I was a long-time customer of the old Houston Cellular and when Cingular bought them out I continued as a customer for several years. My wife, daughter, son & myself, each had cell phones, and after paying exhorbitant fees for many years we decided to close our account and go with pay-as-you-go phones. I advised Scott, one of Cingulars local employees here of my intentions. He said that since I was a good customer, that my upgrade to a different plan would NOT BE ENFORCED and that I could cancel my account with no penalties. I did so.
A few weeks later I received a bill from cingular for almost $300. For premature cancellation of my account. After talking to Cingular and explaining to them what Scott had said about not being penalized, they told me that they would take care of it. Well, Cingular keeps calling and demanding payment and I explained that I didn't owe them and would not pay. They eventually turned it over to a collection agency and put it on my credit report.
I have filed a protest with all three reporting agencies explaining the situation. I was in the process of buying a new house and was worried about the negative on my credit, but, my lender said, don't worry. We see this all the time. Beware of who you deal with, and make sure you get any cancellation in writing. (I didn't. I took Scott's word for it)
I understand that a lot of cell companies pull this same rip-off and there is really nothing that you can do but protest.
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