What is Digg?98 Comments
- kajoob, on 10/12/2007, -19/+81What I got from that was ...
1.) Buy more accessories
2.) Get a bigger plan
3.) Upgrade to more stuff
4.) Get a bigger text package
5.) Buy a $20/mo data plan
That sounded more like a sales pitch than a "confession" - newkai, on 10/12/2007, -0/+27Even worse are some of those third-party dealers. At Carousel Center in Syracuse, New York, this one business has two kiosks, one on each level. And they lure you in by yelling out things like "free cell phone upgrade today?" Then they sign you up with a bunch of plans you don't need and tell you that you can cancel them by calling Cingular... Yeah right.
- saleem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22the verizon version http://consumerist.com/consumer/verizon/8-confessions-of-a-former-verizon-sales-rep-241665.php
- psychotron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+22You have NO idea. I also worked for a 3rd party dealer but not as a sales person. I worked in their "main" office and you simply HAVE NO IDEA how horrible, corrupt, shady these businesses are. Ever since I stopped working there I have made it a point to tell anyone and everyone to stay away from 3rd party dealers and go with the corporate stores. Sure, you might be able to get a good deal on a fancy phone (probably used/refurb) but trust me, you will pay for it on all the extra stuff that is tacked on without your knowledge. Horrible, simply horrible.
- ronintetsuro, on 10/12/2007, -1/+22Having worked extensively for 3rd party dealers, I can second what newkai said: NEVER buy from them. Just don't do it.
I'll put it this way. The retail affiliates think they're shady. - wphj, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21kajoob, he tells you that you can RETURN all of that.
- Reijin, on 10/12/2007, -5/+24Am I missing something? What makes Cingular worse than any other cell phone provider? Call me naive, I've been with Cingular since they acquired AT&T customers. I haven't really had anything to complain about so far. I'm honestly just curious.
- scotticus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14If you don't want to be unhappy with a cell phone provider, don't get a cell phone...
They all "suck" because they:
a) don't have total coverage
b) drop calls
c) cripple your phone (verizon anyway)
d) nickel and dime you for services
e) charge too much for how little you use your phone
etc.
Every idiot who has moved realizes that you have to get the service which works best in YOUR locality and what you want from a provider.
I swear... everyone thinks they're the expert of everything based on their personal experience... - ceralor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10That's why the site is called the CONSUMERIST, not the BUSINESSIST.
- hypnotizd, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9All of those points were good, but anyone else have a hard time reading this?
"You can just about get about get a rep to do anything you want if you offer to get a text package or a data package" - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"Get the rebate in the store, and at home. "Try to get the rep to give you the rebate in the store, they'll be likely to do this if you agree to get accessories. You can get go on-
line and print out the rebate form from www.cingular.com and send it in anyway."
Rebate fraud is generally frowned upon, fyi. - uownedge, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Good tips. Although, I must confess myself...Cingular has the worst customer support I've ever dealt with. They make Dell look knowledgeable and helpful...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8This won't work with Cingular/AT&T. They're too big to care about individuals. An actual rep quote: "Oh, you'd like to cancel? Sure, I can do that for you today.....done. Have a nice day!"
- suman78, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I think there are couple of good points...never the less...we would still end up with some contract....
- KnytFyre, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Is it really fraud. I'm not sending in multiple rebates, I'm haggling with the in store clerk to give me the same money as the rebate, and then actually getting the rebate later. I can see it as fraud if I had to fill out the same rebate paperwork, but if the sales rep gives me the money without the paperwork, it was just haggling.
- deuceswilde, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Kajoob
If you got a sales pitch then you need to RTFA. He basically says exploit the system to get as much money as possible from them and then goes into detail about how to do it.
I wish I got sales pitches that nice. - charmaniac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I have been a Cingular customer since I left Sprint a long time ago. They are great - calls never get dropped like they did when I was with Sprint.
But, this guy doesn't know what he is talking about. The store NEVER gives you a better deal in my experience. Twice within the past 3 months, I went to a cingular store to buy my wife a Blackberry Pearl. Both times, the Cingular sales person insisted that I pay full retail $420, and would not budge on the price. I had called Cingular to get a price check and the lady told me $250. The guy at the store "Bobby" said that was "impossible" with the implication that I was a liar. This was after he complained to me about working on a Sunday. Cry me a freaking river....
