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Cellular forums Home > Archive > Cingular cell phone service > October 2006 > Yes, I Did (was re: Did I Just Get Fucked?)
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Yes, I Did (was re: Did I Just Get Fucked?)
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| Scott en Aztlán 2006-10-27, 10:33 pm |
| On Thu, 26 Oct 2006 19:24:37 -0700, Scott en Aztlán
<scottenaztlan@yahoo.com> wrote:
>I've been with Cingular for several years now. I have been
>month-to-month since day one - one of the reasons I switched to
>Cingular was because, unlike T-Mobile, they would let me sign up
>without a long-term contract. Since then I have added two additional
>lines to my Family Talk plan, and each time my account remained
>month-to-month.
>
>The other day I added another line. The clerk at the Cingular store
>made no mention of any contract, and I assumed I would simply be
>billed an additional $9.99/month for the additional line with no other
>changes. Tonight I checked my account on the Cingular web site, and
>there is a highly suspicious "24 months" in the "terms" field for the
>new line (the original phones all say "0" in this field). Did I just
>get XXXXed into a 24-month contract?
Follow-up: I called Cingular customer service today, and found out
that yes, the clerk at the Cingular store did, in fact, flag my
account as having a 24-month "commitment." According to the CSR, the
clerk originally added my new line correctly (i.e. with no contract),
but for some unknown reason he made a phone call to customer service
on the following day and told them he had "mistakenly" signed me up
without a contract and asked them to change it! Whiskey. Tango.
Foxtrot. Over.
Somehow the rep was able to "pull up the original paperwork from the
store" and saw very clearly that there was NOT supposed to be a
contract, so she removed the contract from my account. I asked what I
could have done differently to avoid the hassle of spending 23 minutes
on the phone with a CSR to correct this kind of "mistake" and she had
no answer. I guess there's no defense against either incompetence or
outright malice on the part of the Cingular store clerks except to
remain vigilant and question things that don't look right.
So now the line shows up in my account with "11 months" in the "terms"
field instead of "24 months" like it said yesterday. When I asked why
all my other phones show "0 months" in this field I was given a lame
explanation which basically told me she had no clue why it shows up as
11 months on the web site - she swore up and down that it shows as "no
contract" on her screen. This left me a little uneasy, but I let it go
for the moment. It's not that I don't trust these people, but... ;)
So I guess the moral of this little story is to carefully check your
account after you make any changes, because the clerks at the stores
can and do make detrimental changes to your account behind your back.
Sad but true!
Thanks to everyone who replied.
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| Todd H. 2006-10-28, 4:33 am |
| Scott en Aztlán <scottenaztlan@yahoo.com> writes:
> Somehow the rep was able to "pull up the original paperwork from the
> store"
I believe they scan em and have the imaging online for occasions like
this.
> and saw very clearly that there was NOT supposed to be a
> contract, so she removed the contract from my account. I asked what I
> could have done differently to avoid the hassle of spending 23 minutes
> on the phone with a CSR to correct this kind of "mistake" and she had
> no answer. I guess there's no defense against either incompetence or
> outright malice on the part of the Cingular store clerks except to
> remain vigilant and question things that don't look right.
The store clerks don't get paid much, and they're typically young and
typically idiots. They may be used to have 2 year contracts with
people wanting new phones and just blaze through the screens. Or maybe
there's a commission for new contracts and they maliciously added it
in seeking the commission. Hard to say, but screw ups from these
people are the rule rather than the exception it seems.
> So I guess the moral of this little story is to carefully check your
> account after you make any changes, because the clerks at the stores
> can and do make detrimental changes to your account behind your back.
> Sad but true!
Thakns for following up--very informative.
By the way I had a similar story somewhat from a new line recently
added. The fuggers added road side assistance to the line a month
after I signed up. Or whatever useless add on they were pushing hard
that month at cingular. It is lame you have to review these bills
like a friggin hawk especially when they're so damned complicated.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/
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| Elmo P. Shagnasty 2006-10-28, 7:33 am |
| In article < nli5k2d5s3k2rc67i7ai
ad69t9kg4ce0nc@4ax.com>,
Scott en Aztlán <scottenaztlan@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Follow-up: I called Cingular customer service today, and found out
> that yes, the clerk at the Cingular store did, in fact, flag my
> account as having a 24-month "commitment." According to the CSR, the
> clerk originally added my new line correctly (i.e. with no contract),
> but for some unknown reason he made a phone call to customer service
> on the following day and told them he had "mistakenly" signed me up
> without a contract and asked them to change it! Whiskey. Tango.
