Re: Venting.....Tens of CONSUMER REPORTS on CINGULAR billing DISPUTES
Posts: n/a
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_...r_billing.html
Carolyn of Mullins SC (1/28/03):
We purchased a nationwide plan knowing we were going on an extended
vacation to California and needed to keep in touch with family here. We
were told we had nights and weekends free up to 3500 minutes. We
received no written proof of this transaction, and called twice to be
sure we had the free minutes and were told we did. We didn't have it in
writing, so when our bill came when we returned, we were furuous when
told we were charged for roaming charges to the amount of $2000. I
think the employees of this company should be trained to know what they
are selling. We also had a friend that traveled to alaska and believing
they had free minutes were charged for the calls. they got half of
their money back, we got none.
We were out a lot of money, all they said was sorry, your minutes only
count when in S.C. Now the phone is worthless, but will keep it until
our contract is up as they charged us $150 to turn in the other phone.
i am afraid to use the phone long distance at all now, and plan to turn
it in when the contract is up and not get another one.
Tamie of Wilsonville AL (10/3/02):
I have been overcharged every month since February, and paid the bills,
averaging $220+ for one phone. I even upped my minutes to 1000/mo for
$69.99 and just got my bill -- $188.65 for under 600 minutes! I cannot
afford these bills. Every month I think it will be straightened out.
Everyone I talk to has similar problems.
Paige of Noblesville IN writes (7/23/01):
I was not told about roaming charges at all when I signed up for free
long distance..the company finally agreed to eliminate the roaming
charges but now want to charge me for any overage ... taking away one
charge but adding another!
I am extremely upset with their desceptive practices, I cannot trust
them...the rep would not send me their new terms in writing until I
agreed to them first! I was duped and tricked!
Angela of Jacksonville FL (1/14/03):
I signed up for a 250 anytime minute plan plus 3,500 nights/weekends
with no roaming or long distance. I have been using Cingular since
1996, not always on this plan. The last time I changed my plan, it was
to cost me $29.99 per month for a gross bill of $38.00. My monthly
bills have ranged anywhere from $45 to $198 with Cingular, which is a
far cry from the $38.00 per month that I always anticipate.
Since June 2001, I have only paid the minimum $38.00 7 times. I became
concerned at the amount of the monthly bills. Therefore, I began
attempting to track my usage. However, as usual, the total minutes
billed did not match my estimates. I was reading on the Internet some
fine print about being charged airtime for checking your voicemail. In
addition, when I requested the National plan, I did not sign a
contract, therefore I was not aware of the $.40 per minute peak
overlimit charge. I thought I was supposed to be paying around $.19 per
minute or less. I have asked for detailed billing, but it still does
not clarify all of the charges. I am concerned that Cingular is
engaging in illegal billing activity. As a consumer, I would hope that
someone is reviewing the billing practices of cell phone companies.
Colleen of Syracuse NY (1/4/03):
I signed up for a cell phone for my daughter for X-Mas in 2001. I
signed up for the $19.99 a month plan with free nights and weekends. I
was told that if I needed to up the plan to more minutes I could and I
could also go back to the $19.99 plan anytime. I was planning a trip
and knew I would need more minutes so changed the plan for one month.
After the one month I called and changed the plan back to the original
$19.99 a month plan. Each plan had free nights and weekends. After
switching back to the $19.99 a month plan I received a bill for $600
for like 2000 airtime minutes!
I immediately called the company and was told that yes I owed this
amount because when I changed plans my free nights and weekends were no
longer included. Well, I tried to talk to a manager but was put on hold
for 20 minutes or more at a time. Each time I would talk to someone
their story would change. I would ask to speak to the person I had
already spoken to and would be told that person had gone home even
though I had spoken with them 20 minutes earlier! It was very
frustrating and I finally told them to shut the damn phone off and I
would not pay anything! I lost my temper because I could not speak to
anyone with any authority nor could I get a straight answer from
anyone! Very frustrating!
