Cingular Wireless Aka Comcast Aka Cincinnati Bell ripoff-unfair merger tactics - Cingular wants all AT&T users to sign a new 2 year contract to receive adequate services Nationwide Nationwide

I was an AT&T customer since 2001. Since Cingular bought AT&T, I have had problems with my phone. Last December, Verizon customers were unable to leave voice messages and instead received an error message. Now my voice message does not come on at all, so I do not get any voice messages. In addition, my phone reads roam in my home.

I called Cingular and was on the phone for 2 hours today. They had me turn my phone off and the customer support rep. put me on hold while he worked with their IT department. David Lemonte, the Cingular customer rep., told me that the IT department did not know what the problem was. I asked to speak to a floor manager, and was placed on hold for another hour, despite him saying that I was the next call in line to talk with the floor manager. In the end of over two hours on the phone with David Lemonte, he did not resolve the problems with my phone and did not put me in contact with the floor manager. In addition, he refused to give me the corporate office contact information, and any other contact information that I could place a complaint with.

He persisted to insist that I sign a new 2 year contract to transfer to Cingular's GSM network. He said the problem was not with my phone; he said the problem was with the TDMA network that AT&T used and Cingular is phasing out. He stated that the government is allowing Cingular to discontinue service with the TDMA network January 2008, so all TDMA user will not have any service. Until January 2008, Cingular is disassembling the TDMA towers, and charging TDMA users an extra $5 monthly charge starting September 2006 for upkeeping the towers because Cingular is not turning a profit. This is a charge that TDMA users have not agreed to, and is fraud since the TDMA towers are not being maintained since they are being disassembled. For example, there use to be service on the Ferry to Marin, however, a Cingular rep. told me that they took those towers down, and now there is no long cell service on the Ferry to Marin.

David Lamonte stated that 6-8% of Cingular's customers are using the TDMA network. He stated that Cingular's parent company is Cincinnati Bell, which is owned by Comcast which is changing to AT&T--a very tangled web of mergers. I could not find any contact information for a corporate office on Cingular's website or the web.

It seems like good business sense to offer courtesy GSM phones to TDMA users to merge us into Cingular's network at our current contract plans. David Lamonte told me to either sign a new 2 year contract with Cingular and pay all their fees, or leave the company. I have a corporate company discount and would like to remain a customer, but not under duress.

I am interested in a class action suit, or any information that would help me resolve this. I am also interested in obtaining the contact information (phone, fax, address, email and name) of someone with this company that I could address.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Nic
San Francisco, California
U.S.A.