After piecing together the paths of the various Baby Bells, my head hurts. :-)

I've been with Cingular for four years and haven't had any problems with service. If anything, it's gotten better. Seems like the former AT&T wireless customers are whining over nothing. Their company got bought out. Get over it.

Well, anecdotal evidence doesn't really tell the whole story, does it?

That said, here's mine. My husband and I both had AT&T service. Shortly after Cingular bought AT&T, my cell phone died. In order to get a new phone, I had to switch to Cingular. I could not keep my AT&T account. And I had to pay the $18 switching fee.

My husband's phone and account were only a few months old, so when I asked if he could or should switch to Cingular, the answer was that of course he could switch, but his current phone wouldn't work with Cingular, so he'd have to get a new one. I'd bought him a very nice phone, so there was no way to get an equivalent phone without paying for it -- it wasn't in the freebee category.

So to keep us on the same service and to be able to get a family phone plan, which would save us money, we'd have had to buy him a new phone and pay the $18 switch fee.

Yes, I can see how Cingular is "better serving consumers" with those policies.

So my husband has been on AT&T the entire time, and comparitavively, his service is far less reliable than mine.

Sounds like there may be a lot of people out there with similar complaints.

Lori, your husband shouldn't have to pay any fee to switch now. They did away with that last year.

The requirement to switch phones is actually the result of a technical choice on the part of AT&T. AT&T banked on TDMA technology, which was the worst possible choice, as any good geek could have told them at the time. That's actually the root cause of all of AT&T's woes. TDMA doesn't scale well and just sucks overall. Both CDMA (which Verizon uses) and GSM (which Cingular uses) are better.

Your husband should be paying comparatively slightly less for his AT&T service, based on all the information I've seen, and that is because the network generally isn't as good.

Anyway, I guess I'm saying that AT&T users are kinda stuck, yeah, but I don't think it's necessarily Cingular's fault. At least not since they killed that stupid $18 switch fee.

In any case, it sounds like Cingular plans to make life a *little* easier for you soon.

Thanks, Phillip. We haven't looked into switching him over for at least two years, I'd say, so I didn't know the fee had been dropped. That is good news, but it should never have been there in the first place. (I'm sure I won't get a refund!)

My husband will eventually switch, or maybe we both will switch to a different service so we can get a family plan, but his phone still works and does most of what he needs it to do. If he could switch and keep his phone, we'd be in business. But we're not prepared to buy another phone just so we can take advantage of the "free" switch.

Since it sounds like you're off a fixed-term contract, you might want to consider switching to Sprint or Verizon. Both have family plans, I believe, and they should give you nice new phones when you sign up.

Where I live, Sprint has a wonderful network that has steadily improved. It may be different where you are.

I'm glad they're being sued - they deserve it. I never had any problems with AT&T. I've had nothing BUT problems since Cingular bought them out. I've hardly been able to use my cell phone the past few months. And Cingular's customer service sucks, on top of it. I'd heard AT&T might start up its cell service again, so I was waiting to switch back, but I don't know...

AT&T *is* Cingular, Heidi, and they aren't going to be restarting the old (bad) TDMA network at any point. TDMA technology was a bad idea to start with, and it has gotten worse with age. In the meantime, Cingular/AT&T has invested $6.5 billion in their GSM network.

I'm not sure why bad service deserves a lawsuit. I would think that customers ought to exercise their perogative to use another service, but here you are, paying the company every month while thinking they deserve to be sued. What a country! :-)

This action is exactly the situation my family and I found. We had just received new AT&T phones when some 2 months later Cingular took over. Nothing but poor reception and the standard response has always been "we have new Cingular phones, and new Cingular plans" - in short we only want to sell you something new rather than ensure your current equipment works.
That was why I left Cingular to begin with.

Sergio, that seems to be a common situation, and the best possible response. The way to make a company like Cingular treat people better is to refuse to give them business until they do. Good for you.