The account has been turned over to a collection agency and every bill
that comes is of course higher than the last. I think the last bill I
received was for $800. I don't know what to do. I can not afford an
attorney nor will I pay $800. I feel totally ripped off! The
consequences are that my credit is being jepordized by a company that
is taking advantage of people! I really want my daughter to have a cell
phone in case of an emergency but I refuse to be taken advantage of and
pay a bogus $800 bill.
Colleen is making a big mistake. She should pay the bill, then sue the
company in Small Claims Court to recover her payments and costs. Her
present course leads only to more trouble.
Lisa of Gravette AR (9/12/02):
I had 4 phones with Cingular Wireless. We all lived in the state of
Arkansas and could talk unlimited to each other. This was great for
about 12 months into my contract. My first bill they sent me that was
incorrect was for $2600. I was very upset. I called, was on hold for at
least one hour. I then was told they would have to send it to a
auditing department. They told me it would take 10 days to resolve the
problem. The next phone bill was only $1600.00. I normally have $100.00
phone bills. This continues for 5 months. I was overcharged in the end
$280.00. I knew I had to pay it because they would send it to
collections. I didn't feel I could go to an attorney and that cost me
more. I found this web site and decided to least warn people of this
company. They were rude and not caring at all with my situation.
Hours on the phone was the most upsetting. I now know what they mean
about going "postal" I threw my phone across my yard after being on
hold for one hour and finally getting someone, telling them my problem
and then I lost the signal. The feeling that I had no control over the
situation that I was just waiting for them to tell me how much I owed
them. I was able to get out of my contract without paying a penalty.
Deborah of Nashua NJ (6/14/01):
I have a nationwide calling plan with Cingular Wireless (Digital Edge
USA) with 550 prepaid minutes/month at a flat rate of $70, no roaming
or long distance anytime, and the calls can be placed from anywhere to
anywhere in the US.
Cingular applies minutes that I incur outside of their "local" coverage
area (i.e., roamer minutes) to the following month's bill, on the
premise that these calls don't show up in their system right away, as
they are from other carriers. Cingular does not adjust the current
month for any unused minutes in the month in which the calls were
ACTUALLY MADE. As such, I get double-billed for these minutes; once in
the unused pre-paid minutes for the month in which the calls were
placed, and then again when the calls show up in the following month.
This practice causes my airtime for the next period to exceed my limit
of 550 minutes, resulting in additional fees and taxes over and above
the pre-paid charge. This practice also leaves the consumer completely
in the dark regarding how many minutes to expect on their monthly bill
.... my cellular telephone only tracks calls in real-time, when they are
actually made, not when they might show up on my Cingular bill.
It seems to me that Cingular should be going back and retroactively
applying roamer minutes to any unused time from the month in which the
calls were ACTUALLY PLACED, rather than billing them against a period
in which they did not occur, and do not pertain to. I have complained
about this practice to Cingular's customer service department with no
satisfaction (I was treated rudely and laughed at by their
representative, Ms. Kara Hannah, for making the suggestion).
It has been pointed out to me that this was disclosed in the agreement
that I signed when I entered into the contract with Cingular, and as
such, it is legal for them to perpetrate this billing practice on their
customers. However, in my opinion, even though it may be legal, that
doesn't make it ethical or right. Is there any logical reason why a
reasonable comsumer should have to accept this type of billing
practice?
My cell phone bills for the last two months, and on one other, prior
occasion, have been between $100-140, when they should have been about
$75.
Jasmine of Los Angeles (6/4/01):
My Supervisor and I went to Cingular to inquire about opening a new
account. We had two problems with the process. First, we inquired about
a business account. We explained that we had very specific needs, as we
travel a lot and conduct a great deal of business on the phone from all
over the country. The representative shared that Cingular had the
perfect phone to fit our needs. It was not and we had to battle with
them to exchange the phone without charging although the representative
lied about the functions this phone had.
