Raising the Bar? Not even a tick could limbo under this bar....
The following blog will clearly illustrate how and why Cingular Wireless sucks filthy dead dog ass.
When my job changed at the beginning of this year, and I started traveling around, I knew that I would have to change my cell phone plan from local to nationwide. So, on January 5th I called Cingular to change plans. Of course, I got one of God’s special children on the phone. Some low paid, disgruntled, GED graduate turned “Customer Service Assistant”. After navigating through several dozen phone menus, and entering my cell phone number a few times, I was transferred to this moron. Then of course she had to ask me again for all the same information that I had painstakingly punched in seconds ago. Then there were a barrage of questions to verify that I was actually me on the phone. Finally, I got to speak. I asked for something very simple, very clear. I wanted to switch from the family plan that my wife and I share, to two separate plans. Mine being nationwide, and hers being local. I decided on 1000 minutes for my plan, and 600 for hers. I was told that this was done, and asked if I needed anything else. The call ended.
About two weeks later, I went online to check on my bill. I needed to get a copy of it to send to my office for reimbursement. Low and behold, I saw a bevy of roaming charges. Much to my dismay, I looked over the bill to verify that I was reading it correctly. Unfortunately, I was, and the 400+ dollar total was really freaking me out. So, I call Cingular back and explain what has occurred. Obviously, I have not gotten placed on the correct plan, and hence have incurred a multitude of these roaming charges, having traveled to several places during this time period.
I am told that there is no record of me asking for the nationwide plan when I called on the 5th. It shows that I am now on a local plan for 1000 minutes and my wife is on a local plan for 600 minutes. Two separate local plans. This of course makes no logical sense. It greatly irritates me that someone could have actually changed the plan to this without realizing that it made no sense. When I further stress that I asked for a NATIONWIDE plan, I am informed that there are no notes on my account showing that. Go figure! I think its safe to assume that if the person I spoke to on the 5th was too damn stupid to get what I wanted correct, then she was also too stupid to put in any notes. Apparently either she missed some training days, or has a leak in her skull which her tiny brain is escaping from rapidly.
I complain, and go back and forth with the current moron that I am speaking to, but all I get is that it is a misunderstanding, and I will get half the credit for the roaming charges. Half? So, I get to pay half of something that I had no business being charged for. I am not going to pay half I inform this woman, and she says that is Cingular’s policy. The problem here is that this was not a misunderstanding. I understood completely what I wanted, and articulated it very clearly to the idiot I spoke to. She misunderstood, which is neither my fault, or my problem. Her inability to comprehend English is costing me money that I should not have to pay. Based on her tone of voice during our call, I promise that it was not misunderstanding, but more apathy.
So, I accepted the half credit, knowing that I would not be paying that other half anytime soon. When I did pay my bill, I submitted the amount of the bill minus that other half of roaming charges. About a week ago, I got a call from Cingular’s collection department, asking if I was aware that I had past due charges on my account. Yep, I said. I was then asked if I wanted to make a payment, to which I replied, Nope. I was then asked if I had a problem with my bill and I told my story. Of course, this moron could not help me (should I have actually even begun to assume so??). So, I am transferred to customer service, where I am told several THOUSAND times that I have ALREADY been given half credit, and that is Cingular’s policy for a misunderstanding. I offer up several complaints, and attempt to rationalize with this current phone moron, to no avail.
I then ask to speak to her supervisor, and I’m placed on hold. Moronette comes back after a minute to tell me that her supervisor will only tell me the same thing. Not what she should have said to me at this point. “I didn’t ask you that, did I?” I want to speak to your supervisor. Maybe I should be speaking very slowly here, maybe she is too dumb to comprehend the words that I am saying. So, I am put on hold again. This time for 15 minutes. Finally, moronette returns to the phone and informs me that my bill will be re-rated. She says that this will take up to three days, but I will be called when its done.
