Cingular ripoff Internet

At issue is my first outrageous April 2004 phone bill of $1,586.96 from Cingular. The total balance as of date has inflated to $ $2,164.18 as shown on the letter from Cingulars collection agency notice I received a few days ago.

I was a Verizon national plan customer from March 2002 to march 2004. On March 22 2004, I contacted Cingulars dealer agent Inphonics by phone and asked if there is a comparable national plan that allows me to:
1.Roll over the monthly unused peak minutes to the next month; this roll-over is a feature that Verizon does not offer.
2.Keep my old number which is a San Francisco area phone number.
3.Use this cell phone number to call from other parts of the USA for a fixed monthly fee . Also Ill travel and stay in Connecticut with my daughter very often. While I am travelling outside Ca, Ill need to call San Francisco often. As long as I do no exceed the allowable number of peak minutes every month, there will not be extra charge.
The Inphonics representative represented to me that there is a plan from Cingular that fits all my needs :
1.It is a plan that allows 600 peak minutes per month.
2.Monthly fee is $39.95.
3.There is an activation fee of $38.
4.It is a one-year contract with a $150 penalty if de-activated within 6 months.
Never in the conversation did Inphonic inform me that this plan is a regional plan. Nor did Infonix inform me that there is a roaming charge when I call from my cellphone outside California.

When I received the first April phone bill for $1586.96, I called Cingular and talked to a Cingular Customer Rep on May 14, 2004. According to the Rep, I was signed up for a regional plan. She offered to change the plan immediately to a national plan at an extra $10 per month. I agreed. She also said she could reduce the outrageous phone bill by 50%. I also pay $95.53 over the phone(which includes the first month charge (April 2004) of $47.99 and $36 activation fee and some taxes) As I did not think I should pay for the mistake made by Cingular or it's dealer agent, I requested Cingular to waive all the roaming charges. Cingular refused.

On May 25, 2004, in an effort to resolve the problem one more time, I talked to another Cingular Customer Rep. In stead of helping me to resolve the problem, he said that the previous Rep's offer was reversed because the contract between me and Cingular was a signed contract. I pointed out that no contract had ever been signed, and that the phone was already activated by Cingular before we called in to activate it. The Rep then said using the phone meant accepting the contract.
The Cingular Customer Rep also said there is nothing Cingular can do for me. He said if I wanted to talk to his supervisor, I should contact the Formal Complaint department, but by mail only. Then I asked him what channels do other Cingular customers have when they come across similar situation like mine. he told me that Cingular dont have problems like this with their customers and I am the ONLY one who have such a problem.
A subsequent attempt by my son to resolve this issue with Cingular took us back to the 50% scenario, which is still a far cry from the monthly fee of $49.95 for the national plan.

A letter was sent to Cingular's Formal complaint department on June 5 2004. There was no response. But instead, the phone was disconnected on June 10,2004. Collection letter was received on August 28 2004.

Wini
ann arbor, Michigan
U.S.A.