Google
 
Web www.howardforums.com
Pages: 1

How Cingular does things. (Comparison shop with other providers)

(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: kilo

Cingular does some things that I have a problem with, but if you know what they are you can avoid them with these tips.

Definition: Monthly Billing Cycle:
Cingular bills you from one date of the month, until that day minus one next month. (IE: from the 20th to the 19th) There isn't a list of these dates set in stone for everyone to look at, but you will be assigned one arbitrarily when you start service. What this means is that on the first day of that cycle, you will be billed the monthly service cost for the next ~30 days and the full amount of minutes included in your plan will become available to you.

Definition: Cycle Close Date:
The last day of the billing cycle, in the earlier instance it was the 19th. So the 19th is the last day you will be on that plan, with the 20th the first day to use new minutes and be billed for the coming ~30 days.

Definition: Date of Activation:
The day you are able to make / receive calls.

What I hate #1: Partial Service from date of activation to cycle close date.
The first day you are able to make/receive calls on your phone until that "cycle close date" will most likely not be a full cycle. You will usually have some amount less than 15 days before you start your full month. In this "partial month" you are only charged a "percentage" of your monthly service, you are also given that same "percentage" of your monthly minutes. So lets say your on a plan for $60/month with 1000 minutes. If you have exactly 15 days (IE: activated on the 4th with a cycle close date of the 19th) then you will be charged $30 (monthly cost of plan divided by 30 day billing cycle, times the days you are on it) and given 500 minutes (minutes in a billing cycle divided by 30 days in a month times the number of days you are on it). So from the time you walk out of the store until your first new cycle you are on a "prorated" amount of minutes.
If you exceed this "prorated" amount of minutes, you will be charged the overage rate, but if you stay below that overage rate, Cingulars rollover minutes will not go into effect until the first full 30 day billing cycle.
So the customer who goes over loses.
The customer who goes under loses.
How to protect yourself: When you first sign up, ask if you can have your close day be as soon as possible (preferably before the end of your buyers remourse period). If they are not able to change it, ask what day your billing cycle will stop at, and just keep in mind what I said about the prorated minutes so you don't go over.
Hopefully the billing system will be updated so that whatever prorated minutes you don't use will roll over. -or- You are given the full month of minutes but only charged the prorated amount for date of activation until first close day.

What I hate #2: First Bill
Remeber me going on about how you would get charged a month of service on the first day of a new cycle? And that you get charged a partial month from date of activation until cycle close date? That, and the activation fee, all show up on the first bill. So your first bill is higher than what you would be charged for a normal 30 day billing cycle.
How to protect yourself: Call up after you have activated and ask what you will be charged with activation fee and partial monthly charge, they can give you a close estimate + sales tax, but it won't include the "fees" like Federal Universal Service and 911 charges, and you can make a payment over the phone or over the website for that amount, and have the first statement that is mailed to you look approximately like it would every month. You will sometimes receive this within your 15 days to give you a better idea of what your monthly bill will look like.

What I hate #3: 2 year contracts / 1 year manufacturers warranty
If your phone has something go wrong with it within the first year that was the fault of the manufacturer, it will be replaced with a similar phone (it will be used and most likely of the same model). But after those 12 months, you still have a long way to go until your contract is up, and Cingular will NOT just GIVE YOU A PHONE because you are still under contract.
How to protect yourself: $3.99 monthly insurance -or- only sign a one year contract your first year.
$3.99/month over two years adds about $100 to what you pay for service, which will definetly buy you piece of mind. Just keep in mind that a replacement costs you $50 and can only be used twice in a 12 month period.
The second option of this solution, the "only sign a one year contract your first year" assumes you don't want to pay for insruance. Assuming you never have problems with the phone, you can get a new one after your contract is up, and keep your original as a backup. If you don't have insurance and your phone is broken in your second month, you'll have to just buy a new phone outright for ~$100-$300 (depending on what kind of phone you want), but now you only have to wait 10 months to get a new phone, and now you have a backup phone.
I recommend that you at least purchase insurance for the first month just in case you destroy the phone during the buyers remourse period even if you choose the second option of the 1 year contract.

What I hate #4: What you have vs What you THINK you have.
Mistakes happen, occasionally someone will misstate something or someone will "fat finger" in the wrong rate code and the plan you THOUGHT you had is not the one you are being billed for/against.
How to protect yourself: When you first sign up for service, your given a pamphlet showing you your map and number of minutes and overage rate, take a good long look at it and then file it away with your copy of the contract (that pink slip they hand you) in the same place you file your other moderately important information.
If you ever call up and need something changed, ask them to email you a confirmation of EXACTLY what changes were made to your account. Then next time you check your email you will see it, and if it doesn't look correct, call back in and ask them to make sure what you wanted to have done IS done, and if not to make it be done and have THEM email you what was not done, but what they did. (If you don't have an email address, go to Cingular.com and look for MEdia Net and sign up for a free one or have them send you the info as a text message).

What I hate #5: Prorations: A necessary evil.
When you start out the month, you are charged the full amount for the next ~30 days and that amount will appear on your bill, and you have a full month of minutes ahead of you, it doesn't matter if you use them on the first day, or the last day, or evenly spaced out between.
If you want to change your plan, and you want to do it on any day other than the first day of your billing cycle, your ~30 of service will be split from the first part of the month until the day you made the change, you will be given a credit for the rest of the month that you are no longer on that plan, but the first part of the month will only have a prorated amount of minutes. So lets pretend on day 16 we decide to change plans from that $60 1000 minute to a $100 2000 minute plan. We will be given a credit of $30 (half of that $60 plan) and only allowed to have used 500 minutes within those first 15 days. Then we will be charged $50 the remainder of the month (half of the $100) and be allowed to use 1000 minutes for the remaining 15 days.
If you exceeded 500 minutes in those first 15 days, you are charged overage, if you exceed the 1000 minutes those remaining 15 days, you are charged overage.
How to protect yourself: Know your bill cycle dates, and if you do see some future crisis on the horizon (and you don't think you have enough rollover to cover you) call in IMMEDIATELY and request to be moved to a higher plan effective immediately so that once you start using the phone so much more, you'll already be on the higher plan.

What I hate #6: Don't let the door hit you on the way out: Non-Prorated final month.
Remeber all that stuff about "partial month" that happens on your first bill cycle? None of that happens on your last bill (buyers remourse is handled differntly than described here). Even if you cancel on the first day of a new cycle you are given the entire monthly minutes and charged the entire monthly charge. This isn't a big deal if you are calling in to cancel, because they will make you aware of it, but if you are porting the number out, and the port happens to complete on the first day and cancel, then you will get billed that full month.
How to protect yourself: Be aware of your close date. Perhaps initiate the port ~7 days before to ensure enough time -or- if you "think" that it's going to complete here in "just a minute" then call in and asked to be moved to the lowest plan effective immediately, that way when it does complete you will be billed at the lowest plan rate the remainder of the month.


Posted by: kilo

Now that we've gotten that out of the way. Let's look at some other areas.

One thing that Cingular always makes you pay for is when your phone makes a connection with the towers there is usually some sort of charge... but otherwise go nuts.

I'm going to try and keep from "guessing" at how other companies do things, since I'm not 100% sure, I have just heard that it's "different", but I'll begin to add more posts on Cingular specifics. With the specific area in the subject.

If you are currently with another company and want to start a post like this on their end that would be great, if possible (to make it easy) try posting in the same format.


Posted by: kilo

Ringtones

When you first purchase a phone, there will be about a dozen or more "stock" ringtones that come with the phone, put on by the manufacturer (and usually a "Cingular Tune" as well).
http://preview.moviso.com/PreviewCo...748/1761697.wma

Then, you are encouraged to visit Cingular.com to purchase more.

Depending on the kind of phone you have, you can select from "Monophonic" (One tone at a time) to "Polyphonic" (More than one tone at a time) to "Music/Voice Tones" (which are different celebrities voices or popular songs as your ringtone) as well as MP3s (provided they are in the right format). (See Cingular.com and pretend like you are downloading a ringtone to see what is available and which phones support what).

At the Cingular.com you can listen to the tones on your computer before making a decision to purchase or not.

You can also access the selection of ringtones by logging into the "Cingular Wireless Internet Deck" and selecting "Ringtones and Games".

Some phones will have a link titled something like "Cingular Mall" or "Shop Ringtones" that will go directly to available ringtones.

Prices range from $.99 for Monophonic tones, $1.99 for Polyphonic tones, and $2.49 for Music/Voice tones.

One of the best parts of the system is that once a ringtone is downloaded to the phone, it will stay there. Forever. Unless you delete it or wipe the phones memory. Your account could be canceled or your could give your phone away, and the ringtones you downloaded would still be there. It's a one-time purchase.

Most phones have a certain amount of space to put ringtones on. Once you reach the limit, you would have to delete them to make space.

Remeber the mention that Cingular mainly charges you when you use their towers? If you were to use their towers to download a tone, you would have to pay some cost on top of the purchase price. The current rate for "Wireless Internet Express" (Cingulars data connection to their towers is free every month but $.01 per kilobyte, or you can pay a certain amount and get the first however many kilobytes or megabytes free; a ringtone is usually between 30 to 60 kilobytes so your looking at approximately an extra 60 cents.)

If you can figure out how, you can get around having to pay the $.99/$1.99/$2.49 cost of a ringtone by just pointing the wap browser to the file hosted on a website. (If someone has a step-by-step guide, please post it so that everyone will know).

