Because T-Mobile has better customer service and gives you more minutes. Also, in some areas Cingular might not work as well. They mentioned that they have cingular and are thinking about switching, so they obviously don't like it as much. Also, when you sign a 1 year with Cingular, you don't get as good of a deal on phones.

its not that I don't like cingular I just don't have the money to pay for a phone bill right now and when I have money again I just don't know what company I wanna go to so I thought I'd start looking into it now.

Which is perfectally fine. Call customer service and crank your plan down. They do have "save" plan for those with financial diificulty. Do they advertize this? No. Tehn every Tom Dick and Hank would come out of the wood work claiming they can't pay their bills either.

I value you as a customer. Does your leaving Cingular affect me directly? No. I do what I can to retain all of our customers.

when I say I have no money I mean I have NO money. I'm a 19 year old kid wo is about to lose her job because business is slow I have car insurance and gas to pay for so right now for me having a cell phone isn't an option. I've had cingular for a few weeks now and its been pretty good minus the run around I went through to get the phone I want (samsung p207). I like cingular but when I get a phone again I'll probably be getting a family plan with my boyfriend to avoid going over our minutes. T-mobile has better plans so thats why I was leaning towards them.

Cool. Good luck.

Have you thought about a company like metroPCS or cricket? when I Was in college that's who I had...$33/month and unlimited minutes and 500 long distance minutes...I also had unlimited text for $4.99/mo and I think I paid like $3.99/mo for voice mail. I had to pay full price (like $120) for my phone, but no contract was very easy on the nerves and never having to worry about going over minutes...

Iselltheshitoutofphones said:
Or you can sign a 1 year contract with Cingular, also and get a 30 day trial period.

Now why would you move to carrier with reduction in coverage?

What matters is what works best for him in HIS area. I have T-Mobile and my husband has Cingular. In our home, it's MY phone that works. At best, he gets a lousy signal. So far, we haven't been to a part of the city that I live in where he has coverage and I don't. Don't automatically assume that Cingular has better coverage for EVERYONE. 😛

I am not speaking for everyone. I am simply comparing your published tiny map versus Cingular's map.

You are right Cingular doesn't work everywhere, but what carrier does? All I am saying is that if he were to switch to T-Mo then his chances of coverage decrease significantly. Good luck to him if he lives off an interstate or a somewhat rural area.

I think Cingular overexaggerates on their maps though. T-Mobile lets you zoom in and see street by street if the coverage is good in your area or not. If all other things were equal (customer service, voice clarity, minutes, etc) besides coverage area, I probably would go with Cingular, but there are differences.
Also, chances of having service don't mean anything if T-Mobile works well and Cingular doesn't where he lives.
Read deMarque's post, he brings up a good point too.

There map is not overexagerated. CIngular is buliding/converting their towers to GSM at an exponetial rate. Right now it is covering 71% of the US with plans to be coast to coast with GSM by the end of this year. Not bad since they launced GSM Nationwide a couple of years ago. T-Mo hasn't improved their spectrum since the took over Voicestream in 2002.

Cingular offers a street by street map, like T-Mo does. Obviously Cingular work where he lives or he wouldn't think of switching. Cingular's CS, better but not perfect, no carriers CS is. Voice clarity, I have had no issues and I was one of the first to get on GSM. Minutes, rollover no one else lets you keep your minutes. I bet there have been times you went over your minutes and you paid ...
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Iselltheshitoutofphones said:
T-Mo hasn't improved their spectrum since the took over Voicestream in 2002.

Will

that my friend is as far from the truth as it can get. T-Mobile invests BILLIONS of dollars (about 42 billion last year) in it's coverage. However, instead of coverage spread, it was more so invested into coverage density...improving the core network. We are always adding towers

I said improved spectrum, not density. That is great that there are 30 towers in a 5 mile radius, but 10 miles away there isn't one bar of signal!

we have improved spectrum as well, but converting from 800tdma to gsm gives cingular a large advantage in the GSM world...if that were not made possible, who would be in a better position? Let's not forget T-Mobile was the first in the GSM biz in the U.S. and has a very large amount of the 1900 pcs licenses.

I know- who cares because it doesn't matter now, right?

