint for my personal use because I need the unlimited internet
access and not have to pay $5 everytime I view a weather radar image

> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon?

If you're referring to Radio Shack, they used to offer Cingular. And if
they are the largest retailer, its because of store penetration.

"Kev" <Axekick> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market
(Sprint
> PCS)?
>
> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless
came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people
take
> advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?
>
> Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a
topic.
>
>

I'd like to know how it's supposedly been "proven" that VZW has a much
larger Network. I've had VZW for years. I'm currently a Cingular GSM
Nation customer. I travel all over the country (required to, by work).
Verizon has overall good coverage. But they do NOT have better coverage
than Cingular GSM. At worst, the few dead spots I've noticed on Cingular
were in the exact same areas that VZW has dead spots. Also on a recent road
trip, we had to let a friend use our Cingular handset to make her phone
calls as she had no signal on her VZW handset . . . anywhere in the state!!!
If you compare VZW to Cingular GSM nation with an objective mind, there is
no way you would state with a straight face that VZW has better coverage.
Of course, either carrier might have better coverage in certain locations.
So the more travelling you do, the more likely you are to conclude that they
are equal, coverage wise.

As for data services . . . I was reading an article recently about new data
services technologies that are aimed at cellular phone users. The gist of
the article was, these services are going to be a huge flop, as the vast
majority of cellular phone users don't care about data services. I agree
with that assessment. I'm addicted to the Internet, and I wouldn't want to
use it on a cellular phone. Even most heavy Internet users would rather
wait till they get home to their broadband (wired) connection to check their
e-mail, etc. I had to laugh my ass off when Nokia recently upgraded some of
their handsets to be AOL IM compatible. I'd gladly pay Nokia to REMOVE that
particular bug, errrrr . . . feature. Of course, the obvious result of this
is that now your movie is going to be interrupted by some teeny bopper not
TALKING on the cell phone, but rather sending IM (brrrrring!!!!, pause pause
pause, brrrrring!!!!, pause, brrrrring!!!!, pause pause pause pause pause
pause pause pause, brrrrring!!!!)

Oh, when I went to sign up for Cingular, I actually signed up at a local
Mom&Pop type store that offers Cingular Wireless (plus all phones and tons
of accessories) and Dish Network satellite TV (plus all hardware). I gave
them my business as they were very patient in answering dozens of questions
from both me and my wife about the Cingular service. Although we had to
leave Verizon, we wanted to make SURE our new service (whoever that might
be) was going to be right for us. After answering all of our detailled
questions to our satisfaction, the free trial period was enough to convince
us to go for it. No regrets.

Oh, and we had to leave Verizon due to frequent, outrageous billing errors
that were causing our monthly bill to be double or triple what it should be.
The last straw for us was Verizon admitting that it was their problem and
still refusing to correct it. Basically what it boiled down to is that
certain calls made ON THE VERIZON WIRELESS NETWORK (not roaming) were being
billed months later than they should have been. Thus, we would have very
low minute usage in certain months and incredibly high minute usage in other
months, because of Verizon billing errors. If it wasn't for these billing
errors, we would never have gone over our "anytime" minutes. Verizon came
right out and admitted to me that it was a billing problem on their end, and
that they refused to fix it. So I had to fix it for them. I don't deal
with Verizon's intentional billing errors anymore. I pity anybody who just
signed a long-term contract with VZW. They'll getcha . . . just wait.
(evil grin)

-Dave

Hmmm. Over the years, I have used GTE (changed to Cingular here), ATTWS and
Verizon. they all had their warts, as does Cingular. I just moved from
ATTWS to Cingular, and strongly considered both Sprint and Verizon. For
some reason, Verizon does not work in the building I work in. Spring has
poor coverage near my house. ATTWS is too damn expensive (1-rate) and their
GSM coverage is spotty in the area. Cingular works for me. In the end, it
isn't the technology, it boils down to whether it works where you use it.
Also, those rollover minutes are a pretty good deal!


"Kev" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm going to try not to be a troll here, I swear...
> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
> services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
> Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
> on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market
(Sprint
> PCS)?
>
> By the way, where did you make your purchase? Has anyone noticed that the
> largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless
came
> about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon? Wouldn't people
take
> advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?
>
> Try not to flame me too much! I'm honestly just trying to start a
topic.
>
>

In article <[email protected]>,
"Dave C." <[email protected]> wrote:

> If you compare VZW to Cingular GSM nation with an objective mind, there is
> no way you would state with a straight face that VZW has better coverage.

However a Verizon phone most likely would allow you to roam on in analog
area, whereas Cingular GSM phones do not have analog capability at all.
Next time suggest your friend with Verizon allow their phone to use
roaming.