Also, if you can figure out how, you can avoid the "Wireless Internet Express" cost of downloading the tone by having it sent directly from your computer to your phone using either a bluetooth or cable connection (again, more of the "as long as you don't use the towers, go nuts" philosophy).


Posted by: kilo

Network

Cingular currently sales GSM service and all their towers run GSM. If you are making a new purchase it will most likely be a GSM 850/1900 MHz phone.

If you want to know if a phone runs on GSM 850/1900 you can check:
http://www.phonescoop.com/
Just enter in the manufacturer and model number and as long as you see it say:
"GSM 800 / GSM 1900" (PhoneScoop considers "800" to be synonymous with 850)
then you can use it on the Cingular network.

If the phone is JUST GSM 1900 then Cingular has a policy of not allowing it on any new activations, but one of the beuties of GSM phones is that they have something called a "SIM" card that the phone number resides on, and if you move that SIM card from one phone to another, the phone number moves with it. While this is not recommended, it works in many locations, but some areas do block out the ability to use GSM 1900 on a Cingular phone if Cingular runs GSM 850 in that area. (Meaning: Use a GSM 1900 only phone at your own risk).

In some areas of the country Cingular (as well as lots of other companies) used to run a technology called TDMA, and before that most everyone ran a technology called Analog, and in many areas around the country where population is sparse, you will find more areas that operate on TDMA or Analog than GSM. To suit users who would could not do without their service when in an area that doesn't run GSM, Cingular sells a "Multi-Network GAIT" phone that runs on all three networks: Analog / TDMA / GSM. To have one of these phones also requires you to have a "GAIT Plan" which is usually less minutes for the price you pay as compared to Cingular's normal plans. But for those who absolutely need the service, it is there.


Posted by: kilo

Billing

Remeber all that stuff about "Bill Cycle End Date"? (See the first post definitions). Assuming your bill cycle ends on the 19th, on the 20th you will get a new bucket of minutes to use for the next 30 days and charged for the next 30 days. Approximately 1 week after this date a bill gets mailed out stating that you are being billed for the time period that you are currently in. The amount will become "Due" approximately 15 days after the beginning of the bill cycle, and "Late" approximately 31 days after the beginning of the bill cycle.

So in review:
Month Starts on the 20th of June
Bill in the mail on the 27th of June
Payment Due on the 5th of July
Payment Late on the 21st of July

If at anytime you want to call and change what plan you are on, you can have it changed that day (see first post regarding prorations) or ask them to have it future dated to change on the first day of your billing cycle. The billing system future dates price plan changes by default, this sometimes confuses the rep into thinking that you can ONLY make the change on the first day of the billing cycle, and if you can help it, it's generally not recommended (again, see first post regarding prorations), but adding different features like Text Messaging, Internet, Insurance, etc, are typically added immediately.

As long as we are talking about billing, let's talk about what happens if you forget to pay your bill.

Using the above example. Pretend you get caught in a situation where you forgot to mail in the check that month. If it's still before the 21st you can phone in a payment at no additional cost, or pay online at no additional cost, or pay in a store in cash at a pay station at no additional cost. Assuming you just didn't have the money and you had to wait and pay until the 22nd, you would be charged a ~5% fee of whatever balance remained on the account, so a good idea would be to pay as much as you could before the late fee date, then pay the remaining balance later so that the late fee is smaller. The late fee will not show up until your next statement is mailed and will become due along with the next statement, meaning that if you owe a certain balance, and it becomes past due, you don't have to pay the past due PLUS the late fee at the same time, you pay the late fee with the next statement.

Let's say that payment still hasn't been received. For this "Month Starts on the 20th of June" scenario, your looking at service being interupted around the 5th of August. Cingular customer service will call this "Suspended for Non-Pay". When people call your number they would get "This number has been temporarily suspended", when you call out you get routed to "Cingular Collections Department" (also called "Revenue Management Center" RMC). While suspended you will continue to be billed your monthly service until your account is canceled. You can call in while the phone is suspended, make a payment for the past due amount, and your phone will be back on in like 15 minutes. When a phone gets "Suspended for Non-Pay" and then turned back on, a $36 "restoral fee" is charged to the account (if you have mulitple lines on the account, or multiple accounts in the same name, they would all be suspended for non-pay if just one didn't receive payment, but the $36 fee is only per account, so a family of four phones will still just have 1 $36 restoral fee). This restoral fee is not payable immediately, but will just show on the next bill.

Let's say that it still goes without payment. For this "Month Starts on the 20th of June" scenario, your looking at service being canceled (which will break your contract, charging that contract term fee) around the 5th of September. You can call up to 60 days after that and say that you want to "Bring Back Live" your account. They will reverse the charges for Term Fee + Tax, and have you pay the remaining balance. After that remaining balance is paid a new credit check will be run on the account (similar to the credit check run on a new customer), it won't necessarily require a deposit but it may require you to pay a deposit of anywhere between $150-$900 to have service restored. If you have been "Suspended for Non-Pay" more than 3 times in the past 12 months, that's usually when a deposit will be asked for. If it requires no deposit (or you pay it) then your phone will be back on in approximately 15 minutes and you will get charged that same $36 restoral fee. Again this restoral fee is not payable immediately, but will just show on the next bill.

Let's say it goes even longer. For this "Month Starts on the 20th of June" scenario, your looking at whatever balance on the account (plus that term fee+taxes) being sent to a collection agency (who tacks on it's own 18% collection fee) around the 5th of October.

Let's say it goes to the 5th of December you would no longer be able to restart that phone number. It's now been recycled back into those numbers available for the public and if you wanted service it would be a new account with a new credit check. To be able to set up a new account it would most likely require a deposit unless you have the previous account already paid off.


Posted by: kilo

Equipment

The easiest way to think of equipment with Cingular is that you could buy a SIM card for $25 from a Cingular store and put that into any GSM phone. The terms and conditions do state that for a GSM Nation plan you must use a 850/1900 MHz phone, so if you wanted to use a 1900 MHz only phone you could run into problems. What problems? Well if Cingular has coverage in the 850 MHz band, they may not allow Cingular phones to connect to any provider on the 1900 MHz band, meaning you may not be able to use the phone at all. But buying a dual band 850/1900 phone that will accept a Cingular SIM card will be fine.

Of course, like any other US provider, Cingular offers some phone that they support and steer you toward.


Posted by: kilo

Fees

Cingular has a set of "standard fees".

Activation Fee: Turn a phone number on with Cingular: $36 per line (If starting on a family talk plan it's $18)
Upgrade Fee: If you buy a phone from Cingular and get a discount on the price, Cingular will charge you $18 per line that receives the new phones
Number Change Fee: $36
Restoral Fee (Mentioned earlier) $36
Early Termination Fee: If you ever stop your Cingular service while still on contract: $150 (In some areas it is a "prorated" $220, meaning it gets less the closer you get to the end of the contract)


Posted by: kilo

Family Talk

Family Talk is what Cingular calls it's plans where one phone line will pay a certain amount of money every month and then you can have another line "added on" to share the minutes in the plan for a smaller cost.

Cingulars billing system sets it up like this:

You define a group as between 2 and 4 phones.
You decide what plan that group will have.
You designate one of those phones as "primary".
Every member of the group has the same access to the same features and shares the minutes in the plan.

The only way the "primary" line is different is that it pays the original price of the plan and the lines that aren't primary pay the "additional line" charge.

If your primary line were to move away from the group or be canceled, another line would immediately become the primary line.

You can technically have a group of just 1 phone if all the other lines were canceled.

It's hard to say what Cingular plans will be now and forever more, but some of the classic things to remember about family talk:
If you and me have cell phones and we call each other, you use a minute and I use a minute.
If we have share minutes, we are both pulling minutes out of that share package, so ever phone call that lasts for one minute counts as two because we are sharing minutes.
Now in all of the family plans that are out today, your calls between the members of the group do not count against your share minutes but instead come from something called "Mobile-to-Mobile" minutes. Which on all of todays plans have an option for unlimited. So it negates that concern.


Posted by: bobolito

Quote:
Originally posted by kilo
Also, if you can figure out how, you can avoid the "Wireless Internet Express" cost of downloading the tone by having it sent directly from your computer to your phone using either a bluetooth or cable connection (again, more of the "as long as you don't use the towers, go nuts" philosophy).
The way I go around this is by using another Ringtone website such as PCS3g.com or 3GUpload.com where you can upload your stuff for free and then download it to the phone for free. I also go around the "as long as you use the towers" charge, by using CSD in conjunction with M2M. That means free internet 24/7!


Posted by: bobolito

Quote:
Originally posted by kilo
Family Talk

Every member of the group has the same access to the same features and shares the minutes in the plan.
So does that mean if I get the $20 MEdia Package on the primary line, all other lines will be able to use the same MEdia package as well?


Posted by: CeluGeek

Quote:
Originally posted by bobolito
So does that mean if I get the $20 MEdia Package on the primary line, all other lines will be able to use the same MEdia package as well?


MEdia Packages aren't shared. I have MEdia Works on my phone, but my mom's still has PPU WIX and messages.


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally posted by cinguliano
MEdia Packages aren't shared. I have MEdia Works on my phone, but my mom's still has PPU WIX and messages.


Sorry, I should have made that clearer, what Cinguliano said is correct.

Some features can be added onto a group, you pay 1 price, and everyone gets the benefit. Right now a feature that you can use like that is 1000 shared M2M for $9.99 or Unlimited shared M2M for $19.99; On the bill it shows the "first line" paying the cost of the feature, but every line gets the benefit.

