Cingular Wireless ripoff Charging Activation fees to Former AT&T customers to upgrade plans Nationwide

I can't understand everyone's whining and complaining on this issue. I myself was an AT&T customer until Cingular took over. I went to my local Cingular store in the mall, and the rep in there gave me a brand new camera phone for FREE, ported my number over within minutes, and even threw in some accessories. Yes, I got charged an activation fee, but I did not mind at all since they did have to spend some time setting up the new account and they cut me a break on the phone. If $18 is going to break your bank so much that you need to whine and complain, maybe a mobile phone is out of your budget and you should not have one in the first place! Perhaps not copping an attitude and being a bit more friendlier to the Cingular employees will get your wireless woes resolved more quickly and more in your favor.

it is not fair to at&t customers that they must pay this $18 "upgrade" fee, nor is it fair to cingular customers. but everyday, i have people come into my cingular store willing to pay it! i think the $18 fee is absolutely bullsh**! We agents that sell cingular don't get any of that $18, its for "processing", yea right. we do all the work, we get a lousy commission from cingular for doing this work and we take the brunt of the customer complaints! I feel for cingular customers, but you chose this. you could have just gone to t-mobile in the first place and avoided all these mandatory cingular "fees" Cingular charges customers $25 to do a name change on an account, t-mobile $0, cingular charges $18 upgrade fees to change phones, t-mobile $0, cingular charges too much for plans, t-mobile is less, cingular forces customers to take additional features that they don't need or want on their accounts, t-mobile won't harass you like that. take it from me, a cingular dealer, for your own sanity, please just port your number to t-mobile and 'fohget abouht it'

ALL wireless companies are the same. All are motivated by money which in turn equals network coverage and finally converts to customers. So T-Mobile is better? Ok, maybe in your opinion, T-Mobile $35 activation fee per line, Cingular $18 on multi-line accounts. Plans? Not all plans include night minutes or mobile-to-mobile and how many customers does the MTM cover? Cingular +50m strong. Upgrade fees not migration fees are an industry standard. Cingular charges $18 as an upgrade fee to ALL customers and with AT&T it was $15. If you are at a location that calls it a migration fee turn around and walk out the door. You want a free phone? Visit Cingular online or call customer service, there are several options for legacy blue subscribers.

AT&T subscribers who have lost coverage are either seeing the effects of a merger 50 million people or are seeing the drop of of roaming agreements. Bringing 50 million customers together will overload some circuits as Cingular is required to turn some routing towers down or off. Until they can expand that capacity there will be some inconvenience (which I have seen capacity issues from all wireless providers during network changeovers this is nothing new). Cingular does not have the same roaming agreements that AT&T had meening that if you had to roam to get service in certain areas you may not be able to any longer. But this also affects T-Mobile customers because when the AT&T roaming agreement expires it may not be renewed so areas T-Mobile depended on AT&T they will lose service. Will they let you out of their contract? Can't say for certain, but probably not. I am not anti T-Mobile, but I needed a company to compare to.

Bottom line, no matter what you hear from your friend or someone "in the industry" all wireless carriers have pros and cons. Sprint, T-mobile, AllTel, US Cellular, Nextel, all have issues with nationwide coverage and nationwide data. Verizon and Cingular have the best coverage, but are seeing growing pains.

The best recommendation I can make is deal directly with any of these companies. Stay away from agents as MOST (not all) are motivated by compensation and not whats best for the customer. Agents receive different comp levels for the carriers they sell. They love T-mobile this month and Verizon next if Verizon sweetens the comp pot. Do your research and ASK questions.

"First of all, former AT&T customers must understand that when they activated they were infomred that an upgrade on their phone would extend their contract and a fee would be charged."

BUZZZZZ!! Wrong - AT& T never did that .. .EVER - and we are not asking for an upgrade - we want the equipment that we purchased FROM AT&T (or an authorized dealer) that worked perfectly until approximately last November to keep working. I was with MetroCel, then AT&T - NEVER EVER when I bought either at FULL PRICE or discounted a phone did that affect my existing plan UNLESS it the contract was over. NEVER EVER did I have to pay a fee at ANY TIME!!

And you don't get a break because you (Cingular) took something that was fairly good (AT&T customer service) and tainted it with your garbage. Cingular has the ABSOLUTE worst customer service EVER!! I will never willingly be Cingular's customer and the SECOND my contract is up (very soon I might add) I don't care if I have to use two empty soup cans connected with yarn to keep in touch with my family I'd do that rather than use Cingular.

I got my service up to "limping" and I'll leave it at that until I can dump Cingular. In the mean time I'll just make sure I give the address to this report to every human being I come into contact with.

