Sorry folks, no get out of jail free card. Internet PPU is not a subscribed service because there is no monthly cost to have the feature, only cost when the feature is actually used. Good luck to you though.
I'm with Aurora on this (and I agreed with him earlier in this thread)...
CINGTD-I don't understand why you seek to twist the argument to support cingular.
The legal contract as described by the CIngular terms of service states:
"IF WE INCREASE THE PRICE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES TO WHICH YOU SUBSCRIBE, BEYOND THE LIMITS SET FORTH IN YOUR RATE PLAN..."
where does this state that it must be a monthly fee?????? Utter nonsense. The ability to make and receive SMS is a service that requires a subscription... it can be turned on and off.
Furthermore, the agreement discusses the concept of 'Services' as distinctly different that 'rate plans'... in other words "services" can be part of a PLAN or 'a la carte':
'If you select a rate plan that includes a predetermined allotment of Services (for example, a predetermined amount of airtime, megabytes or text messages), unless otherwise specifically provided as a part of such rate plan, any unused allotment of services from one billing cycle will not carry over to any other billing cycle."
What is your role here for cingular? damage control to dissuage folks from trying to exercise their contractual rights?
I always like to hear the cell company employees complaining about people wanting to get out of their contracts without an ETF, claiming 'it is a contract and you agreed to it".... Well, it IS a contract, and Cingular agreed to it, and if they increase fees they MUST waive the fee provided you notify them that you are cancelling within 30 days of their increase. Why must users blindly abide by the 'contract' but when they use it to escape an ETF they are somehow wrong?
What do they mean when they say "you may terminate this AGREEMENT without paying an ETF"?
The way "agreement" is used in the sentence "AFTER YOUR SERVICE COMMITMENT, THIS AGREEMENT SHALL AUTOMATICALLY RENEW ON A MONTH-TO-MONTH BASIS" makes it sound like "agreement" means the Cingular service itself, and "Service Commitment" refers to the contract term.
Under this interpretation, any price increases provide a 30-day window under which affected customers can terminate their Cingular service (the "agreement") even if the "Service Commitment" is still in effect, without being charged an ETF.
Now, the question is whether you can use the change to Terms and Rates section to nullify the Service Commitment without actually terminating the Agreement (closing the account), in effect becoming a month-to-month customer early without paying an ETF. If so, would that make you eligible for an early upgrade?
ya ill prolly get flamed for this, but i skimmed the thread ...anyways, how does this apply to legacy at&t customers? i noticed on premier i can add the old at&t text and data plans, but in doing so would i forfeit my old plan/minutes? ok on topic..i currently get incoming text messages free unlimited, and to send is 10cents since i dont have a plan. with cingular raising the rates...am i now going to be charged 15cents a text instead of 10? thanks fellas
All the legacy customers are probably month-to-month at this point, so it wouldn't matter. There's no ETF to get out of because you can leave at any time without penalty anyway.
yea im probably month to month, but i will not be forfeiting my plan...1000 anytime min, unlimited m2m, unlimited n&w, free incoming text...all for 39.99 a month and a few 9.99 add a lines. hopefully i dont get "upgraded" to this 15 cents ppu bullsht
I was merely restating a question off Cingular's Q&A on the rate change. They say it does not qualify customers to terminate their contracts without paying fees. No other info was given. It says existing customers will be told of the rate change on their December bills.
I was merely restating a question off Cingular's Q&A on the rate change. They say it does not qualify customers to terminate their contracts without paying fees. No other info was given. It says existing customers will be told of the rate change on their December bills.
It is to be expected that Cingular will take this position unless heavily challenged. Customers who want out would be advised to request out, then if denied approach their PUC. Customers in states like California with consumer friendly PUCs might have the best luck.
It would probably help if the material presented to the customer when signing up showed the $0.10 per SMS, since that would most clearly indicate it was part of the deal signed up for.
Why would it make a difference if there were no monthly price attached to SMS's, if the agreement says 10 cents then thats it.
Tell me, is there anywhere in the contract that specifically(exactly) states that they can raise the price of SMS? Lawyers like to argue these type of things and governments like to side with the public when there is ambiguity. You can't tell me Cingular(Stan) didn't know this when he did it! It sounds like a Hail Mary for profit to me.
And I'm quite sure he has advised all employees how to act, but may have used dubious means.
It is to be expected that Cingular will take this position unless heavily challenged. Customers who want out would be advised to request out, then if denied approach their PUC. Customers in states like California with consumer friendly PUCs might have the best luck.
What we might find is that the 'front line Q&A' has one position to dissuade folks from getting out of contract, but once challenged the next level might have a different 'official guidance'... If I was management that's what I'd do...
Just remember... If you send or receive a text at 15cents, you are probably agreeing to the change and will have a harder time fighting it....
Per the contract you have 30 days after receipt of the notice. The notice is in the bill. Miss the 30 days window and it doesn't mattter if you received or didn't receive a 15 cent message....
