Need new phone, Old plan (ATTWS) does not exist.
Do I now have go to ebay for a phone? Or another carrier for a plan? Is it impossible to sign up for for 2 years more on my old (ATTWS) plan in exchange for a new phone?
Thanks.
Thanks
Caveat Emptor. 😁
It seems that it would cost Cingular less, to just let me renew for 2 years, than force me to compare costs/coverage from different carriers just for a piddly phone.
Fauxmite said:
I have no fondness for any particular company. Just my plan. Around here (DC) the 800 lb gorilla is Verizon. They also have the nifty trick of being the only functional service offered in the Metro (subway) system .
It seems that it would cost Cingular less, to just let me renew for 2 years, than force me to compare costs/coverage from different carriers just for a piddly phone.
I don't think so I was in the same situation as you and after checking out the other carriers and phones, and plans decided to migrate to Cingular. I lost 200 minutes a month from ATTWS but now have an extra 800 minutes due to roll over. Very content.
I currently have ATT wireless. I got a sharable plan with 950 minutes for 59.99 that includes early evenings and added 3 other lines. When some of the lines approached anniversary Cingular sent letter asking me to migrate all my lines. For the 90 + taxes I currently pay, I would only get 700 minutes, no early evenings, but I would get rollover. I have checked my usage, without early evenings starting at 7pm I would be using in excess of 1100 minutes per month. With the current plans from cingular I would have a total bill of 110 + (3 x 10)= 140 + taxes. That's $50 more than I need to pay. I really can't find a good reason to migrate. I already have a GSM plan, former ATTW customer ...
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The major downside is that I couldn't use my existing phones unless they were unlocked. Cingular refuses to unlock them, and I am not willing to pay an average of $100 to get comparable phones or extend my contract by 2 more years.
If you had a Cingular handset, locked by Cingular not ATTWS, then there is a simple procedure than can be followed to get said handset unlocked.
phonefriend said:
All my phones are from ATTWS. That's lame. If a company has the phones locked to their network, they should have the ability to unlock them. Cingular should have gotten the unlock codes during the acquisition. Conveniently forgetting works out for Cingular, since they force customers who want to migrate, to purchase new phones and agree to a contract extension.
anyone can go to one of any thousands of websites and get they're phone unlocked for a couple of bucks. christ, if it's a Nokia, you can probobly do it for free yourself.
ATTWS never had them, they didn't want to have them because they didn't want to have to give them out. Cingular did not get them because there were none to get.
Stop blaming Cingular for everything. Cingular has a policy for offering codes to customers, but they CAN'T offer them on phones they didn't lock.
Blame ATTWS since they are the cause of your problem.
phonefriend said:
I am already using ebay to buy unlocked phones.
so what's the big deal?
So, this is my first full month as a Cingular (Orange) customer. Got my bill, reviewed my calls, noticed that 896 minutes of calls to other Cingular users were coded as 5KNW, and not M2M.
Called Cust Svc. Was told Nights and Weekends supercedes the free Mobile-to-Mobile program. Upon advising him that I was never informed of this, verbally *OR* in writing, I then proceded to get the run around.
I was told it was documented in the Customer Care literature I was sent (*it is not*). Then told, "Well, we have the right to change the terms of the plan at any time without notice to the consumer, so long as we continue to provide service." I asked if my p...
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And just because there's a low degree of liklihood that anyone would consume all 5000 minutes doesn't mean that you can ignore the point. Why not just say 'FREE M2M only applies during regular anytime hours.'?...
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Or are you saying that corporate tobacco has no responsibility for the millions of consumers they *knowingly* sold a carcinogen to? That it's the dead and dyings' own fault for not asking the right questions before committing themselves to addiction and death?
Don't be so glib. I did my research. I already didn't want to leave AT&T for a litany of reasons, but was coerced into doing so in order to collect on contractual benefits (handset upgrade) I was already entitled to as a blue ...
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Tobacco vs. Free MTM and Night and Weekends?
How about comparing something that causes CANCER to something that HASN'T EVEN CAUSED A PENNY OF OVERAGE.
Your statement insulted me and I am sure anyone else who has had a loved one die of cancer related to smoking.
What I am sure you forgot to ask any of those Cingular customers was whether or not that billing setup effected them at all.
It was disclosed, it wasn't deceptive. You need to waste time on something else.
🤣
tobacco VS cell phones...
we are not putting the cigarettes to the persons mouth and making them inhale the carcinogen...
nor are we putting the cell phone to your ear to make you go over your minutes.
Take responsiblity for your actions.
People like you are the reason I hang up on customers...
Oh, and chill out. Man, it's only a cell phone bill...sheesh.
Are they compairing it to cigs?
You are ignorant. You MUST work for VZW. Just go. Away. In my market Cingular reps treat people like you just like they should. In my store, when someone threatens to walk to VZW they wave goodbye. Especially blowhard former blue customers.