You seem to have an awful lot of time to post messages, Phillip.
And yes, bad service that was INTENTIONAL, which I believe Cingular's was to former AT&T users, does warrant a lawsuit in this case. Now that I know I am not alone, and it is not just my experience, I am leaving Cingular. And by sitting on your high horse, you come off as rather obnoxious in a way, Phillip.

I have an old A T & T go phone account and I will not switch, until the phone dies. I was told that once my phone does die, I will have to get a new phone and convert to cingular, which i think stinks because I will lose the same phone number that I have had for the last three years now. The cingular go phone plan for my price range is not as good as A T & T and I will be one of the last holdouts. And I do have really good reception on my phone.

I loved my old AT&T service. After Cingular took over, I had nothing but trouble with the service and the billing. I finally switched to a Cingular account and phone, at their urging, when I called to complain. Suddenly calls were being billed to my employer. I couldn't figure out what was happening. Then when I called to protest an overcharge, I found out that they set my account up so that all my calls were billed to my company instead of just giving me a discount that I was entitled to. I almost lost my job over that one. I was so furious, I told them I wanted to cancel my account as their service had been so terrible. I finally had to talk to a supervisor to get the charges waived. I received 2 final bills showing a credit. Now I'm suddenly getting bills tellilng me I owe them 1.06! I'll be happy to join the
lawsuit!

Do you work for them Phillip?

I switched to verizon after cingular bought out AT&T. My phone broke and I had insurance on it, but cingular told me that they could not replace the phone because it was no longer made. Worse yet, the only phones I could *purchase* were Cingular. Why had I been paying for insurance even after Cingular bought out AT&T when it did nothign for me? I ended up *purchasing* a new phone and paying an early termination fee. I was promised the same plan for the same price per month as my AT&T plan because of all the problems I faced. For $50 a month, I went from 600 minutes to 400 minutes. I lost early night and weekends, unlimited text messages, among many other features. Imagine my suprise when I received $946 bill the first month I switched over to Cingular. I was told that I had to pay this bill or my service would be shut off. After I paid it, I could have it rectified. As a poor college student, coming up with that kind of money was quite difficult. After I paid it, I contacted singular to rectify the situation. The responce I was given was, "If you had a problem with the bill, you shouldn't have paid it." I immediately payed yet another early termination fee and switched to Verizon.

I never had a problem until cingular took over att. Now I am told I can't get another phone unless I switch to cingular network but am unable to keep the minutes etc. if I switch networks. Cingular network only offers 1/2 the minutes for the same price. I won't swith and I'm glad they are being sued!!!

I have been a cingular wireless customer for going on 5 years and find their service great. Customer service is very good and their replacement and /or repair service is quick and painless. AT&T customers should switch over, port their old numbers if they wish and enjoy superior service.

I was with AT&T and switched to Cingular after Cingular bought AT&T because some sales guy from Cingular told me I had to switch to get a new phone.

I think Cingular sucks and would love to sign this class action suit that's going around, because I feel I was suckered into joining Cingular.

Here's my experience with Cingular.

I had roaming charges on my bill a number of times. I finally called them to complain. From my experience, if you're not firm with their customer service folks, they don't always listen. They also have some idiotic policies. For example, if I buy a new phone before my contract ends, I have to buy my current phone again. Cingular also sends you a late notice before the due date of your payment, and their totals for what you owe do not always add up to what you really do owe, so you may end up overpaying.

Bottom line? Cingular is the most inefficient corporation on planet Earth and their customer service is THE worst I have ever experienced. Cingular customer service reps argue with me every time I complain.

If I didn't have more than 7,000 rollover minutes, I would throw my Cingular phone out the window and kiss Cingular goodbye.

I miss AT&T. they were the best, until Cingular bought them. I think Cingular would be much better if it were owned by AT&T.

