Cingular Wireless Cell Phones Consumer Reviews - Page 2

I used to be and AT&T customer until Cingular bought them out. I was told I could switch to Cingular and not be considered canceling contract and start using their services better rate plan and such and not have what we originally had with AT&T. I said "OK sure no problem," then I was told I had to buy Cingular phones in order for it to work. Everything was fine for the first 1 yr of the 2 yr contract, then I started getting dropped calls constantly. I mean several times a day about 5 times.

I have been told it's my phone and it isn't in warranty, so I need to get another phone. I don't believe them period! I find it interesting soon as my warranty was up, it's my phone and not them. I have told them it's their network not my phone, I get the runaround on it constantly. Was promised a free replacement phone, never got it, come to find out that was if I agreed to another contract and I refuse to do so. This has been proven over and over, if they think I am getting a new phone, or a loaner to see if it is my phone to appease them, I don't get dropped calls, but as soon as they figure out, I am not getting a different phone, they start up.

They have thought the last 3 weeks I am trying another phone and not one problem but guess what? My husband is having clarity problems with his phone now, isn't that interesting? They have taken roll over minutes out not used, always calling on that, they did it long enough that 1 yr ago when I wasn't aware I had 100.00 in coverage charges. Their customer service is lousy. I tried to get tech support and some bozo there, never said hello or nothing and just sat there on the line for 15 min not talking.

They even knew I was on the house phone calling to complain. I was told everything under the sun it's my phone, need a new sim card, got one, nothing changed. I am still under AT&T towers or I am stuck in between towers. My contract is up Nov 26th and I am counting down the days! You will so regret having them!

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS -- I've been a Cingular customer for almost three years now, and have paid that company hundreds of dollars that I DID NOT OWE THEM! I signed up with them when I started my job. Everyone in the office used Cingular and suggested that I sign up with them, since we'd all be in the same network. BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE! When my first bill arrived, there we no problems. The following month, however, my bill was approximately $ 15 more than it should have been. I was on a calling plan for about $ 40 a month, with 200 anytime minutes and 5000 night and weekend minutes.

When I called to question the bill, the woman told me that the charges were for call I made. When I told her that I didn't even use of my anytime minutes, she changed her story, started to say they were calls from a past bill - a late payment. Well, since I paid everything in full the prior month and, at that point, my account stated a zero balance, I asked her about it. She changed the story again... in the end, the bill never got changed and the charges stood. For three years this continued, but I could not change companies because I needed to be in the same network as those in my office.

Now....this Monday I paid off a bill for $ 55.24. I paid online, and my account said my balance was zero. Well, yesterday, one day later, I checked online to see if the payment went through. It did, but it also said that NOW I have an account balance of $ 57.62.

Once again I made a call to Cingular, spoke with a VERY rude woman, who told me that the $ 57.62 is a new charge, and the old balance was a late fee. I told her that I knew the old balance was late, but why did my internet account say I had a zero balance? And why is my new balance $ 57.62 when my monthly plan is for about $ 40, and I hadn't even used my phone... still had all my anytime minutes. The problem never got solved. She was very manipulative, changing the story every time I proved that there actually WAS a problem with my bill. In the end I just gave up.

I have 4 months left on my contract, and only two choices. I can either struggle through the next few months, paying this deceitful money that I don't owe them, or I can cancel my plan right now, pay them off the balance (that I don't owe them) in ADDITION to a rather large cancellation fee. Cingular should be put out of business.

Cingular Wireless is by far the worst cell phone carrier I have ever had. Since I started service with them in August 2004, I have had NUMEROUS problems with my voice mail. Instead of my recorded greeting, people calling me would get a message saying “the subscriber is not available right now, please try your call again later”. As a result of this I have lost a large amount of business, since my cell phone is my advertised phone number.

I have contacted customer service and technical support on every occurrence and there never seemed to be a logical explanation as to why the problem kept recurring. Every employee had a different version of the story as to why my voice mail didn't work, but NONE of them solved my problem.

I had been told that is because I initiated service in Florida, but then moved to California (isn't a National plan supposed to work anywhere in the States?) Then someone else said that my “pilot number” programmed for my voice mail wasn't the correct one (so why didn't they fix it?) I have even been told that it was because I didn't powered off my phone every day to allow time to reprogram. I tried that and it didn't make a difference.

