What is Digg?176 Comments
- Tu13erhead, on 10/12/2007, -10/+84Bad customer service from Cingular? I never would have guessed.
And they wonder why I don't want an iPhone... - a99tandem, on 10/12/2007, -2/+74What a whiner..
First-
Be patient!! Early adopters always get screwed anyways!
Second-
He really has a lack of understanding for the way wireless companies work. I am a former Cingular employee and current T-mobile employee.. so I'll give you the rundown. First off, you contract wont cost $2800 to cancel. whoever told you that is full of crap. You just pay your cancellation fees ($200 each) and you'll get your final bill since billing is delayed by 1 month. Next.. Cingular wants your business, believe me... but what you are asking of them is just not going to happen. New customer price is offered ONLY at the time of a sign-up or after your contract has been completed. In T-mobile's case, the new customer price can be offered within 14 days of new activation. The reason for this is the way commissions trickle to the store. We sell our phones UNDER cost.. WAY UNDER cost. Our profits are made on the contracts we issue. If you were to sign up with the expectation that you wanted a new phone in 6 months, then they cannot discount the handset purchase in June because the commission was already paid out to the store at the time of signup, and Cingular has made it clear that the iPhone will be sold ONLY with new contracts. If you are on contract for 2 years, wait out 6 months, and expect that telling Cingular you are willing to renew for 2 more years, they are only getting an extra 6 months of service out of the deal, since contracts are not cumulative- they start from the day that they are initiated, they just wont do it. An extra 6 months of service is not NEARLY enough to warrant a handset subsidy.
Also BTW- the iPhone WILL work on T-mobile. It is a GSM phone and will be unlocked in no time. since it is OSX (unix) based it will be a matter of days after it comes out before it is useable on other networks. - h2d2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+62Who in their right mind would switch today?
If you do that, you will be paying out of your ass *AS WELL AS* your pee-hole for the iPhone in June. The $499/$599 are the subsidized prices WITH a two year contract. So if you switch today, you will be signing a contract today... meaning you would have to pay the unsubsidized prices for the iPhone in June. - fr3nch13, on 10/12/2007, -5/+50It's not really bad customer service. They were actually helping the guy by saying they can't sell him the iPhone for a discounted rate when he is already under a contract. Everyone knows that cell phone company's practically give phones away to get you under contract, why would the iPhone be any different? And by the way, the iPhone is great and everything, but does everyone really thing there is going to be a mass exodus to Cingular?
- unibomber999, on 10/12/2007, -7/+31yeah cingular is crap even for corporate customers, so I wouldn't expect anything better for individuals. This is in addition to the signal quality sucking and me dropping more calls than I ever have with anyone else. Apple picked a real winner to partner with.
- kajoob, on 10/12/2007, -2/+22FYI -
Most large companies have an "Office of the President" that they send ppl too to calm them down. No, it's the Sigman's office - it's just the same customer support monkeys that you get if you call their support number. That's the reason he got a response over the weekend. Most ppl get excited "ooh they're putting me through to the Office of the President", but it's just a fancy way to hand your problem off. Nothing to see here folks, move along. - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -13/+30What is going through your head to make you want to pay $600 and lock-in for two years for a friggin' phone? I hate to tell you this, but it's just a phone. It doesn't make you any cooler, it's not going to get you laid; it's a phone.
- DoubtfulSalmon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14Do I detect some sort of mild mental retardation on the part of the author of this article? I mean, that is just so logically wrong in so many different ways.
Edit: I guess it could be rabid fanboyism, that could also cause the patient to exhibit the characteristics we see here. - sych0, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11I need a phone now, and cant wait until june. I however opted for a gophone with no contract. I don't see how this is hard. Don't sign a contract now, and you can get your iphone in june....duh.
- felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15I hear people bitching about Cingular, but read the first part - the T-Mobile reps were even WORSE.
First of all, the fact that they wanted to not only charge him the early termination fee, but also make him pay the balance of his two-year contract? If that's not illegal in the first place, it's a damn ***** policy. The reason you get a contract is to get the discounted ("subsidized") phone price, which is what the early termination fee is there to recoup.
Charging someone for the balance of the contract is basically saying, no, you can't get out of your contract ever. No matter what, you're still going to pay the whole thing, but this way you get no service AND you have to pay it all at once.
The next ***** T-Mobile part was saying that he couldn't take his phone number with him, because "contract transfers were not eligible for number portability." WTF? The whole point of the law about number portability is to keep phone companies from doing exactly this.
Finally, because he was a good customer, with several phones for his family, paying a large amount each month, T-Mobile is going to screw him even harder by not letting him cancel one of the phones, but forcing him into an all-or-nothing proposition.