First of all, former AT&T customers must understand that when they activated they were infomred that an upgrade on their phone would extend their contract and a fee would be charged.

Why is everyone making a big deal about the upgrade fee to swith to Cinglar? You would've paid the fee with AT&T also. Another point, EVERY customer that has an AT&T phone is a Cingular customer with an AT&T plan, which in turn means that if you want rollover minutes and the M2M (every where you have serivce), you must switch to Cingular.

The AT&T phones will not work with Cingular Sim cards, as they are 32K and Cingular sims are 64K. Every AT&T customer we deal with tell us that they are Cingular customers when in fact they are, but with AT&T contracts, serive and phones. Granted, there are no more AT&T phones being produced, there is still the option to purchase a phone through the internet using a comany that does online bidding, name not mentioned for legalities.

All you would need to do is remove your existing sim chip and replace with the new phone you purchased.

Also, AT&T customers bill states the Cingular name because the billing system is now one system, just like the websites, you type in att.com and it takes you to the Cingular website.

Give us reps a break and maybe if you were not so rude and demanding when you visit us for your problems we would give you a break? Did you ever stop and think that we could make an exception and give you a great deal on the phone you purchase? NO, because all you do is just complain and get upset. You will never understand this until you are on the other side of the counter!!!!!

i am a dealer that sells cingular phones & services and i agree with at&t customers that the $18 fee to "migrate" is unfair, but cingular charges all their customers $18 to upgrade a phone no matter how long they have been a cingular customer!!

I had a guy come into my store yesterday, been a cingular customer for 18 years, (back when it was cellular one) and needed a new phone, i had to tell him he had to sign a new 2 year agreement and he would get an $18 upgrade fee on his next bill. he was pi$$ed!!!

i would be too! thats why i have t-mobile! they are by far THE BEST cell company ever! and i have had them all! never an upgrade fee and they only have 1 year contracts!

I say to all AT&T & Cingular customers...."GET OUT WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE!!! DON'T SIGN ANOTHER 2 YEARS AWAY WITH CINGULAR!" But if you want to stay with them, please stop by my store, so I can set you up!!! LOL!

I don't want to be out a job, but if that happens, I think I can find a job with T-Mobile pretty easY!! Don'y put up with unfair charges and crappy customer service from cingular, switch to t-mobile and keep your same number! It will be for the best!!!

Sorry Cinguar, but you are way too expensive and have too many hidden extra charges! Thanks! Any questions for me, just reply and I will answer!!

i am a dealer that sells cingular phones & services and i agree with at&t customers that the $18 fee to "migrate" is unfair, but cingular charges all their customers $18 to upgrade a phone no matter how long they have been a cingular customer!!

I had a guy come into my store yesterday, been a cingular customer for 18 years, (back when it was cellular one) and needed a new phone, i had to tell him he had to sign a new 2 year agreement and he would get an $18 upgrade fee on his next bill. he was pi$$ed!!!

i would be too! thats why i have t-mobile! they are by far THE BEST cell company ever! and i have had them all! never an upgrade fee and they only have 1 year contracts!

I say to all AT&T & Cingular customers...."GET OUT WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE!!! DON'T SIGN ANOTHER 2 YEARS AWAY WITH CINGULAR!" But if you want to stay with them, please stop by my store, so I can set you up!!! LOL!

I don't want to be out a job, but if that happens, I think I can find a job with T-Mobile pretty easY!! Don'y put up with unfair charges and crappy customer service from cingular, switch to t-mobile and keep your same number! It will be for the best!!!

Sorry Cinguar, but you are way too expensive and have too many hidden extra charges! Thanks! Any questions for me, just reply and I will answer!!

i am a dealer that sells cingular phones & services and i agree with at&t customers that the $18 fee to "migrate" is unfair, but cingular charges all their customers $18 to upgrade a phone no matter how long they have been a cingular customer!!

I had a guy come into my store yesterday, been a cingular customer for 18 years, (back when it was cellular one) and needed a new phone, i had to tell him he had to sign a new 2 year agreement and he would get an $18 upgrade fee on his next bill. he was pi$$ed!!!

i would be too! thats why i have t-mobile! they are by far THE BEST cell company ever! and i have had them all! never an upgrade fee and they only have 1 year contracts!

I say to all AT&T & Cingular customers...."GET OUT WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE!!! DON'T SIGN ANOTHER 2 YEARS AWAY WITH CINGULAR!" But if you want to stay with them, please stop by my store, so I can set you up!!! LOL!

