Discontinued plans

On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 01:30:29 UTC, "bamp" <bampatcenturyteldotnet>
wrote:

>
> "Jeremy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:3LKJf.1065$p13.40@trnddc08...
> >
> > "Karen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news[email protected]...
> >> On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:11:04 +0000, John Navas wrote:
> >>
> >>> D-AMPS is going away, but life goes on.
> >>
> >> I have never seen anything about this in my monthly bills. I know about
> >> it
> >> from usenet and web forums but would otherwise be ignorant of Cingular's
> >> transition to GSM only. It seems that they would be warning their
> >> customers in writing of the network cutbacks and the eventual end of TDMA
> >> access. By not doing so, they are going to have a lot of puzzled and
> >> unhappy customers when the access does finally "go away" as you put it.
> >>
> >> Karen
> >
> > You have hit it on the head. But you are off-base regarding Cingular's
> > motivation for doing this.
> >
> > Cingular is not going out of their way to tell ATTWS customers that they
> > will have to migrate to GSM, because they do not want an avalanche of
> > disgruntled customers demanding that they remain on their ATTWS rate
> > plans. Cingular intends to slowly cut back on the TDMA towers, resulting
> > in dropped calls, no service and handsets that shut off by themselves, in
> > an attempt to put the squeeze on current TDMA customers to voluntarily
> > migrate to higher-priced GSM plans, out of sheer frustration with their
> > current level of service quality.
> >
> > I'll just bet that, when the TDMA system is about to be shut down,
> > Cingular will offer to migrate whoever is left over to GSM without
> > penalty.
> >
> > Their strategy is failing, because lots of us have elected to favor other
> > carriers with our business, rather than give in to this mean-spirited
> > strategy of arm-twisting. Cingular is the vendor--WE are the customers,
> > and many of us are thumbing our noses at Cingular. Cingular is spending a
> > lot of money advertising, in an attempt to replace us with new
> > sheep--money that they could have used to keep us from leaving by not
> > trying to jack up our rate plans.
> >
> > I'm sure that Cingular's GSM network performs well, but I won't give them
> > another dime! This kick in the butt made me move to Sprint, and the
> > service where I need it is superb--nothing below 4 bars. So, the story
> > has a happy ending for me. Others should check out the landscape before
> > giving in to Cingular's demands for higher rates. There really are
> > alternatives out there.
>
> If the story has a happy ending, why are you still here? Just can't leave
> huh?
> ..
> bamp
> >
>
>


--

Sounds like he still has to try to convince himself that he made the
right choice.

Changing phone companies shouldn't be considered a major life
decision.

When I dropped my Sprint service, I didn't hang around Sprint forums
afterwards telling people how stupid they were to stay with Sprint.
Sprint just didn't work well at home, so I went with a company that
had decent coverage there. Easier than moving.

