Any suggestions for what to do now?

I signed a 2 year contract with Cingular about a month ago.
2 weeks ago I lost my phone.
I bought a new phone and took it into their main office (in Rochester NY) on
11/8.
They put a SIM in, and told me it would be a while before it actually
worked.
I waited 2 hours, and when it didn't work (any number I called, I got
Cingular), I called their 866 number.
Bryon Williams told me it was set up wrong. He "fixed" it and told me it
would be okay in an hour or so.
When I had no signal at all, I called again on 11/9 and spoke to Roscoe
Smith.
He told me it was set up wrong. He "fixed" it and told me it would be okay
in an hour or so.
Every number I called, except 611, gave me a busy signal, so I called again
on 11/10 and spoke to Cory Peters.
He said the number had been assigned incorrectly, and he would "fix" it.
When that didn't work (leaving me with no signal at all) he said he would
get back to me.
When he didn't get back to me, I called on 11/11 and spoke to Darin Gauss.
Darin told me that if I didn't get a signal, I had to go someplace else to
use the phone. I explained that I had a signal until Cory "fixed" it, and
that my wife's phone had a signal. He told me the phone must be broken
then, because everything looked fine on his side. I refused to accept that
explanation, so he put me on hold for 15 minutes. He then told me that he
had to put me on hold indefinitely while he tried to get tech support. I
asked him to call me back when he got tech support, but he told me that once
he hung up from me the matter would be closed as far as he was concerned. I
got the sense he was going to put me on hold and go home, so I hung up.

So, is there an alternative to telling Cingular they are in breach of
contract, and trying another company? I hate to do that because they will
probably put something malicious on my credit report, but I just don't know
what else to do.

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› See More: Any suggestions for what to do now?

Wade Lippman wrote:
> I signed a 2 year contract with Cingular about a month ago.
> 2 weeks ago I lost my phone.
> I bought a new phone and took it into their main office (in Rochester NY) on
> 11/8.
> They put a SIM in, and told me it would be a while before it actually
> worked.
> I waited 2 hours, and when it didn't work (any number I called, I got
> Cingular), I called their 866 number.
> Bryon Williams told me it was set up wrong. He "fixed" it and told me it
> would be okay in an hour or so.
> When I had no signal at all, I called again on 11/9 and spoke to Roscoe
> Smith.
> He told me it was set up wrong. He "fixed" it and told me it would be okay
> in an hour or so.
> Every number I called, except 611, gave me a busy signal, so I called again
> on 11/10 and spoke to Cory Peters.
> He said the number had been assigned incorrectly, and he would "fix" it.
> When that didn't work (leaving me with no signal at all) he said he would
> get back to me.
> When he didn't get back to me, I called on 11/11 and spoke to Darin Gauss.
> Darin told me that if I didn't get a signal, I had to go someplace else to
> use the phone. I explained that I had a signal until Cory "fixed" it, and
> that my wife's phone had a signal. He told me the phone must be broken
> then, because everything looked fine on his side. I refused to accept that
> explanation, so he put me on hold for 15 minutes. He then told me that he
> had to put me on hold indefinitely while he tried to get tech support. I
> asked him to call me back when he got tech support, but he told me that once
> he hung up from me the matter would be closed as far as he was concerned. I
> got the sense he was going to put me on hold and go home, so I hung up.
>
> So, is there an alternative to telling Cingular they are in breach of
> contract, and trying another company? I hate to do that because they will
> probably put something malicious on my credit report, but I just don't know
> what else to do.
>
>

Have you tried switching SIMs with your wife's phone? That might
narrow it down to be the phone or the SIM. Sometimes a SIM can be bad, too.

AD

>
> Have you tried switching SIMs with your wife's phone? That might
> narrow it down to be the phone or the SIM. Sometimes a SIM can be bad,
too.
>
A good suggestion, but not too helpful.
With my sim, wife's phone got no signal; just like my phone with my sim
With wife's sim, my phone got a signal (which I suppose is better than it
was), but was only able to call Cingular.

So, my sim is bad because it works in neither phone, but it doesn't prove my
phone is good.
Unless you understand these things better than I do...

Thanks. (Oh, when I put them back, everything was as before. I had such
fear I would wreck my wifes phone (but if I am dropping Cingular anyhow...))

SOunds like you cell phone is "locked" Was it a used phone? If so, was
it on Cingular in YOUR area? If not you may have to have the phone
unlocked. Try google.com and use unlock and your phone type (like T720
etc) and see what comes up.


On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 03:03:41 GMT, "Wade Lippman"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>>
>> Have you tried switching SIMs with your wife's phone? That might
>> narrow it down to be the phone or the SIM. Sometimes a SIM can be bad,
>too.
>>
>A good suggestion, but not too helpful.
>With my sim, wife's phone got no signal; just like my phone with my sim
>With wife's sim, my phone got a signal (which I suppose is better than it
>was), but was only able to call Cingular.
>
>So, my sim is bad because it works in neither phone, but it doesn't prove my
>phone is good.
>Unless you understand these things better than I do...
>
>Thanks. (Oh, when I put them back, everything was as before. I had such
>fear I would wreck my wifes phone (but if I am dropping Cingular anyhow...))
>

It was a used phone, but when you turn it on, it says CINGULAR, so I presume
it was locked to Cingular. Does the area matter?
So far they haven't made that claim.

Today I talked to the salesman that signed me up a month ago, and he said
the problem was obvious; they have my phone number screwed up. Apparently
there are two numbers, one for the phone and one for the account. For GSM
phones they don't have to be the same, but for GAIT phones they do. The guy
who did the SIM didn't realize this. He will get it fixed tomorrow when he
can get someone from tech.

I went all over this with the 2nd guy, but apparently he didn't fix it.
Does this make any sense at all??????????

"PC" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> SOunds like you cell phone is "locked" Was it a used phone? If so, was
> it on Cingular in YOUR area? If not you may have to have the phone
> unlocked. Try google.com and use unlock and your phone type (like T720
> etc) and see what comes up.
>
>
> On Wed, 19 Nov 2003 03:03:41 GMT, "Wade Lippman"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >>
> >> Have you tried switching SIMs with your wife's phone? That might
> >> narrow it down to be the phone or the SIM. Sometimes a SIM can be bad,
> >too.
> >>
> >A good suggestion, but not too helpful.
> >With my sim, wife's phone got no signal; just like my phone with my sim
> >With wife's sim, my phone got a signal (which I suppose is better than it
> >was), but was only able to call Cingular.
> >
> >So, my sim is bad because it works in neither phone, but it doesn't prove
my
> >phone is good.
> >Unless you understand these things better than I do...
> >
> >Thanks. (Oh, when I put them back, everything was as before. I had such
> >fear I would wreck my wifes phone (but if I am dropping Cingular
anyhow...))
> >
>

Turns out there was a progamming error that prevented my telephone number
from working with my phone. It took over a week, but I am fine now.