In our area of Texas, AT&T did not fully merge with Cingular. They gave our acdount ot Alltel. We had no clue about this until we got a mail-out from Alltel saying "we are now your wireless company." The service seemed to stay the same as they said it would for a few months so I let it be.
In mid-September, we got a brochure that the AT&T network is going away in our area (which is what we were still on), and we need to call in to get our new Alltel plan. When I called I found out that I had until September 9 (one week earlier) to change carriers without facing a termination fee. We were never notified of this possiblity. They said they "put notices on TV and in the newspaper."
There seemed to be an 'out' in the brochure saying there was a 30 day opportunity to try their products and services, and if not satisfied, return the phones for no charges. I talked to several neighbors in the same circumstances. I even 'tried Alltels products and services' by checking out their phones and the reception in our area using my neighbor's phones.
Alltel's service plan was not satisfactory to me, and we could not continue calling our friends and family with Cingular for free. Others had told me of many extra charges from activating their Alltel phones, then trying to get out. So I called Alltel again to declare that I was an unsatisfied customer, and I wanted out. That wasn't good enough for them since I hadn't activated my Alltel phones, and I hadn't paid them all the hidden fees I had been warned about.
The Cingular rep here said I could go ahead and change over since my contract was with AT&T, not Alltel. I went ahead and changed, now Alltel has stuck me with a $470 bill including termination fees.
AT&T and Alltel did not act in good faith. They did not disclose my rights.in a very competitive market, AT&T sold my account to a much weaker company. Alltel refuses to back up their claim of "satisfaction guaranteed" from their brochure.
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