My husband and I were with AT&T since March. No problems, except with the reception due to our bad Seimens phones. We called AT&T to upgrade our phones but they said it was too early and that each new phone would cost 150$ for the cheapest ones. We obviously turned down the offer.
In November, we went to Sam's Club and at the entrance, there was a cell phone rep. That gave us a flyer about switching to Cingular for 18$ only. He said that both companies had merged and that we could switch and keep all of our services and that on top of that, we would now get the roll-over minutes feature. He would also give us 2 new phones for free with this new activation. Our plan was 39.99$ for 650 min. On each lines unlimited N&W min. And mobile-to-mobile calls. The new plan was 850 shared min. For 59.99$ 9.99$ for second line.
The offer was great since we needed to change our phones and now it would even be cheaper (!) with Cingular (83$/month). The only issue is that with AT&T, on my line, I had the North America service (for an extra 9.99$/month) which gave me free UNLIMITED roaming and long-distance to and from Canada. We had to make sure that if we switched, we would still have this feature. The rep. Called the main office and assured us that we would have it and that it wouldn't even cost anything! I was very surprised, especially when he said that we could have it even on a Family Talk plan! So we opted for the switch. Only problem, our phones were from NJ and if we wanted to keep our numbers, we had to go do it at a Sam's Club in NJ. And so we went back to the home town and delt with a new rep. That confirmed all of the above. We got 2 Motorolla V551s for 200$ and 2 mail-in rebate forms for 50$ each.
The FIRST month, the bill was doubled so we called the Customer Service and they said it was due to roaming charges made in NY and they credited our account because we have the Nationwide plan.
SECOND month, same thing, different reason: roaming charges in NJ! The numbers come from that state! They credited again.
THIRD month, same thing, another reason: long-distance calls to Canada. I argued with them that I'm supposed to have free L-D in North America and she says that the service is on my husband's phone instead. It took some convincing, but she finally credited my account. She said that to have this service on my line, I had to pay 3.99$/month. I said fine, charge it, even if that's not what was originally understood, but 4$ to take care of this is a very small price to pay. She also credited 3.99$ for the previous month that the service was on my husband's line.
That month, the bill ended up to be 90.88$. Unfortunately, at that time we were a little tight, so I paid 50$ and was going to pay the rest with the next pay check. A week later, I'm in Canada, my husband is deployed for a month in another state down south and I have no service on my phone. I try calling his phone with a landline and he has no service either. I call CS and they tell me they cut us off because we have an overdue balance of 40.88$! They didn't even wait until the next billing cycle! The rep. Told me that I was luchy, some people get cut off the day after their due date. I paid, the service was reinstated... With a 36$ fee of course.
The FOURTH month, same double amount bill as always but this time it was again for L-D to Canada. I was more that exasperated at that point and I told them that it's supposed to be free. The lady said that I added the 3.99$ L-D feature to my line the month before and that this only gives me a discounted rate not a free call. I was ready to rip off her head! She said she could not credit my account and that the past cerdits that I had weren't even supposed to be. I asked to talk to her supervisor. He told me the same thing. He said that Cingular "can't make a special plan just for you" and that he could cancel all the credits that were given to me and make me pay them back if he wanted to!!! He said that it was my problem if 2 sales reps. From 2 different states and 3 CS reps on the phone gave me bad information during 4 months and that it was too late to switch back to AT&T. The only thing he could offer me was a North America plan on a seperate line at 59.99$ for 400 min., 1000 N&W and NO mobile-to-mobile calls!!! I was purple!
If I would've known that they couldn't compete with what I had with AT&T, I would've never switched! This is pure fraud and chronic misleading on their part. And it doesn't end ther either!
So when they finally told me that I had to pay more for less and that we couldn't be on the Family-Talk plan for that, it was the 15th of March. I just got my last bill with the 3 weeks I passed in Canada and now it sums up to 850$!!! We've been calling them all week about this and they say that they're only aloud to credit for up to 150$, above that it has to be done by a manager. They keep telling us that unfortunately he just left and he will call us back the next day. But still no calls.
I really don't think I'm responsible for these charges because it was only at the end of the billing cycle that they told me I didn't have free roaming in Canada (0.79$/min. To call my husband, by the way). This is more than ridiculous! They can't get their stories straight and the customer has to pay almost 1000$ for 1 month and all they can say is "SORRY YOU WERE MISLEAD"!!!
I hope they lose all their business and that these forums multiply!
I wish I could just pay the termination fee and end this nightmare, but it would cost us 240$ to Cingular 200$ to The cellphone company that hooked us up the last humongous bill! So we are just stuck. If anyone has any ideas about how we can resolve this issue please rebuttle! And those who are shopping for a cellphone company, DON'T even think about signing up with Cingular!
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