I don't have anything about cingular products and services, it's a very good company. It's the attitude that bothers me. Same thing that happened with vzw, the arrogance, the ethics, etc....not to say cingular doesn't have it's bragging rights...of course they do. I personally disagree with how cingular has treated a lot of it's employees. I personally diagree with the mindse...
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First, I never said it was a mistake to switch to T-Mo. I have seen the opposite, people walk out of T-Mo stores into Cingular stores. That is the freedom of choice and WLNP has a good part in that. That is what retention departments are for.

I never said number one coverage is everything. Cingular has numerous other positives besides coverage, and when you comapre it to Verizon it does lack. Of course here you are talking CDMA vs. GSM which is a whole diferent monster.

Arrogance? So let me guess thatr you have never been 1st at anything? When you are in the number one spot of course your head gets a little big. Do I brag that Cingular has the most ____? No. I over an informed buying decision. Yes I have cowrokers who bash this and tha...
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I never said anything about CDMA versus GSM in that one, I don't really care about that.

I'm not saying anything for you to take personally, so don't.

Sure, I've been first at a lot of things and you're damn right it feels good... as I said, cingular has it's bragging rights. (so do we)

I work in a department called Advanced Care, and retention is the main focus of my job. I know about retention. My disconnect rate is 29%.

If you want to give someone more informed buying decisions then do so. don't just say "call retention to get a free phone" thats terrible! you're practically defrauting you're own company! instead of saying "you're going to switch and get decreased coverage" how about pull up the 2 coverage maps and compare ...
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Ok Bitzkits....

First,this is my last post of the evening it has been a good one....

I never said call the retention department to get a free phone. It is not defrauding Cingular. So the customer saves and extra $50 on a Moto V551, who cares if they resign for a year or two. It doesn't take long to recoup that money on the backend now does it? Again, it is good to give the customer choices.

29% disconection rate? So almost 1 in every 3 customers you talk to does not stay. That doesn't seem like a good %. You too seem highly educated and passionate about T-Mo. I would hate to see the "slacker disconnect" rate? To be fair, I would not want your job and I give you credit for your position.

You've never given away a V600($249) to an...
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yes 29% is very good, the average is about 40-45%.

29% are cancellations, 71% are saves.

No, I've NEVER given a V600 away for free. Other models, yeah...but there does come a point you have to stop. Tenure of course is a contributing factor, but you also have to look at their average revenue, adjustment history, payment history, and listen to the overall circumstances. Every save is different, and not everyone can be saved.

I'm going to let the "call retention and ask for a free phone" comment go, because I can't find the thread and my brain is tired of going through them all, but it was said
There's also a difference between someone upset and threatening to cancel because they have fel t that their tenure has earned them a chea...
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Bizkits,

Let me give you mad props! I am in the retail department and my churn goal at anytime is 2.25% And that's of all my happy customers! to be able to only let 29% of unhappy, cancelling customer's slip by is insane.

Most of my churn is Smart Access or non-paying customers. My current churn rate is 1% and I bust my balls for that. It's gotten easier with the TLC (which you see lots of memoed accounts soon).

I couldn't imagine being in Retention and dealing with angry or "entitled" customers all day. You guys all deserve a PEAK Award in my opinion!

🙂

I'm with ya on the SmartAccess thing--our call center handles mostly SA with some general care queue thrown in, and the customers are a bear to keep... We can't throw them over to retention, because we ARE retention! They tend to be some of the angriest, least informed, bitterest bunch of customers you'd ever want to see, and after a year of spending limit balance suspensions and rate plan limits and prepaying for handset purchases and tiny voice plans with huge overage to keep their Sidekick features they tend to be ready to roll on out--it's amazing we lose as few as we do, especially since we can't convert off SA when they've had a crummy payment history and have been suspended for nonpay ever other month since they activated, and once ...
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Aleq said:
I'm with ya on the SmartAccess thing--our call center handles mostly SA with some general care queue thrown in, and the customers are a bear to keep... We can't throw them over to retention, because we ARE retention! They tend to be some of the angriest, least informed, bitterest bunch of customers you'd ever want to see, and after a year of spending limit balance suspensions and rate plan limits and prepaying for handset purchases and tiny voice plans with huge overage to keep their Sidekick features they tend to be ready to roll on out--it's amazing we lose as few as we do, especially since we can't convert off SA when they've had a crummy payment history and have been suspended for nonpay ever other month

