Of course, it helps if you get a thrill from dropped calls and screeching electronic noise.
Posted on 03/09/2005 2:17:09 PM PST by nov7freedomday
I'd submit that most providers have people who are happy and unhappy with them.
Verizon is hands down the largest provider, but they use CDMA technology. CDMA is a solid voice standard and in some instances actually sounds better than GSM (which Cingular and T-Mobile use) but it is not as robust with its data features and the communication to the tower is controlled by the telephone rather than the more sophisticated electionics located at the tower.
What it means is that CDMA is more prone to dropped calls.
Cingular and T-Mobile are both solid wireless providers, but Cingular has just purchased AT&T wireless and are going through a huge network integration.
In fairness, coverage on GSM networks tends to be more threadbare since the technology was a johnny-come-lately to the United States, and thus you have somewhat fewer (temporarily) roaming options.
The upside to that is you can take your GSM (Cingular / T-Mobile) phone into most foreign countries and it will still work while your Verizon phone is just a paperweight.
It depends on what you're looking for in the end. Most wireless providers allow either greatly discounted or free unlimited minutes to in-network people. All are developing some really cool technologies in the coming months and years.
T-Mobile is launching a base-station that plugs into your cable / DSL router which gives you an in-home cell tower, for instance. T-Mobile also got all four J.D. Power wireless awards (customer service performance, overall customer satisfaction, satisfaction with retail service, and call quality performance SE/SW) for 2004.
Verizon added the most net customers and dominates the market. All the providers offer a solid profit at competitive prices due to the number of players in the market. If one provider doesn't satisfy you in a given area, you have the luxury, generally, of choosing another.
None of them "suck." Your personal experience may have.
Actually, you have to show them a ring and a marriage certificate before they can add you to her plan! :) (just kidding and giving you a little nudge)
I can hear better on my T-Mobile cell phone than I can on my phone lines in the house.
I've also had very clear reception in the car, outside, and in the house using TM.
Fruedian slip perhaps. I meant "solid product" not "solid profit," however both work. =D
LOL! Did I do that? Nice catch.
I hate when that happens.
You sound like you know a lot about this. When I decide to upgrade my service, where shall I go? I have a very good plan with Cingular, but I don't know if I can upgrade my phone and still keep my plan.
Also, my husband uses the phone a lot more than I do and sometimes has to pay for extra minutes -- can I upgrade his plan to more minutes with roll over and still keep my plan -- or will they switch us to more expensive plans (with less free minutes)?
Thirdly, I want new phones but I don't want cameras or text messaging. Is there anything simple out there for me?
I just got a Kyocera phone with sprint service today seems to work fine out here in the cornfeilds of Ohio
Yeah, that's true. She can add a second line to her plan for about $10 a month. You'd share her minutes, though. Also, you'd get your own number.
Alright. My personal experience was not good. I am patient when I need customer support to help work out some issues, but my experience with T-Mobile was ripe with the disappointment of having to talk with agents who simply could not answer simple questions. I can tolerate a mistake or two that might cause an inconvenience but it happened more than it should have in my case.
Can you believe that a sales agent cannot call the company's own warehouse to check and see if a package has been shipped?
I understand all the benefits and advantages to GSM, but great strides need to be taken by companies using that technology to expand their coverage areas before I will consider any GSM carrier again.
All cell phones are prone to dropping calls, and I experienced many with my old GSM phone.
The very nature of technological gadgets and services for them is in constant evolution. We'll see what happens in the next few years. Right now I am quite pleased with Sprint (and I have heard negative comments about them too), but I won't rule anything out in the future.
We have T-Mobile too...... LOVE IT!
Husband travels a LOT!!!
Last year he was all over the 48 states.
Now he travels 2400 to 3000 miles a week.
We talked all the time then and now!
I keep the phone in my hand, because we are calling each other for one reason or another during the day!
He has had his for 8 or 9 years, back when it was Power-tel. Then it went to Voice-Stream, and then landed on the name T-Mobile, and I got mine 4 years ago. We've stayed with them. Our programs are "grandfathered", and we don't change like some folks.
I will not change and neither will my husband. The service is good and the coverage could be wider, but so could all of them. It suffices for everything we need.
Any time we have wanted to get a new phone, they send us one. If it gets dropped, which my husband does frequently, they replace it, and mine too. No cost. That suits me.
I think they are great! And NO, I don't work for them, and don't know anyone who does. ;-)
We very simply, have had great service!
Consumers Reports rated Verizon at the top.
I also usually check Epinion.com and Complaints.com before any significant purchase.