During one of my last conversations with technical support I made it very clear that if the problem persisted I would have to close the account, because Cingular was obviously unable to provide me with voice mail. My discontent was bad enough that I was willing to be charged a service interruption fee, which is in my opinion, a bad excuse for not been able to keep their customers otherwise.

What sent me through the roof thou was the customer service rep telling me that my last month service payment was NOT REFUNDABLE. Since Cingular bills in advance, I have used 3 days out of the 30 I have been charged for, and no amount of complaint letters seem to make any difference in their criminal policies. Cingular is one of many arrogant corporations that is forgetting that it's us, the consumers, that turned them into the biggest cell phone company in the U.S. and WE ARE PAYING THEIR SALARIES. If you got screwed by Cingular as well, please voice your opinion and tell us your story.

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA -- DON'T BUY CINGULAR SERVICE. THERE IS NO SERVICE. I found out the hard way. Got a Cingular phone and service contract. I couldn't use the phone camping, at the beach or out West. I was so disgruntled using my friends' phones all the time to get in touch with home while traveling. The last straw was out in Las Vegas. When I got home I literally threw my phone down on the counter and said you have have your junk back. I have Verizon ever since and haven't had a lost, dropped or no service area! Well lo and behold over 2 years later they are after me for $ since I broke the contract.

I insisted they broke the contract because I paid my bills on time but they did not provide me with service. WELL GUESS WHAT? In small print on the contract.. it states.. THEY DO NOT HAVE TO PROVIDE SERVICE. Got to pay them so my credit stays good.. BUT every time I go to the mall I'm taking my CINGULAR SUCKS SIGN and stand by their door for a few minutes. Hopefully they lose a lot more revenue than what I have to pay them! And their advertising is FALSE. No dropped calls.. Yeah.. RIGHT!!!

TACOMA, WASHINGTON -- Before my husband and I were married, he had less than perfect credit. As soon as we were officially hitched, I took over paying his bills so I would know that they were on time and also to re-establish his credit. Two years later, we moved and he wanted to put me on his cell phone contract since my carrier did not offer service in the area. We went to the store and after pulling up his file, the service rep said it would require an $800 deposit to get me a phone.

That seemed a crazy price to get a simple phone, so I had them open a new account in my name. I got the same phone free--no deposit. I understand that the company has to protect themselves from persons with bad credit, but for the last two years, all of his payments have been on time--no delinquencies. When I questioned the sales rep, she informed me that because he had to put a deposit down once, he will never qualify for a free phone. I think there should be a point where his credit should be reviewed and if found satisfactory, he should start with a clean slate. Am I wrong??

OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA -- My son was charged an outrageous cell phone bill from Cingular while he is serving in Iraq and trying to stay in contact with his family. The bill ended up being $6000 dollars and when him and his wife realized how much it was they contacted Cingular asking them to work with them, being they don't have that kind of money. Cingular demanded immediate payment, they cut off their cell phones and charged them an extra $750 dollar fee for shut off charges and sent this to a collection agency.

Now my son will be in trouble with his commander, being backed in to a corner his family will have to live on $30 a month because Cingular does NOT support our troops and does not care what they do to the individual soldiers lives. I think they should have explained the plan for international was more, because my son said he had international coverage on his cell phone plan and Cingular charges more apparently because there are no satellites in that area.

This is an outrageous example of a company that is only out for the money. I suggested my son's wife go on national tv with this. I hope she does, because I know this will affect a lot of soldiers and their families. They are not getting rich over there and they still have families at home to support, and a lot of the wives don't work.

SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS -- My mom who has Alzheimer's tried to turn in her phone and ended up with a two year renewal for a phone which she has no use for. She is not so bad that she can't function at all, but she is clearly confused and disoriented. She wanders around the neighborhood and often gets lost. She no longer has any use for her cell phone and since her contract was nearly up she went to the local Cingular Wireless store with a friend to turn in the phone. We thought that that was the end of the story, however when going through her bills, I found out that she was still being charged for the phone.

I found a new phone still in the box under her bed. She had no idea as to how it got there. I went to the local store with her and explained the situation. They wanted to charge her $150 for canceling the contract! I explained that the phone had not been used and her original account had not one call in six months, but they refused to budge on the charges. What kind of customer service is this???

BIRMINGHAM, ARIZONA -- I have contacted the Prez of Bellsouth on 2 occasions to complain about the poor service with no change over the past 2 years. So I made a little video that I think sums it up best. I hope you enjoy this. I wish it was not as true as it is, but at least it is funny. Thanks.