CrunchGear

Find a weak store rep, and grind him down till he whimpers at your feet. Doubt this will last long, as text messaging is built into your phone.

As for whether or not it’s worked, I have a buddy switching out of Cingular, and he actually had to fight a store rep on this. Eventually the manager came out and cancelled the contract, but he said it was a 1.5 hour ordeal. Not something I’d like to deal with, or most people, so I guess Cingular is gonna sit on their fat corporate butts and scare/bully most people out of rightfully dropping their contracts.

No matter what the fine print may say… lawyers will always be able to have them interpreted so that any loophole that “may” be there no longer exists… even if it’s right in front of your eyes ;-) I canceled my VoIP system about a month ago and guess what… apparently I had to give one month notice (???), I told them I wasn’t renting an apartment, I was renting a box… no matter what I said, they where right and I was wrong.

Jon

Like I mentioned in the first article, most of the people in this area whom I know that have had Cingular already found ways to bail out, so I can’t offer anything there. However, I wonder if anyone posed with the response above has seriously questioned them on the “optional” service. Granted, you can use a cell without texting, but the two are practically joined at the hip now.

Summon the lawyers…I smell a potential class action but the problem with that is only the lawyers win with those as the consumers only receive next to worthless coupons.

I’m constantly amazed at how evil cell phone companies seem to be in the US. Here in Canada, the three major cell phone providers are really good about service plans, surcharges, changes in plans, and cancellations. Granted, sometimes you do have to raise a bit of a fuss but generally they’re very friendly about it.

My grandmother just returned her phone after (not) using it for about three months. She had signed onto the 2 year plan and gotten a free phone, and per the contract she was supposed to pay $20CDN per month for the 21 months she hadn’t used yet. We simply spoke to the store owner and he offered to cancel the service if we paid the small difference between the new phone cost and the refurbished cost.

So the down-lo is that Verizon has bad service, Cingular tries to rip you off, and Helio is great when you’re in the service area? Tough choice..

I’m amazed at how cheap people are and expect businesses to give them stuff for free and meet every single one of their demands. First of all it’s quoted in the original story that the early termination fee is waived if only the SUBSCRIBED services are changed. Cingular has every right to raise the prices of pay-per-use texting. Second those that use the pay-per-use service probably don’t text that much anyways so that $.05 increase probably won’t add up to much.

It’s not Cingular’s fault you basically signed your life away for two years and then complain when they hold you to that agreement.

BTW I am a Cingular subscriber and I do fall into the catagory in which this applies. I do not feel cheated or ripped off in any way.

Thanks Brian
Finally someone is making sense!!!!

I have to agree with Brian and Joe. I mean, I don’t like getting ripped off and look for the best deal like the next but come on people. READ the fine print instead of waiting for loopholes that may not apply. If your cellular service is so important to you, why aren’t you out asking around to everyone you know who they use and what experiences they’ve had - bad and GOOD. If I called my cable company and said I want to cancel the optional packages I’ve had for several months and, “oh, I want a refund for the months I had that package bc I didn’t watch the channels,” I’d be laughed at. All companies change rates for features - even some that we DO subscirbe to. Cable companies change channel packages just to get you to up your package and banks change ATM fees. Yet no one complains when Apple charges $.99 a song for a song than you can’t share!

Whoa! When it comes to texting, you can have it blocked totally by Cingular (I know this because I almost did it…there is a code, call customer service.) Where I live Cingular is the best service, so why exactly would I raise hell about texting going up in price. I’d like to see where you are all coming from, but don’t they offer texting plans like everyone else? Plus, have Cingular customers checked their bills lately? In the texting area, if you are texting another Cingular customer it says m2m text…does this mean that they will be offering free mobile to mobile texting? I wouldn’t jump yet, if you are in the Midwest that is…W

How about using their service for 5 yrs or so and still being charged a $150 termination fee. What the? I upgraded my phone through a local Cingular store, paid x amount of dollars for a Motorola with my own money. No contract ect. However I was not told of a bundled text messaging program the kid slipped in on me. Got that removed. What next…?