Just a tip.
YOUR COMPANY WENT OUT OF BUSINESS BECAUSE IT WAS DECEPTIVE AND UNPROFITIBLE.
You think Verizon will give you free incoming text? Ha. No. And no $...
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Grimkirk said:
Or are you saying that corporate tobacco has no responsibility for the millions of consumers they *knowingly* sold a carcinogen to? That it's the dead and dyings' own fault for not asking the right questions before committing themselves to addiction and death?
yes. it's called a big honkin label on the side of the package that says "this crap causes cancer." i smoked for 8 years, and quit cold turkey. anyone else can too, but they CHOOSE not to. and don't go with the addictive line on me. if anyone has enough self-contol, they can do it.
Grimkirk said:...
I already didn't want to leave AT&T for a litany of reasons, but was coerced into doing so in order to collect on co
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Grimkirk said:
I did my research...
...It's deception, plain and simple.
if you had done your research, and the Terms and Conditions were this important, you would have known this BEFORE migrating over. the T&C's are readily available on the website for anyone to read. We also give people a 30 day return policy just in case they take home their T&C's and find something so atrocious that they need to go elsewhere.
It isn't ignoring the point either. As for in the store (or on the phone) there are many DIFFERENT "fine print" items that could be covered. Covering ALL of the items WOULD take hours. How was the rep to know that was important to you? And if you try to say it is material, you are right. ALL of it is material, hence why we give you something in writing to answer any questions you may have or may think of later.
You are also arguing about something that 1/10th of 1% of customers MIGHT approach.
Argue all you want, but t...
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This is sleazy. Cingular loves marketing that its calling community is 46M > 48M > 50M so that customers should be saving on using their limited minutes. Obviously this really applies to anytime minutes. 5000 minutes of nights and weekends is the equivalent of 83.3 hours. Since nights go from 9pm to 6am and weekends are 48 hours, the typical month has 400 available night and weekend hours. If the typical person sleeps 8 hours a night, there are only 160 hours to be awake in the night and weekend window. So with 83 hours, one would have to be on the phone for half of the waking time to go over on a 5000 minute plan. ...
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'Minutes will be depleted according to usage in the following order: night and weekend minutes, mobile to mobile minutes, anytime minutes and rollover minutes.'
All we can do is broadcast it correctly or put a blocl on the cnam, which she doesn't want. We can also put her city and state, she doesn't want that either... makes me angry.
If this behavior is common Cingular business practice ("gee, sucker... Guess you should have read more closely"), then what else have they deceived their customers about? And how long will it take to find out?
450 Anytime Minutes
5000 Nights and Weekends
(a paid for benefit)
Free M2M
(Maybe a freebie, but it's not
a 'freebie' if there's any condition
under which it isn't actually 'free')
The reason the 5KNW isn't 'FREE' is because there are other plans which have UNLIMITED Nights and Weekends, which are higher priced. And when the 'FREE M2M' cuts into a finite amount of time (5K vs Unlim.), then its not FREE, and neither are the 5K minutes.
And yes, reading terms and conditions are important, not just for cell companies but with any contractual agreement you enter into. If you signed up with a credit card company that has 5 % interest and then after 12 months jumps to 12%, if that was in the t&c, you wouldn't be able to dispute that...
it's very simple, there was a technicality that you were not aware of and now you are... it did not cost you any money, and now that it has been pointed out to you and it was info that was readil...
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Whatever... Like I said, this is why number portability exists.
You are welcome to leave, and yes number portability exists for people who want to leave and keep their same number. Thanks for pointing out that fact to us all.
But you weren't deceived.
B) Your opinion on whether I was or was not deceived hardly alters the facts at hand.
It is my OPINION that Cingular engages in deceptive marketing practices. I've taken the liberty of publicising my OPINION by pointing out how I think that transpires.
If you (and anyone else) wish to subscribe to the opposing notion, by submitting to the concept that anything that isn't specifically illegal is, by virtue of its lack of illegality, is also moral, you're welcome to.
Just because the deception isn't specifically prohibited, doesn't make it any less deceptive. Obviscation is a form of deception. And legal minutae is designed specifically for ...
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You just made your point very clear with that post. You have an anti-marketing approach to resolving problems when they in fact may have been caused by your lack of attention to detail. If it was such a concern why wait until after your 30 day out or purchase before reading said terms. They are available online and in store.
If you have a non-standard requirement of your service you should take responsibility for you needs and ask questions or read Terms and Conditions within any "out" period. You didn...
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You have a Shared Plan so you qualify for a blue upgrade. Any former AT&T Shared Plans can add a line and do blue to blue upgrades. If someone tells you no, ask for their supervisor.
Cingular is investing billions this year alone into NEW GSM equipment, let alone maintaining existing equipment.
And I guess you completely failed to see that WCDMA is being tested for roll out AS WE SPEAK.
Facts are important, even in an anonymous online forum.