In addition, when we initially made the purchase, the Associate
explained that Cingular offered flexible plans to fit our specific
needs. He went on to advise us that we should select the Local plan for
home and switch to a national plan when we travelled. We decided to do
this as he emphasized repeatedly the fact that this was a simple and
cost effective process. Moreover he assured us that there were no
hidden fees if we chose to switch the plan.
Two months later after trying to switch the plans the way we'd been
told we could do, we were advised against this action because of the
fees that would accrue for roaming charges if the cycle had not been
completed. I tried to inquire regarding the matter to see if another
plan may fit our needs but to no avail. I explained that we wished to
cancel the service as the terms of the contract had been totally
misrepresented and falsified. Cingular Wireless agreed to cancel the
contract but insists on us paying the $150.00 fee, which we feel is
completely unfair.
We refuse to pay the fee as the Sales Associate who sold us the
contract was new on the job (only a few days with the company) which I
was told by the Manager early on after an earlier descrepincy with the
phone. We have had the service for two months and have had nothing but
problems from PacBell.
Kelly of California MO (2/8/01):
Once again I've spent nearly TWO HOURS on the phone trying to
straighten out my cell phone bill. We purchased this phone in St.
Joseph Missouri for use by our son in St. Joseph, in our hometown
(California Missouri), and all points in between. We purchased the
phone and service with Southwestern Bell Wireless (now Cingular) after
careful research. We were assured time and time again during the
purchasing process that use of this phone in St. Joseph, in our
hometown, and all points in between WOULD NOT result in roaming charges
or toll charges.
However, each and every month since purchasing this phone we have
either had to call the Cingular office or go to the retail store to
straighten out billing problems. We have been and continue to be billed
roaming and toll charges even though we were ASSURED usage in the areas
described WOULD NOT result in these charges. Granted, each month the
charges have been removed and the customer service rep has promised the
problem has been fixed (after I spent hours on the phone), but we
continue to have problems.
When I have to spend TWO HOURS on the phone trying to fix a problem
that has been ongoing since July 2000, something is seriously wrong. I
called the customer service office at 4 pm CST on Jan. 25, 2001, and
spoke with Frank. After he checked things over and over again for over
45 minutes, I grew tired of waiting and finally asked to speak with a
supervisor. Frank flatly refused to allow me speak with a supervisor! I
was forced to hang up and call back immediately. I then finally spoke
with a supervisor named Gary who saw the problem and promised to fix it
and call me back with the correct billing amount. I waited over an hour
to hear from him (after he promised to call back in 5 or 10 minutes)
and finally had to leave for a meeting that I was already late for. He
finally called an hour and a half later and left a message on my
answering machine that he would call the next day (1/26) but he never
called back.
To say that I find this type of treatment unacceptable would be an
understatement! The time and effort I have been forced to put into
trying to correct something I'm not even at fault for is ridiculous! I
have contacted Cingular through their website (email) at least six
times and called their office several times, only to be put on hold.
Nothing I have done has helped! They WILL NOT contact me regarding this
billing dispute!
Jim P wrote:
> Well, I got my new phones that I ordered on-line from Cingular on the
27th
> of Dec.
> Everything seemed ok until my phone would not accept the sim card.
> (Unauthorized sim) That one had one of my old numbers from Sprint
that was
> being ported over to my new phone. It took 4 days to finally fix the
problem
> and after several hours of talking to tech support. I look online
today at
> my account and there is my first bill for $266.00
> After a very unsatisfying conversation with a rude rep, I find that
they
> have charged me for numerous things that were
> not explained to me in any way, shape or form. I purchased the family
> plan1250 with 4 free phones, so I was thinking my first bill was
going to be
> about $150'ish. Boy was I wrong.
> Is this going to be typical from Cingular? I was a long-time Sprint
> customer, and in a way, I am regretting leaving.
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