...
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Aleq said:
I'm with ya on the SmartAccess thing--our call center handles mostly SA with some general care queue thrown in, and the customers are a bear to keep... We can't throw them over to retention, because we ARE retention! They tend to be some of the angriest, least informed, bitterest bunch of customers you'd ever want to see, and after a year of spending limit balance suspensions and rate plan limits and prepaying for handset purchases and tiny voice plans with huge overage to keep their Sidekick features they tend to be ready to roll on out--it's amazing we lose as few as we do, especially since we can't convert off SA when they've had a crummy payment history and have been suspended for nonpay ever other month

...
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Actually, strangely enough, it's the regular accounts that are usually delinquent and go into write off. SmartAccess accounts, by reason of the spending limit balance, tend to keep the customer up to date, because if they fall behind on the bill it suspends until they pay up... they get p.o.'d about it, but they do pay because the alternative is having no phone at all. It's when they get to the end of their contract that the birds all come home to roost, as it were, and they want to bail out.

Aleq said:
Actually, strangely enough, it's the regular accounts that are usually delinquent and go into write off. SmartAccess accounts, by reason of the spending limit balance, tend to keep the customer up to date, because if they fall behind on the bill it suspends until they pay up... they get p.o.'d about it, but they do pay because the alternative is having no phone at all. It's when they get to the end of their contract that the birds all come home to roost, as it were, and they want to bail out.

I'll never understand the logic behind "what do you mean I have to pay to turn my service back on?!".

muchdrama said:

Aleq said:
Actually, strangely enough, it's the regular accounts that are usually delinquent and go into write off. SmartAccess accounts, by reason of the spending limit balance, tend to keep the customer up to date, because if they fall behind on the bill it suspends until they pay up... they get p.o.'d about it, but they do pay because the alternative is having no phone at all. It's when they get to the end of their contract that the birds all come home to roost, as it were, and they want to bail out.

I'll never understand the logic behind "what do you mean I have to pay to turn my service back on?!".

No kidding--it's right up there with "You mean I gotta P...
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Aleq said:

muchdrama said:

Aleq said:
Actually, strangely enough, it's the regular accounts that are usually delinquent and go into write off. SmartAccess accounts, by reason of the spending limit balance, tend to keep the customer up to date, because if they fall behind on the bill it suspends until they pay up... they get p.o.'d about it, but they do pay because the alternative is having no phone at all. It's when they get to the end of their contract that the birds all come home to roost, as it were, and they want to bail out.

I'll never understand the logic behind "what do you mean I have to pay to turn my service back on?!".

No kidding--it's right up

...
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WElL HE DID SAY IT AND POST IT ! Iselltheshitoutofphones said "Here's some advice....call Cingular's customer service and ask to speak to the retention department. I have seen customers get really expensive phones for free, hidden "save" plans, and waived upgrade fees. I can't guarantee you will recieve the same but it is worth a shot. Yes, I work for Cingular and would love to keep you around. For the most part they throw just about anything at you, especially if you have been a customer for a while."


JUST A LITTLE CLARITY FOR YOU GUYS ON THE SUBJECT !

No, Cingular launced GSM in California in 2000. I am sure Omnipoinr and Powertel came around then, too, if not before.....

point was T-Mobile is currently the company that was once the first gsm in the U.S. after buying out omnipoint, voicestream, powertel etc...

bizkitsngravy said:

that my friend is as far from the truth as it can get. T-Mobile invests BILLIONS of dollars (about 42 billion last year) in it's coverage. However, instead of coverage spread, it was more so invested into coverage density...improving the core network. We are always adding towers

And THAT is why while my husband MIGHT be able to get a signal in our home, if he's lucky, I have fantastic signal in every corner of our house. 😁

When I switched to T-Mobile, I was willing to give up a reduction in coverage due to the fact that I never used the majority of my nationwide coverage.

I was able to get more minutes for the same amount of money and I have not found any carrier other than T-Mobile that has better text messaging rates.