So, yesterday I get a call from Cingular, and of course, I think that its them informing me that my bill has been re-rated. NO, its not. Its collections again, asking me about my past due bill. I take a very, very deep breath and tell them that I spoke to someone a few days ago and that my bill is being re-rated. After a few moments of looking at my account, I’m told that the re-rating is not going to happen. Its been turned down, and is not going to be done.
Now, imagine that someone has just simultaneously, slapped me, insulted my wife and mother, kicked me in the nuts, wrecked my car, and burned my house down. This is how irate I was at this point. I would have physically put a set of hands on this woman if she would have been in my immediate vicinity. I go off into a rage here, and this begins a thirty minute conversation. This mongoloid cannot even transfer me to customer care to handle this problem, I have to call them back myself, again, for the third time.
Another call wasted. Guess what I was told this time?? The Cingular half policy yet again! Basically this call is summed up as ‘screw you, you aren’t getting that other half taken off your bill.’ I tell this woman that basically Cingular is going to lose my business from now on. I spend almost $200 bucks a month with these people, and they aren’t going to work with me to take care of this $150 of charges that clearly are NOT my fault.
So, I am getting a cell phone with someone else. I have had it. I will probably end up spending about the same as it would cost to just pay this bill off to get the new phone, but I don’t care. It’s the principle of the matter. Cingular should know better, and should take better care of their customers. I hope that everyone who reads this takes note of how Cingular does not care about the customer. Anyone paying these people for service should know what kind of service they can expect if a ‘misunderstanding’ occurs with their account. They have sort of become the Microsoft of the cell phone world, by having the largest network, and most recognized name, but that will not stop me (nor should it stop you) from telling them to go to hell and switching to someone else.
I know that my measly account is only a speck in the eye of the huge beast that is their customer base, but I plan to tell everyone I lay eyes on, and everyone who reads this what they are all about.
When my job changed at the beginning of this year, and I started traveling around, I knew that I would have to change my cell phone plan from local to nationwide. So, on January 5th I called Cingular to change plans. Of course, I got one of God’s special children on the phone. Some low paid, disgruntled, GED graduate turned “Customer Service Assistant”. After navigating through several dozen phone menus, and entering my cell phone number a few times, I was transferred to this moron. Then of course she had to ask me again for all the same information that I had painstakingly punched in seconds ago. Then there were a barrage of questions to verify that I was actually me on the phone. Finally, I got to speak. I asked for something very simple, very clear. I wanted to switch from the family plan that my wife and I share, to two separate plans. Mine being nationwide, and hers being local. I decided on 1000 minutes for my plan, and 600 for hers. I was told that this was done, and asked if I needed anything else. The call ended.
About two weeks later, I went online to check on my bill. I needed to get a copy of it to send to my office for reimbursement. Low and behold, I saw a bevy of roaming charges. Much to my dismay, I looked over the bill to verify that I was reading it correctly. Unfortunately, I was, and the 400+ dollar total was really freaking me out. So, I call Cingular back and explain what has occurred. Obviously, I have not gotten placed on the correct plan, and hence have incurred a multitude of these roaming charges, having traveled to several places during this time period.
I am told that there is no record of me asking for the nationwide plan when I called on the 5th. It shows that I am now on a local plan for 1000 minutes and my wife is on a local plan for 600 minutes. Two separate local plans. This of course makes no logical sense. It greatly irritates me that someone could have actually changed the plan to this without realizing that it made no sense. When I further stress that I asked for a NATIONWIDE plan, I am informed that there are no notes on my account showing that. Go figure! I think its safe to assume that if the person I spoke to on the 5th was too damn stupid to get what I wanted correct, then she was also too stupid to put in any notes. Apparently either she missed some training days, or has a leak in her skull which her tiny brain is escaping from rapidly.