Media Works, and all the other TXT / MMS / WIX packages are not set up that way.

Specifically what I was referring to was stuff like:
Voicemail
Caller ID
Call Waiting
Three Way Calling
Call Forwarding Immediate
Call Forwarding Conditional

Meaning that everyone get's their own voicemail box at no additional charge.


Posted by: bobolito

So would it be safe to say that the shareable features are those that don't require a monthly payment?

What about the International Long Distance packages where they give you a lower international rate for a monthly fee? Can that be shared? If not, I guess there isn't really any feature that requires a monthly payment and can be shared because what would be the point on adding M2M if the rate plans already include it?

By the way, what about International Roaming and International Dialing? Can those be added once and shared across the family plan? These don't require a monthly payment.


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally posted by bobolito
So would it be safe to say that the shareable features are those that don't require a monthly payment?

What about the International Long Distance packages where they give you a lower international rate for a monthly fee? Can that be shared? If not, I guess there isn't really any feature that requires a monthly payment and can be shared because what would be the point on adding M2M if the rate plans already include it?

By the way, what about International Roaming and International Dialing? Can those be added once and shared across the family plan? These don't require a monthly payment.


Some people opt for the Shared M2M to avoid contract (the "included M2M" requires 12 month contract extension)

You can technically "add" a feature to a group account that's not a shared feature and it will just add it individually to each line. IE: If you add Media Works to the group plan, it's the EXACT SAME thing as if you added it to each line individually.


Posted by: justmeagain

Hey everyone, I'm new and only have one question about cingular fees. My son just told me about this site after all my complaining about this question. I may be in the wrong thread; but I hope you can answer this for me. The last person at cingular I spoke to told me that not only am I charged 10cents everytime I send and receive a text message ( which I knew) that I am ALSO charged 10cent everytime I just REREAD an already saved text message on my phone. I told her that was ridiculous and underhanded and what were they going to charge us next for------pulling up a saved phone number ? So if anyone here knows if this is true and how long this has been going on I would appreciate your replies.

Thanks bunches, LS


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally posted by justmeagain
The last person at cingular I spoke to told me that not only am I charged 10cents everytime I send and receive a text message ( which I knew) that I am ALSO charged 10cent everytime I just REREAD an already saved text message on my phone.


Actually this question follows a theme of the earlier threads, namely:

"Cingular charges you for using their towers"

In your instance you get charged the $.10 while that text message gets delivered to that phone. (Because it uses the towers)

Once it's on the phone you can read it as often as you want without any charge at all (Because it doesn't use the towers)

I'm not sure how she was so misinformed, once the Text Messages are saved to the phone you aren't charged any additional fee.

Same thing for email, once it's downloaded, and you pay the GPRS data charge, that's it. But accessing the email that's stored online WOULD require you to download the same page over and over again (unless it's cached). Of course you didn't ask about that, but I just thought I'd throw that in.


Posted by: justmeagain

Thank you so much kilo, for your reply. I really argued with her about how ridiculous it sounded and she kept saying "yes mam I understand , they do it to my phone too". I am going to call later today and get someone else and tell them what I was told AND her name so they can stop her from spreading her ignorance on this subject. I appreciate your response.
Have a great day! LS


Posted by: Xavior

Quote:
So would it be safe to say that the shareable features are those that don't require a monthly payment?


Not quite. When the billing system provisions the group level rate plan. It adds what is included in that rate plan to all phones in the group. Since there are no additional costs associated with any of these, they work just as if they had been added on each line seperately EXCEPT that if I wanted to add a 2.99 text plan, for example, onto one of the subscribers in the group. I'd have to remove the group level Pay per Use (which effectively removes the text feature from each phone line), then add the 2.99 text to the one subscriber which requested it.. and then go back and reprovision the Pay per Use text feature on each of the other subscribers. (trying to re-provision the group level or leaving it on instead of removing it in the first place causes errors for "duplicate features")

Quote:
What about the International Long Distance packages where they give you a lower international rate for a monthly fee? Can that be shared? If not, I guess there isn't really any feature that requires a monthly payment and can be shared because what would be the point on adding M2M if the rate plans already include it?


Nothing other than Mobile to Mobile (that I'm aware of) can be added as a shared feature. Everything else is subscriber-level. Remember that FamilyTalk is not synonomous with Mobile to Mobile. Lots of Family plans do not include the mobile to mobile feature, which is why it's so good to have the option of adding shared M2M as an additional.

Quote:
By the way, what about International Roaming and International Dialing? Can those be added once and shared across the family plan? These don't require a monthly payment.


No. The International Roaming provision strips the international calling restrictions that are located in the switch.. it also provides current billing information (such as the current rates and how to handle long distance while roaming internationally). This is kept subscriber specific. I can think of several reasons why it would be done this way instead of being shared.


Posted by: mnkyboy

Can someone clarify what Night and Weekend mintutes are? I tried looking in the common questions on Cingular site, but when I click on the questions, a blank answer comes up. Thanks.


Posted by: CarolynC

Something I've never understood about night minutes is when do they start (and end). I know it's 9 PM, but if I am traveling is it 9 PM in the time zone that I am at or 9 PM for my home time zone.


Posted by: blkballoon925

Quote:
Originally posted by CarolynC
Something I've never understood about night minutes is when do they start (and end). I know it's 9 PM, but if I am traveling is it 9 PM in the time zone that I am at or 9 PM for my home time zone.

I'm 99% sure it's 9 PM in the time zone that you are currently located in. So if your home area is in EST, but you are in PST, you will be charged based on when it's 9 PM PST.


Posted by: paul34

I do believe it ends at 7 AM.


Posted by: kilo

If your plan doesn't mention you have Night and Weekend minutes, then don't assume you do.

If your plan mentions that you have Night and Weekend minutes here is how they are currently timed (per 10/4/2004)

Any phone call you initiate between 7:00AM-9PM Monday-Friday will count as Anytime minutes for the duration of the call.

So if you do happen to initiate a phone call at 8:59 AM it will not automatically switch to Night and Weekend minutes after it becomes 9PM. Same thing with any call initiated before 7AM, it will continue to bill as Night and Weekend minutes even after 7AM

Many plans allow you to start your Night and Weekend minutes at 7PM for an additional price every month, usually twice that if you have a "Family Talk" plan. (Currently it's $7/month, $14 on a family talk)


Posted by: Darklight Adept

Also, a small quirk with N&W Minutes. Call Time Is dependant not only on when the call started, but where.

Example:
Home Market is in CST, and you're traveling to EST.

In this situation you will have 2 different times for NW Minutes.

When placing calls outbound, the system tracks the call time as when you placed the initial call in the local time of your current area, so say, 9:05 EST = NW.

When a call is placed to you inbound, however, it routes through the home area and Time Stamps there. So 9:05 EST is still 8:05 CST = DT when someone calls you, because the call will route to your home location first.




Posted by: alde

What if I get a $39.99 2 year plan, and then decide I need to (due to use) add on a MEdia Net plan... Does that extend my entire contract back out to 2 years, or is the MEdia Net plan added on as a MtM plan?


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally posted by alde
What if I get a $39.99 2 year plan, and then decide I need to (due to use) add on a MEdia Net plan... Does that extend my entire contract back out to 2 years, or is the MEdia Net plan added on as a MtM plan?


MEdia Net Basic/Works are features, not plans

additionally, they are not considered "promotional elements that would require a contract extension", so adding that feature would not extend your contract.

Occasionally promotional elements of a feature like "unlimited text messaging for a month when adding a $2.99 text messaging plan"

well there I go now, calling it a plan. I guess Cingular must sometimes call them features plans eh?


Posted by: MewtwoSama

Does the Media Net Unlimited package include text messaging?


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally posted by MewtwoSama
Does the Media Net Unlimited package include text messaging?
no, the MEdia Basic and MEdia Works plans include some "MEdia Net" and TXT Messaging, but the $24.99 MEdia Net Unlimited is internet only (right now)


Posted by: khouck1979

I understand about prorating for anytime minutes if you change calling plans. If you would change Media Net packages, is this similar? In my case I have the MediaNet Basic with 512kb. It has now been upgraded to 1MB and I would like to switch to that. If I do it mid-month, do I only get a 256K allotment for the first half? Thanks, Kilo...


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by khouck1979
I understand about prorating for anytime minutes if you change calling plans. If you would change Media Net packages, is this similar? ... If I do it mid-month, do I only get a 256K allotment for the first half? Thanks, Kilo...

I can say for certain that it will prorate a TXT messaging package, I would bet the same is true for kilobytes of data.


Posted by: crazyk4952

WOW! I had no idea Cingular had so many fees!

I would just like to compare them to what t-mo charges:

Act fee: $35 per line
Restore fee (if account is restored from suspend for non-pay) $10 per line
If the account is ever cancelled for non-pay (assuming it was not been written off and gone to collections) It can be restored without another credit check when the balance is paid with only the $10 restore fee.--That blows me away that cingular may require another deposit for an existing customer's line!

ETF: $200 per line (not prorated)
charge to change phone number: none!
Also, if your rate plan (or features like sms) is ever prorated, the minutes will never be prorated (you will get the full minues), only the charges are prorated!

If you cancel your account with T-Mo, the final bill will be prorated for the number of days of active service..They will not charge you for the full month!

