Cingular - another opinion

[Miles]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

I have been reading many negative comments on this newsgroup, so thought
it best to submit my opinion:

Their customer service on the telephone is the best I have experienced.

Their local store has many extras for my Nokia, and their staff is very
courteous. In fact they had a stereo earphone adapter for only $3 which
I could not locate by calling six independent stores.

The only thing I don't like about the store is that it can be busy and
the wait long, but then what cell phone store doesn't have that
difficulty? To resolve that, I do as in most other instances, telephone
to see if they have what I want and at what cost, then go to the store.

The monthly cost of $40 is reasonable and a one-year contract is reasonable.

Miles

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:55:46 GMT, "Richard J. Wyble" wrote:
>This is categorically false information, as evidenced by the
>new Nokia 6230 in my pocket. I purchased it from a Cingular
>storefront (not an agent/dealer but a Cingular company
>store), five months into a two-year Cingular contract,
>paying retail price without it affecting my service contract
>in any way.

Yes, but you had to pay for it..

It's entirely unfair the he should have to pay for a new electronic
device.. when Cingular clearly has extras!

MP-
--
"Learning is a behavior that results from consequences."
B.F. Skinner

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

> Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay full
> price for the phone.


I've been unhappy with Cingular for a variety of reasons, however, I
purchased a new Treo at a Cingular store without a new contract. Maybe your
local store is making their own policy.

 

[Al]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"BBB" <hotel@jay.com> wrote in message
news:8fGdnfaCBIo6TnnfRVn-1A@giganews.com...
> Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay full
> price for the phone.
>
>

That's for the *dumb* ones like you. All the smart people are allowed to buy
a new phone, at any time, providing they pay full price or a eligible for a
new contract priced phone.

So sorry about your luck... see there really is advantage to not dropping
out school... and avoiding drugs.

AL

P.S. I have bought a phone before no problems. And then I'll give you a
clue... e-Bay!

 

[Al]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

TROLL ALERT!

"BBB" <hotel@jay.com> wrote in message
news:tpWdnf8zZs0nTnnfRVn-rQ@giganews.com...
> Simply not true.

TROLL ALERT! Or possibly the stupidest person without a clue on this
newsgroup.

AL

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

In article <8fGdnfaCBIo6TnnfRVn-1A@giganews.com>, hotel@jay.com says...
>
> Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay full price
> for the phone.
>
>

BBB,

I don't know why you think this but it's simply not correct. I've had
to change phones with Cingular a couple of times over the years where I
choose to pay full price and not extend the contract and I've never had
them question it--they just entered the new phone info and never touched
the contract otherwise. In fact I did that once when the contract had
already expired and gone to month-to-month and I knew I was going to
have to change plans in the next year but didn't want to immediately.
New phone--no new contract at all. I just recently inquired about the
SX66 pdaphone and was offered it for full price on my existing month-to-
month account--no mention of renewing the expired contract which was
clearly on their screen.

Maybe you got ahold of a salesperson who was an idiot or you were trying
to buy a phone at the subsidized price or trying to ADD the phone
instead of substitute it for an existing phone or maybe even your
account has been flagged for some reason but I CAN state for a fact that
Cingular will sell you a phone for full price without extending the
contract.
--
Jud
Dallas TX USA

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

It is alleged that Mangus Pyke claimed:

; On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:55:46 GMT, "Richard J. Wyble" wrote:
; >This is categorically false information, as evidenced by the
; >new Nokia 6230 in my pocket. I purchased it from a Cingular
; >storefront (not an agent/dealer but a Cingular company
; >store), five months into a two-year Cingular contract,
; >paying retail price without it affecting my service contract
; >in any way.
;
; Yes, but you had to pay for it..

Yes, like most people, he realizes that to obtain something legally,
you usually have to pay for it.

; It's entirely unfair the he should have to pay for a new electronic
; device.. when Cingular clearly has extras!

Why is it unfair to pay the full price for something when you obviously
do not qualify for a discount?

I have a Treo 650. After experiencing some problems with it during the
first three weeks, I was told I had a defective unit and since it was
within the first month, I could simply exchange it at a Cingular
corporate store, so I did. If it breaks during the warrantee period, I
would expect to get it replaced by the terms of the warrantee. After
that, I'm on my own. If I need to replace it, I will be expected to
pay the full retail price or renew my contract for an additional year
or two, because normally you only get a discount (ie, the subsidized
price) on new contracts.

The retail vs discount price is about half. The unlocked GSM version
is $700 direct from Palm, and I paid $400 through Cingular. (If I got
a data plan too, they'd have knocked another $50 off the price.)

