Cingular Wireless

Here's the letter I sent to Cingular three years ago. They never replied. Shocking.

Cingular Wireless

2321 North University

Lubbock, Texas 79415

Attn: Armando

Location B-C

John G. Wells

*************

********, **. ******

May 14, 2002

RE: Acct# *********

Armando,

I was given your name by Charles, a customer service rep on your toll free number ( 800-331-0500 ). I have some questions and concerns regarding the business practices of Cingular.

I signed a two year contract with Cingular in 2000. In exchange, Cingular was to provide me with two free phones ( ***-***-**** and ***-***-**** ). The phones did not work properly. They were refurbished phones that obviously were not refurbished correctly. I took them into your local store to swap them out. The rep told me she would sell me two NEW phones instead. She stated she would not be able to upgrade the phones gratis because I did not use them enough. We actually had not been able to use them at all so the $50/month you were getting was not "enough" in her eyes. So in order for Cingular to fulfill their part of the contract, I had to buy new phones? Finally, after speaking with her supervisor, they swapped the phones out for another pair of phones. Used phones. Used phones that also did not perform sufficiently or with any regularity.

The two year contract finally expired and I canceled it effective on May 7, 2002. At that time I was informed that my account had just billed out and since you bill a month in advance, I should call the toll free number to have the bill adjusted. As you can see from my account, the cycle is 05-04-02 thru 06-03-02, of which, I only "used" three days of service.

When I spoke with Charles this morning, he stated there was nothing he could do, that's the way the billing is set up and if I didn't pay the entire amount on the bill, I would be assessed a late fee. This is the part that confuses me:

1) I have to pay for a service I cannot use?

2) If I don't pay for the service I cannot use, I will be charged a late fee on money I don't actually owe? What a pathetic Catch 22 you have created for your customers.

Charles explained to me that I should go ahead and pay the $50.62 because next month I would actually have a credit balance and then Cingular would refund it to me. This brings me to additional questions:

3) You hold money I don't really owe for another 30 to 60 days, don't pay me any interest, make me call again and ask for the refund?

4) You tie up more man hours, incur the cost of having to issue a refund check on money that you were never entitled to in the first place?

None of the above makes any sense to me as a customer. And now, you or someone else will have to spend the time to read this letter, research the complaint, type a reply, and incur the cost of mailing it back to me. More time and money wasted because of a billing practice that is set up for the sole benefit of Cingular. Is it any wonder I canceled my account?

Sincerely,

John G. Wells