T-mo does not charge you per KB for downloading ringtones, either. You can download polyphonic for $1.49 and MP3 (HiFi) for $1.99 total cost (well plus tax i guess)! But you can access the limited tzones deck all day and it will not charge you for access or data transfer.
Also, T-Mo does not bill you in advance.

Anyways just FYI.....


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazyk4952
WOW! I had no idea Cingular had so many fees!<<<>>>
Act fee: $35 per line
Restore fee (if account is restored from suspend for non-pay) $10 per line<<<>>>

Activation Fee for Cingular: $36 for one line, unless Family talk, then $18 per line
Restoral Fee for Cingular $36 per account (even if the account has 5 lines it's just one $36 charge total)


Posted by: alde

So, now that cingular has revamped their media works plans, I'll rephrase my question...

So, you have MEdia Net unlimited for $19.99, which provides unlimited MB of wireless internet... Does this mean WAP only? Can I get real HTML access to the internet with this plan?

Following on, there's the $44.99 unlimited data connect... But I'm getting an MPx220... I don't think I can get this plan with that phone...

And then comes text messaging... Since none of that is covered by the MEdia Net Unlimited plan, does that mean I'd need to get the MEdia Net Works Basic plan to have any included text/mms included?

It seems rather far sighted to not include text/sms/mms messages in the MEdia Net Unlimited plan...


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by alde
So, now that cingular has revamped their media works plans, I'll rephrase my question...

So, you have MEdia Net unlimited for $19.99, which provides unlimited MB of wireless internet... Does this mean WAP only? Can I get real HTML access to the internet with this plan?

Following on, there's the $44.99 unlimited data connect... But I'm getting an MPx220... I don't think I can get this plan with that phone...

And then comes text messaging... Since none of that is covered by the MEdia Net Unlimited plan, does that mean I'd need to get the MEdia Net Works Basic plan to have any included text/mms included?

It seems rather far sighted to not include text/sms/mms messages in the MEdia Net Unlimited plan...


no restriction for WAP only pages, if your phone cannot support real HTML pages though, those won't show up on your phone.

MEdia Basic, and MEdia Works are packages of TXT/MMS/WAP all rolled together

When I say WAP, I mean the ability to connect to the internet wirelessly from your phone by using Cingulars towers, and these days they have been calling WAP "MEdia Net".

The MEdia Net Unlimited, is just that, unlimited internet. It's aimed at those people who aren't into Text Messaging at all, or the Basic or Works packages don't work for at all because they have to few or to many text messages.

And if you have MEdia Net Unlimited, I think you can just setup your phone to just email pictures instead of using MMS, and if you did that, you wouldn't need any MMS anyhow.


Posted by: vincent_vance

Kilo,

Is there any indication that Cingular will allow users with shared plans to start sharing Data features?

Do you know of any providers that do?

Thanks . . .


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by vincent_vance
Is there any indication that Cingular will allow users with shared plans to start sharing Data features?
Do you know of any providers that do?

I know new plans are coming out in September, but I'm not sure if it offers a feature like that. I've been out of the game to long

I don't know if any other providers offer that, I'd encourage users in other provider forums to make a similar post like this in their FAQ.


Posted by: vincent_vance

Thanks for the response Kilo.

Regarding Cingular's "Roll-Over", is there a limit to it? For example, can you only accumulate (rollover) minutes during a one year time period, or is there say a 10,000 minute cap, or maybe there is no limit?

Thanks.


Posted by: Cingularian

Cingular has...

Rollover
Nationwide GSM Service (and NO roaming fees)
Great network and awsome phones!

I don't think many other carriers have roaming with every carrier in the USA (that uses that technology - GSM and doesn't charge for it)

And no carrier has rollover


Posted by: Jhumien

Quote:
Originally Posted by vincent_vance
Thanks for the response Kilo.

Regarding Cingular's "Roll-Over", is there a limit to it? For example, can you only accumulate (rollover) minutes during a one year time period, or is there say a 10,000 minute cap, or maybe there is no limit?

Thanks.


There is no limit, rollover minutes expire after 12 months.


Posted by: Wankel7

When you call the 800 directory...

1 800 555 1212

It automaticly routes you to Cingular 411 and you get charged.

Biggest crock of $#R%@$@#.

You can dial the 800 directory from a pay phone no problem...but not from your mobile.

James


Posted by: wildcard442

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jhumien
There is no limit, rollover minutes expire after 12 months.


Does this refresh with each "addition" to your rollover? What if you continuously rollover a small amount each month? Do you use your rollover minutes first each month or do you use your standard plan minutes first?


Posted by: Mango808

Quote:
Originally Posted by wildcard442
Does this refresh with each "addition" to your rollover? What if you continuously rollover a small amount each month? Do you use your rollover minutes first each month or do you use your standard plan minutes first?
You use your stanadard plan minutes first, then once you go over them, that is when you start using your rolled over minutes from the first month.

i.e. you have a Nation 450 w/RO that first month you only used 400 of those so 50 gets rolled over into the next month. You use 400 of the 450 again so now you have 50 from the first month and 50 from the second month rolled into your third month.

Now say for this third month you use all of your 450, then you will start using minutes from the first rolled over month which would be 50. Say you only end up using 25 of that fifty, then those 25 goes into your fourth month along with the 50 from the second month. Since you used all of your third months minutes, there is no minutes to rollover except the ones from the first and second months.

Now say in this fourth month you use all of your 450, then you will start using those 25 minutes from the first month and should you go over those, you dip into the second months 50 rolled over minutes. If you end up using all of those 50, then you start to get charged overage minutes.

Now say if you never go over your rate plans minutes and continuously rollover a small amount, then after the first year, the first months rolled over minutes would be lost and in the above case(skip the red) would be the 25 rolled over minutes. If you skip both the blue and red then the 50 rolled over minutes would be lost.


Posted by: bapski

hey kilo!

was thinking of changing from tmobile to cingular. would this be a wise or smart move?

concerns before moving:

will i be able to recieve and send text messages from the states and abroad? i am assuming the answer would be yes as you have already mentioned CINGULAR being a GSM network.

i travel a lot internationally, would i be able to have my cingular phone unlocked for use in other countries like say, the Philippines?

how is the service? this is in terms of connectivity. will i worry of any diminished signals? will i experience dropped calls?

how is the coverage? will i be able to make calls practically anywhere? (yes, including when im in the restroom )

i am really contemplating on moving as i am thinking we will be saving with the plan they have and that CINGULAR has the ROLLOVER program.

thanks in advance kilo..


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by bapski
was thinking of changing from tmobile to cingular. would this be a wise or smart move?

Well of course I'm going to be biased since I work for Cingular, plus I don't know the ins and outs of any provider other than Cingular. Aside from Cingular (or Southwestern Bell Wireless as it used to be known when I first started) I've only paid for service with TracFone PrePaid Wireless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bapski
will i be able to recieve and send text messages from the states and abroad? would i be able to have my cingular phone unlocked for use in other countries?
how is the service?

I do know that there was an issue with ported in numbers being able to receive TXT messages that originated in other countries. That may be fixed already, but you could know for sure during your trial period.
You can have your phone unlocked by Cingular after 3 months of on-time payments. But if you are already with T-Mobile, ask them to unlock your current T-Mobile phone, and that way you can use it internationally as well.

You do need to have a phone that has the GSM bands of 900 and 1800 if you plan on doing this. I suggest these helpful resources:
http://www.gsmworld.com/
http://www.phonescoop.com/

About the service: 30 day trial.

Walk into your friendly neighborhood Cingular store, ask to see the "mapping tool" to see if we even offer service in your zip code, if we do, select a phone and plan with more minutes than you think you need. It'll seem expensive at first, but the extra minutes is to test the network.

Then travel to the areas you work / live / play. Test it till it breaks. Go into the deepest corner of the basement and try to make/receive a call, then come halfway out of your basement and try, then on the first floor, second floor, etc, don't just watch the bars, actually try calling someone.

That is really the ONLY way to know if the service will work for you.


Posted by: bapski

Quote:
Originally Posted by kilo
Well of course I'm going to be biased since I work for Cingular, plus I don't know the ins and outs of any provider other than Cingular. Aside from Cingular (or Southwestern Bell Wireless as it used to be known when I first started) I've only paid for service with TracFone PrePaid Wireless.

I do know that there was an issue with ported in numbers being able to receive TXT messages that originated in other countries. That may be fixed already, but you could know for sure during your trial period.
You can have your phone unlocked by Cingular after 3 months of on-time payments. But if you are already with T-Mobile, ask them to unlock your current T-Mobile phone, and that way you can use it internationally as well.

You do need to have a phone that has the GSM bands of 900 and 1800 if you plan on doing this. I suggest these helpful resources:
http://www.gsmworld.com/
http://www.phonescoop.com/

About the service: 30 day trial.

Walk into your friendly neighborhood Cingular store, ask to see the "mapping tool" to see if we even offer service in your zip code, if we do, select a phone and plan with more minutes than you think you need. It'll seem expensive at first, but the extra minutes is to test the network.

Then travel to the areas you work / live / play. Test it till it breaks. Go into the deepest corner of the basement and try to make/receive a call, then come halfway out of your basement and try, then on the first floor, second floor, etc, don't just watch the bars, actually try calling someone.

That is really the ONLY way to know if the service will work for you.


thank you for your prompt reply.

actually my tmobile phone is already unlocked.

im happy to know that, like tmobile, they will be unlocking my cingular phone after 3 months. THIS IS SOMETHING VERY DEFINITE. right?

if i do change my phone subscriber, i plan to do it online as i see a better deal. is their any advantage/disadvantage to this vs. having my subscription done at cingular's onsite store?


