Well, where to start?
I have been in contact with Cingular Wireless no less than 7 times since August. I am a prepaid, i.E., "go-phone" customer.
I have experienced more dropped calls, uncompleted calls (outbound), unreceived calls (inbound), and voice mail messages that never seem to "go through", than I care to mention.
I first started bringing this to the attention of Cingular in August of this year. Every time, I was assured that it would be "looked into"... That a "tech" person would get back to me, etc.
Just last night, (this was my 7th call to them)... I was ASSURED that a tech person would call me at my HOME phone (surprisingly, Cingular didn't want to contact me on my Cingular Cell phone #)... Within the HOUR... I never heard from anyone, although I waited by my home phone.
Tonight, I called "611" from my cell phone once again, in an attempt to resolve the issue of poor service.
I'd like to state that I reminded Cingular (yet again) that I am a prepaid (go-phone) customer, and that, since Cingular does not bear the onus of having to generate a monthly bill to me, nor the collection efforts that often come of such a situation, that I find this disparity of service to be a huge slap in the face. HAH! What do they care? Go-phone Users: Ever notice that if you are but ONE minute late in loading a new card (which you pay for in advance), your callers receive a DISCONNECT message?
Anyway, after reminding the rep of this, and again asking what the status of my *multiple and ongoing* complaint (s) was, I got transferred to the "Tech" dept., who answered the call as though I had just drifted in off the street. After spending a considerable amount of time (re) explaining my situation and repeatedly being put "on-hold, " I was informed that my SIM card was bad, and that I needed to purchase a replacement card, to the tune of $25.00.
I explained to the tech rep that, although that may be the case, considering that I had spent a LOT of my personal time trying to chase down THEIR equipment problem, I didn't see how I should be stuck with a $25 bill. They refused to work with me, but were happy to transfer me back to Customer Service... Guess what... It was as though I had AGAIN drifted in off the street... Had to explain the entire saga again to the Customer Service rep.
Long story short, Cingular gave me a whopping TEN DOLLAR credit to my account... Hmmmm. Considering I made 7 phone calls of varying lengths (not counting the 'opportunity' costs of the lost calls/messages prior to this), I netted $1.43 per call.
I would think that most of us would agree our time is worth more than that. Yes, I raised that point with the Cingular rep and was fed the standard "That's all I can do" line. Even when I told them I would yell to everyone within shouting distance to stay far, far away from Cingular Wireless Pay-As-You-Go.
Lesson learned? Well honestly, I don't think Cingular really wants clients who pay in advance. They must be making the BIG buck off monthly-bill clients whom they can gouge for late fees, over-minutes charges, and the like. Taking your money up front is just another lucrative niche for them, and providing things like coverage and accountability are nothing but a source of irritation for them.
You go, Cingular! Not!!!
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