Cingular Wireless - AT&T Water Damage scam Ripoff Chicago Illinois

I recently purchased a Blackberry RIM 8100 Pearl from the AT&T web store after having been an on-time paying customer of theirs for the past 5 years. Up until last month, my experience with AT&T was very pleasant, until certain features of the $325.00 PDA stopped working only months after receiving it. I called the customer care hotline, and they informed me that since this was an internet order, I would have to return the phone via their exchange program.

The thanks I received came in the form of a $325 charge on my next bill for the returned phone due to "water damage," however the phone was never exposed to water while in my possession. What especially irritates me is that the second PDA quit only a few weeks after the first, and I called and returned that phone before I thought that they might be trying to bill me for these phones. I am worried that I will have to pay another $325 next month, what with their creative exchange program scam.

I wish I had done my homework before I ever bought this PDA from Cingular, there are numerous complaints about this water scam on the internet. They have no intention of making sure you have a functioning phone under their warranty, even if that is what you paid for. Cingular + At&T = Fraud!

Bryan
Tinley Park, Illinois
U.S.A.