Sure, Cingular isn't ready for his "switch" yet, but that's hardly surprising. The phone's not available for another 6 months. Can you name any other company that has ever let you start a new contract, and then get your discount 6 months later when a new phone comes out that you like? They could have gone the extra mile and made a special arrangement for the iPhone, but they're just doing the same thing as T-Mobile, Nextel, Verizon and Sprint.
Reading his account, it sounds like I'd much rather be with Cingular than T-Mobile. - mjrpes, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10I remember Steve Jobs saying that Cingular had to reconfigure their whole voicemail system in order to support the iPhone's text voicemail feature. My guess, then, is you wouldn't be able to use this feature on other networks.
- misterjangles, on 10/12/2007, -5/+14this is what happens when you have a huge, gigantic company that just institutes policies from on high, then pays low-wage employes and outsources all contact with customers. the employees you talk to have no choice but to follow the rules. the people making the rules are completely out of touch with the customers.
you get into these situations where the good employees learn how to "work" the system and if you get one of them on the phone - it's your lucky day. if you get a new guy or someone who doesn't care, it's like talking to a brick wall.
i actually find the third party resellers to offer the best service because they make it their business to work the system for you. - fusionFactor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Not true. Current subscribers can opt to extend their contract for 2 years and get the discounted price. I had asked this question to a Cingular rep several weeks ago because I was looking at getting a new phone.
- berberine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8By the time the iPhone comes out, Cingular will be no more. Everyone will be AT&T customers. The name is being slowly phased out this year. That's when the confusion, whining and frustration will begin.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7This guy sounds like he doesn't know how cell phone contracts work at all. Everything I read sounded pretty standard in my experiences.
If a Cingular contract is required to get the iPhone how can you buy from the Apple Store? He seems to be speculating that himself.
Discounting the last statement I made, if he does buy the iPhone for $1000 all he would have to do is insert his Cingular SIM card into the phone and he's off. Has this man never changed phones before? - reiner15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This guy is an idiot. Only herds of people as desperate as him to use this phone will switch to Cingular. And why is he only getting two for he and his wife... I bet his son wants one too. So right there is at least $1500+taxes+contract prices+Tmo termination fees+Tmo contract payments. Seems to fit the typical Apple obsessed consumer, willing to pay way too much for average products.
Also the iPhone will be played with (even if it's 600 dollars, i've known people to mess around with phones more expensive), and it will eventually be unlocked. Apple would be stupid to limit this phone to only Cingular customers in the U.S. when there is a huge world market. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Marked as dumbass.
Cingular helped him. Clown. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Don't forget to mention that you posted your negative story on a high traffic website.
/Funny how you actually posted a whole friggin page of rant BEFORE you got any answer to the complaint you sent them on a week-end. Not only that, but the target of your crap fest actually answered you on a sunday, showing that you might be a little quick to spew crap.
//I wouldn't want your business. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5So you want to:
- Risk paying an early termination fee when a stranger from CL flakes on your contract,
- Give up your phone numbers,
- Get into a contract that automatically disallows you from getting the good price on the iPhone,
- Be a beta tester for Apple on a 1.0 product, twice in the same family,
Sounds like a wise move to me. - durazine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5This dude has too much free time on his hands.
- omaryak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"why does everyone believe the IPHONE is permanently going to be blocked from any other GSM carriers"
"While 'there are bad guys out there that unlock phones,' Lurie [Cingular's president of distribution] said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US."
– http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070110/tc_zd/198403
And come on, it's Apple. Their business model for OS X rests on keeping it a closed system. They're going to do the same for the iPhone and Cingular as long as they're with them. But then again, people have hacked OS X too, so we'll see. - wolferz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5There seems to be a lot of confusions here on how this works. Regardless of what company you go with you will not get the contract price for a phone without signing a contract WHEN YOU GET THE NEW PHONE. That means if your already under a contract you have to sign a new one and in effect extend it. If you had a 2year contract with 1 year and 4 months left, your gona have to get a new 2 year contract, in effect extending your current one 8 months. The whole reason you get a discount on the phone for signing a contract is as an incentive to sign the contract. If you have an existing contract some companies won't give you the full discount, cause after all they aren't getting another full 2 years. Cingular doesn't do contract "extentions." To sign a new contract your existing contract must be almost over. Therefor to get a phone at a contract price your contract must be near the end. Moral of the story: don't switch early.
I don't see how this is bad customer service, I really don't. That is the same as saying that iTunes has bad customer service cause they charge 99 cent for their songs. The truth is charging 99 cent for songs isn't bad service, its just a policy I happen to dislike. You know what the solution is? Go with another service thats cheaper. This is the cornerstone of capitalism.
"but I want an iphone." Responce: then you need to examine your priorities. Having sold cellphones for several carriers and having been around the block a few times myself with them I have discovered its far easier to find a phone you like than a service you like. Changing service to get a certain phone is counter productive. "Wow I've got an iPhone. But it only works on the third Wednesday after a full moon when the grass is blue and the sun sets in the east. I ROCK!"
