AnchorDesk Lounge: POLL: Been swindled by a cell-phone carrier?

Was lied to by Cingular

I have to admit, I tried several of the phone companies. Most of my switching was due to not being satisified by one thing or another.

I left Sprint because I had moved to another city and simply wanted to stay on the same plan. They said I couldn't, so I left them for T-Mobile

T-Mobile's coverage was a joke. If I was in nearly any building, I couldn't use my phone when my friends on other services could. I loved how their plans were set up, but what good was it when I couldn't talk?

Cingular was the one that really lied to me and that's why I left them. When I signed up, I was getting one of their old TDMA plans and an older phone which I didn't care for that much. I asked if I could change phones and plans before my contract was up if it was an upgrade. I said I knew I'd have to pay full price for the phone, but that I was willing. They assured me it was ok. About 6 months later, I decided I was ready to switch phones to a newer phone which woudl require me to get on a GSM plan. After selecting a phone, Cingular now said that I COULDN'T change until my contract was out, even being willing to spend over $300 on a phone!!After arguing with a manager, I cancelled my service and switched to Verizon. I've never looked back!

cingular eh?

well i know every one has a problem with them right? the only thing i have not heard yet is any positive thinking! There are great qualities with every company and horrible ones that come along as well. Yes when cingular bought ATT maybe they didnt have everything right but they are fixing the problems and do have good services! If u have signed on with any cellular company first u should have read and researched what u were getting into and if u had not then its ur own fault! secondly if u were an att subscriber and are having difficulties then blame ATT becuase the way they set up the merger and package gave cingular very little room to do anything. look into that then holler about discrpencies!

Been swindled by a cell-phone carrier - Nextel

I need to purchase a new Treo for my business and Nextel will not let me out of my contract unless I pay them $200.00 even though they do not offer a compatible product. Nextel has been promising a Treo-type product for about 18 months and still isn't even close to bringing anything to market.

T-Mobile Nokia

My service was great for almost a year, but then I couldn't get a descent signal in my own home, other places I had a great signal when other services didn't. The sales rep told me that the PIN card could be the problem with my Nokia, so being a techie, I pulled the card and cleaned the contacts without any change. They also waived the extra monthly charge on my extra phones, but decided that was only for the first year and started to charge me for them. I've looked at other services and was ready to signup with Cingular until I saw the $150 per line early cancellation fee. Give me a break, yeah 14 years ago the carriers may have been pay a few hundred dollars for phone, but in todays disposable electronics market I would have to believe that the cost is more like $50. In some states they have to prorate it down from $240, which is still pretty steep. So I may go prepaid, but then you have to worry about getting the top tier service from a carrier.

Charged Double for Downloads

When my contract with Cingular expired, I switched providers because I regularly had problems with reception despite living in a large city. Several friends had T-Mobile and recommended it highly, so I went with T-Mobile. When I signed up, I got a new phone and thought it would be fun to download a few wallpapers, ringtones, etc. from the T-Mobile website ... until I got my phone bill. I was charged at least TWICE for every single download!! Since I'm not an idiot and know how to download, I called T-Mobile to remove the incorrect charges. The first rep I spoke with insisted I had, in fact, downloaded everything twice. I hung up and called again, and the second rep acknowledged there must be a glitch in the system. However, I was still made to feel like they were doing me a huge favor by removing the charges - a ''one-time customer good will'' waiver. Ultimately, it took more than three months to resolve the situation. One rep would remove the charges, another would add them back on, another rep would remove the charges, another would add them back on. I ended up buying a cable and software that would allow me to transfer files to and from the phone myself because it was cheaper ($39.99) and far less of a hassle.

On top of that, I signed up for their automatic bill payment service, but get charged a ''late payment fee'' almost every month, a nice little trick since T-Mobile determines when the bill gets paid. So, of course, I have to call T-Mobile to get that fee removed.

All of this combined with the crappy phone access (I get a ''network busy'' message about 60% of the time when trying to make a phone call) makes me very sorry indeed that I switched to T-Mobile. I'd like to get rid of my home phone and go completely cellular, but I don't dare. I'm not sure I'd be able to make a phone call in case of an emergency. As soon as my contract expires, I'll be switching to another provider.

(NT) cell no bill is ever right always overed charged

Looked in to a Cell phone though

"Verison"
The main concern I had was with a picture phone, They had a charge to transfer pictures to a comupter. In order for me to use a USB adapter they were going to charge me for it! When I heard that I walked away.I still don't have a cell phone and for what I want in one and what they are going to charge for( even if it's any amount)I'm not going for it.Nuff said!