Cingular Wireless

[JonetteA]

I am EXTREMLY unhappy with these people. I have NEVER been more frustrated with a wireless server. I had a phone that was rebooting itself, they sent out a replacement. I didn't want the replace b/c of the problems I had had. Now I have this stinkin replacement and I can't even get Network Coverage in a CINGULAR store. Seriously! I call back to the Warranty group and they can not help me at all, they have NO idea who to raise the issue to, or who their operations manager reports to. I am BEYOND frustrated and all I want is a different model phone that will WORK! I went to 3 count them yes 3 stores today on my lunch hour. I have spent a total of 4 hours between being on the phone with them and in different stores. I have HAD IT!!!! I am really angry with good reason.


My recommendation:


DON'T GO WITH CINGULAR WIRELESS!

 

[sandy6879]

ITA!! I HATE Cingular. Took them 6 months to get a family plan added to my phone and it was a COMPLETE NIGHTMARE. Then, they advertise that they don't charge for you to call cingular to cingular numbers, but only if you call them and tell them you want that on your plan FOR FREE. Just to let you all know about that.....as soon as I can get out of my contract, I will.

 

[DiscussDisney]

Have you tried speaking with a supervisor/manager? Generally things get handled better when you escalate your issue. Good Luck!

 

[Newfie2000]

I started my contract many years ago with AT & T Wireless and never had any problems, good service, no dropped calls, decent phones, no billing issues, never had any kind of connection problems, fantastic customer service, great plan... absolutely no complaints. And then... Cingular came around and took them over!! UGGHHH! I have had nothing but problems for almost a year now, I got a new phone and immediately had to return it within two weeks due to malfunctions, that was an issue, then we just couldn't seem to get service, it always said we were out of area - even in our own home. Everytime I called to talk to them they tried to tell me they were having tower issues and would I please call them back from the cell phone in question while I was currently having the issue (can you figure that one out... I sure couldn't! ) Their dropped calls are numerous, there connection/service area is horrible, their customer service stinks - and I too have gone to several stores and spoke to managers who seemed absolutely clueless! Not only were they not able or not willing to help, most did not seem to know how to reply with more than two words! In almost a year I have never even gotten an apology, despite my numerous problems and attempt at resolution! So I can see where you are coming from- I can not wait for my contract to come up!! Bye, bye Cingular!!

For anyone considering using them... ask around and think twice...make that three times!!

 

[GOOFY D]

I understand the concerns about customer service. However, the phones themselves are not manufactured by Cingular.

Who is a better option? Cingular's coverage is the reason I stay with them. Some of the others seem to have poor coverage areas.

 

[mking624]

I absolutely hate Cingular. We had them before and they had the worst customer service. We broke our contract with them. It cost us $100 to break the contract which wound up being a lot cheaper than if we remained in the contract with them.

I have Virgin Mobile's pay as you go phone now. The coverage I have with them is way better than what we had with Cingular.

 

[piglet33]

Wow, I have had Cingular service for about 4 years now and only had one problem, which they fixed right away and even credited me my whole phone bill for the inconvenience. I love Cingular.

 

[GOOFY D]

I absolutely hate Cingular. We had them before and they had the worst customer service. We broke our contract with them. It cost us $100 to break the contract which wound up being a lot cheaper than if we remained in the contract with them.

I have Virgin Mobile's pay as you go phone now. The coverage I have with them is way better than what we had with Cingular.

I am talking about coverage area.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Cingular is being sued for their handling of the merger.

Click Here for information.

 

[JonetteA]

I talked to 3 different managers. Finally I told them I needed to speak with someone who was empowered to help me with my issue. Basically at this point they had 2 options, let me out of the contract for free, or send me a new phone and I would pay the price on the internet. I got option number two. It was a solution...but it took HOURS.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I have had AT&T that became Cingular and the only problem was with a software problem in our Motorola phone. Cingular bent over backward to help us and it was the phone manufacturer's problem.

ETA I also got the $18 upgrade fee waved.

 

[M 'n C]

I hate Cingular. The phones they offered to me were not that good, dropped calls all the time, phantom voice mail which vibrated every darn hour, calls that I would receive and never know about, etc. I would be in the middle of Houston or Chicago and couldn't get a darn signal. Just horrible.

I switched to Verizon and haven't had a single problem and reception everywhere!

 

[denecarter]

Had my Cingular service (previously Southwestern Bell and SBC) for years. Every once in a while, we get a message a few days or even a week late ( ). But for the most part, it has been great... love the National coverage and no long distance charges.

Anyway, DD18 is starting college just 30 miles from home, but she had to switch to Verizon. When I enter her dorm zip code on the Cingular site, they even say "sorry, not happenin' here" (or something like that ). Cingular was great when I downgraded my plan (no longer needed family talk or so darn many minutes... still have over 8,000 rollover minutes).

By the way, not sure how it works in other parts of the country, but here in the DFW area, a lot of the Cingular stores aren't owned by Cingular or operated by Cingular employees. Basically, a company contracts to run a branch in a certain area. That may be why a "manager" couldn't even help.

At least that's the way it is in the town where I live. My brother was manager there for several years. It is definitely a high stress job. One reason he left was because he got tired of dealing with customer complaints. Yes, there were some people who had real problems with the service, but several were just cases of people with... uh... cranial-anal disorder. "I left my phone out in the rain, and now it doesn't work anymore", "my phone doesn't work, my wife called and my phone didn't ring" (uh, sir, you need to turn it on). Even my own mother doesn't know how to get her voicemail.

Anyway, everyone's mileage does vary.