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- camalot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+42talk about full circle...
SBC & Bell South Merge wireless divisions to form Cingular Wireless
Cingular Wireless Aquires AT&T Wireless
AT&T Wireless Rebrands as Cingular Wireless
SBC Aquires AT&T
SBC Rebrands as AT&T
AT&T Aquires Bell South
Cingular Wireless Rebrands as AT&T Wireless - Roscoe1976, on 10/12/2007, -2/+42I think Cingular tarnished their name with bad customer service. Weren't they ranked the worst by J.D. Powers?
- jschrab, on 10/12/2007, -8/+32You're kidding. Right? Cingular has been flawless for me, whereas my brother is *thankful* that AT&T wireless became Cingular and he could expect Cingular service, not AT&T service. I feel that AT&T is a tarnished brand *not* Cingular. Perhaps I've just been fortunate with Cingular.
- brandonking, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25Wasn't At&T Wireless the previously worst ranked?
- Wamzlee, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23T-Mobile is awesome because Catherine Zeta Jones is sooo hot. She is a huge tech-lover...too bad she married her Grandpa.
- chicken101, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Seriously, can't they just focus on making their services better- because honesty I do NOT care what the company is called.
- Roscoe1976, on 10/12/2007, -4/+20T-Mobile has the best customer service and phones, Cingular has the largest variety of phones and Verizon has the most reliable network.
- Kuipo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16That is exactly what I was thinking. Ever since I've had to switch from an ATT customer to a Cingular customer I've had horrible experience with them. Spending money to get a name that ISN'T associated with horribleness.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16God forbid they spend the money to upgrade their network.
- dWhisper, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16Cingular provided me with my first Cell Phone, and probably alienated me to their brand for good. I had it a grand total of three months, in which time they never sent me a bill, despite numerous requests for one. I could not even get a statement on their website, only that I was a subscriber.
Now they'll have the distinction of carrying a legacy of poor customer service and the AT&T name that has been striving to do to communications what the RIAA does to music. - Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13@JestaMcMerv
You're kidding right? Why should I have to buy my way out of a contract if the service and support are just horrendous? Nothing like giving the cell phone companies zero incentive on treating customers well or making sure their service works. Hell, they don't have to give a crap because it's going to cost YOU the consumer, money to buy your way out of a bad situation. That's kind of like saying that you go to the grocery store, buy a whole bag of groceries. You get home only to find that all the groceries you just bought are bad and not only will the store NOT take them back and refund your money, it'll cost you $175 for your right to bring the groceries back.
You're an idiot.. - theblackgecko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10@ dWhisper
They didn't even send you a bill. I'd stay a customer forever under those terms! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I think so. At Cingular stores, they know nothing, they always have to call customer service and wait on the line just as long as we do. It's rediculous.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -6/+15I cannot stand Cingular. Their service is the worst and their phones are way overpriced.
- Scopitone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9So THAT'S where all my money is going from these inflated fees.
- samdu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I've been a Cingular customer since before they were Cingular (Bellsouth Mobility). This is crazy. Sure, they don't have the best reputation in the customer service arena, most cell phone services don't. On the other hand, AT&T has its own baggage and much of it isn't good. To spend all of this money to rebrand after spending all of the money to brand Cingular doesn't make any sense to me.
- wh0pper, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I agree. They have to call the same customer service number as us.
- JestaMcMerv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7They don't allow us reps to do anything. We have no access to anything.
- geninstability, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6And to think, all that money could be better put to use implementing the wiretapping services that the Feds are insisting upon. Oh, wait no, just checked my Cingular bill...yeah, I'm footing that one.
- jayayeem, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Does this mean Mlife is coming back?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Talk about knowing nothing. After my phone randomly died, I had to get the sales rep to open up a brand new phone like mine to show him I didn't have water damage. For the record, adhesive != water.
- xjbri, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7How about they don't change their name and pass along that $2 billion of savings to the customers...
Oh, wait... that would make sense!
What a waste of money! - PantherX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I love how they deregulated everything and now it's all been merged back together again.
Progress. - BionicBeefpile, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7This is fantastic. We used to have AT&T wireless, then came the name change. My wife broke her phone while traveling in Europe, and we went in to Cingular to get a replacement. They tell us "well we don't sell AT&T phones anymore", which is total BS because the phones are identical except for the SIM card. They ended up making us BOTH get new phones (even though mine was fine) and a different plan.
I don't care what the name is, they can die in a fire - stan205, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I really doubt most people care about what the name of their provider is as long as that individual feels they got a good deal on the phone as well as the plan and are happy with the service coverage of the provider. When will technology corporations start to figure out that investing in branding does not necessarily create that big of a market increase where as investing in R&D for top of line products and coverage which users will buy does increase their market share.