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by bapski
im happy to know that, like tmobile, they will be unlocking my cingular phone after 3 months. THIS IS SOMETHING VERY DEFINITE. right?


Unfortunately, no. This policy is relatively new to Cingular. So I would bet it would take more than one call to Customer Service to get it done.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bapski
if i do change my phone subscriber, i plan to do it online as i see a better deal. is their any advantage/disadvantage to this vs. having my subscription done at cingular's onsite store?


This isn't specific to Cingular, this is with all carriers.
Most online stores only give you big discounts if you open up a new phone line. IE: Porting doesn't count.

Stores are good because they are so much easier to return the phone if it doesn't work, or you just don't like it. So far all my transactions with the store have been great.


Posted by: kilofox

Kilo or anybody,

I am expecting my new phone to arrive in a couple of days. I have a porting question.

I am a VZW customer. I dont want to port my number until I have had time to see if Cingular will work for me. So, I am getting the Cingular phone with its own new number. When I spoke with a Cingular service rep, he told my that Cingular would not charge me a 2nd $36 to port my VZW number if I should decide to stay with Cingular (which I really hope I am able to do).

Is this true? Or could the Cingular rep be giving me incorrect information?

PS... how smooth can I expect the number port to be if I should do so?

Thanks.


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by kilofox
Kilo or anybody
I'd want to comment but I've been out of the game far to long. It would be a good idea to post this question to the main board.

Talking about a problem with misinformation though, I think something all consumers should demand is a copy of the dialog they had with a company representative as protection for both parties.

The best I can come up with, is having any promises or assurances be emailed to you as well. This would be for all companies, not just Cingular.


Posted by: luciblu

You can port your # to cingular free for the first 30 days of activating new svc. You may need a new sim card and depending on where you purchased your equipment you may have to purchase it.


Posted by: AlwaysOn

With Cingular, if I decide to change my plan, and I change to a plan with the same cost or higher cost, does that change my contact dates?

Thank you!


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysOn
With Cingular, if I decide to change my plan, and I change to a plan with the same cost or higher cost, does that change my contact dates?


As far as I recall. Your contract is only extended for 2 reasons:

1. They sell you a phone at a discount.
2. You move to a price plan with a "promotional element" while you are on the last half of your existing contract.

So currently, if you moved to a price plan that offered "Free M2M as a promotion" and you were on the last half of your contract (IE: Months 13-24 on a 2 year, or Months 7-12 on a 1 year), then they would request a new 12 month committment from you.

If you don't like that, you can always add on M2M onto a family or individual plan for $9.99 a month.


Posted by: odinsdream

How does one go about getting the 1-year contract instead of the default 2-year? I went to a Cingular store this afternoon, and the salesperson seemed unwilling to admit that there was such a thing as a 1-year contract available for an extra price.

What do I need to say?


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by odinsdream
How does one go about getting the 1-year contract instead of the default 2-year? I went to a Cingular store this afternoon, and the salesperson seemed unwilling to admit that there was such a thing as a 1-year contract available for an extra price.

What do I need to say?


"I'm unwilling to consider anything but a 1 year contract". Which they might follow with "I'm unwilling to sign up a 1 year contract".

Just keep in mind that lots of places can sell Cingular service that aren't necessarily a store owned by Cingular, and they can usually decide if they want to sell 1 year contracts or not, so you might very well have to choose a separate store if you can't find what you are looking for there.

I think cingular.com is only 2 year contracts as well.


Posted by: vegenigma

I've mentioned this in another thread, but one big difference between Cingular and T Mobile is this:

If you have T Mobile and a Sidekick phone, you get unlimited internet for $29.99. The closest thing that Cingular has is $19.99 for 5 MB per month, which is lame.

I've spent a few minutes today complaining to Cingular about their poor packages, but nobody cares, which seems to be a recurring theme at Cingular.


Posted by: daweeze02

Quote:
Originally Posted by odinsdream
How does one go about getting the 1-year contract instead of the default 2-year? I went to a Cingular store this afternoon, and the salesperson seemed unwilling to admit that there was such a thing as a 1-year contract available for an extra price.

What do I need to say?


I got a Cingular 1 year contract at Sams Club last week.......the black razor cost me $100, but I would rather pay for it and get a 1 year contract than get it free from Amazon and be locked in at 2 years.


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by vegenigma
I've mentioned this in another thread, but one big difference between Cingular and T Mobile is this


It would be great if you could make a "How T-Mobile does things. (Comparison shop with other providers)" thread in the T-Mobile FAQ to better assist us all in comparing the companies.


Posted by: .7

Contract / No contract discussion here.


Posted by: Doubledip29

Quote:
Originally Posted by bobolito
The way I go around this is by using another Ringtone website such as PCS3g.com or 3GUpload.com where you can upload your stuff for free and then download it to the phone for free. I also go around the "as long as you use the towers" charge, by using CSD in conjunction with M2M. That means free internet 24/7!


i posted this elsewhere, but what the heck - CSD = ? rookie - help me out, how about this free iternet - what does it take to get it done thanks


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doubledip29
i posted this elsewhere, but what the heck - CSD = ? rookie - help me out, how about this free iternet - what does it take to get it done thanks

CSD = Circuit Switched Data
There are two ways for Cingular GSM phones to make a data connection to get on the internet. One is Circuit Switched Data, which is sort of the equivalent to a very old and slow dial up networking. It places a phone call from the phone to whatever computer routes internet, and then connectes at about 19.9 kb/s speeds. It's not very consistent.
In the old days, you could get CSD added onto your account for free (you would need it if you were going to use your phone as a modem to connect to your own ISP like EarthLink or MSN), but these days it costs $3.99/month.

The other way to get online with a Cingular GSM phone is with something called GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA. These are like data only connections and somehow don't use voice, or something like that. It's really the only internet Cingular advertises anymore. Check cingular.com for prices.


Posted by: Doubledip29

well, we changed service from sprint yesterday - but i have a question - cingular doesn't offer the insurance for the treo 650 phone my wife decided to go with because it is similar to the pda phone she had with sprint. is there an alternative way to get your pda/phone insured?


Posted by: KevinACrider

CSD is no longer offered.


Posted by: blkballoon925

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doubledip29
well, we changed service from sprint yesterday - but i have a question - cingular doesn't offer the insurance for the treo 650 phone my wife decided to go with because it is similar to the pda phone she had with sprint. is there an alternative way to get your pda/phone insured?

Your homeowner's insurance may offer protection for such devices.


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Doubledip29
well, we changed service from sprint yesterday - but i have a question - cingular doesn't offer the insurance for the treo 650 phone my wife decided to go with because it is similar to the pda phone she had with sprint. is there an alternative way to get your pda/phone insured?

not through Cingular that I know of, but ask your home / car / renters insurance if you can add it to your existing coverage


Posted by: pdirish1953

[QUOTE=justmeagain]... that I am ALSO charged 10cent everytime I just REREAD an already saved text message on my phone. .

I am an agent for Cingular and let me assure you... YOU ARE NOT BEING CHARGED TO REREAD A TEXT MESSAGE. I'm confident the CSR that told you that perhaps just started working their... yesterday and has not had all their high level on line training.




Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by pdirish1953
[QUOTE=justmeagain]... that I am ALSO charged 10cent everytime I just REREAD an already saved text message on my phone. .

I am an agent for Cingular and let me assure you... YOU ARE NOT BEING CHARGED TO REREAD A TEXT MESSAGE. I'm confident the CSR that told you that perhaps just started working their... yesterday and has not had all their high level on line training.


That's exactly right, remember that thing about "only charged when using the towers". Since with Cingular and many others only charge you when you receive the message, not when you read it, or reread it, or delete it, or whatever. After it's on that phone feel free to do whatever with it, only sending or receiving a text message will get you charged.


Posted by: hail2theorange

When looking through the board, I saw a signature that outlined a Cingular Family talk plan with unlimited m2m talk and m2m text... Does this really exist? I'm hesitant to change my current plan because Cingular accidentally gave me free unlimited text messaging on my 16 yr. old daughter's line (2000+ msgs/mo.) and I'm afraid it will get caught --hence I'm still running with a 3yr old phone.

Along the same line... if I upgrade 2 of 3 phones on my family talk, will they even look at the third phone info?


Posted by: 91-stang

couple things about what was stated....


i know it is possible, because i got it done once,and only once. but when i wanna change rate plans, they always go into effect at the start of the next billing cycle. they never give it to me then. which, for the most part is good and ok with me. but i do know, that when i had a local plan(when they existed) instead of a national(local plans had NO free roaming, had to pay extra roam charges.) but when i decided to go to vegas on short noticed, i called cingular and got it switched to a national RIGHT THEN since i needed it right then. how come nobody wants to give you this anymore. always at the start of the next cycle?


also, not that it will ever change, or anything, but it does suck that if someone sends me a text, i get charged, whether i read it or not. i have no control over who sends me a text, or someone sending it to the wrong person(ie: me).....

very well put together post though


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by 91-stang
also, not that it will ever change, or anything, but it does suck that if someone sends me a text, i get charged, whether i read it or not. i have no control over who sends me a text, or someone sending it to the wrong person(ie: me).....


