Re: Cingular Pink-Slips Customers Who Travel Too Much



On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 21:20:05 UTC, "Jeremy" <jeremy@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Harry" <tigerfan@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:v9b022p3tfruo7ift0ft0hcib0b0cd502a@xxxxxxxxxx
On Tue, 21 Mar 2006 08:22:45 -0800, SMS <scharf.steven@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Iopsy wrote:
Apparently market share is no longer Cingular's main objective. This
article
seems to say that Cingular is shedding customers who roam too much.
What's
your take?

http://www.wxyztv.com/wxyz/ys_investigations/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15949_4556035,00.html

He knew when he signed up that the roaming was limited to 50%. Sprint
used to have a similar clause, not sure if they still do. His best bet
is to sign up with Verizon, since the roaming onto their extended
network is not limited. He'll have more coverage than he did before, and
if he gets a tri-mode phone he'll have _far_ more coverage than he did
with Cingular.

Companies have the right to not sell to unprofitable customers. Look at
what Cingular is doing to the AT&T Wireless customers that had
sweetheart calling plans at low rates.

Cingular advertises the "all-over" network.

Looking at their maps, they are all 1 color. They don't tell you which
areas are roaming or not. Indeed their maps imply that there is no
such thing.

I am a normal custormer who had no desire to modify their phone. Every
call I've made says Cingular on it. Every call I've received says
Cingular on it. Even though some calls on my bill are marked follow me
roaming.

So, the average consumer has no way of knowing if they are roaming or
not.

I have had Cingular service for a year now. I have never had a call
dropped on my end. I have never had a bad experience with customer
service. The call quality on my phone is excellent.

Never the less I may well change carriers at the end of my contract.

WHY? In following discussion about Cingular I note that in every
single case they choose the method best for them even if it hurts the
customer. And make no pretense about doing otherwise.

Although I don't think I am affected by this change of theirs why
should I trust them in the future. Maybe I am roaming and just don't
know it.

I can not trust Cingular.


When I switched to Sprint a few weeks ago, I noticed that my new phone has a
setting where I can restrict it from roaming off the Sprint PCS
network--something I never could do with my old TDMA phones.

There is also a third option on my phone--something they refer to as "Call
Guard." You can set the phone to roam automatically, but incoming roaming
calls have a distinctive ring tone, to alert the user that it is a roaming
situation. And outgoing calls that are made while roaming require that the
user push a couple of extra buttons before the call completes--again, to
inform the user that this call is not an on-network call.

At least the customer is informed, and can make a conscious choice about
whether to roam or not.




When I had Sprint, the phone only had the option to enable roaming, or
not. No third option was available. When, after the first month, I
had an extra $30 in roaming charges for calls made from my home, I
just disabled roaming. If they had had better coverage where I lived,
it wouldn't have been necessary, and I would probably still have the
service.

At the time, there was an option for an extra $5/month to allow the
roaming to be free.
.



Relevant Pages

  • Re: 7-Eleven PrePaid Service?
    ... And you _will_ roam, depending on your area. ... This can be good or bad, i.e. when you're in a Cingular area, but in a Cingular dead spot, you roam even if you'd rather just have "No Service." ... This is unlike some carriers that don't allow roaming in areas where they have coverage, even if the subscriber is in a dead spot. ... I haven't used the phone in areas where Cingular isn't one of the GSM networks, so I can't comment on which networks it will or will not roam onto. ...
    (alt.cellular.cingular)
  • Re: Customer Service Complaint
    ... > many of her family and friends have had with the Cingular attitude. ... > going to give you anything as an EX customer? ... > roaming, and would be charged as such. ... roaming came in (how could they credit charges that were not billed yet ...
    (alt.cellular.cingular)
  • Re: Cingular Pink-Slips Customers Who Travel Too Much
    ... seems to say that Cingular is shedding customers who roam too much. ... He knew when he signed up that the roaming was limited to 50%. ... Companies have the right to not sell to unprofitable customers. ... I can not trust Cingular. ...
    (alt.cellular.cingular)
  • Re: Cingular vs T-Mobile for data
    ... Google.com/glm as a map and routing assistant, ... I use Skype, which is great to other Skype users around the world. ... My area is 850 roaming, ... My Cingular data doesn't seem to roam, but I don't know if that is ...
    (alt.cellular.cingular)
  • Re: Cingular Pink-Slips Customers Who Travel Too Much
    ... seems to say that Cingular is shedding customers who roam too much. ... He knew when he signed up that the roaming was limited to 50%. ... Companies have the right to not sell to unprofitable customers. ... sweetheart calling plans at low rates. ...
    (alt.cellular.cingular)