--
Jeffrey Kaplan www.gordol.org
The from userid is killfiled Send personal mail to gordol

"You're close to the Chief..." "No... no way in HELL! I won't do it."
"Look, all I'm asking you to do is to go to him, be real earnest, tell
him that you know something's going on and you want to help."
(Nightwatch Guard and Sgt. Allen, B5 "Messages From Earth")

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

BBB wrote:
> Simply not true.

It IS true. I've verified this. Anyone can walk into a Cingular store
and see it for themselves.

--
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Mangus Pyke wrote:
> On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 20:55:46 GMT, "Richard J. Wyble" wrote:
>
>>This is categorically false information, as evidenced by the
>>new Nokia 6230 in my pocket. I purchased it from a Cingular
>>storefront (not an agent/dealer but a Cingular company
>>store), five months into a two-year Cingular contract,
>>paying retail price without it affecting my service contract
>>in any way.
>
>
> Yes, but you had to pay for it..
>
> It's entirely unfair the he should have to pay for a new electronic
> device.. when Cingular clearly has extras!

Yeah, people with that kind of mentality amaze me. As if Motorola and
Nokia were charities, handing out sleek new RAZRs and 6230's out like
candy.


--
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

BBB wrote:

> Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay full price
> for the phone.

Given your posting history, I get the impression that you're spouting
this misinformation out like gospel because you want to draw people to
that cellphone sales website you've been shilling all this time (I won't
name it because I will not help you spam the newsgroup as you've been
doing).

Oh by the way: I checked the prices there. Amazon's no-contract prices
are FAR cheaper. But if you absolutely, positively, must have a phone
in your hands today, you CAN walk into a Cingular store and get a new
phone for full price, without a new commitment.


--
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <A9CdnVi3i6QQ7n7fRVn-gw@giganews.com> on Sun, 24 Jul 2005 05:55:05 -0500,
"BBB" <hotel@jay.com> wrote:

>> Their local store has many extras for my Nokia, and their staff is very
>> courteous. In fact they had a stereo earphone adapter for only $3 which I
>> could not locate by calling six independent stores.
>
>Just try buying a new Nokia, without a service plan. ...

No problem here.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

===============================================
* Reply by Jack D. Russell, Sr. <jackru$$ell2@notmail.com>
* Newsgroup: alt.cellular.cingular
* Reply to: All; "BBB" <hotel@jay.com>
* Date:Tue, 26 Jul 2005 05:31:34 -0500
* Subj: Re: Cingular - another opinion
=====================================================
B>Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay
B>full price for the phone.

Absolutely false. No new contract, no new *subsidized* phone. Anyone can buy a phone from any Cingular storefront by paying *full price* for the phone...NO CONTRACT involved.

--
Jack

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 02:12:08 GMT, Miles
<mileschap@REMOVEMEpacbell.net> wrote:

>
>Why do you think the world owes you a living? Of course, Cingular will
>expect a contract of at least one year for a discount on a phone, and
>perhaps free if a two-year contract. If you don't want a contract, they
>will simply sell the phone to you at the retail price. They are the same
>as most other corporations in a free competitive world, they are not a
>non-profit charitable institution

You're not serious, right? The ideal that the price of cellular
phones is in any way part of the "free competitive world" is extremely
naive.

The carriers are keeping a stranglehold on the equipment to keep
competition out of the equation.

They have the prices of most cellular phones inflated to incredible
levels and are using the "free" phone gimmick as a mechanism to keep
their customers locked into long contracts.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <6hlce15cs8ukq1i0m66dngonc71hsorirp@4ax.com> on Tue, 26 Jul 2005 15:37:33
GMT, "Steevo@my-deja.com" <steevo@my-deja.com> wrote:

>On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 02:12:08 GMT, Miles
><mileschap@REMOVEMEpacbell.net> wrote:
>
>>Why do you think the world owes you a living? Of course, Cingular will
>>expect a contract of at least one year for a discount on a phone, and
>>perhaps free if a two-year contract. If you don't want a contract, they
>>will simply sell the phone to you at the retail price. They are the same
>>as most other corporations in a free competitive world, they are not a
>>non-profit charitable institution
>
>You're not serious, right? The ideal that the price of cellular
>phones is in any way part of the "free competitive world" is extremely
>naive.
>
>The carriers are keeping a stranglehold on the equipment to keep
>competition out of the equation.
>
>They have the prices of most cellular phones inflated to incredible
>levels and are using the "free" phone gimmick as a mechanism to keep
>their customers locked into long contracts.

