Just my two cents worth!

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Steve - 22 Jul 2005 12:34 GMT

I've been on Cingular since the merger with AT&T having an old AT&T
phone and plan. Cingular is no better or worse than AT&T whose customer
service was lacking and I moved to AT&T because the customer service at
the other company was the pits. Are we seeing a pattern here? From
reading the posts, talking to friends and family it seems to depend on
what type of customer service you need, which rep you get, etc. and they
all seem to get their service reps from the same place, fast food
restaurant rejects. If their customer service was any good they wouldn't
have to make you agree to a two year contract, I remember when one year
was good enough for them!

Go with the company that gives you the phones, features and plans that
you need / want, don't worry so much about customer service, it all sucks.

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John Navas - 22 Jul 2005 16:21 GMT

>I've been on Cingular since the merger with AT&T having an old AT&T
>phone and plan. Cingular is no better or worse than AT&T whose customer
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>Go with the company that gives you the phones, features and plans that
>you need / want, don't worry so much about customer service, it all sucks.

We get what we pay for. With your criteria, it's no surprise that customer
service isn't given priority by the carrier. ;)

Regardless, my own experience with Cingular Customer Service has been quite
good. This morning, for example, I got a billing error corrected in less then
10 minutes, with credit for the past six months. The Customer Service person
was cheerful and helpful.

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Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

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Ed Buffey - 22 Jul 2005 17:44 GMT

> Regardless, my own experience with Cingular Customer Service has been quite
> good. This morning, for example, I got a billing error corrected in less then
> 10 minutes, with credit for the past six months. The Customer Service person
> was cheerful and helpful.

Customer service varies within all companies. The level of customer
service doesn't depend on how pleasant the customer or the rep is.
Probably the best option is for the customer to be hyper-cheerful and
completely obsequious.

I'm converting from Verizon to Cingular via SBC. One thing SBC expects
is to have an email address. There are many reasons why any intelligent
person will not give out an email address. First, SBC will convert you
to online-only billing if they have your email address. Second, privacy
policies change at the company's discretion. Since all phone companies
love junk mail, why take the chance?

So... no matter how hyper-cheerful I am, the rep will take an
extraordinarily long time working with me because I calmly refuse to
give out my email address. It has been over 6 weeks of spending hours on
the phone trying to get my service switched over. I get off the phone
with the rep's assurance that the order is in and will be processed.
They have no priority shipping option for the phone. My current phone
has been switched off. Yet each time (after waiting days for delivery)
they claim that Verizon thinks the phone is "active." So the order gets
canceled the same night I was on the phone with customer service. Nobody
calls me to tell me. They won't give out an order number or any tracking
number while I'm on the phone with them. Several times they claim they
don't even have a record of my phone call.

Some companies (perhaps not with Cingular), things like customer service
(and tech support) are provided by third parties. Sometimes the service
reps are in another country, such as India.

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John Navas - 22 Jul 2005 23:11 GMT

>> Regardless, my own experience with Cingular Customer Service has been quite
>> good. This morning, for example, I got a billing error corrected in less then
>> 10 minutes, with credit for the past six months. The Customer Service person
>> was cheerful and helpful.
>
>Customer service varies within all companies.

Agreed.

>The level of customer
>service doesn't depend on how pleasant the customer or the rep is.

I disagree -- the right approach makes a huge difference versus the wrong
approach.

>I'm converting from Verizon to Cingular via SBC. One thing SBC expects
>is to have an email address. There are many reasons why any intelligent
>person will not give out an email address. First, SBC will convert you
>to online-only billing if they have your email address. Second, privacy
>policies change at the company's discretion. Since all phone companies
>love junk mail, why take the chance?

So use a unique, throwaway email address. Big deal.

>So... no matter how hyper-cheerful I am, the rep will take an
>extraordinarily long time working with me because I calmly refuse to
>give out my email address.

I've never seen that kind of problem.

>Some companies (perhaps not with Cingular), things like customer service
>(and tech support) are provided by third parties. Sometimes the service
>reps are in another country, such as India.

Not in the case of Cingular.

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Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

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Elmo P. Shagnasty - 23 Jul 2005 00:02 GMT

> >The level of customer
> >service doesn't depend on how pleasant the customer or the rep is.
>
> I disagree -- the right approach makes a huge difference versus the wrong
> approach.

Only with a rep who has the ability to respond to the right approach.

John apparently has never had a bad rep answer the phone on him, ever.
And if you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn you should look at.

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BBB - 23 Jul 2005 13:06 GMT

> Regardless, my own experience with Cingular Customer Service has been
> quite
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> person
> was cheerful and helpful.

How much does Cingular pay you to say this sh.t?

> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> person
> was cheerful and helpful.

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John Navas - 25 Jul 2005 23:53 GMT

>> Regardless, my own experience with Cingular Customer Service has been
>> quite
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
>How much does Cingular pay you to say this sh.t?

1. I have no relationship to Cingular except as a regular customer.
2. "This sh.t" is the truth, no matter what you choose to call it.

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Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular>

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