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Topic Review (Newest First)

  • 04-22-2007, 12:44 PM
    John Navas
    On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 07:53:32 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
    wrote in <[email protected]>:

    >Todd Allcock wrote:
    >
    >> Direct is a lot different, because there is no dealer to pay (or
    >> chargeback.) At the end of the day, the company wants you on their
    >> service, and can work a bit more magic. I'll wager if you tried buying
    >> from Amazon after you returned the first Verizon phone it'd have been a
    >> different story.

    >
    >Probably true.
    >
    >What the original poster wants to do is not so out of the ordinary. If
    >you want to try a new carrier but not pay for number porting, twice,
    >what's the alternative?
    >[SNIP]


    Get a new account for testing, cancel within the no risk trial period,
    and then start over if you want to go with the new carrier.

    --
    Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>
  • 04-21-2007, 12:13 PM
    Todd Allcock
    At 21 Apr 2007 07:53:32 -0700 SMS wrote:

    > What the original poster wants to do is not so out of the ordinary.
    > If you want to try a new carrier but not
    > pay for number porting, twice, what's the alternative?


    Trying a "disposable" prepaid phone? If I wanted to "test drive"
    Cingular, it'll cost me $29.99 at Walmart.

    Or, alternatively, using dealers or carriers that don't impose penalties
    or fees (i.e. Verizon's new "try us for 30 days" guarantee where they'll
    refund your money and Cover porting charges back to you old carrier.)

    Or, work through the carrier directly- this conversation took this turn
    because you wanted to combine the safety of a carrier's generous return
    policy with the bottom-feeder pricing of Amazon.

    > It's especially an issue if by changing a carrier then going back
    > you would lose grandfathered features of your calling plan. In that
    > case you really want to be absolutely sure that the grass is greener
    > on the other side of the fence.


    Then the prepaid route would certainly work, or working through the
    carrier, who won't mind if you port two months in.

    > I guess another way of trying Cingular's network is to sign up with
    > an MVNO that uses Cingular, such as SpeakOut.


    Or cut out the middleman an go GoPhone- they start at $29.



    --
    Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

  • 04-21-2007, 08:53 AM
    SMS
    Todd Allcock wrote:

    > Direct is a lot different, because there is no dealer to pay (or
    > chargeback.) At the end of the day, the company wants you on their
    > service, and can work a bit more magic. I'll wager if you tried buying
    > from Amazon after you returned the first Verizon phone it'd have been a
    > different story.


    Probably true.

    What the original poster wants to do is not so out of the ordinary. If
    you want to try a new carrier but not pay for number porting, twice,
    what's the alternative?

    It's especially an issue if by changing a carrier then going back you
    would lose grandfathered features of your calling plan. In that case you
    really want to be absolutely sure that the grass is greener on the other
    side of the fence.

    Moving from Verizon to Cingular, the original poster needs to be
    especially cautious. First of all, he may be on the original Americas
    Choice plan, a plan that is no longer available. Second, he may have the
    8 p.m. off-peak start time, if he was in a region that had the earlier
    time when he first signed up. Third, he may have a monthly rate that is
    no longer available. Fourth, he's moving from the carrier that is
    consistently top-rated for coverage and quality to a carrier that is
    consistently rated as one of the worst carriers. The care he is taking
    is entirely reasonable in this case.

    I guess another way of trying Cingular's network is to sign up with an
    MVNO that uses Cingular, such as SpeakOut. I haven't checked lately, but
    you used to be able to get a basic Nokia phone for $50, with $10 of
    airtime. You can always sell the MVNO phone on craigslist after you're
    done with it, and maybe only lose $20-30.
  • 04-20-2007, 10:53 PM
    Todd Allcock
    At 20 Apr 2007 20:03:51 -0700 SMS wrote:

    > All you have to do is to go to a company store, not an authorized dealer.




    You do it at your potential peril- that's all I'm saying.


    > You can read the entire 30 day return policy at

    "http://www.cingular.com/learn/en_US/popups/return-policy-popup.jsp"
    > Nowhere does it mention a 90 day waiting period before you can buy new
    > service.


    That's an equipment return policy- it really doesn't refer to the service
    contract much.

    In any case, I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't buy new service in
    the next 90 days, just that you wouldn't be considered a "new customer."
    There's an important distinction from the DEALER'S end- it determines how
    much, if any, commission gets paid. AFAIK, you can rebuy from the same
    dealer, because he'll get his chargeback reversed and ends up with the
    commission.

    Again, it might be different today- I'm describing how it was when I was
    a Cingular dealer from the late 90's until 2001.

    T-Mobile, for example, works exactly the same way, even today. They even
    repay the original dealer if you bludgeon a second dealer into selling
    you service- i.e. you buy a phone from Joe's Wireless, cancel service and
    return the phone, then rebuy from Phil's Wireless. Joe's Wireless gets a
    commission check for Phil's sale, and Phil gets the shaft. (In reality,
    Phil would discover this when running your credit and advise you to wait
    120 days- T-Mo's period is longer- or they'd tell you to go back to Joe.)

    > On Verizon, when I first signed up, I signed up with a phone number
    > back east because only the eastern region had the handset I wanted.
    > They told me I could change my number later on to one in my own area
    > code. Within a week, the western region got the handset I wanted, to
    > I cancelled my service and repurchased service within the 15 day period.
    > There was no problem doing this, but I didn't go to a dealer, it was
    > all direct.