Reading the article/blog/rant/whatever he talks about the company putting up road blocks and penalizing him like they are out to get him. This has been Cingular's policy for years. He has simply discovered that he doesn't like Cingular's policies and now hes crying over the fact that they wont change it for him. And for the rest of you talking about how these people were not well trained etc. Everything he pointed out from the article showed that the people he got in touch with were extremely knowledgeable and knew their jobs quite well. Getting transfered repeatedly? HES ASKING THEM TO VIOLATE COMPANY POLICY. They CANT say yes. Their only option is to transfer him around to departments where maybe sorta they might possibly be able to do something. This was a mistake. They should have just told him no. Thats what every one else was going to tell him. They are required to. Of course then I'm sure they would have delt with a ranting customer hollering at them for not breaking company policy.
It would be nice if Cingular changed their policy. Even I admit that. I've been waiting to get a new phone for 2 years now, and perhaps it was for the better. With the coming of the iphone and the lower prices of the razr now is the time to buy. Still mighty inconvenient, but for the service I get and the price I pay for that service this is not a big enough issue for me to stop using them.
Also, I've been using Cingular for 2 years as I stated, I have NEVER had a dropped call with the exception of the local indoor mall here. Then again Cingular's phones are the only ones that will work at all once you pass the mall entrance. Service for a cell phone is regional: same company + different region = different service. Yet another reason not to change companies because of a phone. - Zoshchenko, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9You've got to remember that you are dealing with poorly trained people who have no real stake in the business. They just follow orders and if nothing has been sent to them from on high, they just do it by the book. Logic and common sense - and getting new business - have nothing to do with what they do.
- khag7, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Switching out of a contract isn't supposed to be easy. He can't expect it to be cheap for him to just buy his wife a temporary phone until the iPhone comes out. Also, he can't expect to get the new contract discount on the iPhone. I know it sucks, but the iPhone is expensive. If you're not a current customer eligible for a new phone or a new customer, you simply cannot get the discount. Thats just how it is. Cingular would be happy to sell him a family plan, 1 new phone, and 3 sim cards, but he doesn't want it b/c he knows he'll have to pay full price for his iPhones come June. Thats HIS decision. Just because he can't get the discount doesn't mean they're making it hard to switch. If they offered the discount at all times it wouldn't be a discount, it would just be lowering the cost of ALL cell phones, and then there would be no incentive for other customers to switch to Cingular. They couldn't say "Sign up with us and get a FREE FLIP PHONE!" becuase they'd be free all the time b/c this guy wants the discount to be all the time.
- paulius, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5http://diggmirror.com
- teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Its not that they dont want you, its that Cingular has by far the worst customer service record in not only the Cell industry but most industries combined.
Even if the iphone was free I wouldnt go back to Cingular, they are terrible and its not worth it. - Scott2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Welcome to Cingular. I hope you don't expect the rest of your experiences to be any better.
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4why do u want to switch before iPhone is out? if u switch now, you will be bound into a contract. last time i checked, you cannot get service without signing a contract, unless you have an unlocked phone PLUS paying for the activation fee, or minimally you need to have 1 year contract.
(I got another cingular line to my plan last June with an unlocked phone, i still had to sign 1 yr contract to avoid activation fee.)
So, if you want an iPhone, u must wait till iPhone to come out. - HesNikke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@ Netmindstorm:
if you're not married to GSM, go with http://www.metropcs.com - sure you're paying up front for an unsubsidized phone, but you're not under contract. plus there's that whole "pay by the month, not by the minute" thing....
i'm much more loyal to mpcs than i would be to any GSM provider, simply because i don't feel like i'm being bent over and pounded in the ass. customer service is OK too. - BarbadoSlim, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Sounds like waaaay too much effort for an overpriced toy.
- undersky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5@ kajoob
FYI-
You will get a significantly better service and higher level of attention when you are dealing with the office of the president, because they know that the people contact them usually are doing so in their last effort. They know the situation is escalated in some ways, and as they are speaking on behalf of the president, they cannot risk bad press. I wouldn't be surprised if the CEO of a company periodically personally review cases that reach his office. CEOs of major firm are not lazy people who play golf every other day. Most of them are hardworking workaholic and having a desire to drive his company to success. That's the type of people who will become a CEO one day. - rytr23, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I think the guy is either stupid or just does bad math. If you terminate any cell phone contract there is the ETF and last months bill.. period. They do not make you pay the monthly service fees for the remainder of the contract.. if his monthly bill is 150$ and her terminates the contract he pays (3X ETF(200)) + last month(150) = 750$ not the 2800 he pulled out of his ass.. you can go to ANY CELL COMPANY and get a discount on a phone when you sign up for a contract.. you CANNOT go back to them 3 months later and ask for the same discount on another phone.. No Cell phone company does that. This guy is a complete moron.
