You bet I'm mad
I am so fucking sick and tired of these corporate monstrosities and their typical Corporate American attitudes towards consumers.
Due to the fact that this is a public entry, names of persons and place have been edited.
Since the days of the original Motorola flip phone (circa 1995), I have been a longtime customer of Cingular Wireless, formerly known as Cellular One. I have been a customer for six years, and not once did I have any complaints in terms of reception and customer service. I was there when the transition was made from Cellular One to Cingular, and even during that time, the customer service was top notch. I was a very happy customer.
My happy relationship ended when I decided to terminate my service with Cingular. It was not because of anything Cingular did, but I wanted to test the waters and was curious about the competition. I went ahead and signed up with a competitor.
During my time with the competitor, it was during this time that the acquisition took place between AT&T and Cingular. When my contract ended with the competitor, I decided to go back to familiar territory, not realizing the hassles that would lie before me.
To give you a better understanding, here is a timeline of events as they occurred in the last year. It’s even more important that you keep in mind that this phone was never dropped, nothing spilled, or damaged in ANY way during this time, and to this day. (please note that months are approximate, but I can assure you that all of these discrepancies have been noted in my account):
November, 2005: I began my quest to get a phone and a new carrier. I went to the Cingular dealer located in Whatever, IL. The salesperson that assisted was actually the General Manager by the name of ****. I already had a phone in mind that I wanted to purchase, and he had it in stock. The phone that I’m referring is the Motorola mpx220 smartphone. *** assured me that I was making an excellent choice because it’s a hardy phone with excellent features, and seemed very excited that he sold me the phone. In addition, I also purchased another phone for my husband and the Family Plan of 700 minutes. I signed on to a 2 year contract.
April, 2006: This was when I first started experiencing some problems with my phone (Motorola mpx220). The picture messaging feature didn’t work. However, this was a feature that was not of a huge concern to me at that time, so I didn’t investigate further.
July, 2006: I start to experience more technical difficulties, mainly, the phone would power off completely whenever I closed the phone. Now it’s happening on a constant basis, and I decided that I cannot have a phone that works when it “feels” like working.
During this time, I took my phone to a Cingular dealer in XXX, IL in an effort to get it resolved onsite. When I explained the discrepancies to the salesperson, his response was, to paraphrase: “We’ve been having a lot of problems with the Motorola mpx220. About 90% of those phones that were put into the market are defects.”
With that said, I feel like I’ve been deceived Mr. *** who originally sold me the phone. I say this because I have a very suspicious feeling that he knowingly sold me a defected phone, yet he was not going to turn down any revenue for his store. That is, after all, very common business practice, and even more apparent in the sales industry.
Meanwhile, I have another year left to go on my contract, and I refuse to be stuck with a defective phone. The salesperson in the XXX store gave me the 800 number to exchange the phone.
August, 2006: I called customer service and they noted the discrepancies on my account. I had decided to go through the exchange over the phone. Cingular was very prompt in sending me another phone, but it was the same make and model. I then wondered why Cingular would send a phone that would most likely be defective? Well, guess what….
October, 2006: The phone stops charging via car charger. I originally thought it was the car charger itself. I used another method of charging in the meantime (using my laptop and USB cable).
Earlier this month: I went to a Cingular dealer to purchase a wall charger. This time, I asked the salesperson to test it on my phone. Somehow I was not surprised when he stated the phone was not charging. He states, “It’s not the charger, it’s your phone.”
How happy would YOU be at this point?
November 12, 2006: I went to the Cingular dealer in XOXO, IL (store no. blah blah) to see if there was anything anyone could do to help me with this issue onsite. The following conversation took place:
Me: “Hi. I’m having trouble with my phone.”
Salesperson: “What seems to be the trouble?”
Me: “The phone won’t charge. The only way it will charge is through my laptop and a USB cable.”
I also provided him with the history. I also told him I had no desire to call customer service again because they’re only going to send me yet ANOTHER defective mpx220. He seemed to express genuine interest and concern, and assured me that he will pass it on to his manager. He also assured that his manager will follow up with me the next day. I left my home phone number and stated that was the best number to reach me. Meanwhile, the salesperson made a note in my account.
Little did I know that didn’t lead to anything except having a COMPUTER call my house the following day, not the manager of store no. XOXO!
Yesterday: I resorted to calling customer service, and I explained everything. I didn’t get the name of the rep because as far as I’m concerned, they’re ALL programmed to say the same thing. According to the rep I spoke with, these were my options:
Option A: Buy another phone and pay FULL RETAIL price.