---

› See More: Discontinued plans

"Kevin K" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:KIRoJuEXw9g9-pn2-Ud73Vz6M9MIq@ecs...
> On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 01:30:29 UTC, "bamp" <bampatcenturyteldotnet>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> "Jeremy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:3LKJf.1065$p13.40@trnddc08...
>> >
>> > "Karen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> > news[email protected]...
>> >> On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:11:04 +0000, John Navas wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> D-AMPS is going away, but life goes on.
>> >>
>> >> I have never seen anything about this in my monthly bills. I know
>> >> about
>> >> it
>> >> from usenet and web forums but would otherwise be ignorant of
>> >> Cingular's
>> >> transition to GSM only. It seems that they would be warning their
>> >> customers in writing of the network cutbacks and the eventual end of
>> >> TDMA
>> >> access. By not doing so, they are going to have a lot of puzzled and
>> >> unhappy customers when the access does finally "go away" as you put
>> >> it.
>> >>
>> >> Karen
>> >
>> > You have hit it on the head. But you are off-base regarding Cingular's
>> > motivation for doing this.
>> >
>> > Cingular is not going out of their way to tell ATTWS customers that
>> > they
>> > will have to migrate to GSM, because they do not want an avalanche of
>> > disgruntled customers demanding that they remain on their ATTWS rate
>> > plans. Cingular intends to slowly cut back on the TDMA towers,
>> > resulting
>> > in dropped calls, no service and handsets that shut off by themselves,
>> > in
>> > an attempt to put the squeeze on current TDMA customers to voluntarily
>> > migrate to higher-priced GSM plans, out of sheer frustration with their
>> > current level of service quality.
>> >
>> > I'll just bet that, when the TDMA system is about to be shut down,
>> > Cingular will offer to migrate whoever is left over to GSM without
>> > penalty.
>> >
>> > Their strategy is failing, because lots of us have elected to favor
>> > other
>> > carriers with our business, rather than give in to this mean-spirited
>> > strategy of arm-twisting. Cingular is the vendor--WE are the
>> > customers,
>> > and many of us are thumbing our noses at Cingular. Cingular is
>> > spending a
>> > lot of money advertising, in an attempt to replace us with new
>> > sheep--money that they could have used to keep us from leaving by not
>> > trying to jack up our rate plans.
>> >
>> > I'm sure that Cingular's GSM network performs well, but I won't give
>> > them
>> > another dime! This kick in the butt made me move to Sprint, and the
>> > service where I need it is superb--nothing below 4 bars. So, the story
>> > has a happy ending for me. Others should check out the landscape
>> > before
>> > giving in to Cingular's demands for higher rates. There really are
>> > alternatives out there.
>>
>> If the story has a happy ending, why are you still here? Just can't leave
>> huh?
>> ..
>> bamp
>> >
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> Sounds like he still has to try to convince himself that he made the
> right choice.
>
> Changing phone companies shouldn't be considered a major life
> decision.
>
> When I dropped my Sprint service, I didn't hang around Sprint forums
> afterwards telling people how stupid they were to stay with Sprint.
> Sprint just didn't work well at home, so I went with a company that
> had decent coverage there. Easier than moving.


I NEVER even remotely suggested that anyone that remained with Cingular was
stupid. Don't go around putting words in other peoples' mouths to create
false arguments.

Rather than your playing amateur psychologist, you ought to take the time to
get the facts straight.

My derogatory comments were all directed at Cingular. Not ATTWS, not either
company's customers.

"AV8R" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Does anyone know how long you can stay on a plan that has been
> discontinued? I am currently on the North American plan (Canada, USA
> and Mexico) and love it and don't see any changes in my usage for quite
> some time. My concern is that I will someday receive a notice that I
> will have to subscribe to another plan. Thanks for any imput.

Ordinarily you can stay on your discontinued plan as long you like. But I
found out the hard way that there is at least one exception. I was
grandfathered under the old MediaWorks plan that, for 19.95/mo., inlcluded
a few hundred text messages and some MMS messages along with the unlimited
data. A few months ago someone at Cingular mistakenly or accidentally
deleted my Mediaworks plan without my requesting it or giving my permission.
I learned of the error when I got a huge bill the following month; I was
being billed for each kbyte I used. When I called Cingular I was told that
even though there was indeed no record that I had requested any changes in
my service, they could not reinstate my old plan since it no longer exists
in their menu of plans. In other words, my old Mediaworks plan was no
longer in their computer and therefore there was no conceivable way, I was
told, it could be reinstated. They told me I would have to choose from
among their current plans. But, none of their new plans is as generous as
the old MediaWorks which was one of the last good deals left in America. I
talked to both regular CS people and customer retention folks as well. They
told me I had their sympathy but their system does not permit them to
rectify the error nor give me anything else of equal value as a consolation.
So what finally happened? Because I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I
persisted. After spending many hours on the phone with many different CSRs
over a period of about two weeks, one customer retention rep finally went
out of her way for me. She searched the computers in her office and found
one on her boss' desk that still had the specifics of my old MediaWorks
plan. That enabled her to make me whole again. She was the only CSR out
of maybe a dozen, that was willing to go the extra mile to try to fix my
problem. But even she agreed that if she hadn't found a computer with my
old plan still on it, she would not have been able to reinstate the
cancelled MediaWorks.
While I intend to stay with Cingular, after this experience I will steer
clear of contracts. My contract had expired a year earlier and I was
thinking of getting a new phone with new contract. Instead, I decided
against the contract and bought a phone on Ebay.

