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Change from T-Mobile to Cingular?
|
|
| El Jefe 2006-10-20, 10:33 pm |
|
I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
NY City.
I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
with the choices
presented to me by the retention department.
My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they were
leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
T-Mobile bandwidth.
I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
could have been much better.
Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
buy local sim cards.
Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.
I need recommendations for what phone to get.
My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission, if
possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated. Bluetooth if
available, voice dialing if available.
My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
excellent with T-M.
I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
wondering if things have had a major improvement.
Your help is appreciated
| |
| tartuf 2006-10-21, 4:33 am |
| sonyericsson z520
"El Jefe" <eljefe@37.com> wrote in message
news:VZb_g.12186$Y24.10288@newsread4.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>
> I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
> NY City.
> I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
> However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
> with the choices
> presented to me by the retention department.
>
> My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they
> were leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
>
> If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
> T-Mobile bandwidth.
> I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
> could have been much better.
>
> Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
> buy local sim cards.
> Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
> unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.
>
> I need recommendations for what phone to get.
> My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission,
> if possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated.
> Bluetooth if available, voice dialing if available.
>
> My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
> excellent with T-M.
> I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
> wondering if things have had a major improvement.
>
> Your help is appreciated
>
| |
|
| Things are still very bad over at Cingular.
I think things will continue to worsen
given all the trouble brewing with the
AT&T castaways they have.
They still have allot of trouble getting the
billing right. I just gave up, I just pay whatever
they say. I am too tired to keep fighting every month.
I am glad only a few months left to go with them.
I might try net10 this time around.
I wish you the very best of luck if you
decide to go with Them
| |
| Walt Kienzle 2006-10-21, 12:33 pm |
|
"Mike" <Mike@rocket.org> wrote in message
news:PBk_g.29993$F7.18297@tornado.rdc-kc.rr.com...
> Things are still very bad over at Cingular.
& #91;snip]
> They still have allot of trouble getting the
> billing right. I just gave up, I just pay whatever
> they say. I am too tired to keep fighting every month.
[snip]
Thank you for this information. It confirms that I'm not the only one with
that type of experience. Two years ago I switched from T-Mobile to Cingular
for exactly the same reason you cited: My phone broke and T-Mobile didn't
offer any reasonable replacements. Cingular promised certain discounts
through my employer, but found I had to call them every month to get them
applied. 9 months into my 1 year contract, a customer service rep. told me
that I wasn't eligible for the discount because of some aspect of my calling
plan. 3 months later, when my Cingular contract ended, I was back with
T-Mobile.
Since then, T-Mobile started removing features, like 50 free text messages
every month. I may have to start shopping around again, but Cingular is off
my list.
Walt Kienzle
| |
| matt weber 2006-10-21, 3:33 pm |
| On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:21:41 GMT, "El Jefe" <eljefe@37.com> wrote:
>
>I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
>NY City.
>I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
>However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
>with the choices
>presented to me by the retention department.
>
>My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they were
>leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
Call them up and ask. The only way they can get 850 Mhz space is by
buying up one of the original wireless license holders. Generally one
went to the Wireline operatore in the Area, and the other to someone
else. So if either Cingular or ATT ended up owning one of the those
two licenses, they have 850Mhz service. Remember the Cingular
incorporates a number of the original wireline operators, so they have
850 Mhz space.
>
>If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
>T-Mobile bandwidth.
1900 is probably better in buildings. 850 Mhz needs bigger 'holes' in
the building to propogate than 1900. However 1900 is lower power on
the handset end.
>I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
>could have been much better.
>
>Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
>buy local sim cards.
There are some tri-bands with 850/900/1900, and there are few places
in the world where that won't work. I have an S710a, which is
850/900/1900. There are a handful of countries with 1800mhz only.
Used (even new) S710a's are quite reasonably priced. A lot of phone
for the money. If you are really handy, but a used beat up S710a and
replace the housing.....
>Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
>unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.
AT&T traditionally does not unlock phones, period, end, stop. Not
sure what the Cingular policy is these days, but I suspect the answer
is the same as AT&T.