Option B: Sign onto ANOTHER TWO year contract with Cingular, so I can be trapped for another two years. But at least I can buy another phone at a discounted price!
My point in all this is that these options are highly unacceptable. The way I see it, it is not fair to me that I should have to spend MORE money with Cingular when it’s not even my fault. Yes, I could call Motorola directly and complain to them, but it was Cingular who SOLD me the phone to begin with.
And all too often, big companies like Cingular are becoming glaringly obvious of what is wrong with Corporate America. In this day and age of computers and the internet, it is far too easy to blow off bitchy customers like myself by having a COMPUTER call my house to “follow-up.” Nothing says “Impersonal” and “We don’t really care so as long as you spend more money with us!” more than that.
As of right now as a consumer, I am very angry. I am annoyed because it appears that I am stuck with a phone that does not work (and, by the way, the phone has been charging on my laptop for the last two days, and for some reason refuses to be fully charged. Both the laptop and the phone have been left ON). Of course, I could always close my account and go with a competitor, as I did before. In order for me to do that, I’d have to give Cingular MORE money (what a shocker) to get out of my contract. Cingular wins in the end with this logic. And the thought of a corporate monstrosity winning and the consumer losing just sickens me to no end. I am tired of this runaround and the only response I am getting is to the likes of, “spend more money.” That will not work with me.
I refuse to call customer service again because they’re programmed by Cingular to say certain things, and they do not have the authority go beyond of what is displayed in front of them on the computer screen. I was a bit nervous when I signed back up with Cingular in November of last year, because I was afraid that with the acquisition of AT&T, the level of customer service would go downhill, but I gave Cingular the benefit of the doubt. Now, I long for the good ‘ol days of Cellular One and the Cingular before AT&T.
I do not want a credit on my account. I do not want any rebates that I will most likely have to wait a year to get. I do not want fancy ring tones, graphics, and games….I just want a phone that works! I especially do not want a computer to call my house. I refuse to give in and get pushed around by big corporate monstrosities like Cingular. I’m certain that it wouldn’t hurt Cingular’s profit margins by allowing me SOME credit to get another phone, without having to be trapped into a two year contract. In fact, I’m almost willing to bet my house on it.
Due to the fact that this is a public entry, names of persons and place have been edited.
Since the days of the original Motorola flip phone (circa 1995), I have been a longtime customer of Cingular Wireless, formerly known as Cellular One. I have been a customer for six years, and not once did I have any complaints in terms of reception and customer service. I was there when the transition was made from Cellular One to Cingular, and even during that time, the customer service was top notch. I was a very happy customer.
My happy relationship ended when I decided to terminate my service with Cingular. It was not because of anything Cingular did, but I wanted to test the waters and was curious about the competition. I went ahead and signed up with a competitor.
During my time with the competitor, it was during this time that the acquisition took place between AT&T and Cingular. When my contract ended with the competitor, I decided to go back to familiar territory, not realizing the hassles that would lie before me.
To give you a better understanding, here is a timeline of events as they occurred in the last year. It’s even more important that you keep in mind that this phone was never dropped, nothing spilled, or damaged in ANY way during this time, and to this day. (please note that months are approximate, but I can assure you that all of these discrepancies have been noted in my account):
November, 2005: I began my quest to get a phone and a new carrier. I went to the Cingular dealer located in Whatever, IL. The salesperson that assisted was actually the General Manager by the name of ****. I already had a phone in mind that I wanted to purchase, and he had it in stock. The phone that I’m referring is the Motorola mpx220 smartphone. *** assured me that I was making an excellent choice because it’s a hardy phone with excellent features, and seemed very excited that he sold me the phone. In addition, I also purchased another phone for my husband and the Family Plan of 700 minutes. I signed on to a 2 year contract.
April, 2006: This was when I first started experiencing some problems with my phone (Motorola mpx220). The picture messaging feature didn’t work. However, this was a feature that was not of a huge concern to me at that time, so I didn’t investigate further.
July, 2006: I start to experience more technical difficulties, mainly, the phone would power off completely whenever I closed the phone. Now it’s happening on a constant basis, and I decided that I cannot have a phone that works when it “feels” like working.
During this time, I took my phone to a Cingular dealer in XXX, IL in an effort to get it resolved onsite. When I explained the discrepancies to the salesperson, his response was, to paraphrase: “We’ve been having a lot of problems with the Motorola mpx220. About 90% of those phones that were put into the market are defects.”
