Hassle with Cingular Customer Service

What a hassle I had with Cingular! (as usual)
Ever since strating with Cingular, I have had nothing but trouble with my
phones. Getting CS to acknowledge problems is like pulling teeth. First it
was the problems with my Samsung phones, headset compatability. Now, bad
signal, missed and dropped calls, especially since service degraded in
hurricane hit FL. After missing quite a few important calls, I had it and
called Cingular CS to request they exchange my crummy Samsung x427 and x497
phones for a better phone like a Motorola a week of phone calls and getting
passed back and forth with innefective staff at CS and I finally got someone
there who told me to call cancellations and demand to talk to the Customer
Satisfaction Team.

Now, get this, CS doesnt acknowledge such a department, it took 20 min for
the idiot I was talking to to pass me onto the CST. Then an hour and a half
later, they finally agreed to let me purchase new phones at a discount,
basically the internet price.

I should get my new Moto V557 phones next week, but What A Hassle! just to
get a working phone and service that I am already paying for.

marx404

---

› See More: Hassle with Cingular Customer Service

"marx404" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> What a hassle I had with Cingular! (as usual)
> Ever since strating with Cingular, I have had nothing but trouble with my
> phones. Getting CS to acknowledge problems is like pulling teeth. First it
> was the problems with my Samsung phones, headset compatability. Now, bad
> signal, missed and dropped calls, especially since service degraded in
> hurricane hit FL. After missing quite a few important calls, I had it and
> called Cingular CS to request they exchange my crummy Samsung x427 and
> x497
> phones for a better phone like a Motorola a week of phone calls and
> getting
> passed back and forth with innefective staff at CS and I finally got
> someone
> there who told me to call cancellations and demand to talk to the Customer
> Satisfaction Team.
>
> Now, get this, CS doesnt acknowledge such a department, it took 20 min for
> the idiot I was talking to to pass me onto the CST. Then an hour and a
> half
> later, they finally agreed to let me purchase new phones at a discount,
> basically the internet price.
>
> I should get my new Moto V557 phones next week, but What A Hassle! just to
> get a working phone and service that I am already paying for.
>
> marx404
>

While I agree the experience may not have been the best example of good
customer service, how can you say "just to get a working phone and service"
when you have not even received the replacement phones yet?
Hopefully your experience with Moto phones will be better than mine and
Cingulars coverage in your area is better than here in Va. Beach!

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

In <[email protected]> on Tue, 28 Feb 2006
08:05:04 -0500, "marx404" <[email protected]> wrote:

>What a hassle I had with Cingular! (as usual)

I have almost had good experiences with Cingular Customer Service. I know
from experience that how you approach them is a key factor (just as it is with
most customer service organizations) -- if you want courtesy and respect, then
it's important to treat them with courtesy and respect.

>Ever since strating with Cingular, I have had nothing but trouble with my
>phones. Getting CS to acknowledge problems is like pulling teeth. First it
>was the problems with my Samsung phones, headset compatability. Now, bad
>signal, missed and dropped calls, especially since service degraded in
>hurricane hit FL. After missing quite a few important calls, I had it and
>called Cingular CS to request they exchange my crummy Samsung x427 and x497
>phones for a better phone like a Motorola a week of phone calls and getting
>passed back and forth with innefective staff at CS and I finally got someone
>there who told me to call cancellations and demand to talk to the Customer
>Satisfaction Team.

Why didn't you just take advantage of the no risk trial period and return them
without hassle?

>Now, get this, CS doesnt acknowledge such a department, it took 20 min for
>the idiot I was talking to to pass me onto the CST. Then an hour and a half
>later, they finally agreed to let me purchase new phones at a discount,
>basically the internet price.
>
>I should get my new Moto V557 phones next week, but What A Hassle! just to
>get a working phone and service that I am already paying for.

There would have been no hassle had you simply returned the phones within the
no risk trial period. That's not the fault of Cingular.

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

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:yl%[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <[email protected]> on Tue, 28 Feb 2006
> 08:05:04 -0500, "marx404" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>What a hassle I had with Cingular! (as usual)
>
> I have almost had good experiences with Cingular Customer Service. I know
> from experience that how you approach them is a key factor (just as it is
> with
> most customer service organizations) -- if you want courtesy and respect,
> then
> it's important to treat them with courtesy and respect.

Please provide something more factual than your baseless anecdotal claims.
Cingular has been found in many surveys already mentioned in this group to
have the worst CS of the big 4. Stick to the facts.

>

marx404 wrote:
> Ever since strating with Cingular, I have had nothing but trouble with my
> phones . . . demand to talk to the Customer Satisfaction Team.

Marx404,

If the service and phones are not matching the requirements, cancel the
account and find another provider.