I don't want to be out a job, but if that happens, I think I can find a job with T-Mobile pretty easY!! Don'y put up with unfair charges and crappy customer service from cingular, switch to t-mobile and keep your same number! It will be for the best!!!

Sorry Cinguar, but you are way too expensive and have too many hidden extra charges! Thanks! Any questions for me, just reply and I will answer!!

i am a dealer that sells cingular phones & services and i agree with at&t customers that the $18 fee to "migrate" is unfair, but cingular charges all their customers $18 to upgrade a phone no matter how long they have been a cingular customer!!

I had a guy come into my store yesterday, been a cingular customer for 18 years, (back when it was cellular one) and needed a new phone, i had to tell him he had to sign a new 2 year agreement and he would get an $18 upgrade fee on his next bill. he was pi$$ed!!!

i would be too! thats why i have t-mobile! they are by far THE BEST cell company ever! and i have had them all! never an upgrade fee and they only have 1 year contracts!

I say to all AT&T & Cingular customers...."GET OUT WHILE YOU HAVE A CHANCE!!! DON'T SIGN ANOTHER 2 YEARS AWAY WITH CINGULAR!" But if you want to stay with them, please stop by my store, so I can set you up!!! LOL!

I don't want to be out a job, but if that happens, I think I can find a job with T-Mobile pretty easY!! Don'y put up with unfair charges and crappy customer service from cingular, switch to t-mobile and keep your same number! It will be for the best!!!

Sorry Cinguar, but you are way too expensive and have too many hidden extra charges! Thanks! Any questions for me, just reply and I will answer!!

I thought about filing my own report as I too am going through this with Cingular. And for those who have nothing better than to nit-pick I have no plans of entering a spelling bee so don't gripe about my typos.

My phone(s) were fine and my service was acceptable until Cingular took over AT&T. Then mysteriously, my SIM cards are now a problem and "not completely compatible with Cingular (per Cingular). No I cannot get a new/working one and finish out my contract (per Cingular) and no I cannot end my contract because I am unable to continue using the service without hefty termination fees. My only choice is to BUY all new phones and sign up for 2 more years.

I got mad and then I remembered, sometimes being a packrat has its advantages. I SAVED my original terms and conditions I received from AT&T when I signed on with them again 18 months ago.

Interesting to say the least. FYI - I have forwarded my findings to the FTC and have received a personal response. Now that may mean nothing but at least someone knows.

Cingular is BOUND by the AT&T contract. They are our "AT&T" until this contract expires. If they choose not to honor it then the contract becomes void and there are no penalties.

To quote from the booklet entitled "Start your MLife Today" (page 8 - english)
"Your AT&T Wireless SIM card contains all of your personal subscriber information . . . .It is required for your wireless phone to operate in our network .. . . Your wireless phone was manufactured to operate exclusively with AT&T Wireless SIM cards, and cannot be activated with any other wireless SIM cards."

Then there is the "by using this phone you agree to the terms. . . " blah blah blah . . ..

That tells me that I HAD to buy the phone(s) that I did. In order to receive service from AT&T my phones (and SIM cards) could only be purchased from them. Which means they obligated themselves to ensure that their customers could either buy equipment from them or send their customers to an authorized dealer . . . If not . . . .well that's coming . . .Stay with me on this . .. .

To quote from the booklet entitled "Features and Services (page 62) (and I love this)
"6. Changes to Agreement or Service.
We may amend the terms of this Agreement, including the Sales Information, upon advance notice provided to you in any manner we choose, including by notice contained with your invoice for the Service. In the event that we make such a change that has a material adverse impact on your rights or use of the Service you may terminate the Agreement by giving us notice within 20 days of the date of we notified you, you will not be charged any cancellation fee."

Well having to buy NEW SERVICE and NEW PHONES does hurt me financially and I was never (notified) given the opportunity to cancel without penalty EVER.

I don't know if this will post (because of the web link rule on ripoff report) but then this document goes on to say that AT&T has signed a contract with the CTIA (www.wow-com.com) which outlines a 10 point guideline for the wireless industry. The main point being item#7 which provides customers the right to terminate a contract without penalty if the provider changes the contract. I'd say not offering a phone (or solution) that will allow me to finish my existing contract in good faith qualifies . . wouldn't you. Cingular is listed as a participating entity as well.

Then this "customer-driven" site goes on to openly display several documents in which they are lobbying the government and regulatory agencies to basically allow them to keep giving it to us hard without a "reach-around".

More to come - It's not the money - It's just WRONG!!

I thought about filing my own report as I too am going through this with Cingular. And for those who have nothing better than to nit-pick I have no plans of entering a spelling bee so don't gripe about my typos.

