Complaint Review: Cingular

This is perhaps one of the best well kept secret rip off scams on a global scale.

Here is how it works. You purchase a plan and the phone from Cingular. In my case I paid $200 for V600 Motorola phone. After my contract expired I wanted to move to a different cellular provider and I wanted to still use my V600 phone. In order to do that you need to obtain the unlock code for your phone form the cell phone company that sold it to you. Without those codes you can not switch to a different company as when you insert new sim card from let's say T-Mobile, your phone will ask you to provide the unlock codes in order to bind with the sim card. This is a way for cellular company to ensure you don't leave them before your contract expires. When I called Cingular I found out they do not give out the unlock codes at all. I was outraged and asked to speak with management. I was connected to manager that read to me some fine print note (that must have came with contract agreement or some other paperwork you receive during purchase) that is supposed to interpret to the fact that the equipment you buy from them can only be used with their service.

They could not answer to me how is it possible that the equipment I purchased is not truly mine because it is disabled through the means of unlock codes. There is nothing in the phone hardware that prevents it from working with other cellular companies.

In addition, I know for a fact that T-Mobile provides such unlock codes to their customers when requested. I encourage you to avoid Cingular and go with a different cellular company and show them you will not support deceptive business practices. Don't let them rip you off.

Christopher
Chicago, Illinois
U.S.A.