I have been with Cingular for going on 4 years now. Although i will say that their pricing plan is a little high than what i would like to pay.. I have stayed with them. They offer great support, and i have never had a problem with signals going down on my phone. The only time i was really unhappy with them was in the summer of 2005 (I believe) I had been very into texting, and was under the assumption that i had unlimited texting on my phone (For 20.00/month) Unfortunately when i had my next statement, my bill was 785.68. After i recovered from my inital faint, i called them to inquire about it, and they told me that although i had signed up for the unlimited messaging prior to the next bill month, it hadn't been processed for my current month of texting. They did acknowledge that it was a very high bill, but they declined to help me by either taking off some of the amount, or by fixing the problem in another way. The only advice i had was to wait until the date that my bill was due, and then call billing and ask them to extend my payment date (so i wasn't charged a late fee) I was unable to do so right away, and had to wait for the dead line (For a reason unknown to myself)
Instead of risking having to pay a deliquent fee, i decided just to pay it off in one lump sum, because i wasn't sure that i would have the time to contact billing on my deadline day.
But for cingular as a whole. They were a very good company, good customer service, average wait time on the phone. They have forums, and live chat online as well.
Now that cingular has been taken over by ATT it has changed a little. First, now when you want an upgrade (say you have a 2 year contract, and you are just passed your first year. You can get an 'upgrade' and change your phone for free, just the cost of the phone which is usually discounted for you) With ATT though, you have to pay a 18.00 upgrade fee, as well as the phone fee, which in my own opinion have gone up slightly. There aren't as many free phones as there used to be for members. For new members, they offer many more exciting and great deals, to lure them in more. But when the new customer is half way through their contract, they start to notice they had a much better selection in the beginning.
Just recently, ATT had the Sony Ericsson Z310a phone for free if you had a contract phone. The design looks great, and its a flip phone with a built in camera. Of course a lot of people wanted to own it, and had upgraded to it. After the inital upgrades, there have been a lot of complaints on this phone. Due to it breaking easily, feeling too light, Not having enough power, bad call quality, and the like.
Concerns have been voiced all over the internet about these phones, and ATT still continues to provide them to us as a great phone. I feel that is a little lacking on their part. If they would like us to be happy with their services, they should allow us to maybe review their phones right on their buy page. Of course, have it moderated.. But allow the people who don't usually shop around to have a place right next to the phone to tell them what it is, and how it is once you get it home.
ATT Also has new terms on returning your phone, and getting a replacement phone.
My boyfriend's phone has been acting horridly lately. The phone will shut off on its own, and he will have to pull the battery out, wait, put it back in and try to power it on. He has taken it to the site where he purchased it from, and they told him that they cannot and will not replace or change the phone, and that he will have to call the manufacturer directly for any help regarding it.
Cingular would usually do that work for you. You call them, they process it for you, they pay shipping to and from for each phone, and its a much smoother, faster process, with less bumps and headaches along the way.
ATT leaves you in the cold, and makes you do it on your own, without help from them.
Over all, i am griping about ATT, yet i will stay with them until my contract is out, and probably longer as my friends and family have the same carrier and thats mobile to mobile minutes.
Do i wish that ATT handled themselves a little better? Do i wish that it was a little less expensive to have a plan that i have? Do i wish there was more customer service? Of course i do. But i am willing to settle for this, and not open up a worse can of worms with a different carrier at the moment.
I hope this review has been helpful to someone. And in closing, just do research on the provider that you are considering going with before you actually do. I haven't had the greatest experience with ATT, but you may.
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