Why I hate ATT== A sad tale on the East Coast

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md - 27 Jun 2003 21:19 GMT

Hello...when I switched to GSM, my salesman here in NC told me that I would
get full coverage throughout NC and SC due to a deal with Cingular to waive
roaming charges AND, I specifically asked him if the major North/South
highway, I-85 and I-95 would have GSM coverage WITHIN MY PLAN. He assured
me that despite the maps not showing it yet, would get this.

My first encounter with this LIE is when I drove to Fayetteville, the 3rd
largest city in our state. Instead of showing ATT Wireless or Cingular, it
showed USA 490. I had never heard of USA 490, but I did not have the full
coverage in NC and SC as promised.

Then this weekend I drove to Washington DC from Durham NC on I-85 and I-95.
Almost at the NC Border, but still in NC, it switched to USA 490 again. for
about 150 miles or 2.5 hours on the interstate, I would have to pay my
roaming charges. THE LIE again. However this time I decided to find out
who USA 490 was. When I called the local information, it said something
like "Welcome to Suncomm (or something like that) AN AT&T OWNED COMPANY"
So, hot-diggety, AT&T owns them, i should not pay roaming fees for their
GSM, Right? WRONG! I called AT&T Customer Care who verified that the local
company was indeed owned by them, but they did not yet share billing. What
a load of crap. The power and size of ATT would allow them to figure out
whose minutes I was using (hell, they have the same deal with Cingular). So
my National Plan does not work on 150 miles of one of the main Interstates
in the country.

I don't know what I am more angry at-- the lie of the salesman (this was an
important route I travel) or the stupidity and arrogance of AT&T for not
getting it.

Mark

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GeoW - 27 Jun 2003 21:57 GMT

I feel for you. This type of thing seems to be a running theme here. Tell
them (or don't tell them) anything to get the sign up, and screw them with
the real details later. The Arrogance of AT&T is what gets to me.

> Hello...when I switched to GSM, my salesman here in NC told me that I
> would get full coverage throughout NC and SC due to a deal with
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Mark

Reply to this Message

Shawn - 28 Jun 2003 00:51 GMT

If you guys think that there are not shady salespeople in every kind of
sales then you are in for some rude awakenings.

> I feel for you. This type of thing seems to be a running theme here. Tell
> them (or don't tell them) anything to get the sign up, and screw them with
[quoted text clipped - 32 lines]
> >
> > Mark

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David Spera - 27 Jun 2003 23:25 GMT

<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
<html>
Unless it is on  paper I would not believe it.
<blockquote TYPE=CITE>Hello...when I switched to GSM, my salesman here
in NC told me that I would
 get full coverage throughout NC and SC due to a deal with Cingular
to waive
 roaming charges AND, I specifically asked him if the major North/South
 highway, I-85 and I-95 would have GSM coverage WITHIN MY PLAN. 
He assured
 me that despite the maps not showing it yet, would get this.
My first encounter with this LIE is when I drove to Fayetteville, the
3rd
 largest city in our state.  Instead of showing ATT Wireless or
Cingular, it
 showed USA 490.  I had never heard of USA 490, but I did not have
the full
 coverage in NC and SC as promised.
Then this weekend I drove to Washington DC from Durham NC on I-85 and
I-95.
 Almost at the NC Border, but still in NC, it switched to USA 490 again. 
for
 about 150 miles or 2.5 hours on the interstate, I would have to pay
my
 roaming charges.  THE LIE again.  However this time I decided
to find out
 who USA 490 was.  When I called the local information, it said
something
 like "Welcome to Suncomm (or something like that) AN AT&T OWNED
COMPANY"
 So, hot-diggety, AT&T owns them, i should not pay roaming fees
for their
 GSM, Right?  WRONG!  I called AT&T Customer Care who
verified that the local
 company was indeed owned by them, but they did not yet share billing. 
What
 a load of crap.  The power and size of ATT would allow them to
figure out
 whose minutes I was using (hell, they have the same deal with Cingular). 
So
 my National Plan does not work on 150 miles of one of the main Interstates
 in the country.
I don't know what I am more angry at-- the lie of the salesman (this
was an
 important route I travel) or the stupidity and arrogance of AT&T
for not
 getting it.
Mark</blockquote>
</html

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phone man - 28 Jun 2003 02:53 GMT

The funny thing about your posting is that AT&T Wireless does not own
Suncom. AT&T owns 20% of TritonPCS( suncom) but that means that they are
an Independent Carrier and can charge AT&T for those roaming fees which
means that AT&T will pass on to you. TDMA customers or Mutliband
customers DO NOT pay those roaming fees for using the Suncom network but
GSM customers do.

"md" <mdibner(at) bioability.com> wrote in article
<bdi94l019gs@enews1.newsguy.com>:

> Hello...when I switched to GSM, my salesman here in NC told me that I would
> get full coverage throughout NC and SC due to a deal with Cingular to waive
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
>
> Mark

Reply to this Message

md - 28 Jun 2003 22:02 GMT

Well, the announcement on their 411 line said "Welcome to Suncom, an
AT&T-Owned Company" Nothing mentioned about 20 percent etc. And yes it is
sad.

> The funny thing about your posting is that AT&T Wireless does not own
> Suncom. AT&T owns 20% of TritonPCS( suncom) but that means that they are
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> [posted via phonescoop.com - free web access to the alt.cellular groups]

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Larry Whitehead - 28 Jun 2003 22:19 GMT

http://www.suncom.com/pr_news/index.html

SunCom, a member of the AT&T Wireless network, is the brand Triton PCS uses
to market its digital wireless services. The company, a leading wireless
service provider, is licensed to operate a digital network in a contiguous
area covering more than 13.5 million people in Virginia, North Carolina,
South Carolina, northern Georgia, northeastern Tennessee and southeastern
Kentucky.

> Well, the announcement on their 411 line said "Welcome to Suncom, an
> AT&T-Owned Company" Nothing mentioned about 20 percent etc. And yes it is
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> > customers DO NOT pay those roaming fees for using the Suncom network but
> > GSM customers do.

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