You don't know the half of it as far as Cingular is concerned. I worked for them for two awful months, helping people who called in about their bills. There were so many situations where it was clear to me that a REP had screwed up on this person's account, costing them more, and I was not allowed to refund it back to them. A lot of Cingular agents are as crooked as can be. When a person goes into a store to renew their contract, I can't tell you how many times the salesperson would give them a whole new account, in order to gain the commission, and the person would call in and not understand why their bill was all screwed up. It was such a mess. I encounted multiple situations where on the bill, the person was being given no NEW minutes for that month, it just withdrew from their bucket of rollover minutes, making it more likely for them to go over the minutes, which costs a rip-off of .45/min on most plans. Perhaps it was an innocent computer error, but I complained about it multiple times, and I never saw it get fixed, at least not while I was there. The worst though, was knowing people were getting overcharged through no fault of their own (such as the guy who had a rep change his plan in the middle of his billing cycle, which cut his bucket of minutes for that time in half, causing a huge overage, of over 400 dollars, and she didn't bother to tell him that's what would happen, and he got a huge shock when he got his bill. I argued with mgmt for two days over that one and they finally agreed to give 50% of it back to him. Whoop-de-doo.
Quitting was such an enormous relief. I had AT&T for years, but I've switched to T-Mobile, because I will not give any business to that awful company. It's too bad they took over AT&T, because I was always very happy with them before.
Arrgh, Cingular! I really liked my ancient AT&T phone, but recently wanted a new smaller one which meant moving the account to Cingular. Two different new phones were awful. The store clerks showed me the map online that Cingular coverage was low on the block where I live, but had been excellent for AT&T coverage - which I could not get with one of their new phones. Two different store clerks also admitted that they couldn't really recommend any of the other lower-priced ones. The numerous people on the Cingular help line were extremely helpful but very honest saying that it's going to be a year or more before Cingular can straighten out. I really felt sorry for them. After returning the two Cingular phones, I gave up and walked down to the Verizon booth at the mall. Had to pay the $175 penalty for dropping the AT&T account but it was worth it. My new LG phone is great, and the coverage is excellent.
ping for later
I had Cingular for 4 years, decent service (Wash DC area). Moved to Washington State, got a phone from work so I tried to cancel my cingular service. Filled out 3 different forms over a period of 6 months, thought the thing was over. Checked my credit report 6 months later and they had placed a negative rating for failure to pay my bill for the period AFTER I had canceled the service. Took another 2 months and a lot of cussing at the "customer service reps" and their supervisors to correct. Never again.
That's EXACTLY the type of thing I'm talking about. Believe me, most reps were probably on your side, but were not allowed, by management, to just simply take care of it. That's the situation I found myself in time after time after time.
Here is an actual letter I sent to Cingular Wireless that explains their atitude towards customers with problems - shut up and pay up:
Kim A. Weighous
Cingular Wireless
2321 North University
Lubbock, TX 79415-1717
Dear Cingular Wireless:
I continue to receive bills regarding this phone, which did not work at my location and was returned to you several months ago. Here is a summary of what happened with the phone.
Even when I first got it, the phone would ALWAYS drop the connection at my location in Mena, Arkansas, sometimes after 20 minutes, sometimes after 30 seconds. The phone worked fine everywhere else I tried it in the entire USA, including Reno, Nevada, Denver, Colorado, Ft. Smith, Arkansas and everywhere else it was tried. I took the problem to the local Cingular store (S&L Wireless) at 1109 Highway 71 South, Mena, AR. I was told the problem was my phone, and I needed to buy a new one. This is nonsense as the phone works fine everywhere but here, but I was rather rudely told this was my only option.
I then called the toll-free number and complained. I was told they would “check the equipment.” I told them I was going to try the phone one more time and then I was not going to pay for it anymore. I waited until well after the date I was told to wait, tried the phone and it worked for about 15 minutes and then dropped the connection once again. I then RETURNED THE PHONE with an explanatory letter to your office in Atlanta, Georgia approximately 2 months ago.
In legal terms, this is called “nonperformance.” So far your company has been totally unresponsive to my requests to have the remainder of this contract cancelled and the BALANCE WAIVED. If you check my call records, I have not used the phone in months, and used it very little before that as it was USELESS TO ME. If you continue to pressure me for money and damage my credit, this will become a legal issue.
Sincerely, Kim Weighous
I called the Company and got stone walled once again on January 17, 2007. AVOID THIS COMPANY - THEY DON’T CARE IF THEY PROVIDE SERVICE, THEY JUST WANT YOUR MONEY
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