How to get Cingular phone repaired?

They've closed the facility in my area where I used to take my phones (Trooper,
PA).

I'm guessing they want me to call an 800 number, sit through a long voicemenu,
and then mail the phone in....but that means that, aside from elevating my blood
pressure temporarily, I have no phone for a week or so...

Alternatives? Other walk-in facilities? Any other carriers with a more
user-friendly repair situation?

Seems like my root problem is that I haven't gone to a GSM plan yet. If I did
that, it would just be a matter of having a spare phone and swapping out the
sim..... but I've got four phones on an old family plan that I only pay about
$60 actual per month for and going GSM sounds more like $100-$120....
--
PeteCresswell

---

› See More: How to get Cingular phone repaired?

"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> They've closed the facility in my area where I used to take my phones
(Trooper,
> PA).
>
> I'm guessing they want me to call an 800 number, sit through a long
voicemenu,
> and then mail the phone in....but that means that, aside from elevating my
blood
> pressure temporarily, I have no phone for a week or so...
>

You didn't think this through did you? Now why would Cingular want you to be
without a phone for a week? Warranty Exchange will mail you a phone, provide
you with return postage and a shipping box for the broken phone, then you
have 14 days to ship it.


> Alternatives? Other walk-in facilities? Any other carriers with a more
> user-friendly repair situation?

It's only Cingualr that does this. ALL of the other carriers have repair
techs in the store.

I would go to Verizon. They're giving away free 100% digital phones and no
activation fees for anyone. Each and every store is staffed with Level 5
phone repair technicians with at least 10 years experience.


> Seems like my root problem is that I haven't gone to a GSM plan yet. If I
did
> that, it would just be a matter of having a spare phone and swapping out
the
> sim..... but I've got four phones on an old family plan that I only pay
about
> $60 actual per month for and going GSM sounds more like $100-$120....


There are always pros and cons to everything. For that $100 per month there
are more money saving features available that were not available, or cost as
much as GSM, under the old TDMA plans.

Assuming your old phones are not under warranty, I'd be looking for
replacements. What models do you have? My sister in law has that old Nation
plan with a 5165, and I told her NEVER to give it up. We can always find a
replacement phone if hers shoots craps.

--
MICHAEL J. MacMAHON
Captain (ret.) KCPD

Remember, Golf is not a matter of Life or Death;
it is MUCH more important than that.

NOTE: All outgoing mail is scanned by McAfee Virus Scan for your safety.
"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> They've closed the facility in my area where I used to take my phones
(Trooper,
> PA).
>
> I'm guessing they want me to call an 800 number, sit through a long
voicemenu,
> and then mail the phone in....but that means that, aside from elevating my
blood
> pressure temporarily, I have no phone for a week or so...
>
> Alternatives? Other walk-in facilities? Any other carriers with a more
> user-friendly repair situation?
>
> Seems like my root problem is that I haven't gone to a GSM plan yet. If I
did
> that, it would just be a matter of having a spare phone and swapping out
the
> sim..... but I've got four phones on an old family plan that I only pay
about
> $60 actual per month for and going GSM sounds more like $100-$120....
> --
> PeteCresswell

RE/
>You didn't think this through did you? Now why would Cingular want you to be
>without a phone for a week? Warranty Exchange will mail you a phone, provide
>you with return postage and a shipping box for the broken phone, then you
>have 14 days to ship it.

I thought about it briefly - but figured that, since it was not a GSM phone,
there would be an issue with having the replacement hooked in to my account.
Do they do this over the phone or something?
--
PeteCresswell

RE/
>Assuming your old phones are not under warranty, I'd be looking for
>replacements. What models do you have? My sister in law has that old Nation
>plan with a 5165, and I told her NEVER to give it up. We can always find a
>replacement phone if hers shoots craps.

The one I'd like to get fixed is a Nokia 7160. The feature I like is the
phonebook with multiple numbers.

