Billing cycle problems

I signed a two-year cointract with Cingular on the 8th of last month.
My service started on the 10th (!). Around the 29th, I called and
checked my current minutes. I was planning on upgrading to the next
plan if I was short, but they were still well within my plan, so I
continued using the phone, thinking that the new billing cycle will
start on the 1st.

Today (16th), I called again to check my minutes. They were at 200,
which seemed low for the middle of the month. I also noticed a $200
balance, so I called customer service. They notified me that the
billing cycle starts on the 11th(!), since our service started on the
10th of last month. They also said that I will be responsible for
overage charges for the last month. No grace/good faith minutes, no
first-time fee waiver, nothing. I was never told when the billing
cycle ends, othervise I would have upgraded to the 1250 plan.

Here is my question: since I did not receive my welcome packet and,
therefore was not notified in any way of when the billing cycle
ends/starts, do I have any recourse? Should I:
- keep trying until I get a friendlier CS rep
- take it up with a supervisor
- talk to the dealer who sold me the contract and failed to give me
the welcome packet

You would think that they would waive the fee first time around in
order to keep me as a customer.

---

› See More: Billing cycle problems

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Andrej) wrote:

> You would think that they would waive the fee first time around in
> order to keep me as a customer.

No, they'll happily take an ETF fee from you on top of activation fees.

>do I have any recourse?

Nope.

>keep trying until I get a friendlier CS rep

This is ALWAYS a good idea. Maybe one that can or will talk to their supervisor
on your behalf.

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

"Røbert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Andrej) wrote:
>
> > You would think that they would waive the fee first time around in
> > order to keep me as a customer.
>
> No, they'll happily take an ETF fee from you on top of activation fees.

I know they already threatened with this when I mentioned I don't like
their service.
Thing is, they stand to make much more than the $120 ETF from me in
the long run, if they keep me happy.

On 16 Jul 2004 08:18:03 -0700, [email protected] (Andrej)
wrote:

>Here is my question: since I did not receive my welcome packet and,
>therefore was not notified in any way of when the billing cycle
>ends/starts, do I have any recourse? Should I:
>- keep trying until I get a friendlier CS rep
>- take it up with a supervisor
>- talk to the dealer who sold me the contract and failed to give me
>the welcome packet

You need to talk to the dealer who sold you the contract. You were
ill informed when you made your purchase. If necessary, get the
dealer to call customer service and explain the error.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dazzy Deb
Heaven Doesn't Want Me, and Hell is Afraid I'll Take Over

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Dazzy Deb) wrote:

> On 16 Jul 2004 08:18:03 -0700, [email protected] (Andrej)
> wrote:
>
> >Here is my question: since I did not receive my welcome packet and,
> >therefore was not notified in any way of when the billing cycle
> >ends/starts, do I have any recourse? Should I:
> >- keep trying until I get a friendlier CS rep
> >- take it up with a supervisor
> >- talk to the dealer who sold me the contract and failed to give me
> >the welcome packet
>
> You need to talk to the dealer who sold you the contract. You were
> ill informed when you made your purchase. If necessary, get the
> dealer to call customer service and explain the error.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Dazzy Deb
> Heaven Doesn't Want Me, and Hell is Afraid I'll Take Over
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's a shame Cellular carriers play this game. It originated with the
concept of being able to charge new customers who quit extra. Start with
a 3 or 4 day period, and then go to a regular 30 day billing period.
That way if they decide against you after 15 days, charge them for the
full month of service.

There's a new invention that would let Carriers ALWAYS start your
billing period on the day you sign up for service.

It's called a "C O M P U T E R".

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (Andrej) wrote:

> "Røbert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > [email protected] (Andrej) wrote:
> >
> > > You would think that they would waive the fee first time around in
> > > order to keep me as a customer.
> >
> > No, they'll happily take an ETF fee from you on top of activation fees.
>
> I know they already threatened with this when I mentioned I don't like
> their service.
> Thing is, they stand to make much more than the $120 ETF from me in
> the long run, if they keep me happy.

But they apparently dont think that way.

In article <[email protected]>,
"Røbert M." <[email protected]> wrote:

> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (Andrej) wrote:
>
> > "Røbert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > [email protected] (Andrej) wrote:
> > >
> > > > You would think that they would waive the fee first time around in
> > > > order to keep me as a customer.
> > >
> > > No, they'll happily take an ETF fee from you on top of activation fees.
> >
> > I know they already threatened with this when I mentioned I don't like
> > their service.
> > Thing is, they stand to make much more than the $120 ETF from me in
> > the long run, if they keep me happy.
>
> But they apparently dont think that way.

And contrary to the per plan pricing of Sprint for 7 PM nights, Cingular
is per phone for that too.