My phone(s) were fine and my service was acceptable until Cingular took over AT&T. Then mysteriously, my SIM cards are now a problem and "not completely compatible with Cingular (per Cingular). No I cannot get a new/working one and finish out my contract (per Cingular) and no I cannot end my contract because I am unable to continue using the service without hefty termination fees. My only choice is to BUY all new phones and sign up for 2 more years.

I got mad and then I remembered, sometimes being a packrat has its advantages. I SAVED my original terms and conditions I received from AT&T when I signed on with them again 18 months ago.

Interesting to say the least. FYI - I have forwarded my findings to the FTC and have received a personal response. Now that may mean nothing but at least someone knows.

Cingular is BOUND by the AT&T contract. They are our "AT&T" until this contract expires. If they choose not to honor it then the contract becomes void and there are no penalties.

To quote from the booklet entitled "Start your MLife Today" (page 8 - english)
"Your AT&T Wireless SIM card contains all of your personal subscriber information . . . .It is required for your wireless phone to operate in our network .. . . Your wireless phone was manufactured to operate exclusively with AT&T Wireless SIM cards, and cannot be activated with any other wireless SIM cards."

Then there is the "by using this phone you agree to the terms. . . " blah blah blah . . ..

That tells me that I HAD to buy the phone(s) that I did. In order to receive service from AT&T my phones (and SIM cards) could only be purchased from them. Which means they obligated themselves to ensure that their customers could either buy equipment from them or send their customers to an authorized dealer . . . If not . . . .well that's coming . . .Stay with me on this . .. .

To quote from the booklet entitled "Features and Services (page 62) (and I love this)
"6. Changes to Agreement or Service.
We may amend the terms of this Agreement, including the Sales Information, upon advance notice provided to you in any manner we choose, including by notice contained with your invoice for the Service. In the event that we make such a change that has a material adverse impact on your rights or use of the Service you may terminate the Agreement by giving us notice within 20 days of the date of we notified you, you will not be charged any cancellation fee."

Well having to buy NEW SERVICE and NEW PHONES does hurt me financially and I was never (notified) given the opportunity to cancel without penalty EVER.

I don't know if this will post (because of the web link rule on ripoff report) but then this document goes on to say that AT&T has signed a contract with the CTIA (www.wow-com.com) which outlines a 10 point guideline for the wireless industry. The main point being item#7 which provides customers the right to terminate a contract without penalty if the provider changes the contract. I'd say not offering a phone (or solution) that will allow me to finish my existing contract in good faith qualifies . . wouldn't you. Cingular is listed as a participating entity as well.

Then this "customer-driven" site goes on to openly display several documents in which they are lobbying the government and regulatory agencies to basically allow them to keep giving it to us hard without a "reach-around".

More to come - It's not the money - It's just WRONG!!

I thought about filing my own report as I too am going through this with Cingular. And for those who have nothing better than to nit-pick I have no plans of entering a spelling bee so don't gripe about my typos.

My phone(s) were fine and my service was acceptable until Cingular took over AT&T. Then mysteriously, my SIM cards are now a problem and "not completely compatible with Cingular (per Cingular). No I cannot get a new/working one and finish out my contract (per Cingular) and no I cannot end my contract because I am unable to continue using the service without hefty termination fees. My only choice is to BUY all new phones and sign up for 2 more years.

I got mad and then I remembered, sometimes being a packrat has its advantages. I SAVED my original terms and conditions I received from AT&T when I signed on with them again 18 months ago.

Interesting to say the least. FYI - I have forwarded my findings to the FTC and have received a personal response. Now that may mean nothing but at least someone knows.

Cingular is BOUND by the AT&T contract. They are our "AT&T" until this contract expires. If they choose not to honor it then the contract becomes void and there are no penalties.

To quote from the booklet entitled "Start your MLife Today" (page 8 - english)
"Your AT&T Wireless SIM card contains all of your personal subscriber information . . . .It is required for your wireless phone to operate in our network .. . . Your wireless phone was manufactured to operate exclusively with AT&T Wireless SIM cards, and cannot be activated with any other wireless SIM cards."

Then there is the "by using this phone you agree to the terms. . . " blah blah blah . . ..

That tells me that I HAD to buy the phone(s) that I did. In order to receive service from AT&T my phones (and SIM cards) could only be purchased from them. Which means they obligated themselves to ensure that their customers could either buy equipment from them or send their customers to an authorized dealer . . . If not . . . .well that's coming . . .Stay with me on this . .. .