Anyways I called Cingular again, and the lady said there was a note on my account about selling the phone for $250 and that he had to have seen it. She sold the phone to me for $220 and it arrived the next day. The Cingular stores suck, but I have always had a pleasant experience over the phone with their customer service. - nomadxx7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Reijin
I was a happy Cingular customer until they sent me a notice that they were cancelling my service due to me using my phone off network to much. When I was with them I liked the rollover feature since it kept my monthly balance within a few cents of each other. I had a qualm when they told me that since I used my phone off network that I was going to be termintated. My friend even tried to get back into a 2 year contract to keep his phone but needless to say they shut off me and about 4 other friends. FYI - If I'm off your network please don't offer to give me service for 2 years. That in and of itself made me lose what respect I had for their company. I'm pretty sure the $70 I was paying for 2 phones and the limited amount of minutes I used each month would have made me being a customer a little more sweeter than paying a 3rd party for their limited cell phone usage. I personally blame the bean counter that showed I was costing them more than they were making off me. - Blasphemous88, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6I'm a telecom analyst and reading this, I think this is more oriented to the consumer based users and contracts rather than business (large or small). On most if not all business contracts, you can change rate plans as often as needed without incurring penalty of any kind including a contract extension.
My point: good to read if you have a standard consumer account/contract, but not accurate to a business user. Fun article. Verizon seems more manipulatable (if thats a word) than Cingular on the consumer end. - ceralor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Site's not down.
- Anigav, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Here's another tip that applies to almost any cellular provider. If you've been a customer for a few years try threatening to cancel once and a while and see what it gets you. I've been with Spring for quite some time and threatened to switch providers instead of extending my contract because phone prices were too high. The Spring operator immediately transferred me to "Customer Retention" or something like that and they offered me the phone I wanted for $200 less if I purchased it on the spot. I argued that I've been a member for a very long time and reap few benefits yet new subscribers get great deals (with contracts of course). It has worked for me and a few of my friends (with different providers).
- sancho, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Cell phone reception and call quality is highly based on where you're making the call. In my area, Cingular is pretty much oversubscribed most of the year (it's a college town, so when the students come back, it can be impossible to make a call sometimes). When you can get through, the calls cut out all the time, and the reception is terrible. I went through several models of phone before I decided to just jump ship.
I switched to Sprint and couldn't be happier. - JohnnyDiggsIt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3So, sign up for everything and get every accessory and the Cingular guy will help you out?
Was I the only one who read this and didn't see any true confessions??
Where my LOOPHOLES at?!
Give me dirty secrets and bad practices!
I want a deal without forking over wads of cash for text plans or high margin accessories.
- flamingmb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Why does cingualr suck? I have had a really bad experience with cingular. If you get a plan with them through a corperation they lower the phone prices by 50%, but they jack up the original price so even by saving 50% you are at the price which normal people would pay. Their customer service is absolute ***** and will send you in circles. When I got a new phone they shut off service to my current phone while my new phone was still in the mail, and never compensated me.
I dont like cingular. - thcobbs, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Tip 5: If you're willing to haggle with the main support line and their managers, you can easily get upgrades sooner than later and you can also wrangle special deals like creidts and stuff.
- aelias, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If I didn't have a girlfriend, I wouldn't need a cellphone.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4starf...you DO realize that you are Cingular's wet dream, don't you? A moron who doesn't understand simple math and therefore think that the Rollover is a good deal. I don't know what plan you are on, but generally, it costs at least $10 LESS per month to get MORE minutes from T-Mobile than it does to get Cingular's rollover. OK, so it helped you that one month. And now you are paying $10 more every single month for that priviledge of having rollover minutes that you almost certainly will never use. And if you are accumulating that many rollover minutes to make a difference...you DO realize that means you are giving them an interest free loan for those minutes.
Some examples...$40 from T-Mobile gets 600 minutes compared to 450 from Cingular. $50 from T-Mobile gets you 1000 minutes, which is 100 minutes more than Cingular gives you for $60. (If you want to pay $60, T-Mobile will give you 1500 minutes.)
You are far better off if you know you are going to go way over your minutes to simply get a pre-paid phone and add time onto it. Then, whenever you make a call, use that one. And before you say "then my friends won't know it is me.) Big ***** deal. Tell them beforehand, and they can easily program that number into their address book to, so you show up either way.
Bottom line...over the course of a year, you are paying A LOT more money for that rollever "priviledge". And you think you are better off. Wow. I like how you think you are sticking it to T-Mobile because they wouldn't bend over backwards to accomodate you, and now you are definitely paying more money for less service.