Nonsense. Unlocked (unsubsidized) phones are freely available at competitive
prices from independent dealers.

--
Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Jack D. Russell, Sr. wrote (7/26/2005 6:35 AM):

> ===============================================
> * Reply by Jack D. Russell, Sr. <jackru$$ell2@notmail.com>
> * Newsgroup: alt.cellular.cingular
> * Reply to: All; "BBB" <hotel@jay.com>
> * Date:Tue, 26 Jul 2005 05:31:34 -0500
> * Subj: Re: Cingular - another opinion
> =====================================================
> B>Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay
> B>full price for the phone.
>
> Absolutely false. No new contract, no new *subsidized* phone. Anyone can
> buy a phone from any Cingular storefront by paying *full price* for the
> phone...NO CONTRACT involved.
>

Correct, as I, too, stated earlier. Furthermore, Cingular's
*full price* for a phone is at times -- I can't say at all
times -- extremely competitive with pricing from other
vendors, new Nokia equipment, for example, at prices
*significantly* less than full retail prices offered by
Nokia on their website.

--
RJW

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:54:53 GMT, John Navas
<spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote:

>
>Nonsense. Unlocked (unsubsidized) phones are freely available at competitive
>prices from independent dealers.

Hah. Where? I see unlocked phones at outlandish prices. They have a
heck of a premium attached.

If you want to know how much a color cellphone is supposed to cost go
look at Target at the prepaid phones. Little or no subsidy. $49.
$99. A far cry from the $399 price Sprint puts on many of their
phones. Admittedly Sprint is the highest price IMHO.

 

[bbb]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

No it's not true---not if you are a former ATTWS customer and on a family
plan.


"Isaiah Beard" <sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com> wrote in message
news:11eb36160dtg59f@corp.supernews.com...
> BBB wrote:
>> Simply not true.
>
> It IS true. I've verified this. Anyone can walk into a Cingular store
> and see it for themselves.
>
> --
> E-mail fudged to thwart spammers.
> Transpose the c's and a's in my e-mail address to reply.

 

[bbb]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Hello Jud,

The Cingular store on Preston Rd will not. That is, if you are a former
ATTWS customer (but now fully under contract to Cingular) on a family plan.
That's what the manager said. If one phone breaks, you must move all 3
family members to a new, two year Cingular contract.

Please post the address of the Dallas store you dealt with. I'll be happy
to contact them in person and continue this saga online, for everyone's
amusement.

Regards




"Jud Hardcastle" <I5i5changethistodash5rbo@xemaps.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1d4ebf98d20402459898b8@news.dallas.sbcglobal.net...
> In article <8fGdnfaCBIo6TnnfRVn-1A@giganews.com>, hotel@jay.com says...
>>
>> Not true Miles. No new contract, no new phone---even if you pay full
>> price
>> for the phone.
>>
>>
>
> BBB,
>
> I don't know why you think this but it's simply not correct. I've had
> to change phones with Cingular a couple of times over the years where I
> choose to pay full price and not extend the contract and I've never had
> them question it--they just entered the new phone info and never touched
> the contract otherwise. In fact I did that once when the contract had
> already expired and gone to month-to-month and I knew I was going to
> have to change plans in the next year but didn't want to immediately.
> New phone--no new contract at all. I just recently inquired about the
> SX66 pdaphone and was offered it for full price on my existing month-to-
> month account--no mention of renewing the expired contract which was
> clearly on their screen.
>
> Maybe you got ahold of a salesperson who was an idiot or you were trying
> to buy a phone at the subsidized price or trying to ADD the phone
> instead of substitute it for an existing phone or maybe even your
> account has been flagged for some reason but I CAN state for a fact that
> Cingular will sell you a phone for full price without extending the
> contract.
> --
> Jud
> Dallas TX USA

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

===============================================
* Reply by Jack D. Russell, Sr. <jackru$$ell2@notmail.com>
* Newsgroup: alt.cellular.cingular
* Reply to: All; "BBB" <hotel@jay.com>
* Date:Wed, 27 Jul 2005 06:56:17 -0500
* Subj: Re: Cingular - another opinion
=====================================================

B>No it's not true---not if you are a former ATTWS customer and on
B>a family
B>plan.


B>"Isaiah Beard" <sacredpoet@sacredpoet.com> wrote in message
B>news:11eb36160dtg59f@corp.supernews.com...
>> BBB wrote:
>>> Simply not true.

>> It IS true. I've verified this. Anyone can walk into a
>> Cingular store and see it for themselves.

