Here's My Story...Would love Some Cingular Rep Input
Go ahead, grab a soda and some chips, we may be here a while. ;)
I decided to give Cingular a try (switched from TMobile) because of the $5 per month SBC discount. I called SBC to place my order. When I placed the order I decided to port my Tmobile number and told the rep to go ahead and do that. Got the order completed and was all set. About an hour after I placed the order I realized I should NOT have ported my number--we live in a rural area and were not sure if the Cingular service would reach to our house. I wanted to get the Cingular phone and try it here before canceling the TMobile. I called SBC back to cancel the port and was connected with the "porting" department. I explained the situation and the rep told me she had canceled t...
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I decided to give Cingular a try (switched from TMobile) because of the $5 per month SBC discount. I called SBC to place my order. When I placed the order I decided to port my Tmobile number and told the rep to go ahead and do that. Got the order completed and was all set. About an hour after I placed the order I realized I should NOT have ported my number--we live in a rural area and were not sure if the Cingular service would reach to our house. I wanted to get the Cingular phone and try it here before canceling the TMobile. I called SBC back to cancel the port and was connected with the "porting" department. I explained the situation and the rep told me she had canceled t...
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PIxieBonnie said:...
Go ahead, grab a soda and some chips, we may be here a while. ;)
I decided to give Cingular a try (switched from TMobile) because of the $5 per month SBC discount. I called SBC to place my order. When I placed the order I decided to port my Tmobile number and told the rep to go ahead and do that. Got the order completed and was all set. About an hour after I placed the order I realized I should NOT have ported my number--we live in a rural area and were not sure if the Cingular service would reach to our house. I wanted to get the Cingular phone and try it here before canceling the TMobile. I called SBC back to cancel the port and was connected with the "porting" department. I explained the situation
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Wow...
The problem begins with SBC being more of a reseller of Cingular and not knowing what to do 100% of the time. Another huge problem with this is that our return policy has changed recently. Phones sold before the 15th of November had a 15 return period, those sold after have 30 days. It's something we have to stick to.
Ideally what should've happened was having the entire first phone deal with SBC cancelled and returned, and then starting over. Of course... that didn't happen.
Your best bet would be talking to one person and getting everything done at once. If you can, mail the phone back. A store shouldn't be able to take it. A corporate store might be able to, but it isn't likely. Just to simplify everything, cancel ...
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The problem begins with SBC being more of a reseller of Cingular and not knowing what to do 100% of the time. Another huge problem with this is that our return policy has changed recently. Phones sold before the 15th of November had a 15 return period, those sold after have 30 days. It's something we have to stick to.
Ideally what should've happened was having the entire first phone deal with SBC cancelled and returned, and then starting over. Of course... that didn't happen.
Your best bet would be talking to one person and getting everything done at once. If you can, mail the phone back. A store shouldn't be able to take it. A corporate store might be able to, but it isn't likely. Just to simplify everything, cancel ...
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ralph_on_me said:...
Wow...
The problem begins with SBC being more of a reseller of Cingular and not knowing what to do 100% of the time. Another huge problem with this is that our return policy has changed recently. Phones sold before the 15th of November had a 15 return period, those sold after have 30 days. It's something we have to stick to.
Ideally what should've happened was having the entire first phone deal with SBC cancelled and returned, and then starting over. Of course... that didn't happen.
Your best bet would be talking to one person and getting everything done at once. If you can, mail the phone back. A store shouldn't be able to take it. A corporate store might be able to, but it isn't likely.
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When I wanted to go with Cingular, I was told by a store rep that I would have to contact SBC about the discount you're speaking of (and I think the $5 one is if you are pre-approved for excellent credit with SBC, otherwise it's $3).
So, I called SBC and ended up ordering via telephone through them; got sent a different phone than they promised (model got discontinued), but was told I could exchange it in a Cingular store. That turned out not to be true, though one offered to take it, but I had been told not to do that by SBC.
All I can say, is it was a nightmare, I was only allowed 15 days, which turned out to start from the day I ordered the phone, not the day I called to activate.
So, lesson learned is don't buy online or throug...
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So, I called SBC and ended up ordering via telephone through them; got sent a different phone than they promised (model got discontinued), but was told I could exchange it in a Cingular store. That turned out not to be true, though one offered to take it, but I had been told not to do that by SBC.