You can create some Text Messaging restrictions via:
http://www.cingularme.com


Posted by: 91-stang

Quote:
Originally Posted by kilo
You can create some Text Messaging restrictions via:
http://www.cingularme.com

cool, thanx


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by hail2theorange
When looking through the board, I saw a signature that outlined a Cingular Family talk plan with unlimited m2m talk and m2m text... Does this really exist? I'm hesitant to change my current plan because Cingular accidentally gave me free unlimited text messaging on my 16 yr. old daughter's line (2000+ msgs/mo.) and I'm afraid it will get caught --hence I'm still running with a 3yr old phone.

Along the same line... if I upgrade 2 of 3 phones on my family talk, will they even look at the third phone info?


I can't find a cingular plan with unlimited m2m txt.

They will look at the third phone info if you change the price plan for the family talk, and they will likely remove that feature (it's almost required you do that when changing plans).


Posted by: Big_H

Maybe I missed it somewhere here, but... since you are charged for incoming text messages, do they count towards your text message add-on plan? Meaning, I get the 50 messages per month for $3, I send a message and have 49 left, I receive a message and have... 49 left or 48?


Posted by: 91-stang

Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_H
Maybe I missed it somewhere here, but... since you are charged for incoming text messages, do they count towards your text message add-on plan? Meaning, I get the 50 messages per month for $3, I send a message and have 49 left, I receive a message and have... 49 left or 48?

i am pretty sure the incoming is included in the $3. meaning, you send 28 and recieve 12, that makes 40 of your 50, leaving 10 more. but you won't get charged 10 cents each unless you go over your 50 for the month. then it will be 10 cents for each one over 50.


Posted by: Big_H

K, that's what I figured. Thanks


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Big_H
I receive a message and have... 49 left or 48?

You would have 48 left.


Posted by: diesel828

Roaming:

Also be wary of roaming. I doubt this will be an issue for most of you, but be careful. If you're on a Nationwide Plan, they say you never have to pay for roaming or long distance. This is true. However, if you read the fine print, Cingular states:

Cingular reserves the right to terminate your service if less than 50% of your usage over three consecutive billing cycles is on Cingular-owned systems.

Therefore, if you are using someone else's tower more than 50% of the time over three billing cycles, Cingular may terminate your service. However, before you reach such an occurence, you should be notified by Cingular first.

I bought my phone and plan from a Cingular store 0.49 miles away from me. I can walk there in 10 minutes. However, when I am physically at home or in my neighborhood, my phone negotiates with another tower. All of my calls to and from my neighborhood (including the inside of my house, of course) is considered roaming. If you see FFMR on your bill (Follow-Me-Roaming), be sure it doesn't account for more than 50% of your usage for a 3-month billing cycle.

If it does and you must continue to use your phone in that particular area, Cingular will notify you. You simply have two choices:

1) Stop using your phone in that area so much

2) Be released without obligation (no cancellation fee) by Cingular where they may also advise you to switch to the company's tower/s you are using most.

The reason for this policy is that Cingular has likely negotiated policies and partnerships with other wireless carriers to use their towers (hence, no roaming charges). Cingular has to pay more to keep you as a customer if you are using another carrier's tower all the time.


Posted by: kgual40k

What is the secret to getting out of a contract? I have been with them since September of 2005, and now have paper weight unless I am with in 2 miles of one of thier towers. Which I hardly ever am.


Posted by: candancejade

I have a question. My dad has a contract with Cingular that ends in Dec of 2007 that I am currently using. I'm thinking of upgrading my plan, and if I do so I want the plan be in my name and be my responsibility. Is it possible for me to do that without having to pay the fee of breaking contract?

Thanks!


Posted by: kilo

I think you can transfer the plan into your name for a $36 fee, (which will automatically re-up it for 24 months).

Easiest thing to do, you and your dad walk into a store, tell them that you want to change it into your name and change your plan when that's done with.


Posted by: 91-stang

Quote:
Originally Posted by kgual40k
What is the secret to getting out of a contract? I have been with them since September of 2005, and now have paper weight unless I am with in 2 miles of one of thier towers. Which I hardly ever am.
shouldn't have been more then a 2 year contract, so your contract should be up in sept. unless you want to talk to them, then i think your only solution is to wait until sept and then end it.


Posted by: benplaut

i'm assuming yes (if they can charge, they will), but does a family plan include free sms to other phones on the plan, or just calling?


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by benplaut
i'm assuming yes (if they can charge, they will), but does a family plan include free sms to other phones on the plan, or just calling?

I'm a bit long in the tooth when it comes to current cingular plans, but checking the site, Cingular does not offer SMS between Cingular customers for free.
It does offer Mobile-2-Mobile for free if it's part of the plan you are on.

You guys might want to start posting to the main forum for questions, and when you get the answer, throw the answer in to this thread.


Posted by: mottomobile

How would I know if Cingular has a Prorated Termination fees policy in my area - Tumwater, WA.


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by mottomobile
How would I know if Cingular has a Prorated Termination fees policy in my area - Tumwater, WA.


Sorry, I don't happen to have that exact info but I bet a post in the general forum on this could get answered in a day.


Posted by: MyPyle

Quote:
Originally Posted by kgual40k
What is the secret to getting out of a contract? I have been with them since September of 2005, and now have paper weight unless I am with in 2 miles of one of thier towers. Which I hardly ever am.

I really dont think you can unless you die. Not sure tho.


Posted by: novaguy

Newbie here, hoping for some help on another issue..

Since I cant start a thread, and I noticed this one, I thought it might fall somewhat into the "comparison" category...

I recently switched from Alltel to Cingular, and I really miss a couple things about my Alltel phone. (Alltel phone was razr v3c I believe, and Cingular phone is Blue razr v3?)

First, was voice activated dialing.. Especially handy with Bluetooth.

I realize that my Cingular phone has this, but I have to train the phone to recognize the names, from what I gather.. Cingular also offers the "voice dial" feature, for a charge, but it requires you to dial *8 first. (defeats the whole purpose, pretty much)

This wasnt the case with my Alltel phone.. All I had to do was type the data into my phonebook. From there, I just simply turned on my BT headset, indicated who I was trying to call, and the names were already recognized *most of the time*. I would then hear "did you say JIM?" or whoever it was I was trying to call, and simply answer yes or no.

Sure, its not that hard to train the phone, but with large phonebooks, it kind of sucks to go through each and every name and try to voice train.

The second thing, which is a bit more trivial...

With the Cingular phone, if I miss a call, more often than not, I dont realize it, until I open the phone, and the little message pops up right about the time that I have just pressed a button, which of course, make the "missed call" message disappear. Then, I have to go into the menu, go to recent calls, then received calls, and then figure out which names dont have a checkmark next to them..

With my Alltel phone, it had a complete different list specificly for missed calls.


And last...

It seems that alot of times, the clock on my phone will not update until I flip the phone open.

Seeing as how this is the only thing I carry with me to give me the time, as I dont wear a watch, I would much prefer that it keeps the correct time on it so that I can just peek down at the outer display and check the time, rather than having to unclip it every time to flip it open and check the time. Its really a pain in the but to clip it back on sometimes when I am driving down the road.


Is there anything, software related, or otherwise, that Cingular plans to do to remedy any of these issues?

OR

Is there anything I can do to rememdy any of these issues??


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by novaguy
I realize that my Cingular phone has this, but I have to train the phone to recognize the names, from what I gather.. Cingular also offers the "voice dial" feature, for a charge, but it requires you to dial *8 first. (defeats the whole purpose, pretty much)


Can you setup a contact to voice-dial *8?

<beep>
Call star eight
<beep>
<Welcome to Cingular Voice Dial, speak the name...>
Call Mom
<beep Calling Mom>

About the missed calls, try pressing the Green Phone button and see if it won't bring up a "Call Log" with the missed call at the top.

About the clock not updating, try pressing one of the buttons on the side of the phone to "wake it up" and update the time.

If those didn't work, I'd say consult the Motorola forum.


Posted by: LochNiSS

I just found out that Cingular now charges regular minutes (non M2M) to check your voice mail from your cingular phone.

I just wanted to share that with you.


Posted by: catennacio

I dont know why I cant make a new thread... Im a new member. So I have to post my question here: How do I call a mobile number in France from Cingular?

OK before I used Tmobile and I just use the number that my friend called me to call her back. It has the pattern +33 123456789 (I hide the real number). Tmobile was easy to make a call, just dial that number and I could talk.

I just changed to Cingular and was unable to use that way. I called 611 for customer service and they said I must include 011 in front. So I tried +011 33 123456789, but still I couldnt make the call. The error message code returned was 22A08MN (if I'm not mistaken).

I know that a phone number in France has 10 digits, so I guess the numbers that were displayed on my phone (when I used Tmobile) when my friend called me had been cut out 1 digit. I don't know which one.

So, in general my question is "How do I call a mobile phone number in France from a Cingular?"

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks,

-Caten


Posted by: kilo

Quote:
Originally Posted by catennacio
So I tried +011 33 123456789, but still I couldnt make the call. The error message code returned was 22A08MN (if I'm not mistaken).


Maybe try without the +, like 011 33 123456789


Posted by: pdirish1953

Quote:
Originally Posted by kilo
Maybe try without the +, like 011 33 123456789

If you just switched to Cingular, you must let them know you want to make international calls and it must be provisioned specifically on your account.
Cingular does not automatically add international calling when you subscribe.
In addition, if you are new to Cingular and want to roam internationally, you must be a subscriber for a minimum of six months before they well allow you to roam the world. .