For me, the coverage where I was going to be was on par with my previous company, so it made sense for me to switch.

Again, everone has different needs and motivationd for switching. I know not all my customers need a Nationwide plan, but it is nice to have in case you do go out of town or a less dense area of the world knowing you have coverage.

Only one carrier has better text messaging plan than T-Mo. That is Nextel. They offwer unlimited messaging for $14.99 a month. Not everyone texts, though.

It is good to hae multiple carriers for everyone. 1 carrier doesn't work for everyone. If it did what fun would that be?

Iselltheshitoutofphones said:
It is good to hae multiple carriers for everyone. 1 carrier doesn't work for everyone. If it did what fun would that be?

Then why doubt his contemplating T-Mobile because of "reduced coverage"? 😛

I am not doubting anything. Why get fewer features/coverage/minutes if you don't have to.

Iselltheshitoutofphones said:
I am not doubting anything. Why get fewer features/coverage/minutes if you don't have to.

Exactly! Why get fewer MINUTES if you don't have to! 😛 😉

Lets say you have a 600 minute plan. Do you use all 600 minutes? I bet you're one of those people who never goes over their minutes. So you're usage isn't seasonal? Rollover does help many people.

You do get less minutes per plan on Cingular. But you do get to keep what you didn't use.

I don't know about you but I am ready to squash this thread.

LilShorty said:

Isellthe****outofphones said:
It is good to hae multiple carriers for everyone. 1 carrier doesn't work for everyone. If it did what fun would that be?

Then why doubt his contemplating T-Mobile because of "reduced coverage"? 😛

I honestly don't know why this point is brought up SO often...As adults, I think we are all comfortable with establishing our own needs, and know what our own daily lives require. I've had T-Mobile service (as a consumer, not employee) for a year and a half. I know that when I do travel, I fly or I take the interstates (because they're the fastest, most direct routes to my destinations-not beacuse I have to in order for my cell p...
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I honestly don't know why everyone brings up the JD Powers review. Wireless Week magazine rated Cingular the number one carrier. BFE channel 5 in Farmersville, Montana rated Cellular One the best. It is hard to get a sample poll that is unbiased and covers a a wide blanket of people.

We can go on and on....

Iselltheshitoutofphones said:
It is good to hae multiple carriers for everyone. 1 carrier doesn't work for everyone. If it did what fun would that be?

Absolutely - how true that is. Just remember that you are probably posting in a forum full of people who are very excited and passionate about T-Mobile and their service. :-)

I looked at Cingular when I was looking at phones, and while I didn't go with the company, they were running a close second, especially because of the nice selection of phones.

That is why I am being courteous and fair in another forum. Yes, I work for Cingular, and yes I am proud to sell their phones and service. So because I don't work for T-Mo therefore I can't post here. I have nothing but respect for those who work in the wireless community outside of Cingular.

I'll tell you the faults of T-Mo like I will of Cingular. The who idea of my posts is to educate the customer.

Iselltheshitoutofphones said:
I'll tell you the faults of T-Mo like I will of Cingular. The who idea of my posts is to educate the customer.

Awesome. It's great to have your input. 🙂

T-Mobile is a honest company and Cingular isn't.

did you get your first bill and freak out? because we have much larger coverage than tmobile and we have rollover! granted their prices are a little cheaper but coverage cant compare to ours ! If you got a huge bill with us its because of activation fee and prorared charges . Your next months bill will go to normal if you dont have any overages . Any company you start service with the first bill is always high because your starting in the middle of a billing cycle in most cases .Do me a favor and reply and tell me if this is the case

Actually, T-Mobile's billing system DOESN'T work that way. The only thing more than the normal bill is the activation fee. And she already said that our service was great in her area. Not to mention that where I live, the Cingular coverage may LOOK good, but it unfortunately doesn't allow you to hold a call for more than two minutes without dropping. That is, of course, assuming that you can get the call to connect without a fast busy in the first place. 🤣

No I really have NO money to pay for it... If you read my other posts you'd see that I'm getting laid off so paying for a cell phone is not an option right now I've got more important things to worry about... so when I get money I'll probably be going with t-mobile hopefully they'll still have the e315 when I get money or maybe the upgrade to that. That would be great!