I was a loyal Cingular cell phone customer. I had been with them a long time, and never really found fault with them. Oh sure, sometimes I would have to wait when I went to their store, especially after they got rid of their in-store repair center a couple of years ago. However, they had been good to me -- allowing me to upgrade my plans and my phones with relative ease. Their employees were knowledgeable and friendly. And to be truthful, I enjoyed their familiarity.
However, that changed in May when I decided that I wanted to upgrade my plainer phone (sorry old girl, sometimes a younger model does trick). I went into my Cingular store figuring that the procedure would be like any other. Was I surprised. I was told that even though I was under a month to month agreement and eligible for an upgrade that I would have to pay full price to upgrade! What about all of those years of customer loyalty? What about the other times that I upgraded got a better phone for free? I was told that policies had changed and that if I could find a better deal with another company that I should take it! That was all I needed to hear. I promptly dumped Cingular the next weekend. Out with the old, in with the new.
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