Posted by: pdirish1953

Quote:
Originally Posted by LochNiSS
I just found out that Cingular now charges regular minutes (non M2M) to check your voice mail from your cingular phone.

I just wanted to share that with you.

I don't know when Cingular ever treated a Voicemail box call as m2m, The reason they use pilot numbers for their voicemail system is to record it as a outgoing call to a landline, a computer in there case. Shame on someone for not informing you.


Posted by: kilofox

I was with Cingular and did an ETF in Feb of 06, if I want to come back, will Cingular consider me a "new customer" as far as promos go?


Posted by: pdirish1953

Quote:
Originally Posted by kilofox
I was with Cingular and did an ETF in Feb of 06, if I want to come back, will Cingular consider me a "new customer" as far as promos go?

They will welcome you back with open arms which means you will be eligible for any promos.


Posted by: LochNiSS

Quote:
Originally Posted by pdirish1953
I don't know when Cingular ever treated a Voicemail box call as m2m, The reason they use pilot numbers for their voicemail system is to record it as a outgoing call to a landline, a computer in there case. Shame on someone for not informing you.


I'm ex-AT&T, at least i there's no charge for receiving text messages (yet)


Posted by: pdirish1953

The time will come. The carrier needs you to be at $50-60 Average per month. Charging us or better stated, nickle and diming us is what they do.


Posted by: secretasianman3

If I take over my father's plan, can I change it to a family plan and get a discount on additional phones?


Posted by: Shroomster

I've got a question...when you upgrade the phone for the main line of the family share plan...and do the new contract...can the other lines still upgrade too?
for example I'm going into the store tomorrow to upgrade my phone (main line)
I'm gonna have to do the contract thing
my wife the secondary line in the family share plan is eligible to upgrade as well

when I upgrade mine will she be able (later down the road) to upgrade hers w/o hassle? (no contract signing right?)


Posted by: pdirish1953

The terms follow the phone. Upgrade yours phone today your contract will end on that anniversary date . Upgrade your wifes phone at a later date the terms will end on the anniversary of that day. If you decide to leave Cingular at the end of main lines contract, you will have to wait to move the seconary line to there end date. Contract follow phones not accounts.
Good luck


Posted by: Gunman

My contract just came to an end last week, and I would like to upgrade my phones (2). I called Cingular, and they suggested going thru cingular.com, since they have the best deals on there, for example the v3 is $79.99 after rebates. Now, I've looked at other carriers, and many are offering buy 1 get 1 free, or $39.99 deals on the same phone, and similar plans.

Now the question...how willing is Cingular going to work with me on this price? ie will they drop it, to keep me?

If I cancel my service now, how long until I'm a "new" customer again? I know I'd loose my rollover minutes, but I'm usually under on my monthly minutes anyway.

Any insight, on getting a better deal would be appreciated.

Thanks


Posted by: pdirish1953

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunman
My contract just came to an end last week, and I would like to upgrade my phones (2). I called Cingular, and they suggested going thru cingular.com, since they have the best deals on there, for example the v3 is $79.99 after rebates. Now, I've looked at other carriers, and many are offering buy 1 get 1 free, or $39.99 deals on the same phone, and similar plans.

Now the question...how willing is Cingular going to work with me on this price? ie will they drop it, to keep me?

If I cancel my service now, how long until I'm a "new" customer again? I know I'd loose my rollover minutes, but I'm usually under on my monthly minutes anyway.

Any insight, on getting a better deal would be appreciated.
Thanks



You asked for insight...Here it is.

If you are looking to nickel and dime a carrier today over the cost of a cell phone you'd have better luck selling ice cubes to Eskimos.

It appears that you are a Cingular Customer all ready. Correct?
Cingular's V3 and been available for a little more than 2 years and is a great phone. Not all V3's are created equal. Each carrier orders the V3 with features specifice to their network. Cingular/T-Mobile offer Quad Band V3's so they can roam internationally. Cingulars network allows you to have double the talk time on V3 than the others too.

If value means anything to you over price then I suggest you stay with Cingular. If you are looking at just price, well that's a no brainer. I've seen V3 with an upgrade with Cingular for $35 but it requires you to go on a plan $59.99 or higher. (note: the terms of agreement state, if you change to lower plan with in six month period they will charge you back $250 for your $35 phone.

Cingular has just released 3G technolog with a number of great handsets available. If technology is not an issue for you then by all means look around. But don't over look 3G, personnally I know a it's wonderful technology that allows the carrier to add to.

I suggest you think about your current services. If there is no reason other than price to switch, I recommend you put value above price. Before you switch, I highly recommend you compare apples to apples when price is involved. That's usually hard to do however.

I support local agents or company owned stores were the pricing is usually the same as on line in most cases, plus I can go face to face with someonele when I need to resolve issues when they arise. If I had to pay $30 more for a phone to get great service, it's worth the money. I'm a little old fashion as it is. I love it when someone knows me when I walk into and they stroke my ego. Plus, I learn a lot more too.

Good luck and Happy New year.


Posted by: danlong

I have a question about family plans. My wife is has Cingular and has her own contract which is up in Feb. I also have Cingular on my own plan; we would like to move the two phones into a family plan. However, she has a GA number and I have a NY area code; she wants to keep her number so her relatives can call her without being charged LD. The question is will Cingular allow her phone onto the family plan if it's not the same area code (we will be living in NY) ?

Thanks!


Posted by: colbert5

Does anyone know what Cingular's regulations are on exclusivity? I have read you have to be only Cingular to sell it, but I keep seeing other dealers who have cingular and other carriers such as Sprint. For example, www.cellularchoices.net We are a mom/pop small brick and mortar in Oklahoma and would like to offer Cingular. Anyone know a master dealer that can offer Cingular in conjunction with other carriers? Are the regulations different for online? If you have a master dealer contact, please email me at gods0006@yahoo.com Thank you!


Posted by: Mr. Bond

According to my RAE, Cingular is phasing out the non-exclusive dealers in the first quarter of this year.


Posted by: SMSLina

Danlong-- No, you cannot have two lines with different area codes (or markets, as we call them) on the same family plan. They can be on the account together, but not on the same plan. If you want to share minutes with your wife, one of you is going to have to change your number to match the market of the other. It's easy, takes 5 minutes. Dial 611 and ask for relocations.

Gunman-- They will be extremely willing to work with you on your RAZR price. Especially if you threaten to cancel. To make things easier on the poor rep you encounter, try to find someplace else that's selling the phone at the price you want, and bring in an ad from them. Then it's a no-brainer.

Shroomster-- Each line is basically treated as their own customer, so the contract terms on one line has no bearing on the contract terms for another. So upgrade away!!

Secretasianman3-- Like I said, each line is treated almost as their own customer, so yes, if you take over your father's plan and add lines to the account, each line is technically a "new customer", so your phones will be at new customer pricing.

I think I got everybody, private message me with further questions.


Posted by: SMSLina

Oh yeah, and pdirish1953 is absolutely right. With all the new 3G handsets getting so cheap (free after rebate....pretty damn cheap), you don't want a RAZR. Not even for 50 bucks. Great phone, good reception, but you can get a SYNC for free, and it does 10 times as many things. High speed data, MP3 player with touchscreen controls, HUGE internal screen, Cingular Video/Music, etc. The new red SYNC is hot. HOT I SAY!!


Posted by: gogamer2007

Hi I am currently with verizon and there customer support stinks. i was wondering how cingulars customers support is. Mainly with phone upgrades i use to be with t-mobile and when i had a problem with my phone they would upgrade me to a better phone for free does cingular do that and do they have free trials on there games.


Posted by: Plutar

Quote:
Originally Posted by gogamer2007
Hi I am currently with verizon and there customer support stinks. i was wondering how cingulars customers support is. Mainly with phone upgrades i use to be with t-mobile and when i had a problem with my phone they would upgrade me to a better phone for free does cingular do that and do they have free trials on there games.



You don't get something for nothing. Always expect a contract with an upgrade, with just about any cell provider.


Posted by: ejb5oh

Quote:
Originally Posted by Plutar
You don't get something for nothing. Always expect a contract with an upgrade, with just about any cell provider.


You got that right. You get more than you bargain for when you contract with Cingular. You get a service which "is not guaranteed" so stated by Cingular. Be cautious and very skepticle when considering Cingular.

On the other hand, T-mobile....ahhhh yess. The way to go, Tmobile. BEST CSR Support and CONTINUOUS Coverage, which is GUARANTEED. God Bless Tmobile.


Posted by: cgill82266

T-Mobile and Verizon customer service sucks big time. Cingular is the only way to go.


Posted by: MyPyle

Quote:
Originally Posted by ejb5oh
You got that right. You get more than you bargain for when you contract with Cingular. You get a service which "is not guaranteed" so stated by Cingular. Be cautious and very skepticle when considering Cingular.

On the other hand, T-mobile....ahhhh yess. The way to go, Tmobile. BEST CSR Support and CONTINUOUS Coverage, which is GUARANTEED. God Bless Tmobile.

yeah that ahh terms and conditions is also listed for tmobile to about coverage. every carrier says that


Posted by: MyPyle

Quote:
Originally Posted by secretasianman3
If I take over my father's plan, can I change it to a family plan and get a discount on additional phones?

yes you can do this.


Posted by: ejb5oh

Quote:
Originally Posted by cgill82266
T-Mobile and Verizon customer service sucks big time. Cingular is the only way to go.


