$1100 Cell Phone Bill x-posted from BBV

[Gildwulf]

This sucked so much I just thought I would cross-post in OOT.

So right before I left UChicago this January I got suckered into a 24-month cell phone contract. The person who was closing down my home phone assured me that I would have no roaming charges for having a Chicago number, even though I would be in another country (Montreal) and that it would be just like calling to Canada which would be around 5 cents a minute.

On Friday my cell phone stopped working so I called Singular. After an hour and a half on the phone being bounced from number to number, I got a hold of the cell phone CS. Apparently, the guy I talked to was FOS and I had the following bill:

-$150 set up/activation/first month charges (standard, OK sounds good)
-billing for the past two months from my home phone which I told them to close down (not cool)
-EIGHT-HUNDRED DOLLARS IN ROAMING CHARGES FOR ONE MONTH IN MONTREAL BEFORE TAXES (why my account was shut down for 'high-volume usage'...thanks for telling me, assholes)

I called them up to tell them it was a misunderstanding and the customer service representative was really cool about it. He talked to his manager and offered me half off (approximately $450) my roaming charges. He then saw that I was trying to close off my account and the following convo happened:

Cingular: So, I see you are trying to close down your account and move to Montreal.
Me: Yes.
Cingular: Does that mean you will no longer be choosing Cingular as your Wireless provier?
Me: Yes.
Cingular: OK, well my boss says that you will have to pay the full amount unless you stay in your 24 month contract. Oh yea, there is a $150 cancellation fee if you choose to cancel your contract.

150+800 before taxes+150=more than $1100 for one month of a stupid crappy [censored] [censored] [censored] cell phone.

[censored] Cingular is rigged.

This is also more than two weeks of salary at my current Canadian job.

[pokerjoker]

stay with cingular and get them to reduce the fee. Then call back 2 days later and cancel your service.

[siccjay]

After you pay it of course.

[NorCalJosh]

if it was a west coast number i could help you out. but its not. so that sucks.

[young Nut]

This doesn't sound like your fault. The CS guy who sold you the phone lied to you, and you got suckered into hefty charges. I would call cingular back up and tell them exactly what happened with the guy who sold you your phone. If they still act like A-holes, I would threaten to call the better business beureau on them. Also, tell them things like you know of about 20 friends who use cingular and that if they don't handle this appropriately, you will be very quick to tell them how horrible the company is.

Always remember, a well handled CS problem that leaves the customer happy almost always costs less in the long run than a poorly handled CS problem that leaves a very bad taste in a customers mouth.

[Gildwulf]

Yea, I am torn between

a) asking for discount, paying, and then cancelling (after getting it in writing of course)
b) making lots of empty threats and then just paying the whole thing off and forgetting about it

[NorCalJosh]

the problem is proving that he was lied to. the contract that he most likely signed (unless the sales person was completely incompetent) says the exact opposite of what the sales person said, or refers him to further terms and conditions online that say the exact opposite. so what the guy said cant really be proved, or could have easily been a misunderstanding (from the companies point of view), but what he signed is in black and white... and as far as calling the BBB or threats of moving you and your friends and family to another wireless carrier... i can tell you that will 1) get you worse service and 2) provide a good laugh for the employees in the store/on the phone after you leave 90% of the time.