Cingular has THE WORST customer service of any company that I have dealt with. The problem that gripes me the most is one that I have not seen posted yet - please let me know if anyone else has experienced this...when I get my bills from Cingular, I always receive them about THREE WEEKS AFTER the "closing date" on the bill. WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THIS??!! If I don't turn around and pay it almost immediately, they turn my phone off about a week later!!! My co-worker is having the exact same problem and we are wondering how many other people have had this problem? Once, they actually turned off my phone BEFORE I even got my bill!! I even tried
going online to keep track of my account, but for some "strange" reason, the information on there is never up to date. Seems to me like a great way for Cingular to try to collect a lot of those very profitable $39.00
"service restoral fees..." Personally, I LOVED
the service I received from AT&T and NEVER had any of this crap to deal with. Oh, and a note to Joanne (who posted a comment above)- my husband also has a "go phone," (AT&T) and loves it. The last time I added minutes to it, Cingular told me that they are "phasing these out" by the end of the year, and he will have to buy a Cingular phone and plan!! I'd rather go elsewhere. And a little note to Phillip...if we could all switch to another provider without paying those outrageous "early termination fees"
I think we would have all done that. I, for one,
will not be renewing ANY of my contracts with them, and I have five (mine and my four teenage kids). Cingular has caused me more aggravation than any other company in my lifetime.

I've heard that Cingular plans to change its name to AT&T Wireless sometime in the future (to coincide with SBC changing its name to AT&T). I wonder if this lawsuit will have any effect on that.

Cingular may be the worst in the USA but I'd like to offer up Spain's Telefónica/Movistar as even worse.

Not only do they still have a national monopoly, like BT used to in the UK, but customer "service" people are rude, arrogant and unhelpful. Finally, even though you can sign up online or by phone, you can only complain about their unreliable DSL service or quit by fax.

Grrr, I hate Telefónica!

Telefonica Sucks!

My bill was nearly doubled from $262 a month for 2500 minutes to $487 and Cingular wireless said it was due to the extra taxes that they had to pay versus AT&T!!! They stated they have a higher tax bracket than anyone else! They tried to fatique me into compliance and after 4 hours with customer service they simply cut off my service and took me to collections at a tune of $1600 for cutting off service too soon!!!!! Guess they learned alot from King George....
Even though they cut off service, and had no right....they classified it as a dispute between me AND AT&T! AT&T was great....Cingular was stealing. They have really hurt my credit rating!
For three weeks I tried to make a complaint to the FCC but the lines were busy nonstop. ANY lawyer who wants to involve me in this or any case against Cingular I am all there! I want no money, only cleared credit. Perhaps Cingular wireless has learned that Crime does pay, at least in the short term! Dr. Eric Dugan

after reading from the other folks who had at&t (which i thought i was the only one out there who had to switch) , i must agree that after the switch i experienced numerous dropped calls and dead time on phone..When i called to acquire why i was told it was my phone. There was no replacements at stores but only on line and the selection was poor.I waited a few months and had to get switched over from their so called blue /orange status,to cingular based .Not only was my plan decreased but the cost more than doubled to get something even remotly close to what i had before and it still lacked many of the old features ...Also when i called before with a problem i could talk to someone now i have to call between certain hours and placed on hold forever and then an operator with pissy attutide tells me that s the way it is to bad buddy... i m not attacking anyone here i m just stating my opinion --i do hope the suit gets the resolve it needs

after reading from the other folks who had at&t (which i thought i was the only one out there who had to switch) , i must agree that after the switch i experienced numerous dropped calls and dead time on phone..When i called to acquire why i was told it was my phone. There was no replacements at stores but only on line and the selection was poor.I waited a few months and had to get switched over from their so called blue /orange status,to cingular based .Not only was my plan decreased but the cost more than doubled to get something even remotly close to what i had before and it still lacked many of the old features ...Also when i called before with a problem i could talk to someone now i have to call between certain hours and placed on hold forever and then an operator with pissy attutide tells me that s the way it is to bad buddy... i m not attacking anyone here i m just stating my opinion --i do hope the suit gets the resolve it needs

No, I don't work for them, but I get an email every time someone leaves a comment here, so it's easy to come back and respond.