On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 12:55:22 GMT, "Robert M." <[email protected]>
wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> "Dave C." <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> If you compare VZW to Cingular GSM nation with an objective mind, there is
>> no way you would state with a straight face that VZW has better coverage.
>
>However a Verizon phone most likely would allow you to roam on in analog
>area, whereas Cingular GSM phones do not have analog capability at all.
>Next time suggest your friend with Verizon allow their phone to use
>roaming.

Verizon is now selling phones without analog AMPS.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
remove NONO from .NONOcom to reply

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

> On Thu, 08 Apr 2004 12:55:22 GMT, "Robert M." <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
> >In article <[email protected]>,
> > "Dave C." <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >> If you compare VZW to Cingular GSM nation with an objective mind, there is
> >> no way you would state with a straight face that VZW has better coverage.
> >
> >However a Verizon phone most likely would allow you to roam on in analog
> >area, whereas Cingular GSM phones do not have analog capability at all.
> >Next time suggest your friend with Verizon allow their phone to use
> >roaming.
>
> Verizon is now selling phones without analog AMPS.

just a few, and I did not say "ALL", I said "most likely".

> I'd like to hear some feedback as to why you all chose Cingular over
>services that have either a (proven) much larger network, (Verizon
>Wireless), or a service that basically wrote the book (in the US at least)
>on having the most advanced and data capable handsets on the market (Sprint
PCS)

Well, my wife and son both have Cingular. We live way out in the country about
80 miles South East of Dallas.

My wife was first and I got her phone from Cingular when they were SBMS because
they were the only ones that had a tower withing 10 miles of our home. Since
she works in the same general vicinity it made sense at the time to get her
their service.

When my son started driving, we wanted him to have a cell phone and he was
added to her account.

>By the way, where did you make your purchase?

Directly from SBMS/Cingular. Upgrades over the years have typically come free
of charge and both of their phones now are the 3560's with different faceplates
to tell them apart.

>Has anyone noticed that the
>largest wireless phone retailer in the US (and has been since wireless came
>about) carries prodominently Sprint PCS and Verizon?

I have noticed that and quite often send people there to buy a phone because of
the way that they handle warranty issues.

>Wouldn't people take
>advice from them rather than some no name booth in a mall somewhere?

Maybe.... but then again, the Radio Shack people are little more than the same
people that worked at the Kiosk in the mall last week.

In our "family", we have the 2 Cingular phones mentioned above and my partners
daughter has a 6340i, again because of where we live and travel. I have a
Sprint PCS phone and my partner and his wife both have Sprint PCS phones on
that same account. I have an AT&T WS TDMA DOR plan and more recently a $29.99
GSM plan with AT&T WS. I also carry a GSM "Test Phone" provided by AT&T WS for
the work I am doing for them at this time. Finally, I also have T-Mobile with
their 1000 minute plan and use that SIM in a Merlin G100 air card as well.

I have never had Verizon and probably won't ever have them. I have done a lot
of work for Verizon over the years and most of the people that I know that have
Verizon are currently having problems. ALL the people in my companies office in
North Carolina have Verizon and you typically can't carry on a conversation
with them without having to re-establish the connection 2 or 3 or more times
depending on the length of the conversation.

How do I rate the various services? Well, I would rate them based on MY
experience over the years.

1. would be Sprint PCS. The clarity of the calls is great and many times the
people on the other end of the line can't even tell I am on a cell phone.
Although much has been written about the poor customer service, I find that
other than long hold times. once connected, it is ok. But then again I seldom
call them.

2. would be AT&T WS's TDMA/AMPS service and their DOR plan which seems to
simply work all over the country. Working on and in their GSM system makes me
know that it is great where they have coverage but if you are off the beaten
path at all, the chances that you will have a signal are nill.

3. would be T-Mobile. Where they haev service it is rock solid and their
customer service is prompt and courteous.

4. At the bottom of the list would be Cingular. Where they offer service that
my family members use, the service is good. However I fault any company that
only has customer service (611) available during "regular" business hours and
not 24 hours a day every day of the year like everyone else.

YMMV

--
John S.
e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net

>Verizon is now selling phones without analog AMPS.

They (and Sprint PCS) always has sold phones without AMPS.

--
John S.
e-mail responses to - john at kiana dot net

> 2. would be AT&T WS's TDMA/AMPS service and their DOR plan which seems to
> simply work all over the country. Working on and in their GSM system makes
me
> know that it is great where they have coverage but if you are off the
beaten
> path at all, the chances that you will have a signal are nill.
>
> 3. would be T-Mobile. Where they haev service it is rock solid and their
> customer service is prompt and courteous.
>
> 4. At the bottom of the list would be Cingular.

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