Actually, I have never had better customer service than that of Tmobile's. You are actually a person and mean something when you call them. Furthermore, Cingular created several "trouble tickets" for concerns I shared with them, only to later find out that no such "trouble ticket" was ever created. Their CSR's just BS'ed me, I guess to shut me up. That is supposed to be customer service?? I would not waste 20 plus minutes on the phone waiting to voice a concern each time with them if I did not actually expect them to care about my problem. And yes, this is my experience with Cingular.


Uhh, Yeah mypile, did you see my follow up message?? DUH


Posted by: sungyoo

Hello, I was wondering.... If I already activated my phone, can I still port another number from a different carrier? Will I be charged for this? Let me know, thank you.


Posted by: locojones

Quote:
Originally Posted by SMSLina
They will be extremely willing to work with you on your RAZR price. Especially if you threaten to cancel.


I couldn't disagree more. In my experience, Cingular cares more about maintaining the prices of its phones than retaining long time customers.

I had a dispute requiring resolution with the Office of the President that wasn't resolved even after 7 months. As a 10-year customer, all I asked for was a pricematch on the 8525 (Amazon had it at 179). They steadfastly refused, and didn't care if I canceled. When I told them of the deal T-Mobile was offering, they said, "Well maybe you should go there then."

It's no wonder Consumer Reports ranked Cingular worst in customer service. It was an atrocious experience.


Posted by: pdirish1953

I had a dispute requiring resolution with the Office of the President that wasn't resolved even after 7 months. As a 10-year customer, all I asked for was a pricematch on the 8525 (Amazon had it at 179). They steadfastly refused, and didn't care if I canceled. When I told them of the deal T-Mobile was offering, they said, "Well maybe you should go there then."


"Me thinks you protest to much"!

First, If you had what a legtimate complaint, "The Office of the President" would respond. It's been my experience that they review every complaint and respond in a timely manner. From personal experience, I have written to them twice and both times they responded.

Second, Phone pricing. When you search the internet, cell phone pricing is all over the board. If you are comparing apples to apples (phone to phone)
When search for price, look to see who is making the offer and what hooks they may have. Amazon activates and upgrades through Wirefly which is an online carrier dealer. When every Amazon/Wirefly advertises a phone price (8525 for $179.99 for example) Trust me when I say, this will not be your out of pocket price. Wirefly doesn't pay out a rebates until the line is vested, which is 181 days. Read the fine print(http://www.wirefly.com/additionalDe...aspx&viewmode=1)

Third, What was the deal with T-Mobile? When using this sight to vent your frustration and to have HF members help you. Give all the details. To often people us this site as pillow to scream into, but that's all we hear is the screaming.

I've been involved in the cellular industry for 15+ years and thought I've heard it all and then you get a whopper. Guess what? If the grip is legit, there's a solution/resolution.

Let's return to phone pricing. There will come a time when the carriers will stop subsidizing the cost of a cell phone. Until then, we will have many choices where we can purchase a cell phone, Amazon, Ebay, company or agent retail locations, etc. There are more than 235 million wireless subscribers in the US today. Carriers want your business. Haggling like a used car dealer isn't one of the ways they get your business. Value at a fair price should be the consumers montra. What expectation do you put on value? That's up to you.

If it's cheap, is there value? Perhaps in bragging rights. But once cheap has been accepted, value no longer exists unless your very lucky.

If you live in a metro area, you have many choices for cell phone service. If we are not happy with one we go to the another. However, will the grass be always greener?

Good luck and keep those cards and letters coming... with detail next time.


Posted by: ejb5oh

Well Cingular finally refunded my entire early termination fee, including taxes paid on the fee. In fact the guy that refunded the amount was the very same guy that told me I had no standing for getting the fee returned. What changed, you might ask. Nothing. I just had to keep *****ing, i guess. Anyways, I am much happier now with Tmobile. Best prices for the most service features, and they offer the epitome of great customer service.

I will never go back to cingular, even more so than ever since ATT is a part of them again. Or, Cingular has dropped to an all time low and joined ATT, that is. ATT customer service sucks and some of their practices have been deceptive for me in the past. Now they have joined... The end result will mean even lousier customer service.


Posted by: RyRy_M

I need some help understanding this. I just canceled my account with Cingular (almost all of my friends/family are verizon, so we switched to save on minutes) and am trying to figure out why they're saying I still owe them money.

My billing period ends on the 16th of each month. My 2 year contract ended on April 16th, which is when I ported my numbers to Verizon. I did not pay the bill that was "due" on Apr 14th, because I thought it was for service to be provided from April 17th to May 16th. I interpreted "bill one month in advance" to mean that the payment I made on Mar 14th was for service from Mar 17th to Apr 16th and I therefore did not owe any of the charges listed on the April bill. Is this true or not?

I called CS on April 18th to find out exactly what my final balance was, but they couldn't tell me because the "final bill hadn't been cut yet." Then, yesterday i received a "notice of collection action" dated April 19th saying that "failure on your part to respond to previous notices leaves us no alternative." (wait - I tried to call you the day before to settle it and you couldn't respond to me!!!). Anyway, I called back today and they said I still had an overdue balance, but she couldn't seem to explain things in a way that made sense to me. They are sending me a paper copy of my bills for the last 12 months (since they cut off my online access to the account as soon as I ported the number) so that I can look it over.

Can any of you agents or experts out there clarify this for me?


Posted by: pdirish1953

Weird, is the best I can say,

First, Did you actually have a end date to your contract that was the same as the last day of your billing cycle?

That being true, did you paid the previous months bill with the cycle of (2/17-3/16)?
That would have been the bill that stated, "late payment will be assesed after April 14th. This should not be confused with "due" date.

If in fact,that bill was paid, you did pay in advance for your next billing cycle which should have been 3/17-4/16.

The March/April bill would have ended two days after you ported. It takes approximately 2-4 days for the system to produce that bill, then mail it out to you. With that being said, you should have recieved a paper copy of that bill on or around 4/23-26th or with in the next day (remember they use snail mail)

In a nut shell, what I think happened is you didn't pay the Feb/March bill. You ported out April 16th. Cingular billing system may have something that triggers billing that you ported and are in arrears by one month which means their system defines it as, you are stiffing them. Thus the collection letter.

I hope this was helpful. I'm and agent for Cingular and review bills on a daily basis. I know how confusing the system can be.

Good luck


Posted by: RyRy_M

Yes, my contract end date and billing cycle end date were the same. It seemed logical to me....I didn't realize it's not like that for most people. I guess I just happened to set up my account on the right day back in 2005!

Next, I must confess that I actually ported out on April 13th. The "notice of collection action" letter also mentioned an ETF, but I was able to get the CS Rep to remove the ETF from my bill. (The FAQ on the Cingular website says cancellations will be effective the last day of current billing cycle - which was my contract end date, so I thought I could cancel any time during the billing period!)

Another oddity, I guess, was that the CSR said my account had been pro-rated for the 3 days from the 13th to the 16th. I told the rep I didn't care about proration for 3 days, as long as they got rid of the ETFs for my 2 lines.

As for the bill I did not pay, the DUE DATE was April 14th. I don't remember what the date was that it said it would actually be LATE (I had stopped paper billing, and they cut off my online access as soon as I ported out). My due date for the past two years was always the 14th of each month. The last payment I made was for the bill due on 3/14 (I think I actually paid it on 3/9).

If I PM you my info, can you look at my account to help me understand it?


Posted by: misha24

Well I guess this is the best forum area to ask for this opinion since I see there are cing/att and some verizon ported users.

I have been a Bell Atlantic / Verizon customer for allot of years and I live currently in the North East Phildalephia area. My contract is up in july and I am eligable for what verizon calls New every 2 and I can get 100$ off a phone. I was thinking of going with cingular for a few years now but have always stopped because it was just easier to stay with what you are used to and I didn't want to loose the money plus on the every 2. The only reason I would want to go to Cing/att is because of the rollover minutes which ofcourse verizon doesn't have. I have the 450min plan and that is fine most of the time but I have to keep an eye sometimes when I talk not to go over because I did go over a few times and it was like an extra $15 for that month. The second thing is the choices of phones since its a gsm carrier and I can just use the sim card and get an unlocked phone and use it. Wit vzw you can't do that . I wanted to try the cing service and I called my b2b rep and they said you can try it for 30 days but there are some fees like the activation fee and the prorated fees will be charged. If I was to do that now and like it I can't port my number because I have 2 months left and if I like it I would have to cancel it and restart again after my contract with vzw is over july 10th. I am sure I have signal but its like being in a long relationship and then leaving to try a new thing. I like getting new phones and I think with cing/att I might have more freedom to choose more phones.

Any input would be great so I can try to make up my mine. I was looking at the new vzw phone the MaXX ve which is a nice phone so if I stay with vzw I might get that but if not then I have no idea what to get or try with cing/att.

thanks

Mike


Posted by: pdirish1953

Quote:
Originally Posted by misha24
I like getting new phones and I think with cing/att I might have more freedom to choose more phones.

Any input would be great so I can try to make up my mine. I was looking at the new vzw phone the MaXX ve which is a nice phone so if I stay with vzw I might get that but if not then I have no idea what to get or try with cing/att.
thanks
Mike


Mike, First ask yourself; Why do I really want to switch carriers? Variety of phones? Rate plan value? Feature value?
Since you mentioned you have a rate plan that's consistant with your usage but, you have to guard against over usage requiring have to monitor your time, then Cingular has value with rollover. If you use ony 375 minutes your first month, then you'll have 525 going into your next billing cycle. If you fall short of plan the nex