- Romero3160, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I hope I start getting nights at 7 now.... again. and a lower bill
- buck09, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I suspect this is because you're visiting a reseller and not a store actually owned and operated by Cingular. This is the problem - any putz can be a Cingular reseller, get all their displays for their store, etc.
Look very closely - you'll see that most "Cingular Stores" are actually Jim-Bob's Wireless Phones Inc.
I manage a wireless acount with around 80 Cingular lines (and about 20 Verizon, 35 Nextel) and whenever I need stuff, I go to the store operated by Cingular. The only time they need to call into customer service is to activate a new phone - everything else they do on the computer right there in the store.
So the real problem, IMO, is that they allowed their brand to be diluted by letting any idiot be a reseller. - bugmenot3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Pretty much, and Cingular took over that title after they merged. Personally I'd rather do business with SBC/Cingular than any company named AT&T. I had nothing but trouble with _all_ of the services I recieved from at&t, thier long distance, and wireless services. I will never do business with them again. When SBC decided that they were going to buy out AT&T and then take that moniker the first thing I did was cancel my land line, the second thing I did was change to T Mobile. There seems to be this idea that the AT&T brand is better than SBC, or Cingular, or any of the other bells that have been rolled back up into old ma Bell. The truth of the matter is, the only people I can find that think the AT&T brand is a good brand and untarnished are people that worked for the company.
- stretch611, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I worked as an employee of AT&T from 1995 to 2000 then was outsourced, offshored, and became a contractor from 2000 to the present. (Yes, I am a glutton for punishment) After that disclosure I can say that, if anything, I am biased against AT&T and its stupid policies.
In Cingular's defense, when they bought AT&T Wireless, one of the agreements was that they could only use AT&T's brand name for a limited time period. They had no choice but to re-brand AT&T wireless as Cingular. When Cingular's parent company, SBC, bought AT&T they regained the right to use AT&T's brand name for their wireless division.
After SBC bought AT&T (a little over 6 months ago) the rumor mill mentioned that they wanted to re-brand Cingular as AT&T Wireless again. AT&T (SBC) owns 60% of Cingular and Bellsouth owns 40%. Rumors also said that Bellsouth was against the renaming of Cingular because Bellsouth saw the AT&T brand as a competitor. That same rumor said that SBC was going to buyout Bellsouth's stake in Cingular and that Bellsouth was looking to buy sprint as a replacement. Of course history teaches us why we should not always believe rumors.
However, IMHO, after AT&T Wireless's big fiasco when number portability started I am shocked that they want to rename it back to AT&T Wireless. Whatever reputation Cingular has, I personally would think the the AT&T Wireless brand was worse.
Also, BTW: (bacon_skoda) The directive that I have been told is that "at&t" should only be used with the globe symbol. It should still be "AT&T" when used without the globe. - cadavreexquis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5I switched from Cingular to T-Mobile and never looked back. When I tried to cancel my T-Mobile contract (I'm leaving the country) they were incredibly helpful and there were no cancellation charges.
- skaag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Most (if not all) cellular companies suck big time. Their prices are insanely high, their plans are inadequate, and I specially hate the fact they overcharge for data transfer (GPRS/UMTS). None of them give you good service unless you are a big business with many phones/numbers (then they give you whatever you want). Most phones are bad and the fonts are tiny and unreadable for the elderly (my mom has to put her glasses on whenever she uses the phone). Only a select few phones are decent, and they are way too expensive. Even when a phone is at last sexy it will sport a crappy operating system, too little memory, non-standard headphone jacks, etc. (see RAZR for example).
What this means is the following:
1. The cellular market has yet to unleash its potential due to low acceptance, high prices, crappy management & bad strategy consultants
2. Perhaps you should think again if you really need that cellular phone next to your head radiating your brain and growing cute little baby tumors
3. Perhaps you could do without a device which in most cases annoys you anyway (remember that time when you left the office, and nobody called you about work until the next morning?) - therernospoons, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4All I have to say is they better not pass on that cost to me!
- Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I gotta agree with you there. Sprint is pretty good in my area but I am being raped by my plan... Sure it's only $35 but with a bunch of features I CANT CANCEL it's more around $65 each month. Plus $3 per kb of data transfered is a little insane as well.
- waynechng, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Let the sucking begin.
- anthonyb415, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Also don't forget that SBC like all the other "baby bells" are the result of the government splitting up the original AT&T.
- mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Oh and for the record, AT&T sucks balls. They have the absolute worst billing system of all time. They send you bills that are due yesterday, and charge you late fees. Or they just don't send you a bill at all, and the next month they charge you double plus fees. Or, sometimes if you are really lucky, they send you a bill, you pay it, they send you the next months bill claiming you didn't pay it, with a fee, then you pay what you know you owe (the current months bill) and the next month they magically found your payment from the past two months, which somehow means you don't owe anything this month, in fact they owe YOU $2, so you ignore the bill, only to get one for two months the next month, with a late fee.