Every time I look into alternative services, I come up with something similar to
what you observe about your sister-in-law. Namely, I've got the deal to die
for and I should hold on as long as possible.

Personally, it seems like the per-phone billing is kind of an
artificial/structured situation. As far as I can see, the only incremental
cost in adding a phone to an account is the extra piece of paper they have to
print every month - which could be eliminated to the company's favor by making
the user agree to online billing. Other than that, it seems like an extra phone
is just an row in a database's child table of phones for that account....and,
sincd they're really selling airtime minutes it could even be argued that every
extra phone on an account could mean more revenue/profit.
--
PeteCresswell

I would go on eBay and get one (or two or three!) They are relatively
inexpensive because they are an older TDMA phone, and the demand for them is
not that high. You will probably get charged a flat rate that will be pretty
high if you send it to Nokia to have it repaired.

Cingular will not mix and match TDMA and GSM phones on that plan;
technologically it would not be possible. Good luck.

--
MICHAEL J. MacMAHON
Captain (ret.) KCPD

Remember, Golf is not a matter of Life or Death;
it is MUCH more important than that.

NOTE: All outgoing mail is scanned by McAfee Virus Scan for your safety.
"(Pete Cresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> RE/
> >Assuming your old phones are not under warranty, I'd be looking for
> >replacements. What models do you have? My sister in law has that old
Nation
> >plan with a 5165, and I told her NEVER to give it up. We can always find
a
> >replacement phone if hers shoots craps.
>
> The one I'd like to get fixed is a Nokia 7160. The feature I like is the
> phonebook with multiple numbers.
>
> Every time I look into alternative services, I come up with something
similar to
> what you observe about your sister-in-law. Namely, I've got the deal to
die
> for and I should hold on as long as possible.
>
> Personally, it seems like the per-phone billing is kind of an
> artificial/structured situation. As far as I can see, the only
incremental
> cost in adding a phone to an account is the extra piece of paper they have
to
> print every month - which could be eliminated to the company's favor by
making
> the user agree to online billing. Other than that, it seems like an extra
phone
> is just an row in a database's child table of phones for that
account....and,
> sincd they're really selling airtime minutes it could even be argued that
every
> extra phone on an account could mean more revenue/profit.
> --
> PeteCresswell

What a great phone ... 3 phones ago. Why not upgrade to something more
modern?

___________________
Ann
Motorola V551
iPAQ 4355

"Michael MacMahon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Assuming your old phones are not under warranty, I'd be looking for
> replacements. What models do you have? My sister in law has that old
> Nation
> plan with a 5165, and I told her NEVER to give it up. We can always find a
> replacement phone if hers shoots craps.
>
> --
> MICHAEL J. MacMAHON
> Captain (ret.) KCPD
>
> Remember, Golf is not a matter of Life or Death;
> it is MUCH more important than that.
>
> NOTE: All outgoing mail is scanned by McAfee Virus Scan for your safety.
> "(Pete Cresswell)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> They've closed the facility in my area where I used to take my phones
> (Trooper,
>> PA).
>>
>> I'm guessing they want me to call an 800 number, sit through a long
> voicemenu,
>> and then mail the phone in....but that means that, aside from elevating
>> my
> blood
>> pressure temporarily, I have no phone for a week or so...
>>
>> Alternatives? Other walk-in facilities? Any other carriers with a
>> more
>> user-friendly repair situation?
>>
>> Seems like my root problem is that I haven't gone to a GSM plan yet. If
>> I
> did
>> that, it would just be a matter of having a spare phone and swapping out
> the
>> sim..... but I've got four phones on an old family plan that I only pay
> about
>> $60 actual per month for and going GSM sounds more like $100-$120....
>> --
>> PeteCresswell
>
>

RE/
>What a great phone ... 3 phones ago. Why not upgrade to something more
>modern?

Cost per month.

Even though my nominally-$45 per month account costs me sixty, getting four (or
even three) phones on a GSM account seems tb more like $100 per month.