Granted, coverage is much better than T-Moible. But since you WERE using them for so long, I sort of doubt coverage was a major problem for you.
Like I said, you are Cingular's wet dream. - nomadxx7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Honestly, I switched to Helio. The "it's not a phone company" company. I've been with them for over 6 months and really can't complain about them. They are still small potatoes compared to the others but for around $50 - $60 a month I get 1000 minutes plan plus a sweet phone. Main downside was I had to put a retainer fee down. For everyone that is going to be John Q. Consumer and just price compare let me explain. Verizon I had for alittle bit. They were great until they started adding more charges to their service and by the end were around $70 - $80 a month. Cingular was a good company with the rollover but when I wasn't producing enough SOLID income for them I was given the boot. T-mobile isn't available in my area. Nextel I hear likes to give you a lot of features for free and then when you DONT cancel they keep charging you at full cost on your plan. Helio has kept a $70 a month charge on my phone (for all the taxes and such) along with the flat rate for the 1000 minutes. I also have an individual phone (no motorola, nokia, etc) and I'm hoping that if they become big they won't forget the original consumers that helped them get that way. Hell when I signed up for my plan they were only really a company for a few months prior to when I signed up. It's like Gamespy and other websites. Where now they may be charging a monthly fee for their service to new customers, I 'm grandfathered in because of how long I've been with them. It's kind of nice to know that I HELPED them get where they are and they decide not to treat me like someone new. Helio so far has provided a great service in my area and also kept the bill almost identical every month versus companies like Verizon who only seem to go up because of "laws in your state" and etc.
- twertyto, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Yeah I don't know why kajoob is being dugg up so much. Did that many people not read the article?
- Hieysk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Confessions of a Best Buy salesperson here...
http://www.userfriendlymyass.com/?p=57 - starf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I did that once with T-mobile.
I looked at it for Cingular for a razr when I was switching, but I found an even better deal elsewhere by typing in razr cingular into google.
I've had some friends use Amazon too. If you're willing to get a cheap ass peice of ***** phone (ie you have an unlocked one), you can get the rebate to pay for several months of use. Just make sure that the phone you're getting has the same type of card, so you can switch it. - bluedayfading, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1cingular is shifty.
- DefenceMinister, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Those tips are very helpful. Make sure you do all your stuff at the authorized retail store. Usually, your agent is your best friend. I'm a retail agent and I price the phones exactly as they are online. I always try to save the customer as much money as possible and at the same time ***** Cingular over. Some times retail agents can be shady, but don't let it stop you from going to another. ***** corporate stores, they have the worst service ever.
- TheWorm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1People hate their cell phones because there's no phone company or carrier that feels like they're on your side. I always feel like they're twisting the facts to take advantage and make more money. I'm sure they rarely tell you the full story.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I have Tmobile and my Sidekick 3 data plan is only an extra $20 a month. Trust me, I use way more than $20 worth in only a week.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1cingular = slow overpriced data service, and overpriced txt messaging. Poor customer service, and expensive plans. Tmobile is much better/cheaper, but doesnt pick up in my area =(
- spiffytech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I was on the phone with Cingular today, and they told me that MEdiaMax will only let you access Cingular and Cingular-sponsored sites, not the full internet. I'm confused :(
- b00ks, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1His point was that everything that you do in the store can quickly be undone. IE telling the rep that you are going to buy a 100 dollars worth of accessories inorder to get the handset discounted down, then returning the accessories the next day. Same thing with data plans and txt plans. Basically it is similar to the story on how to get high end electronics cheaper at best buy and circuit city if you say you want their esp.
Its just with wireless devices
*for the most part its the same with ALL carriers.
Also, as a former tech for one of these big companies, I would steer clear of 3rd party retailers as well. - ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1In case anyone's wondering, it's the Sprint SERO plan and I haven't had any real issues with it at all.
The only problem was with porting my number over, and they gave me a $25 credit for the trouble I had with it. Having a cell phone bill for $8.63 in January was very nice, and $37 after taxes and fees is pretty good anyway. - starf, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@broomet I may be giving a good deal to cingular, but it's still a better deal for me than t-mobile.
I switched because they wouldn't work with me, and as a normal client, I could not get as good deals as a new client (as with all mobile phone carriers) so I found a better deal and switched. I'll do the same probably if cingular gives me a problem when my contract expires and I can find a better deal than switching.