Cordially,
Iopsy

Same thing happened to me. I told them that I would accept a monthly credit
to my account for the use that I did that would have been included in my old
plan. They forwarded my call to a "customer resolution" specialist. She was
able to reinstate the plan and as an extra she asked if I would like it on
any other phone I had on the family plan. As we all use Media Net and SMS I
took it on all my phones and dropped other features. End result, Saved me $4
per month with more than I had before.
I have always had a good experience with Cingular and see no changes in the
future. I guess it is how you approach the situation and the attitude you
display.

"Iopsy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "AV8R" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Does anyone know how long you can stay on a plan that has been
>> discontinued? I am currently on the North American plan (Canada, USA
>> and Mexico) and love it and don't see any changes in my usage for quite
>> some time. My concern is that I will someday receive a notice that I
>> will have to subscribe to another plan. Thanks for any imput.
>
> Ordinarily you can stay on your discontinued plan as long you like. But I
> found out the hard way that there is at least one exception. I was
> grandfathered under the old MediaWorks plan that, for 19.95/mo., inlcluded
> a few hundred text messages and some MMS messages along with the unlimited
> data. A few months ago someone at Cingular mistakenly or accidentally
> deleted my Mediaworks plan without my requesting it or giving my
> permission. I learned of the error when I got a huge bill the following
> month; I was being billed for each kbyte I used. When I called Cingular I
> was told that even though there was indeed no record that I had requested
> any changes in my service, they could not reinstate my old plan since it
> no longer exists in their menu of plans. In other words, my old
> Mediaworks plan was no longer in their computer and therefore there was no
> conceivable way, I was told, it could be reinstated. They told me I would
> have to choose from among their current plans. But, none of their new
> plans is as generous as the old MediaWorks which was one of the last good
> deals left in America. I talked to both regular CS people and customer
> retention folks as well. They told me I had their sympathy but their
> system does not permit them to rectify the error nor give me anything else
> of equal value as a consolation.
> So what finally happened? Because I couldn't believe what I was hearing,
> I persisted. After spending many hours on the phone with many different
> CSRs over a period of about two weeks, one customer retention rep finally
> went out of her way for me. She searched the computers in her office and
> found one on her boss' desk that still had the specifics of my old
> MediaWorks plan. That enabled her to make me whole again. She was the
> only CSR out of maybe a dozen, that was willing to go the extra mile to
> try to fix my problem. But even she agreed that if she hadn't found a
> computer with my old plan still on it, she would not have been able to
> reinstate the cancelled MediaWorks.
> While I intend to stay with Cingular, after this experience I will steer
> clear of contracts. My contract had expired a year earlier and I was
> thinking of getting a new phone with new contract. Instead, I decided
> against the contract and bought a phone on Ebay.
>
> Cordially,
> Iopsy
>

"JAW" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Same thing happened to me. I told them that I would accept a monthly
> credit to my account for the use that I did that would have been included
> in my old plan. They forwarded my call to a "customer resolution"
> specialist. She was able to reinstate the plan and as an extra she asked
> if I would like it on any other phone I had on the family plan. As we all
> use Media Net and SMS I took it on all my phones and dropped other
> features. End result, Saved me $4 per month with more than I had before.
> I have always had a good experience with Cingular and see no changes in
> the future. I guess it is how you approach the situation and the attitude
> you display.