- redwoodtree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This guy has no idea how the cell phone industry works. He's in for a crash course.
- mellon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Wow. Let me get this straight. You don't even know what the capabilities of an iPhone are - just that it's pretty. You have no idea how much the contract you'll have to buy to get an iPhone will cost. I guess you're already reconciled to the idea that it's not going to run any apps except the ones Apple allows you to run, so e.g. it won't do Skype or VOIP. It's not even clear that it will work with non-Cingular WiFi networks. So there's a preponderance of evidence to suggest that it's going to be a lame deal.
You've been a T-mobile customer for a while, and signed a contract with them saying you'd stay. And now, in service of what amounts to a random whim, you want to cancel your contract. You want T-mobile to change the way it does business to satisfy this whim. You want Cingular to bend over backwards for you again to satisfy this whim.
What on earth do you expect to get out of this? Do you think owning an iPhone is going to make you happy? If you are this much of a slave to desire, it's not. Get a grip, man! If it's a cool phone, buy it when it comes out. If it's not, save your money. Send it to your favorite charity.
Sorry for the rant - I felt deep lust for the iPhone myself until I found out what a crappy deal it is. So I know why you want it, honest I do. But good things come to those who wait. So chill out. You'll get one when the time comes, and the wait won't go any slower just because you're a t-mobile customer and not a Cingular customer. - felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@S1ngular1ty -
Care to back up your statement, or did you just pull that number out of your ass?
I haven't seen anything stating that the iPhone will be available without a contract, or what it would cost even if it were.
The Treo 750 is $499 with a contract from Cingular, or $649 without. Since the 4gb iPhone is the same price as a Treo with a contract, it makes sense to expect that if it were available w/o contract, the price would be around the same. - omaryak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Because the iPhone uses GSM, you will not be able to use it on Verizon's CDMA network for the foreseeable future. As for T-Mobile, they do use GSM, but you'll have to wait and see if someone comes up with a hack to unlock the iPhone for use on their service. And even if they do, features unique to Cingular's network like visual voicemail won't work.
- misterjangles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3hopefully they would put you through to some slightly smarter monkees at least - if they're claiming to speak on behalf of the president.
- AceTracer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Um, why would you sign up with them now, when you're still under contract with another company, and you won't get the special pricing on the iPhone in June? It makes no sense, other than his apparent claim that there will be a mad rush to switch in June (there might be) and it will be harder for him to do so in June. If anything, the people that will have the hardest time getting an iPhone in June are current Cingular customers. Everyone knows cell carriers treat you like Gods when they want you, and ***** when they have you. It's consumer prostitution.
- saska, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Ditching Verizon will be good for you no matter what.
- memoBug, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3 >I tried to switch to Cingular today and encountered numerous problems in the process.
Welcome to Cingular! - lcohiomatty86, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3cell phone companies work like driving down a narrow road between 2 cement walls.... as long as you stay within the confines of the road (or cell phone plan/contract) your fine... but if u screw up much at all.. your screwed... you just have to know how to deal with these companies before hand, and how to word things... once you can do that, cell phone companies, ESPESCIALLY cingular, is very good to deal with..
...whenever i call customer service.. im talking to an AMERICAN HUMAN within 5 minutes tops. they are polite, knowledgeable and willing to help out with watever problem i might have. - statikuz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"...when hundreds of thousands of other people are trying to do the same."
I don't think there's going to be quite the mass exodus to the iPhone that this fellow is expecting. =) - omaryak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Maybe Apple could get out of their exclusive contract somehow because of this?"
No. AT&T and Cingular are the same company – just different names. - hkid, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Who the f*** would switch to Cingular before an iPhone?
T-Mobile has better priced plans, 24-7 quality customer service and comparable phone service. - HardwareLust, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Guys, you really *really* don't want to be a Cingular customer. Trust me. I don't care how good or how bad the iphone really turns out to be because it really doesn't matter. Cingular's craptastic coverage and the WORST customer service in the industry will sink it. Apple will regret partnering with them until the end of time. You people that are switching to Cingular just to get the iphone will regret it until your dying day.
The iphone will fail miserably because of Cingular. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4what an idiot. only an IDIOT would SWITCH to Cingular.
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Sheesh. What are you guys, like 12? When a business is sold to a new owner, all of the assets and liabilities of the business, including "Exclusive iPhone deals" are sold to the new owner.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2errrr seeing as the iPhone doesn't support 3G, whats your point?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3LOL. Watch the keynote. No way Visual Voice Mail works on another carrier. I'd also bet folding money that the ability to browse the web/send emails while connected on the voice channel has something to do with the network permitting your phone to initiate multiple connections simultaneously.
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