All I can say, is it was a nightmare, I was only allowed 15 days, which turned out to start from the day I ordered the phone, not the day I called to activate.
So, lesson learned is don't buy online or throug...
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All i can say is i hope the discount was worth all the ****e you went through.
On a 2nd point of course the buyers remorse should be when you order the phone, do you think if it wasn't people wouldn't milk it, remember you can pop a sim in and start using it, whats to say you didn't call in to activate it, used it,brke it then called in saying i just opened my box and it was broken when i opened it,see the company has to protect itself as well as you do!!! đ đ
On a 2nd point of course the buyers remorse should be when you order the phone, do you think if it wasn't people wouldn't milk it, remember you can pop a sim in and start using it, whats to say you didn't call in to activate it, used it,brke it then called in saying i just opened my box and it was broken when i opened it,see the company has to protect itself as well as you do!!! đ đ
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Well, actually in my case (not the person originally starting this post), my SIM was already installed.
The miscommunication came with SBC saying that "activation" was when you called Cingular to verbally agree to contract terms, but it was actually the day you order the phone. SBC finally admitted they were told incorrectly, but blamed Cingular.
And, yes, my discount was worth it because some people don't have tons of money to spend on a phone every month...and need all the help they can get. âšī¸
If I had known about this forum before I started on my little adventure, I could have saved myself a lot of crap, agreed. I would have just gone to a Cingular store, then worried about the SBC discount after the fact. But it was a Cingu...
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The miscommunication came with SBC saying that "activation" was when you called Cingular to verbally agree to contract terms, but it was actually the day you order the phone. SBC finally admitted they were told incorrectly, but blamed Cingular.
And, yes, my discount was worth it because some people don't have tons of money to spend on a phone every month...and need all the help they can get. âšī¸
If I had known about this forum before I started on my little adventure, I could have saved myself a lot of crap, agreed. I would have just gone to a Cingular store, then worried about the SBC discount after the fact. But it was a Cingu...
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they always do that...They blame us for their not knowing crap. don't deal with SBC...DON'T. It is not worth the discounts.
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Yup, I learned the hard way. SBC has to do the discount, but they made it sound like to do that, I had to go through them, not Cingular. Too much misinformation! đ¤Ŗ Hope others can read these posts and do it right the first time.
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PIxieBonnie said:...
Go ahead, grab a soda and some chips, we may be here a while. ;)
I decided to give Cingular a try (switched from TMobile) because of the $5 per month SBC discount. I called SBC to place my order. When I placed the order I decided to port my Tmobile number and told the rep to go ahead and do that. Got the order completed and was all set. About an hour after I placed the order I realized I should NOT have ported my number--we live in a rural area and were not sure if the Cingular service would reach to our house. I wanted to get the Cingular phone and try it here before canceling the TMobile. I called SBC back to cancel the port and was connected with the "porting" department. I explained the situation
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Thanks for your reply. The only problem I have with this is that I will be without a phone until the new one arrives. Its really not an option. I guess I don't see why Cingular can't charge the retail price of the new phone to my bill and give me a credit when the other is received by them.
I don't want to cancel this service and just start all over again because my rate plan is no longer available (1000 Roll Over for $39.99).
T-Mobile still offers the 1000 minutes for $39.99, but I really wanted to stick with Cingular since I went to the (considerable) trouble of switching.
But the way it looks right now is that I either buy a new phone to use with Cingular or I go back to TMobile. This REALLY sucks.
I don't want to cancel this service and just start all over again because my rate plan is no longer available (1000 Roll Over for $39.99).
T-Mobile still offers the 1000 minutes for $39.99, but I really wanted to stick with Cingular since I went to the (considerable) trouble of switching.
But the way it looks right now is that I either buy a new phone to use with Cingular or I go back to TMobile. This REALLY sucks.
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PIxieBonnie said:
I guess I don't see why Cingular can't charge the retail price of the new phone to my bill and give me a credit when the other is received by them.
I would guess...
1) Because you can't bill equipment to your Cingular account. As I understand it, they just don't do that.
2) Because you didn't buy the phone from Cingular directly, but from SBC.
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