Bud Stein

ok, first of all apologies for posting before my 1st cup o' joe, second to
put all assumptions and further questions to rest, yes, i did go thru all
the steps, hoops and rings, this didn't suddenly just happen overnight. Its
hard to post 6 mo of transactions in one post and keep it under 5 million
words or less. ;-) Call it a "needed to blow steam" post if you wish.

John Navas is correct that being nice is the best way (and thanx John for
being constructive). I myself work in a retail environment who's motto is
"People First" and we would never have succeeded if we gave customers the
same runaround I have experienced as a Cingular customer.

Threatening to cancell (in a polite way) seems to be the only way to get
serious issues resolved lately unfortunately. all other attempts to resolve
my problem failed. It was only after I (again politely) suggested that I
would be forced to seek another provider that I was passed back and forth
eventually to someone who resolved my problem. It shouldn't have to be that
way, I was in no way in the wrong and thoroughly exhausted all available
avenues and much of my time before resorting to this.

Thanks to all that replied in a constructive manner.
marx404

"subdude" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Diane and Kathy, went on their day thinking that maybe being a CSR
> *didn't* suck and feeling that they did their jobs and saved a client
> for the company.
>
> Everyone's happy!
>

While they may have made YOU happy--something I have absolutely no problem
with--the fact remains that Cingular does not treat other customers as well.
Cingular might be able to accommodate a handful of individuals, but their
treatment of other blocks of customers (I am most familiar with their
treatment of former ATTWS customers that were/are on TDMA) does not reflect
the way they treated you.

I'm happy that you're satisfied, and I wish that my own experiences with
Cingular were as positive as yours were. The fact that so many of us
have/are/will leave Cingular speaks volumes about how they are perceived.

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

In <FUZNf.70$eP4.65@trnddc05> on Fri, 03 Mar 2006 16:11:17 GMT, "Jeremy"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>... The fact that so many of us
>have/are/will leave Cingular speaks volumes about how they are perceived.

Nonsense.

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

"subdude" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 03 Mar 2006 16:11:17 GMT, "Jeremy" <[email protected]> graced
> us with:
>
>>"subdude" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>> Diane and Kathy, went on their day thinking that maybe being a CSR
>>> *didn't* suck and feeling that they did their jobs and saved a client
>>> for the company.
>>>
>>> Everyone's happy!
>>>
>>
>>While they may have made YOU happy--something I have absolutely no problem
>>with--the fact remains that Cingular does not treat other customers as
>>well.
>>Cingular might be able to accommodate a handful of individuals, but their
>>treatment of other blocks of customers (I am most familiar with their
>>treatment of former ATTWS customers that were/are on TDMA) does not
>>reflect
>>the way they treated you.
>>
>>I'm happy that you're satisfied, and I wish that my own experiences with
>>Cingular were as positive as yours were. The fact that so many of us
>>have/are/will leave Cingular speaks volumes about how they are perceived.
>>
>
> I think you might be forgetting the fact that usually, when people are
> satisifed with a service, they don't go out of their way to post this
> fact in a newsgroup.
>
> However, when someone is pissed, they'll tell anyone who'll listen!
>
> subdude

True, but didn't I read somewhere that they stand to lose 12 million former
ATTWS customers? That is one helluva loss!

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

In <e0iOf.2118$_A4.1882@trnddc06> on Sat, 04 Mar 2006 15:04:42 GMT, "Jeremy"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>True, but didn't I read somewhere that they stand to lose 12 million former
>ATTWS customers? ...

No.

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

"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
> In <e0iOf.2118$_A4.1882@trnddc06> on Sat, 04 Mar 2006 15:04:42 GMT,
> "Jeremy"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>True, but didn't I read somewhere that they stand to lose 12 million
>>former
>>ATTWS customers? ...
>
> No.
>

How do you know, Novice?

"subdude" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 4 Mar 2006 10:06:58 -0700, "Scott" <[email protected]> graced us
> with:
>
>>
>>"John Navas" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>news:[email protected]...
>>> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>>>
>>> In <e0iOf.2118$_A4.1882@trnddc06> on Sat, 04 Mar 2006 15:04:42 GMT,
>>> "Jeremy"
>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>>True, but didn't I read somewhere that they stand to lose 12 million
>>>>former
>>>>ATTWS customers? ...
>>>
>>> No.
>>>
>>
>>How do you know, Novice?
>>
> How *either* of you know? I saw no citing of published facts.
>
> You *could* say that Microsoft stands to lose 2.5 billion customers to
> Linux. Potential is not the same as fact.
>
> subdude

I stated clearly that I read something somewhere--I do not know how credible
it is, and I expressed it as a question, not as a statement of fact.

Given the many complaints I've heard about Cingular, I tend to believe it is
true.