I am not going to argue. We can agree to disagree. Just stating my opinion like anyone else here can. I am certainly not bashing anyone. As I stated, "Best of luck", and if you can manage to get the contract waived I don't fault you or anyone else.
It's not about arguing. It's about you being a Cingular employee who has, if I recall correctly, given biased opinions about Cingular due to your employment situation.
And therefore I am simply pointing out that since you work for Cingular, in matters such as this I chose (and logically so) to disregard your PoV.
"My downfall raises me to infinite heights." -Napoleon Bonaparte
That information is incorrect. T-Mobile does offer unlimited text messaging with some blackberry plans. T-Mobile calls the plans "Blackberry Minutes and Mail" plan.
Here is an awesome Blackberry plan for $59.99/month. It includes:
* Unlimited e-mail
* Unlimited Web browsing
* Text messaging
* No nationwide long-distance or roaming charges
* For BlackBerry® Enterprise plans: unlimited BlackBerry Enterprise Server* access
You also get 1000 whenever minutes but no weekend minutes. Overage minutes are only $.35/minute too.
before i left t-mo i had the sidekick plan but was using my ppc-4100. no txt msg charges inbound or outbound and i got full data package meaning i was able to sure any site that would allow me on that old phone. no extras and 19 bucks a month.
affect change and churn baby churn
want to contribute to a ringtone collection? want to archive and be able to get others archived rings? im planning on putting together a nice lil collection of users rings just email howard.f.rings@gmail.com your rings and ill put them together in a lil zip for all free of course.
For those of you with a postpaid cingular cellular phone contract that want to cancel service, you can now do so for free. And you will NOT incur the $150 charge that you normally would. This is a limited time offer that will expire within 30 days.
The most recent bill from them says:
"Text & Instant Message Pay Per Use Rate Change
Effective 1/21/07, Cingular will charge $0.15 for text and
instant messages sent or received on a pay-per-use basis. If you
already subscribe to a Messaging Package or Media Bundle, there
is no change to your rate. By purchasing a Messaging Package or
MEdia Bundle, you can send and receive messages for as little as
a penny. Sign up & save at www.cingular.com/getmessaging or Dial
*NOW from your wireless phone."
Narrative of my expierence:
-I called customer service at 611
-Pressed "0" to speak to a customer service representative
-Then pressed "4" to close my account. This transferred me into the retentions department.
-I stated that I wanted to close my account
-They asked the reason for closing my account
-I stated that the text messaging cost had increased by 50% and this is unacceptable. The costs of text messaging are clearly stated at 10 cents per message in the seperate brochure that I recieved when I signed my contract.
-They then stated that I did not show any text messaging on my account for the past 6 billing cycles. So I stated that I use text messaging sporadically. And may not use it for months at a time. But when I do now use it, that portion of my bill will now be 50% higher than it was previously.
-The first represenative I spoke to refused to waive the early termination fee (ETF). So I hung up the phone, and called back again a couple minutes later. This time, the representative offered to waive the ETF after I repeated the above procedure.
Notes:
-I could not get any concessions from the retentions staff on being grandfathered into to the $0.10 per message rate structure.
-They wouldn't give me any money as a service credit on my account to cover the increased cost of the messaging
-They did suggest that I subscribe to a text messaging package. But did note that in my case, this would likely result in an increase in the total cost that I was paying for service since I don't use text messaging for months at a time.
-The rate change from $0.10 to $0.15 per text message appears to further deter users from using the pay per use (PPU) feature. And get them to sign up for an added cost text messaging bundle. Presumably they are hoping that this will raise the average revenue per user (APRU).
"IF WE INCREASE THE PRICE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES TO WHICH YOU SUBSCRIBE, BEYOND THE LIMITS SET FORTH IN YOUR RATE PLAN BROCHURE, OR IF WE MATERIALLY DECREASE THE GEOGRAPHICAL AREA IN WHICH YOUR AIRTIME RATE APPLIES (OTHER THAN A TEMPORARY DECREASE FOR REPAIRS OR MAINTENANCE), WE WILL DISCLOSE THE CHANGE AT LEAST ONE BILLING CYCLE IN ADVANCE (EITHER THROUGH A NOTICE WITH YOUR BILL, A TEXT MESSAGE TO YOUR EQUIPMENT, OR OTHERWISE) AND YOU MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT WITHOUT PAYING AN EARLY TERMINATION FEE OR RETURNING OR PAYING FOR ANY PROMOTIONAL ITEMS, PROVIDED YOUR NOTICE OF TERMINATION IS DELIVERED TO US WITHIN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THE FIRST BILL REFLECTING THE CHANGE."
Originally Posted by cingtd
...anyways, how does this apply to legacy at&t customers? i noticed on premier i can add the old at&t text and data plans, but in doing so would i forfeit my old plan/minutes? ok on topic..i currently get incoming text messages free unlimited, and to send is 10cents since i dont have a plan. with cingular raising the rates...am i now going to be charged 15cents a text instead of 10? thanks fellas
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