To quote from the booklet entitled "Features and Services (page 62) (and I love this)
"6. Changes to Agreement or Service.
We may amend the terms of this Agreement, including the Sales Information, upon advance notice provided to you in any manner we choose, including by notice contained with your invoice for the Service. In the event that we make such a change that has a material adverse impact on your rights or use of the Service you may terminate the Agreement by giving us notice within 20 days of the date of we notified you, you will not be charged any cancellation fee."

Well having to buy NEW SERVICE and NEW PHONES does hurt me financially and I was never (notified) given the opportunity to cancel without penalty EVER.

I don't know if this will post (because of the web link rule on ripoff report) but then this document goes on to say that AT&T has signed a contract with the CTIA (www.wow-com.com) which outlines a 10 point guideline for the wireless industry. The main point being item#7 which provides customers the right to terminate a contract without penalty if the provider changes the contract. I'd say not offering a phone (or solution) that will allow me to finish my existing contract in good faith qualifies . . wouldn't you. Cingular is listed as a participating entity as well.

Then this "customer-driven" site goes on to openly display several documents in which they are lobbying the government and regulatory agencies to basically allow them to keep giving it to us hard without a "reach-around".

More to come - It's not the money - It's just WRONG!!

I thought about filing my own report as I too am going through this with Cingular. And for those who have nothing better than to nit-pick I have no plans of entering a spelling bee so don't gripe about my typos.

My phone(s) were fine and my service was acceptable until Cingular took over AT&T. Then mysteriously, my SIM cards are now a problem and "not completely compatible with Cingular (per Cingular). No I cannot get a new/working one and finish out my contract (per Cingular) and no I cannot end my contract because I am unable to continue using the service without hefty termination fees. My only choice is to BUY all new phones and sign up for 2 more years.

I got mad and then I remembered, sometimes being a packrat has its advantages. I SAVED my original terms and conditions I received from AT&T when I signed on with them again 18 months ago.

Interesting to say the least. FYI - I have forwarded my findings to the FTC and have received a personal response. Now that may mean nothing but at least someone knows.

Cingular is BOUND by the AT&T contract. They are our "AT&T" until this contract expires. If they choose not to honor it then the contract becomes void and there are no penalties.

To quote from the booklet entitled "Start your MLife Today" (page 8 - english)
"Your AT&T Wireless SIM card contains all of your personal subscriber information . . . .It is required for your wireless phone to operate in our network .. . . Your wireless phone was manufactured to operate exclusively with AT&T Wireless SIM cards, and cannot be activated with any other wireless SIM cards."

Then there is the "by using this phone you agree to the terms. . . " blah blah blah . . ..

That tells me that I HAD to buy the phone(s) that I did. In order to receive service from AT&T my phones (and SIM cards) could only be purchased from them. Which means they obligated themselves to ensure that their customers could either buy equipment from them or send their customers to an authorized dealer . . . If not . . . .well that's coming . . .Stay with me on this . .. .

To quote from the booklet entitled "Features and Services (page 62) (and I love this)
"6. Changes to Agreement or Service.
We may amend the terms of this Agreement, including the Sales Information, upon advance notice provided to you in any manner we choose, including by notice contained with your invoice for the Service. In the event that we make such a change that has a material adverse impact on your rights or use of the Service you may terminate the Agreement by giving us notice within 20 days of the date of we notified you, you will not be charged any cancellation fee."

Well having to buy NEW SERVICE and NEW PHONES does hurt me financially and I was never (notified) given the opportunity to cancel without penalty EVER.

I don't know if this will post (because of the web link rule on ripoff report) but then this document goes on to say that AT&T has signed a contract with the CTIA (www.wow-com.com) which outlines a 10 point guideline for the wireless industry. The main point being item#7 which provides customers the right to terminate a contract without penalty if the provider changes the contract. I'd say not offering a phone (or solution) that will allow me to finish my existing contract in good faith qualifies . . wouldn't you. Cingular is listed as a participating entity as well.

Then this "customer-driven" site goes on to openly display several documents in which they are lobbying the government and regulatory agencies to basically allow them to keep giving it to us hard without a "reach-around".

More to come - It's not the money - It's just WRONG!!

I am an AT&T customer and I was looking to buy a new phone. None of the AT&T phones work with Cingulair and they wanted me to sign up for their service. I told them I already had their service and the customer rep. told me I don't. I told her, "Well, my payment checks are certainly being made out to and sent to Cingulair." Anyway, she said that because the sim cards from AT&T phones don't work with Cingulair phones I would have to buy one of theirs and then sign up for service when I did. Cell phone companies don't seem to have any ethics at all!