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something_amazing
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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This probably should be merged with the previous discussion shouldn't it?

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MrBartokomous
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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I know I've been burned like this on Rogers in Canada. My contractrecently ran out and I was looking to do an upgrade/renewal, but thecheapest phone they could give me was 150$, a phone which was free fornew customers. I called and said \"listen, I want a new phone, and Idon't want to pay for it. I've been a loyal customer in good standingfor a couple years now, and I don't think it's unreasonable to expectthe same quality service and level of discounts that you give to newcustomers. I don't want to switch carriers(Canada doesn't have numberportability yet, remember) because I'd rather not have my numberchange, but if you can't do something for me I'm not going to have achoice.\" They told me they couldn't do it.

So this is where it gets unfortunate. I start looking at othercarriers... and as much as I hate Rogers... I still have the cheapestplan I can get anywhere through them. I wish I had more options.

My advice if you're in the states, if they go this route? Port yournumber. Do it as soon after this call as you can, and when they ask fora reason... tell them why. Customers shouldn't be punished for onlyspending 30 bucks a month if a carrier's going to offer plans in thatprice range.

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crayonshinobi
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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This is like the introductory rates for cable/DSL internet from Comcast and Verizon mentioned earlier...just take your business elsewhere and return to Cingular at a discounted rate when the contract at the other provider is over...Use their stupid policies against them...

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Ben
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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I love reading this stuff. I bet Sprint and Verizon have the same kind of manual (or are they the same company now? I can't keep track)



All I care about is getting my calls through. The rest is icing. I don't look for fancy equipment, but I do want reliable service (which is why I quit Sprint, I couldn't get a signal at work, which makes it a PITA for anybody to call me, which is why I have the phone in the first place)



I do think they are focusing on equipment revenue when perhaps they should be looking at other variables as well (perhaps they are, this is just a slice from their CSR book)


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kerry
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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crayonshinobi: Unfortunately, according to the fine print, all the \"new customer\" discounts the phone companies offer aren't available to returning customers. If you leave and come back they won't give you a discount. If anything they'll look at your former account status and give you the same thing you were eligible for before you left.

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Ran Kailie
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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I don't even bother with discounted equipment myself, i'd rather buy it on ebay, or through a retailer, unlocked, at least then I don't have to worry about features being disabled.

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Vexation Fixation
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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I used to sell Cellular service for 3 years under Sprint, T-Mobile, Alltel, and Nextel. There's all kinds of cool little tricks you can do.

For this particular situation, consider you are with \"Company A\". Port your number out to a different company (Company B) and then port it back in to the original \"Company A\" within a few days. But the trick is, if you are married, use your spouses information when porting back into the original \"Company A\"!

Cellular companies use Social Security numbers for everything, therefore your spouse will be considered a new incoming customer and capable of getting the new plan discounts! Of course you just add your line as the secondary line, and so on.

If you want to transfer the account into YOUR name instead of your spouse's name, usually at six months into the new plan, you can process a Transfer Of Responsibility Request.

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John Stracke
December 0, 0000 12:00 AM
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This one is bizarre:

EON customers are unprofitable solely for their excessive off-network usage. EON customers are in direct violation of Cingular Wireless' Terms and Conditions and must change their calling habits to be eligible to keep their Cingular service.

Doesn't \"off-network\" mean you're roaming, and therefore paying extra? Why would they kick you out for that?

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Sadie
October 14, 2006 4:05 AM
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This is entirely true. I used to work for a wireless provider. Your profit as a customer is calculated by a number of things 1) daytime minutes use, if you don't use alot of the minutes you pay for you are more profitable 2) On and off network use which has been highly discussed in previous articles 3) The amount of times you call in to customer service 4) If you are using other feature like texts etc 5) your discretionary adjustment history

I'd also like to point out that managers have the right to cancel service for highly abusive customers, although I'd only seen that on one account ever.

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