Better tell Mommy to change the Sesame Street  tape for you- you need to
learn a new word.

Since this is a new, unannounced fee, anyone hit with it has FULL
grounds for voiding their contract. PERIOD.

Yes, they are.  Advertising is a direct cost of doing business and
gets credited to a corporate entity as operating expenses - which gets
deducted from their sales to result in the profit that is taxed.  This
is supposed to be factored into their rates, but Cingular is 'double
dipping' - factoring it as part of their rate (COGS - Cost of Goods
Sold) and then charging for it again as a "Promotional Fee" - thereby
getting it as both a revenue stream and a deduction on their corporate
taxes.

Imagine if your local hospital added their advertising fees onto your
bill. or if the gas station added an advertising surcharge every time
you filled up your tank.  Just because you're to stupid to realize
you're being taken doesn't mean the rest of us are - I too argued this
and received a rebate from Cingular, basically because they don't have
a leg to stand on.

BTW, this reply cost me .43 in bandwidth and time to educate you, so
I'll be sending a bill for Knowledge Transfer to you.  

That's fair, isn't it?

subdude  

Although I've apparently been convicted and sentenced to a public flogging
in your courtroom, I do believe I have a right to final words:

Let me clarify that the fee was not described as an activation fee, and it's
purpose was not described by the Cingular rep as a means by which to cover
the overhead of transition from old phone to new, or for the cost of cell
towers....These are assumptions that you've made, with no evidence to
support it.

The fee was identified as a "promotional fee", and was described as a
contribution to their promotional costs in marketing the phone.  Had it been
identified as an activation fee, I would not have argued.  I was not advised
that any such fee would be applied.  I still stand by my position that the
fee, as described to me, was unjustified.  To me, it's like saying "We'll
give you a discount on the phone, but you must pay some of that discount
back to us for letting you know that the discount was available."

Now, you may be absolutely correct that everyone else is paying this, and
that this is what would be characteristic of an activation fee.   If that is
the case, I can't imagine why Cingular wouldn't simply call it that.
Nevertheless, you must realize that not everyone has the experience and
expertise in how these matters are typically handled, as it seems that you
do.  I honestly do not know whether I paid for an activation fee separately
or not without digging through bills and records.  I was not advised of
one....  Since they are not calling it an activation fee, I didn't make the
assumption as you did that this is what the fee represented.  And if the
Cingular rep thought it was a justifiable activation fee, why was he
admittedly embarrassed by it, and willing to remove it with no argument?

If it's justifiable to you, then pay it.  It's your money.  I just think
that people should be made aware of things that seem questionable,  so that
they can make informed decisions about how they spend their money.

All I know is that Cingular could not justify this fee to me, so I conclude
that I should not pay it.  Nor has you condescending argument convinced me
otherwise...  In my courtroom, your case is dismissed.

I'm missing Sprint PCS.
--John.

Do you sell Cingular phones as a corporate employee or authorized dealer?

I tried to get a new Cingular phone through an authorized dealer, but
was turned away because he said I have to go directly through Cingular.

TH

Vidguy11 Wrote:

Let me get this straight, you work for Cingular and have never heard o
an $18 Upgrade Charge.  There is no such thing as a migration fee.  Th
fee that is charged to AT&T customers is an upgrade fee, because the
are upgrading their AT&T phone to a Cingular phone.

It's not a promotional fee, it's an upgrade fee.  Maybe your marke
doesn't charge upgrade fees, though I find that hard to believe, o
you're not very educated

Vidguy11 Wrote:

Then it would go back to the fact that your market maybe doesn't charg
upgrade fees.  Only you would know that, but I know my particular marke
and many others charge an $18 fee for upgrading.

The whole *862  again goes down to different markets, different rules.
In my market we don't bypass it.  There would be no reason to.  The onl
way for someone in my market to bypass it is to either call CS, or C&A.
I'm not sure why someone would bypass it unless the *862 isn't workin
which it rarely doesn't work