>
>I need recommendations for what phone to get.
>My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission, if
>possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated. Bluetooth if
>available, voice dialing if available.
>
>My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
>excellent with T-M.
>I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
>wondering if things have had a major improvement.
>
>Your help is appreciated
>
| |
| Steven J. Sobol 2006-10-21, 10:33 pm |
| In article <PBk_g.29993$F7.18297@tornado.rdc-kc.rr.com>, Mike wrote:
> They still have allot of trouble getting the
> billing right. I just gave up, I just pay whatever
> they say. I am too tired to keep fighting every month.
>
> I am glad only a few months left to go with them.
>
> I might try net10 this time around.
Net10 exclusively uses Cingular's network - so if your problems include
technical problems, you may want to stay away from them. If Cingular screwups
only include customer service and billing problems, you'll probably be ok with
Net10.
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
| |
| Todd Allcock 2006-10-22, 4:33 am |
| At 21 Oct 2006 20:23:36 +0000 matt weber wrote:
> On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:21:41 GMT, "El Jefe" <eljefe@37.com> wrote:
they were[color=darkred]
> Call them up and ask. The only way they can get 850 Mhz space is by
> buying up one of the original wireless license holders.
IIRC, AT&T Wireless was the 800MHz A-carrier in NYC when Cingular
purchased them. I assume Cingular is now using that spectrum for their
service and weaning themselves off of T-Mobile's 1900MHz network.
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
| |
| Dr Googler 2006-10-24, 4:33 am |
| I tried sprint, congular, att, tmobile and found t-mobile the most
convenient in most ways. Reception usually depends on the handset
itself, not on the provider. The difference in 850/1900 reception is so
subtle that works only in theory.
T-mobile does unlock handsets but only after you have been a customer
for 6 months however people with good social engineering skills :) can
get it done faster.
Provider is not the only place where the phone can be unlocked.
www.cellcorner.com is a good site to unlock all kind of phones.
Regards
| |
| Cyrus Afzali 2006-10-25, 3:33 pm |
| On Sat, 21 Oct 2006 23:58:29 -0600, Todd Allcock
< elecconnec@AmericaOn
Line.com> wrote:
>At 21 Oct 2006 20:23:36 +0000 matt weber wrote:
>
>they were
>
>IIRC, AT&T Wireless was the 800MHz A-carrier in NYC when Cingular
>purchased them. I assume Cingular is now using that spectrum for their
>service and weaning themselves off of T-Mobile's 1900MHz network.
They have to. As you might recall, T-Mobile and Cingular ended their
networking sharing agreement that gave Cingular the right to use
T-Mobile's network in NY and T-Mobile the right to use Cingular's in
California.
As a result, both carriers now use their own native networks in those
two areas. It's been that way for quite some time.
| |
| Todd Allcock 2006-10-25, 10:33 pm |
| At 25 Oct 2006 15:51:34 -0400 Cyrus Afzali wrote:
>
> They have to. As you might recall, T-Mobile and Cingular ended their
> networking sharing agreement that gave Cingular the right to use
> T-Mobile's network in NY and T-Mobile the right to use Cingular's in
> California.
>
> As a result, both carriers now use their own native networks in those
> two areas. It's been that way for quite some time.
I knew the roaming agreement was over, I just didn't know how long a
period the two carriers gave each other to complete the transition. Now
that you mention it, it has been awhile since we've seen any "why does my
T-Mo phone say 'Cingular' on the display when I'm in LA?" posts... ;-)
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
| |
|
| my unlocked t-mobile motorola phone, imported from asia, says cingular in
southern california and t-mobile in chicago.
i gave up and removed the carrier name from my display.
cleaner look too.