Ridiculous. Go right on believing that and the rest of us will go right on buying our phones from CW, sans contracts. Excuses aside, (or maybe because of) you're beginning to look very familiar. EOC.
--
Jack

 

[Al]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

"BBB" <hotel@jay.com> wrote in message
news:TpSdnQa-p-pp_XrfRVn-1g@giganews.com...
> No it's not true---not if you are a former ATTWS customer and on a family
> plan.

Troll Alert!
He's been told he's wrong by many people, and he keeps adding variations to
the story about why it's different for him. Nothing but a troll looking for
responses.

AL

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Steevo@my-deja.com wrote:

> They have the prices of most cellular phones inflated to incredible
> levels and are using the "free" phone gimmick as a mechanism to keep
> their customers locked into long contracts.

Uhm, do you realize the inherent conflict in the above statement? How
can a carrier be artificially inflating the price of phones, and at the
same time offering phones at artifically low (or nonexistent) prices?

What's REALLY happening is that the market has grown accustomed to
seeing phones at near-zero cost, after being kept there artifically by
carriers who want to hook poeple into using their service. The
development and manufacture of extremely small, extremely portable and
extremely complex multi-band full duplex radios that are capable of
service both voie and data services is still a VERY expensive
proposition. Although we've come to view cell phones as a commodity,
it's still not possible to give them away free in cereal boxes without
the cost being subsidized somewhere.


--
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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Steevo@my-deja.com wrote:
> On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 18:54:53 GMT, John Navas
> <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Nonsense. Unlocked (unsubsidized) phones are freely available at competitive
>>prices from independent dealers.
>
>
> Hah. Where? I see unlocked phones at outlandish prices. They have a
> heck of a premium attached.

Wrong. Unlocked cell phones have no premium attached, but also no
subsidy. There is no carrier that has foot part of the bill for you
under the expectation that they will gain revenue from its use.


> If you want to know how much a color cellphone is supposed to cost go
> look at Target at the prepaid phones. Little or no subsidy. $49.
> $99.

VERY wrong. You're comparing unlocked current-model world phones to the
bottom-rung pre-paid or last-year's-model closeouts that you find at Target.

Name ONE unlocked cell phone sold at Target. You'll find none. ALL of
them are locked to a specific carrier, and nearly all of them are
late-production-run phones that have more than had their development
costs recouped back when they were sold retail by the carriers. What
you see at Target is the unsold overstock that the cell phone companies
had remaining in inventory, that could not be easily unloaded through
mainstream channels because newer models are out now.

And while there might not be a service committment attached to those
phones, the carriers still know and expect that if that phone gets ANY
use, it will be on their network, barring any tampering. The subsidy is
still there.


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[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.cingular (More info?)

Jack D. Russell, Sr. wrote:

>>> It IS true. I've verified this. Anyone can walk into a
>>> Cingular store and see it for themselves.
>
>
> Ridiculous. Go right on believing that and the rest of us will go right
> on buying our phones from CW, sans contracts.

Uhm, I was agreeing with you...


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[Guest]

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BBB wrote:
> Hello Jud,
>
> The Cingular store on Preston Rd will not. That is, if you are a former
> ATTWS customer (but now fully under contract to Cingular) on a family plan.
> That's what the manager said. If one phone breaks, you must move all 3
> family members to a new, two year Cingular contract.

AH! Now the truth comes out. BBB, people will believe you when you
tell the WHOLE story, not just a tiny portion of skewed to fit your
warped reality.


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"BBB" <hotel@jay.com> wrote in message
newssKdnVhzMLFJ-XrfRVn-qw@giganews.com...
SNIP

>>
>> And by the way: I'm not sure how tings are done where you are, but I just
>> visited in the local stores in Central NJ, and they DO allow people to
>> buy phones without plan committments. Each phone in the store has a two
>> year contract price, and a "without committment" price listed.
>>
>>
>>
>> --

I think part of the confusion is that many of the responders are not getting
the fact that you are currently an ATTWS customer who wants new phones and a
family share plan. I believe that part of the problem is that Cingular
doesn't want you to stay on the ATT side of the house and is probably
incenting it's dealers to move people over. They are treating these people
as if they are brand new customers, I know because I switched over about a
year ago. Since you are a brand new customer they want a commitment. If you
already had a plan with Cingular I believe it would be rather easy to
acquire a new phone without extending your existing contract (or renewing a
former contract). You would, however, pay a premium price to do that.

My question to you is would the lower cost of the phones justify a 1 or 2
year commitment? Realistically are you going to change service providers in
that time frame?

TC