Complaint Review: Cingular Wireless - Nationwide

On Tuesday, March 22nd my Cingular Wireless telephone stopped working completely. My girlfriend whom I lived with noticed the same exact problem with her AT&T phone. Both of our phones, which worked just fine in our apartment prior to Tuesday, do not work in our apartment now. When I say they don't work, I mean they will not dial or recieve calls or messages.

We both called customer service several times during these calls we were told that "software" updates were being sent to our phones (via the network that our phones aren't connecting to), we should power them off and then they will work. We followed the instructions exactly, and even though cingular said they were fixed, they still didn't work (even as I write this). We went through this process 3 times, being promised that they were fixed 2 times. The third time the representative actually was smart and said that they couldn't guarantee it (after other reps told us previously that the problems were fixed.) Ironically as I was given the "non guarantee" promise a commercial was on network TV making claims to Cingular and AT&T having the largest nationwide network...

After about a half hour of troubleshooting during a 4th call, going back and forth between supervisors, I was finally told that I had to be in Wisconsin where I purchased my phone for these "updates" to be be installed (even though my girlfriends phone which was bought her in Minnesota, did not work after "software updates" either)

They told me several reasons why the phone may not work. One was that because I bought my phone in Wisconsin and that I was living in Minnesota (doesn't make sense based on my girlfriends exact problem.) Another reason they stated was that my phone was possibly broken. Granted, being a touring sound engineer it has taken a tumble or two, but if I walk 2 or 3 blocks from my house, the phone works just fine, and my girlfriends phone is in very good condition with the same connection problem.

ANOTHER INTERESTING FACT... when the cingular representative asked me my address in St. Paul to check for "tower problems" she informed me that she could see that my house was only 2 or 3 blocks away from the nearest tower. With some concern I asked her if I took my phone and drove down the block with it, could you see me doing it? The reply was surprisingly "Yes I can."

Finally I asked how this problem could be resolved, and the reply was in short, that I needed to go to a Cingular office in Wisconsin and get a new phone. Getting a new phone means signing a new contract for service for a free phone, or paying several hundred dollars for a new one.

Cingular Wireless did in NO WAY answer me as to what the problem was, nor did they tell me that THEY could or WOULD fix it. Instead, the company whom I have personally paid thousands of dollars to over the last 4 years told me that I basically had to solve the problem myself, on my time and with more of my money. The only solution they offered me, involved paying them more money. I also found out that as long as my phone is on Cingular can spy exactly where I go...and I pay for this.

I really have no recourse of action for this issue as a consumer other than this forum, nor do I know if they will ever fix this problem without me getting involved. They take my money and give me nothing for my troubles in return.

John

W. St. Paul, Minnesota
U.S.A.