"> At 25 Oct 2006 15:51:34 -0400 Cyrus Afzali wrote:
>
>
> I knew the roaming agreement was over, I just didn't know how long a
> period the two carriers gave each other to complete the transition. Now
> that you mention it, it has been awhile since we've seen any "why does my
> T-Mo phone say 'Cingular' on the display when I'm in LA?" posts... ;-)
>
| |
| John Navas 2006-10-26, 10:33 am |
| On Wed, 25 Oct 2006 16:45:50 -0600, Todd Allcock
< elecconnec@AmericaOn
Line.com> wrote in
< 453fe0e9$0$19627$882
60bb3@free.teranews.com>:
>At 25 Oct 2006 15:51:34 -0400 Cyrus Afzali wrote:
>
>
>I knew the roaming agreement was over, I just didn't know how long a
>period the two carriers gave each other to complete the transition. ...
The $1.2 billion buyback of network service from T-Mobile to Cingular
runs through 2008.
--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>
| |
| Steven J. Sobol 2006-10-26, 3:33 pm |
| In article <0BX%g.23162$6S3.3916@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net>, Irv wrote:
> my unlocked t-mobile motorola phone, imported from asia, says cingular in
> southern california and t-mobile in chicago.
How old is it? Has its firmware been updated?
I've seen the opposite with a family member's unlocked Cingular phone
activated on T-Mobile.
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
| |
| Sgt. Hulka 2006-12-04, 10:33 pm |
| I would have to say that things are still bad at Cingular.
I jst left them after having Cingular One, then bought by AT&T, then
bought by Cingular. After having the same service for some 8yrs, I'm
SOOO happy I left Cingular and their crappy CS. TM's CS is 20 times
better than Cingular's.
I'm a happier camper at the TM ranch.
On Fri, 20 Oct 2006 22:21:41 GMT, "El Jefe" <eljefe@37.com> wrote:
>
>I have been with T-Mobile since pre Voice Stream days (Omni Point) here in
>NY City.
>I have been moderately happy for the past 3-4 years.
>However my Motorola V300 is in need of replacement and I am not thrilled
>with the choices
>presented to me by the retention department.
>
>My questions are in NYC does Cingular still use the 1900 bandwidth they were
>leasing from T-Mobile or have they migrated to the 850 band.
>
>If they have migrated to 850 is the rf better in buildings than the 1900
>T-Mobile bandwidth.
>I have always felt that in NYC if I am in buildings my T-Mobile service
>could have been much better.
>
>Also I do want a quad band 850/900/1800/1900 phone because when I travel I
>buy local sim cards.
>Does Cingular unlock phones as easily as T-Mobile. When I call T-M for an
>unlock code I have always been given the code without any hassle.
>
>I need recommendations for what phone to get.
>My priorities are good rf, good hearing volume, clear voice transmission, if
>possible no external antenna and the qualities just enumerated. Bluetooth if
>available, voice dialing if available.
>
>My experience with customer service over the years has been generally
>excellent with T-M.
>I understand that in the past Cingular has had horrible CS and I was
>wondering if things have had a major improvement.
>
>Your help is appreciated
>
| |
| John Navas 2006-12-05, 3:33 pm |
| On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:37:38 -0500, Sgt. Hulka <lissy@pobox.com> wrote
in < q459n2hm5o9tbmsmm0ph
fu1m681mikqvk2@4ax.com>:
>I would have to say that things are still bad at Cingular.
>I jst left them after having Cingular One, then bought by AT&T, then
>bought by Cingular. After having the same service for some 8yrs, I'm
>SOOO happy I left Cingular and their crappy CS. TM's CS is 20 times
>better than Cingular's.
>
>I'm a happier camper at the TM ranch.
I've personally found Cingular Customer Care reps to be consistently
friendly and helpful. Approaching them with a polite and positive
attitude works wonders. ;)
--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>
| |
| Walt Kienzle 2006-12-08, 12:33 pm |
| True enough, being polite is always helpful, but I switched from Cingular to
T-Mobile because the Customer Service could not provide accurate
information; I had to call them every month to resolve the same problem
which they handled with a credit adjustment. That fixed the symptoms, but
not the problem.
Finally, 9 months into my 1 year contract, I found someone that fully
explained the situation. That explanation was that I had two discount types
that were not allowed together. I specifically asked about this issue when
I signed up and was told I was eligible for both discounts together. 9
months of prior calls got me a credit and the comment "I can't understand
why you didn't get the discount. You are entitled to it."