If I could do 3 GSM phones for sixty per month, I'd ditch the fourth, (which I
only use occassionally as a loaner or in situations when I need a candybar-style
phone to work in a waterproof bag) and sign up.
--
PeteCresswell

(Pete Cresswell) wrote:
> RE/
>> Assuming your old phones are not under warranty, I'd be looking for
>> replacements. What models do you have? My sister in law has that old
>> Nation plan with a 5165, and I told her NEVER to give it up. We can
>> always find a replacement phone if hers shoots craps.
>
> The one I'd like to get fixed is a Nokia 7160. The feature I like is
> the phonebook with multiple numbers.

I like that feature too, in the Nokia 6340 and 6340i (still using it,
also). Perhaps you could migrate to running TDMA only on a GAIT phone.
After all, it has an ESN.

John C.

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 19:42:54 -0500, "Ann" <[email protected]> wrote:

>What a great phone ... 3 phones ago. Why not upgrade to something more
>modern?

Sorry, I'm not very good at playing Jeopardy.

They got the Nokia 5165 because it *works* and meets their needs.
Maybe they don't need a camera, EDGE capability, olor screen or
polyphonic ringer. The 5165 is a basic phone that does what it's
supposed to do. It makes and receives calls simply. Anyone can pick
one up and they don't need any instruction at all to figure out how to
use it. You can't say that with a lot of other phones.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

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

In <[email protected]> on Fri, 24 Dec 2004 10:02:05
-0800, Joseph <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 19:42:54 -0500, "Ann" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>What a great phone ... 3 phones ago. Why not upgrade to something more
>>modern?
>
>Sorry, I'm not very good at playing Jeopardy.
>
>They got the Nokia 5165 because it *works* and meets their needs.
>Maybe they don't need a camera, EDGE capability, olor screen or
>polyphonic ringer. The 5165 is a basic phone that does what it's
>supposed to do. It makes and receives calls simply. Anyone can pick
>one up and they don't need any instruction at all to figure out how to
>use it. You can't say that with a lot of other phones.

OTOH, the 5165 has mediocre RF performance and sound quality. Regardless,
it's not economic to repair an old phone -- better to buy a replacement.

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

I called 1-800-801-1101 the number on the
Cingular Website and got a very nice Cingular
Representative, Karen.

Cingular will replace my Motorola V400 - GSM,
and I have to ship the the defective phone, it has
a frozen screen and the keys are stuck, back to
them, following the instructions they send.

If the phone has liquid or phyiscal damage,
you have to pay for a new one.

This takes a total of 7 days, unless I want to
pay $17.50 extra and then it takes only two days.

Time for a new plan, when Cingular is over.

My sister has Sprint, her phone was damaged,
she went to the Spring dealer that sold her the
phone and the contract, and her defective phone
was replaced on the spot.

I went with her.

The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.

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

> I called 1-800-801-1101 the number on the
> Cingular Website and got a very nice Cingular
> Representative, Karen.
>
> Cingular will replace my Motorola V400 - GSM,
> and I have to ship the the defective phone, it has
> a frozen screen and the keys are stuck, back to
> them, following the instructions they send.
>
> If the phone has liquid or phyiscal damage,
> you have to pay for a new one.
>
> This takes a total of 7 days, unless I want to
> pay $17.50 extra and then it takes only two days.
>
> Time for a new plan, when Cingular is over.
>
> My sister has Sprint, her phone was damaged,
> she went to the Spring dealer that sold her the
> phone and the contract, and her defective phone
> was replaced on the spot.
>
> I went with her.
>
> The whole thing took less than 15 minutes.

The SprintPCS usenet group has plenty of complaints of Sprint refusing
to help with phones that didnt work well, and Sprint claiming it wasnt a
warranty issue. A few cases where poor coverage was denied and the store
used it as an excuse to sell a new phone that then didnt help any other
than to extend ones contract.