I complain, and go back and forth with the current moron that I am speaking to, but all I get is that it is a misunderstanding, and I will get half the credit for the roaming charges. Half? So, I get to pay half of something that I had no business being charged for. I am not going to pay half I inform this woman, and she says that is Cingular’s policy. The problem here is that this was not a misunderstanding. I understood completely what I wanted, and articulated it very clearly to the idiot I spoke to. She misunderstood, which is neither my fault, or my problem. Her inability to comprehend English is costing me money that I should not have to pay. Based on her tone of voice during our call, I promise that it was not misunderstanding, but more apathy.
So, I accepted the half credit, knowing that I would not be paying that other half anytime soon. When I did pay my bill, I submitted the amount of the bill minus that other half of roaming charges. About a week ago, I got a call from Cingular’s collection department, asking if I was aware that I had past due charges on my account. Yep, I said. I was then asked if I wanted to make a payment, to which I replied, Nope. I was then asked if I had a problem with my bill and I told my story. Of course, this moron could not help me (should I have actually even begun to assume so??). So, I am transferred to customer service, where I am told several THOUSAND times that I have ALREADY been given half credit, and that is Cingular’s policy for a misunderstanding. I offer up several complaints, and attempt to rationalize with this current phone moron, to no avail.
I then ask to speak to her supervisor, and I’m placed on hold. Moronette comes back after a minute to tell me that her supervisor will only tell me the same thing. Not what she should have said to me at this point. “I didn’t ask you that, did I?” I want to speak to your supervisor. Maybe I should be speaking very slowly here, maybe she is too dumb to comprehend the words that I am saying. So, I am put on hold again. This time for 15 minutes. Finally, moronette returns to the phone and informs me that my bill will be re-rated. She says that this will take up to three days, but I will be called when its done.
So, yesterday I get a call from Cingular, and of course, I think that its them informing me that my bill has been re-rated. NO, its not. Its collections again, asking me about my past due bill. I take a very, very deep breath and tell them that I spoke to someone a few days ago and that my bill is being re-rated. After a few moments of looking at my account, I’m told that the re-rating is not going to happen. Its been turned down, and is not going to be done.
Now, imagine that someone has just simultaneously, slapped me, insulted my wife and mother, kicked me in the nuts, wrecked my car, and burned my house down. This is how irate I was at this point. I would have physically put a set of hands on this woman if she would have been in my immediate vicinity. I go off into a rage here, and this begins a thirty minute conversation. This mongoloid cannot even transfer me to customer care to handle this problem, I have to call them back myself, again, for the third time.
Another call wasted. Guess what I was told this time?? The Cingular half policy yet again! Basically this call is summed up as ‘screw you, you aren’t getting that other half taken off your bill.’ I tell this woman that basically Cingular is going to lose my business from now on. I spend almost $200 bucks a month with these people, and they aren’t going to work with me to take care of this $150 of charges that clearly are NOT my fault.
So, I am getting a cell phone with someone else. I have had it. I will probably end up spending about the same as it would cost to just pay this bill off to get the new phone, but I don’t care. It’s the principle of the matter. Cingular should know better, and should take better care of their customers. I hope that everyone who reads this takes note of how Cingular does not care about the customer. Anyone paying these people for service should know what kind of service they can expect if a ‘misunderstanding’ occurs with their account. They have sort of become the Microsoft of the cell phone world, by having the largest network, and most recognized name, but that will not stop me (nor should it stop you) from telling them to go to hell and switching to someone else.
I know that my measly account is only a speck in the eye of the huge beast that is their customer base, but I plan to tell everyone I lay eyes on, and everyone who reads this what they are all about.
posted by chadsta at 6:27 PM
2 Comments:
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
I agree with completely. I have spoken to my sister who is a diehard Cingular employee as you know about every thing you've exlpained.
Her reply was that this problem is so common amoung Cingular that rather than fix each individual case and lose money from possible false clams the company has made the pay half the policy for all. She also said that this is above her head, and that it comes from the very top of the head office level.
Doesn't make it right but like you said they're the corporate leader so they shit however they want.
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