T-Mobile offered me more minutes for the same price as Cingular. The choice
was obvious to me.
Walt Kienzle
& #91;snip]
> I've personally found Cingular Customer Care reps to be consistently
> friendly and helpful. Approaching them with a polite and positive
> attitude works wonders. ;)
[snip]
| |
|
| Walt Kienzle wrote:
> True enough, being polite is always helpful, but I switched from Cingular to
> T-Mobile because the Customer Service could not provide accurate
> information; I had to call them every month to resolve the same problem
> which they handled with a credit adjustment. That fixed the symptoms, but
> not the problem.
I don't think that politeness has ever been an issue, Cingular's
problems are more related to either being unable to resolve a problem
because to solution exists, or not being able to fix billing issues and
have them remain fixed.
| |
| Walt Kienzle 2006-12-09, 3:33 pm |
|
"SMS" <scharf.steven@geemail.com> wrote in message
news:4579d960$0$8257
6$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net...
> Walt Kienzle wrote:
>
> I don't think that politeness has ever been an issue, Cingular's problems
> are more related to either being unable to resolve a problem because to
> solution exists, or not being able to fix billing issues and have them
> remain fixed.
That was exactly my point in response to the previous post. I was just a
bit longer-winded. Apparently the PP thought that Cingular CS was unwilling
to help, when in actuality they are often unable to help. My story was
designed to illustrate that no amount of politeness can overcome
incompetence.
| |
| Cyrus Afzali 2006-12-12, 10:33 pm |
| On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:00:09 GMT, John Navas
< spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
>On Mon, 04 Dec 2006 16:37:38 -0500, Sgt. Hulka <lissy@pobox.com> wrote
>in < q459n2hm5o9tbmsmm0ph
fu1m681mikqvk2@4ax.com>:
>
>
>I've personally found Cingular Customer Care reps to be consistently
>friendly and helpful. Approaching them with a polite and positive
>attitude works wonders. ;)
Any company that wants to stay in business learns the customer is
always the boss, no matter what. Only employees at a company tied to
legacy phone operators wouldn't get that. Companies that have had to
compete for a long time know better. But now the regional Bells are
getting their clocks cleaned, so it all works out in the end.
| |
|
| Cyrus Afzali wrote:
> Any company that wants to stay in business learns the customer is
> always the boss, no matter what. Only employees at a company tied to
> legacy phone operators wouldn't get that. Companies that have had to
> compete for a long time know better. But now the regional Bells are
> getting their clocks cleaned, so it all works out in the end.
Yet Verizon is also tied to legacy operators Bell Atlantic and GTE, and
they do a much better job than Cingular at customer service.
Good customer service is a lot more than being polite to callers, it's
actually being able to solve the problem and have it stay solved, or at
least admit that the problem has solution.
| |
| Steven J. Sobol 2006-12-13, 4:33 am |
| In article < 457f6f23$0$68958$742
ec2ed@news.sonic.net>, SMS wrote:
> Cyrus Afzali wrote:
>
>
> Yet Verizon is also tied to legacy operators Bell Atlantic and GTE, and
> they do a much better job than Cingular at customer service.
>
> Good customer service is a lot more than being polite to callers, it's
> actually being able to solve the problem and have it stay solved, or at
> least admit that the problem has solution.
YMMV. Verizon did that well, for me personally, for about 3 1/2 years
before they started sucking. Sprint did well for me too, for about the
same length of time - my wife had a Sprint phone and mine was Verizon.
Then the merger happened and they went to hell. T-Mobile is currently
doing quite well for us in the CS department.
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
| |
| John Navas 2006-12-22, 10:33 pm |
| On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:56:35 -0500, Cyrus Afzali <pnsmnyv@lnubb.pbz>
wrote in < qsqun25eqcefo7pfoeqe
535a870idvv180@4ax.com>:
>On Tue, 05 Dec 2006 21:00:09 GMT, John Navas
>< spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
>
>Any company that wants to stay in business learns the customer is
>always the boss, no matter what.