Yes, that is all based on actual experience with not only AT&T wireless, but also their long distance service. - Red_Eye, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Come on now, who doesnt recognize the Death Star quicker than something that looks like an asterisk with amputations?
- djSyndrome, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4After completing my contract with Cingular, I decided that I would upgrade one of my phones to a BlackBerry through their [very orange] website. I clicked on the upgrade link and selected a phone, but chickened out and never complete the e-store purchase.
Guess what? Even though I didn't buy the phone, my contract was renewed for two years. Apparently as soon as you click 'yes' on the Conditions and Stipulations page, your contract is auto-renewed for two years, whether you complete your transaction at the e-Store or not!
I eventually got them to revert me back to uncontracted, but not without ninety minutes of haggling with a woman who was attempting to blame everyone from me to my web browser to Best Buy. During the conversation I asked to speak to a supervisor three times and was denied each time.
How good is T-Mobile again? - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@JestaMcMerv
Some of us have carrier locked phones and switching from [former] AT&T or Cingular accounts involves getting new hardware. That may be fine for people with cheapo phones, but I'm not about to spend $300 for another Treo any time soon. The problem lies at the source, not the endpoint. They have these commercials about being the best and most popular carrier, but can't get basic things like customer service right. - dave_colorado, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5i must be an exception. i have always had excellent coverage, no dropped calls, and responsive customer service.
i went in with a what i thought was a battery problem. turned out the power cable was missing a ping. they gave me a new cable and a new battery just to make sure.
i like them, but sounds like others aren't as fortunate. - rishid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Glad I am not a stock holder... man I would be pissed.
- Jeebugorn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3funny, i got my inital cell phone contract with AT&T wireless. then when they switched to cingular, i had to buy a new phone since my at&t phone "wouldn't work on cingular networks" (even though i unlocked it and it works fine). not the phone is close to dying, its been dropped so many times. since its not a phone i got through cingular i cant get insurance on it. they need to hurry up and switch back to AT&T so i can get insurance on my phone, break it, and get a new one.
- Gregd, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3@mzwaterski
Forgotten the free phone? If buying your way out of a contract with lousy service and support is mainly to pay for the phone, then why isn't the buy out pro-rated? It would cost me $175 to buy my way out of the contract one day after signing up for it and $175 one day from the end of your contract. If I want to pay for the phone outright, why must I still sign a 1 or 2 year contract and STILL have to pay my way out of it if the service is crap?
My point is, what incentive is there for a cellular company to have outstanding service after the sale? They've got you hooked. Either you buy your way out of the stupid contract, or you put up with the lousy service. These huge companies aren't geared toward keeping customers. They're geared toward acquiring customers.
For instance, I always see these great new signup deals for new Comcast subscribers. WTF? I've been with them for 3 years now and I'll be damned if I've ever been offered anything by them. Not even a reach around.. - gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Next up,
AT&T Wireless to spend $2 billion to become Cingular -- again - JestaMcMerv, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Your phone was locked to AT&T. Even if they were to put an AT&T sim card into a cingular phone, it wouldn't work.
- panique, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yeah really. The SEC really should be doing something about this. "Too ***** bad the stores don't have the pretty name you want you jackasses, you can't just piss away stockholder money like that."
Bottom line is they will be extracting that $4B from their rate payers. Verizon Wireless is no saint, but I'm glad I'm not picking up the tab for this lunacy. - WeThePeople, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3At least when a CEO at AT&T makes a HUGE blunder they really stick it to them and send them packing with a lousy 20 or 30 million dollar severance package....Yeah that will teach the *****:-)
AT&T has had it's share of bad leaders, Armstrong lost AT&T like 40 billion on his failed broadband plan, they sold out to Comcast for 35 cents on the dollar, he walks with over 40 million in stock options, and other payments, then he goes and gets a job at Comcast for 5 million a year, WTF!
Most CEO's have become nothing more then common thugs, they seek to fire, lower benefits and destroy the pensions of the work force and at the same time increase their stock options and pay to the moon, nothing but a bunch of greedy ass holes! wonder what their silly little ass would do if the REAL workers just left a told them to run the whole company themselves. - dasunst3r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Sounds like a total repeat of what happened to Esso/Exxon... who cares? AT&T is total crap considering that they opened their network to the NSA.
- skaag, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3As if they had a choice...! Look at what the NSA is making ISP do now.
It makes me glad I live in a country that is WAY more advanced than the USA (I live in Israel).
Here the army and government tap you whether you like it or not, they don't bother asking if you mind please, and there is no drama in the media about it :-) - leonbev, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Forget the stockholders... how do you think the CUSTOMERS feel about having 4 billion dollars of their subscription fees being wasted on some failed marketing scheme. I'll bet that the ones who were customers since it was originally called AT&T Wireless are truly miffed.
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