With that said, I feel like I’ve been deceived Mr. *** who originally sold me the phone. I say this because I have a very suspicious feeling that he knowingly sold me a defected phone, yet he was not going to turn down any revenue for his store. That is, after all, very common business practice, and even more apparent in the sales industry.
Meanwhile, I have another year left to go on my contract, and I refuse to be stuck with a defective phone. The salesperson in the XXX store gave me the 800 number to exchange the phone.
August, 2006: I called customer service and they noted the discrepancies on my account. I had decided to go through the exchange over the phone. Cingular was very prompt in sending me another phone, but it was the same make and model. I then wondered why Cingular would send a phone that would most likely be defective? Well, guess what….
October, 2006: The phone stops charging via car charger. I originally thought it was the car charger itself. I used another method of charging in the meantime (using my laptop and USB cable).
Earlier this month: I went to a Cingular dealer to purchase a wall charger. This time, I asked the salesperson to test it on my phone. Somehow I was not surprised when he stated the phone was not charging. He states, “It’s not the charger, it’s your phone.”
How happy would YOU be at this point?
November 12, 2006: I went to the Cingular dealer in XOXO, IL (store no. blah blah) to see if there was anything anyone could do to help me with this issue onsite. The following conversation took place:
Me: “Hi. I’m having trouble with my phone.”
Salesperson: “What seems to be the trouble?”
Me: “The phone won’t charge. The only way it will charge is through my laptop and a USB cable.”
I also provided him with the history. I also told him I had no desire to call customer service again because they’re only going to send me yet ANOTHER defective mpx220. He seemed to express genuine interest and concern, and assured me that he will pass it on to his manager. He also assured that his manager will follow up with me the next day. I left my home phone number and stated that was the best number to reach me. Meanwhile, the salesperson made a note in my account.
Little did I know that didn’t lead to anything except having a COMPUTER call my house the following day, not the manager of store no. XOXO!
Yesterday: I resorted to calling customer service, and I explained everything. I didn’t get the name of the rep because as far as I’m concerned, they’re ALL programmed to say the same thing. According to the rep I spoke with, these were my options:
Option A: Buy another phone and pay FULL RETAIL price.
Option B: Sign onto ANOTHER TWO year contract with Cingular, so I can be trapped for another two years. But at least I can buy another phone at a discounted price!
My point in all this is that these options are highly unacceptable. The way I see it, it is not fair to me that I should have to spend MORE money with Cingular when it’s not even my fault. Yes, I could call Motorola directly and complain to them, but it was Cingular who SOLD me the phone to begin with.
And all too often, big companies like Cingular are becoming glaringly obvious of what is wrong with Corporate America. In this day and age of computers and the internet, it is far too easy to blow off bitchy customers like myself by having a COMPUTER call my house to “follow-up.” Nothing says “Impersonal” and “We don’t really care so as long as you spend more money with us!” more than that.
As of right now as a consumer, I am very angry. I am annoyed because it appears that I am stuck with a phone that does not work (and, by the way, the phone has been charging on my laptop for the last two days, and for some reason refuses to be fully charged. Both the laptop and the phone have been left ON). Of course, I could always close my account and go with a competitor, as I did before. In order for me to do that, I’d have to give Cingular MORE money (what a shocker) to get out of my contract. Cingular wins in the end with this logic. And the thought of a corporate monstrosity winning and the consumer losing just sickens me to no end. I am tired of this runaround and the only response I am getting is to the likes of, “spend more money.” That will not work with me.
I refuse to call customer service again because they’re programmed by Cingular to say certain things, and they do not have the authority go beyond of what is displayed in front of them on the computer screen. I was a bit nervous when I signed back up with Cingular in November of last year, because I was afraid that with the acquisition of AT&T, the level of customer service would go downhill, but I gave Cingular the benefit of the doubt. Now, I long for the good ‘ol days of Cellular One and the Cingular before AT&T.
I do not want a credit on my account. I do not want any rebates that I will most likely have to wait a year to get. I do not want fancy ring tones, graphics, and games….I just want a phone that works! I especially do not want a computer to call my house. I refuse to give in and get pushed around by big corporate monstrosities like Cingular. I’m certain that it wouldn’t hurt Cingular’s profit margins by allowing me SOME credit to get another phone, without having to be trapped into a two year contract. In fact, I’m almost willing to bet my house on it.