That would literally be a recipe for suicide. The customer may be a
kind of "king" to a good company, but certainly not the "boss". Part of
being a good business is knowing what business to walk away from.
>Only employees at a company tied to
>legacy phone operators wouldn't get that. Companies that have had to
>compete for a long time know better. But now the regional Bells are
>getting their clocks cleaned, so it all works out in the end.
Time will tell, but the telcos have been doing quite well thus far.
--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/ Cingu...less_FA
Q>
| |
| Cyrus Afzali 2006-12-24, 4:33 am |
| On Sat, 23 Dec 2006 01:36:56 GMT, John Navas
< spamfilter0@navasgro
up.com> wrote:
>On Tue, 12 Dec 2006 21:56:35 -0500, Cyrus Afzali <pnsmnyv@lnubb.pbz>
>wrote in < qsqun25eqcefo7pfoeqe
535a870idvv180@4ax.com>:
>
>
>
>That would literally be a recipe for suicide. The customer may be a
>kind of "king" to a good company, but certainly not the "boss". Part of
>being a good business is knowing what business to walk away from.
If a customer's not a good customer, you shouldn't take their business
to begin with, plain and simple. I walk away from clients that aren't
a good fit for my business because I'd rather not have the headaches
later. There's nothing to stop Cingular from doing the same.
One of the reasons that companies in certain industries get such
crappy service marks all around is because they don't do anything to
change the commodity nature of their business. Sprint/Nextel has shown
that you can do quite well by not trying to be all things to all
people, whereas Cingular's only value proposition is "we're the
biggest." Not much genius there.
>
>
>Time will tell, but the telcos have been doing quite well thus far.
Oh, please. Only by merging; there's no genius in that. People used to
think "Chainsaw Al" Dunlap was a genius too, when all he did was go in
and can scads of people. It doesn't take a genius to do that. What
makes someone a great manager is not only making a company
competitive, but doing so in a way that the customer perceives no drop
in service quality.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, is likely to give any telco (fixed line or
cellular) top service marks of all the companies they deal with, and
that fact alone speaks VOLUMES.
| |
| Steven J. Sobol 2006-12-24, 3:33 pm |
| In article < p72so2hgphnbdla9cv0b
n624q532i33i7b@4ax.com>, Cyrus Afzali wrote:
> If a customer's not a good customer, you shouldn't take their business
> to begin with, plain and simple. I walk away from clients that aren't
> a good fit for my business because I'd rather not have the headaches
> later. There's nothing to stop Cingular from doing the same.
Sometimes it's not easy to tell at first (not that I'm trying to make
excuses for Cingular here).
--
Steve Sobol, Professional Geek ** Java/VB/VC/PHP/Perl ** Linux/*BSD/Windows
Victorville, California PGP:0xE3AE35ED
It's all fun and games until someone starts a bonfire in the living room.
| |
| Cyrus Afzali 2006-12-27, 4:33 am |
| On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 19:34:50 +0000 (UTC), "Steven J. Sobol"
<sjsobol@JustThe.net> wrote:
>In article < p72so2hgphnbdla9cv0b
n624q532i33i7b@4ax.com>, Cyrus Afzali wrote:
>
>
>Sometimes it's not easy to tell at first (not that I'm trying to make
>excuses for Cingular here).
I get what you're saying, but I think there are many things you can do
that would eliminate the issue. For starters, change the commodity
nature of the business by catering to higher-margin customers. Usually
there's only room for 1 or 2 companies in any segment to compete
aggressively on price. After a while, if more start doing that, the
whole industry starts getting sick.
The whole reason for the creation of Cingular was clearly to become
No. 1 in market share. That obviously does score a lot of points with
certain communities, especially financial markets as long as you're
doing well profit-wise, but it doesn't mean that a particular company
will be around when the dust settles after market turbulence. Look at
GM. *Nobody* 10 years ago would have thought Toyota would be passing
them in total shipments, but when 2006 closes, they'll end up with
that distinction for the first time ever.
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