Yessir that's what it's all about. Some people never learn that you can
catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.
...
bamp
>
> "Iopsy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> "AV8R" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> Does anyone know how long you can stay on a plan that has been
>>> discontinued? I am currently on the North American plan (Canada, USA
>>> and Mexico) and love it and don't see any changes in my usage for quite
>>> some time. My concern is that I will someday receive a notice that I
>>> will have to subscribe to another plan. Thanks for any imput.
>>
>> Ordinarily you can stay on your discontinued plan as long you like. But
>> I found out the hard way that there is at least one exception. I was
>> grandfathered under the old MediaWorks plan that, for 19.95/mo.,
>> inlcluded a few hundred text messages and some MMS messages along with
>> the unlimited data. A few months ago someone at Cingular mistakenly or
>> accidentally deleted my Mediaworks plan without my requesting it or
>> giving my permission. I learned of the error when I got a huge bill the
>> following month; I was being billed for each kbyte I used. When I called
>> Cingular I was told that even though there was indeed no record that I
>> had requested any changes in my service, they could not reinstate my old
>> plan since it no longer exists in their menu of plans. In other words,
>> my old Mediaworks plan was no longer in their computer and therefore
>> there was no conceivable way, I was told, it could be reinstated. They
>> told me I would have to choose from among their current plans. But, none
>> of their new plans is as generous as the old MediaWorks which was one of
>> the last good deals left in America. I talked to both regular CS people
>> and customer retention folks as well. They told me I had their sympathy
>> but their system does not permit them to rectify the error nor give me
>> anything else of equal value as a consolation.
>> So what finally happened? Because I couldn't believe what I was hearing,
>> I persisted. After spending many hours on the phone with many different
>> CSRs over a period of about two weeks, one customer retention rep
>> finally went out of her way for me. She searched the computers in her
>> office and found one on her boss' desk that still had the specifics of my
>> old MediaWorks plan. That enabled her to make me whole again. She was
>> the only CSR out of maybe a dozen, that was willing to go the extra mile
>> to try to fix my problem. But even she agreed that if she hadn't found a
>> computer with my old plan still on it, she would not have been able to
>> reinstate the cancelled MediaWorks.
>> While I intend to stay with Cingular, after this experience I will steer
>> clear of contracts. My contract had expired a year earlier and I was
>> thinking of getting a new phone with new contract. Instead, I decided
>> against the contract and bought a phone on Ebay.
>>
>> Cordially,
>> Iopsy
>>
>
>

In <[email protected]> on Mon, 20 Feb 2006 03:33:29 -0600, "JAW"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Same thing happened to me. I told them that I would accept a monthly credit
>to my account for the use that I did that would have been included in my old
>plan. They forwarded my call to a "customer resolution" specialist. She was
>able to reinstate the plan and as an extra she asked if I would like it on
>any other phone I had on the family plan. As we all use Media Net and SMS I
>took it on all my phones and dropped other features. End result, Saved me $4
>per month with more than I had before.

Same here. In my case it was the "Office of the President" (really the top
level escalation group) that was able to reinstate my old MEdia Works
Unlimited plan, and reverse about $8,000 (yes, $8,000!) in data charges.

>I have always had a good experience with Cingular and see no changes in the
>future. I guess it is how you approach the situation and the attitude you
>display.

Likewise.

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

>> Ordinarily you can stay on your discontinued plan as long you like. But I
>> found out the hard way that there is at least one exception. I was
>> grandfathered under the old MediaWorks plan that, for 19.95/mo., inlcluded
>> a few hundred text messages and some MMS messages along with the unlimited
>> data.

Actually 1500 SMS (text) messages, and 200 MMS (multimedia) messages.

>> A few months ago someone at Cingular mistakenly or accidentally
>> deleted my Mediaworks plan without my requesting it or giving my
>> permission. I learned of the error when I got a huge bill the following
>> month; I was being billed for each kbyte I used. When I called Cingular I
>> was told that even though there was indeed no record that I had requested
>> any changes in my service, they could not reinstate my old plan since it
>> no longer exists in their menu of plans. In other words, my old
>> Mediaworks plan was no longer in their computer and therefore there was no
>> conceivable way, I was told, it could be reinstated. They told me I would
>> have to choose from among their current plans. But, none of their new
>> plans is as generous as the old MediaWorks which was one of the last good
>> deals left in America. I talked to both regular CS people and customer
>> retention folks as well. They told me I had their sympathy but their
>> system does not permit them to rectify the error nor give me anything else
>> of equal value as a consolation.
>> So what finally happened? Because I couldn't believe what I was hearing,
>> I persisted. After spending many hours on the phone with many different
>> CSRs over a period of about two weeks, one customer retention rep finally
>> went out of her way for me. She searched the computers in her office and
>> found one on her boss' desk that still had the specifics of my old
>> MediaWorks plan. That enabled her to make me whole again. She was the
>> only CSR out of maybe a dozen, that was willing to go the extra mile to
>> try to fix my problem. But even she agreed that if she hadn't found a
>> computer with my old plan still on it, she would not have been able to
>> reinstate the cancelled MediaWorks.
>> While I intend to stay with Cingular, after this experience I will steer
>> clear of contracts. My contract had expired a year earlier and I was
>> thinking of getting a new phone with new contract. Instead, I decided
>> against the contract and bought a phone on Ebay.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

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

In <[email protected]> on Mon, 20 Feb 2006
14:23:55 -0600, "bamp" <bampatcenturyteldotnet> wrote:

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

>> I have always had a good experience with Cingular and see no changes in
>> the future. I guess it is how you approach the situation and the attitude
>> you display.
>
>Yessir that's what it's all about. Some people never learn that you can
>catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar.