    Direct is a lot different, because there is no dealer to pay (or
    chargeback.) At the end of the day, the company wants you on their
    service, and can work a bit more magic. I'll wager if you tried buying
    from Amazon after you returned the first Verizon phone it'd have been a
    different story.


    Again, things may certainly have changed since I was a Cingular dealer,
    but I'd counsel anyone to investigate before blindly following your advice.





    --
    Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

  • 04-20-2007, 09:03 PM
    SMS
    Todd Allcock wrote:

    > Actually that probably wouldn't work, at least for some carriers. Back
    > when I was a Cingular dealer, there was a 90-day period after you
    > cancelled service that your account stayed "open." Any attempt to buy
    > new service resulted in simply re-opening the recently closed account.
    > (And, more importantly, at least to Cingular, not paying a new-customer
    > commission to the dealer selling the phone.) This would likely void
    > Amazon's commission, who'd then "pass the savings," in the form of a
    > penalty, onto you.


    All you have to do is to go to a company store, not an authorized dealer.

    You can read the entire 30 day return policy at
    "http://www.cingular.com/learn/en_US/popups/return-policy-popup.jsp" No
    where does it mention a 90 day waiting period before you can buy new
    service.

    On Verizon, when I first signed up, I signed up with a phone number back
    east because only the eastern region had the handset I wanted. They told
    me I could change my number later on to one in my own area code. Within
    a week, the western region got the handset I wanted, to I cancelled my
    service and repurchased service within the 15 day period. There was no
    problem doing this, but I didn't go to a dealer, it was all direct.
  • 04-20-2007, 10:30 AM
    John Navas
    On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:25:44 -0600, Todd Allcock
    <[email protected]> wrote in
    <[email protected]>:

    >At 19 Apr 2007 17:46:36 -0700 SMS wrote:
    >
    >> It's almost as if it's better to try another carrier without porting,
    >> then if you decide to keep the new carrier cancel out, return all the
    >> phones, then start over with Amazon. However it's not clear if the
    >> activation fee is refunded if you cancel within the trial period.

    >
    >Actually that probably wouldn't work, at least for some carriers. Back
    >when I was a Cingular dealer, there was a 90-day period after you
    >cancelled service that your account stayed "open." Any attempt to buy
    >new service resulted in simply re-opening the recently closed account.
    >(And, more importantly, at least to Cingular, not paying a new-customer
    >commission to the dealer selling the phone.) This would likely void
    >Amazon's commission, who'd then "pass the savings," in the form of a
    >penalty, onto you.


    Yep. He really has no idea what he's talking about.

    --
    Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>
  • 04-20-2007, 10:29 AM
    John Navas
    On Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:46:36 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
    wrote in <[email protected]>:

    >[Copied to alt.cellular.attws. Please post all alt.cellular.cingular
    >posts to alt.cellular.attws as well.


    Please stop that crap -- all you're doing is trashing the attws forum
    with useless thread fragments.

    >The Cingular name is going away,
    >and alt.cellular.attws is the proper venue for posts regarding AT&T's
    >Wireless Service.]


    In your personal opinion. Cingular is still the brand, and the Cingular
    forum has the most traffic, so it still makes the most sense.

    --
    Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
    John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>
  • 04-19-2007, 08:25 PM
    Todd Allcock
    At 19 Apr 2007 17:46:36 -0700 SMS wrote:

    > It's almost as if it's better to try another carrier without porting,
    > then if you decide to keep the new carrier cancel out, return all the
    > phones, then start over with Amazon. However it's not clear if the
    > activation fee is refunded if you cancel within the trial period.



    Actually that probably wouldn't work, at least for some carriers. Back
    when I was a Cingular dealer, there was a 90-day period after you
    cancelled service that your account stayed "open." Any attempt to buy
    new service resulted in simply re-opening the recently closed account.
    (And, more importantly, at least to Cingular, not paying a new-customer
    commission to the dealer selling the phone.) This would likely void
    Amazon's commission, who'd then "pass the savings," in the form of a
    penalty, onto you.




    --
    Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

  • 04-19-2007, 06:46 PM
    SMS
    Hisao Nakanishi wrote:
    > I currently have a family plan with 4 phones on Verizon but am planning
    > to move to Cingular. However, my Verizon contract does not end until
    > August and besides we would like to try it out first. So the question is
    > if it is possible to open new Cingular family plan (with new trial phone
    > numbers), and then when we are convinced that Cingular is the way to
    > go and when the Verizon contract has ended, to finally request porting
    > the phone numbers from the Verizon accounts to Cingular. Can this
    > be done without any additional fees or penalties? Thanks in advance.


    It can be done, but there are fees. Also be careful about porting if you
    buy the Cingular phones on Amazon (which is usually the best place to
    buy). You can now port from another carrier at the time of activation
    (this change occurred only a couple of months ago), but not later.

    "http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=508597"

    It's almost as if it's better to try another carrier without porting,
    then if you decide to keep the new carrier cancel out, return all the
    phones, then start over with Amazon. However it's not clear if the
    activation fee is refunded if you cancel within the trial period.

    [Copied to alt.cellular.attws. Please post all alt.cellular.cingular
    posts to alt.cellular.attws as well. The Cingular name is going away,
    and alt.cellular.attws is the proper venue for posts regarding AT&T's
    Wireless Service.]

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