I have 450 per month, which can rollover, while the cheapest tmobile had at the time was 600 minutes. (Same price). The reason that rollover helps me is because most of the time, I use 200-300 minutes. However, when a big project comes up, I use well over 600 minutes. Sometimes around 1000. This isn't very often, so with cingular, I'm covered with my plan. With Tmobile, I will be paying more.
Also, almost everyone I know has cingular for their cells, so unlimited mobile to mobile (which costs extra with T-mobile if I remember) ends up catching a lot of my calls. Last month I used 245 minutes (non night/weekend), and only 138 came out of my anytime minutes.
And using a prepaid phone like that is the stupidest thing I've heard in a while. 1) I use my phone for work also which is why my minutes go so high every once in a while, so keeping one number is rather important. 2) More importantly, if I were paying more to cingular (which I'm not), I would gladly do so to NOT HAVE TO CARRY A SECOND PHONE AROUND. - Sommerlost, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Amazon has some really great deals on phones for new cingular customers or anyone whos's contract is soon to expire. You can get several phones for a cent, and some they will even pay you to take them. Granted the rebate takes a while but a co-worker of mine did this and it was all legit. I myself plan on it once I near August... hoping they do some kinda deal that's at least lower than the street price of an iphone by then.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4As soon as the people at Consumerist WRITE it. Anyone who thinks these are really confessions from former employees, and not simply "Hmmm, we are running out of stories to SPAM Digg's front page with...what can we make up and then get our paid minions to Digg? are morons.
- rdoger6424, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It's on digg, too. http://digg.com/tech_news/8_Insider_Tips_From_a_Former_Verizon_Sales_Rep
- ceslar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ pixelbender
Here's the digg link to T-Mobile's confession in case you want to digg it.
http://digg.com/tech_news/11_Confessions_of_a_T_Mobile_Sales_Rep
And here's the direct link
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/confessions/11-confessions-of-a-tmobile-sales-rep-242720.php - ccanni1028, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1shosterman - It's called a special. I got 1000 minutes for $30 instead of the usual 500 minutes for $30 because of the Christmas promotion.
- rdoger6424, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Use the damn reply button! It's not that hard to press!
also you forget that verizon locks down features on their cell phones. Massively. Have you ever used bluetooth to transfer a file? well verizon locks that down so you have to buy a $30 cable. Don't like it? oh well, they don't care. Verizon sucks.
-verizon customer in a 2 year contract since january - rytr23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@Broomatt
"Some examples...$40 from T-Mobile gets 600 minutes compared to 450 from Cingular. $50 from T-Mobile gets you 1000 minutes, which is 100 minutes more than Cingular gives you for $60. (If you want to pay $60, T-Mobile will give you 1500 minutes.)"
Your right.. but that 60 also includes UNLIMITED MINUTES to more that DOUBLE your Tmobile plan, a MUCH bigger network (btw who do you think Tmobile roams on when your out of a major metro area) , unlimited nightsweekends that you pay extra for at Tmobile.. I would pay an extra 10 bucks a month to be able to actually make a call.. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Those Cingular reps gotta get that paper
- ICUCSC, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Um, I just wanted to point out that I am the (current) Cingular Rep that wrote this article for Consumerist. I can verify that
at least for my part this was NOT written by Consumerist.
As for comparisons of cell phone companies, I've worked for several of the major ones, and they really are all evil to some extent. Anyone who thinks that I wrote this as a sales pitch misses the point. There are tools at the customer's disposal to give them an edge in getting what they want. I will also say that I have only worked at company owned stores in Northern California, and policies due vary from region to region, even from store to store. Some managers for example refuse to discount phones to match on-line prices (despite this being corporate policy) because it shows on some report somewhere. But other stores give the reps authority to do pretty much whatever they want. I suggest that if you go into a store and don't get what you want, or some of my suggestions seem to be "false" find another store in your area.
I also want to point out NEVER to accept an "exception upgrade" because it's a ripoff, as someone mentioned above. In some circumstances it can result in an unwary customer resigning their contract for two years to save 12 dollars off the retail cost of a phone. At the same time, there are certainly advantages to being out of contract, but if you want to get "a good deal" in a store @ Cingular, anything less than a 2 year contract will not help you. Reps don't get paid anything on 1 year contracts. If you have any interest in getting any sort of special treatments or discounts without resigning a contract or only signing a one year, go for it, but don't waste your time in the store. Call and talk to a retention rep on the phone. - slj33, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0you need to check out yadayadamobile.com. these guys are about to make cell phones free! amazing concept.
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