Amen! I just shake my head when I see a flame here about Cingular Customer
Care where it's pretty clear from the style of the post that the poster pretty
much got what he/she deserved. Classic example:

When I called Cingular Customer Service, the moron said

I told the little snot of a rep

So long, Cingular. **** off!

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

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

In <[email protected]> on Fri, 17 Feb 2006 21:58:00
-0800, Karen <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Fri, 17 Feb 2006 22:11:04 +0000, John Navas wrote:
>
>> D-AMPS is going away, but life goes on.
>
>I have never seen anything about this in my monthly bills. I know about it
>from usenet and web forums but would otherwise be ignorant of Cingular's
>transition to GSM only. It seems that they would be warning their
>customers in writing of the network cutbacks and the eventual end of TDMA
>access. By not doing so, they are going to have a lot of puzzled and
>unhappy customers when the access does finally "go away" as you put it.

You haven't gotten any offers to upgrade to GSM? Other customers get them
frequently.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

"Karen" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 16:21:18 +0000, John Navas wrote:
>
>> In <[email protected]> on Fri, 17 Feb 2006
>> 21:58:00 -0800, Karen <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>>I have never seen anything about this in my monthly bills. I know about
>>>it from usenet and web forums but would otherwise be ignorant of
>>>Cingular's transition to GSM only. It seems that they would be warning
>>>their customers in writing of the network cutbacks and the eventual end
>>>of TDMA access. By not doing so, they are going to have a lot of puzzled
>>>and unhappy customers when the access does finally "go away" as you put
>>>it.
>>
>> You haven't gotten any offers to upgrade to GSM? Other customers get
>> them
>> frequently.
>
> No, there has not been anything included in my bills and I've been looking
> for it. I've not received any separate mailings about it.
>
> I called them once about 6 or so months ago to see what they'd say. They
> couldn't come near to matching my current very cheap TDMA plan which
> didn't surprise me and after the CS tech would not relent on the contract
> if I migrated, I let it go. A Cingular store rep said something about
> selling me just the sim card without a contract but I didn't clarify with
> him if he was talking about pre-paid or post-paid service.
>
> Karen

Millions of us have left Cingular. Perhaps you should, too . . . They are
NOT going to do anything for TDMA customers. Try and buy a replacement
phone . . . And there will be NO additional features or services available.
You are stuck in a time warp.

The question you need to answer for yourself is, "do you want to favor
Cingular with your future business, or would you prefer to just thumb your
nose at them and walk away?" Only you can determine what is the right
response in your particular circumstance.

My own 14-day trial period with Sprint PCS ends today, and I could not be
happier with the service I get and the price I pay. It is even less than I
was paying under my old ATTWS plan. I don't understand why I felt I was a
captive Cingular customer. So many years with AT&T--I guess I just couldn't
bring myself to break free. That was very foolish of me.

My new service is crystal clear, and I get no less than 4 bars of signal
strength in all the places that I drive through. Retrieving voicemail is
faster. My new phone has a speakerphone--something my old Ericsson handsets
didn't have. My M2M audio quality is miles ahead of what I had on my ATTWS
network. My new phone has almost double the talk time and standby time than
my old TDMA phone had. It is lighter, too.

Sticking with TDMA has its price. I paid that price for too long. I'm
pleased to be free of Cingular. My TDMA plan for the remaining 2 lines (I
ported one number over to Sprint, leaving 2 lines not ported) expires
Friday. I pay my last bill, and Cingular and I are through. If the truth
be known, I never wanted or liked Cingular in the first place. I chose
AT&T, and was not pleased to learn that I'd be moving into Cingular's fold.
I'm out, and I'm happy about it.

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

In <KpPKf.8521$yw4.1425@trnddc05> on Wed, 22 Feb 2006 01:48:26 GMT, "Jeremy"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Millions of us have left Cingular.

Millions more have joined -- churn is *down*, not up.

>Perhaps you should, too . . . They are
>NOT going to do anything for TDMA customers. ...

Of course "they" are -- the same deal that's offered to new customers.

Now please, please give it a rest.

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>