> Foxtrot. Over.
WTF is that the store rep makes MONEY by signing you up for a contract.
The store rep had nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by this
malicious act.
Of course, maybe if you made enough of a stink, that rep would be fired.
But what are the odds? His manager makes money from that act, too.
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| Paul Goelz 2006-10-28, 10:33 am |
| >The store clerks don't get paid much, and they're typically young and
>typically idiots. They may be used to have 2 year contracts with
>people wanting new phones and just blaze through the screens. Or maybe
>there's a commission for new contracts and they maliciously added it
>in seeking the commission. Hard to say, but screw ups from these
>people are the rule rather than the exception it seems.
The clerk in the store where I recently switched from TDMA to GSM was
neither young nor an idiot. And she had a printout of the "must do"
goals for her store (Cingular owned) sitting there on the counter for
all to see. She had a quota of a certain number of various types of
sales including upgrades and accessories added features. Miss the
quota and it was supposedly curtains. To her credit, she in no way
pressured me to do anything beyond the simple switch from TDMA to GSM.
But I also made it clear that was ALL I wanted to do.
And yes I have had a bill since the swap and all is as expected ;)
Paul
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| Scott en Aztlán 2006-10-28, 12:33 pm |
| On 28 Oct 2006 00:10:40 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote:
>The store clerks don't get paid much, and they're typically young and
>typically idiots. They may be used to have 2 year contracts with
>people wanting new phones and just blaze through the screens.
That doesn't sound like what happened in this case. He did it
correctly on the day that I added the new line.
>Or maybe
>there's a commission for new contracts and they maliciously added it
>in seeking the commission.
Now that I find very easy to believe. :-/
>By the way I had a similar story somewhat from a new line recently
>added. The fuggers added road side assistance to the line a month
>after I signed up. Or whatever useless add on they were pushing hard
>that month at cingular. It is lame you have to review these bills
>like a friggin hawk especially when they're so damned complicated.
Speaking of that, I asked the CSR to drop the roadside assistance,
which had also been added onto my new line. I bet the store clerks get
a commission for the add-ons, as well. I hope they take the commission
back if the customer cancels - this clerk definitely doesn't deserve
that money.
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| Scott en Aztlán 2006-10-28, 12:33 pm |
| On Sat, 28 Oct 2006 08:08:12 -0400, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"
<elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
>
>WTF is that the store rep makes MONEY by signing you up for a contract.
>
>The store rep had nothing to lose, and everything to gain, by this
>malicious act.
And people wonder why I used the f-word when discussing this guy...
>Of course, maybe if you made enough of a stink, that rep would be fired.
>But what are the odds? His manager makes money from that act, too.
It wouldn't do any good to fire him. He'd just go across the street
and get a job at Verizon Wireless. :)
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| John Navas 2006-10-30, 4:33 am |
| On 28 Oct 2006 00:10:40 -0500, t@toddh.net (Todd H.) wrote in
<84lkn19ga7.fsf@ripco.com>:
>The store clerks don't get paid much, and they're typically young and
>typically idiots. They may be used to have 2 year contracts with
>people wanting new phones and just blaze through the screens. Or maybe
>there's a commission for new contracts and they maliciously added it
>in seeking the commission. Hard to say, but screw ups from these
>people are the rule rather than the exception it seems.
"Never attribute to malice that which can be
adequately explained by stupidity." [Hanlon's razor]
--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>
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| Elmo P. Shagnasty 2006-10-30, 7:33 am |
| In article < 675bk2tjbet8jri8frsi
tc6f3dse4ongp1@4ax.com>,
John Navas < spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
>
> "Never attribute to malice that which can be
> adequately explained by stupidity." [Hanlon's razor]
John doesn't get out much in the world. Otherwise, he'd have heard
about this type of behavior long ago.
Oops--he has heard. In this newsgroup. But he refuses to acknowledge
it, because in his eyes Cingular can do no wrong, period.
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