I was an AT&T Wireless customer once upon a time, but I'm also a hard-core geek, and I thought they went with the worst possible technology for their network, so when service started to deteriorate, I jumped ship to Sprint, where I've been quite happy.

I actually think AT&T Wireless has sucked for a long time, and I encourage all of you to vote with your monthly checks and switch to someone else -- NOT Cingular.

What I object to is that people are conveniently ommitting certain important facts when discussing the case, and threatening lawsuits where I believe non is warranted.

FACT: Your network sucks.
FACT: You've been charged less *because* your network sucks.

After all, why are you all still on AT&T? Because you *love* the crappy network? No, because it's cheap! Sure, there are other minor factors involving phones and such, but I've owned two new phones since Cingular bought AT&T, and most people I know have changed phones at least that many times.

So get off the high horses, kick something to get out your frustration at Cingular, and move on. Yeah, they suck. Most large companies do. If I sued every company with poor customer service, I'd have a hundred outstanding lawsuits, and so would you.

In AT&T's defense, they ought to be able to produce documentation that they've charged most customers *less* than the going rate, at which point the lawsuit becomes truly, truly silly.

Sometime I oughtta tell you guys about what happened when *($#@*(@ Washington Mutual Bank bought out my beloved Saving of America Bank here in Texas. I'll never understand why there are so many happy Washington Mutual customers, because they really screwed up my Savings of America account. You know what I did?

Switched banks.

ive had 3 lines from at&t for the past 2.5 yrs. through university of miamis corporate plan. shortly after i connected the 3 lines cingular took over. on the first cingular billing cycle, my normal monthly bill of $75 went to $110. i called and complained and received a credit totaling the difference. for the next 3 billing cycles the same ocurred. i started having excessive dropped calls, and the transmission quality went to garbage. ive had to deal with it cause changing to any other company would cost time and money!! unfortunately, 5 months ago i was forced to connect an aircard for my work laptop and the easiest way to do so cause of credit qualification reasons was through cingular! boy what a ride!! they gave me a 30 day buyers remorse period in which the service was somewhat good but inconsistent. then after the 31st day the service hit rock bottom. cingulars reason was that they were working on upgrading their towers in my area, and no way to tell how long before finished. to make a long terrifying story short, after over 9 documented hours on the phone with every dept. and supervisor known to cingular, they waived the cancellation fee, but would not refund me for the air card ($99) or the $120 for the service during the bad transmission period. the only thing i can say about my experience with cingular is that they suck so bad it isnt even funny!!!!! if the class action goes through and i can be part of it, i guarantee ill be in the front line claiming my $219!!!!!!!!!

Cingular customer service sucks! They have the worst customer service department in the world.

Signing up for service!!!
Was not informed of all cost.
Rebate HA! HA! still waiting!
Cannot get serivce when needed.
Always losing service.
Cannot always here the other person/or the other person can NOT hear me.

I think that alot of the complaints on here are due to customers not understanding their bill, or the calling plan that they are on. Sure there are billing errors, and some may be intentional?? I am in Missouri and the At&t network seemed to work great, and all of the customers seemed to be more than happy with the service. The plans were much better than Cingular, and more competitive. I use Cingular now and used to work with them. Once my contract is over I am switching to Sprint. Their new calling plans are comparable to the old at&t plans and they have roaming agreements with alltel and verizon.

I would like to comment on a cingular problem I have had. I was also an AT&T wireless customers. My husnad and I had a family plan even though we had different area codes in the state of florida. That is how AT&T set it up for us. It was great. Then I had a problem with my phone so I needed a new one. My husband and I went to the cingular store since AT&T had become them. When we walked into the store, we were told that we would need to switch our plans from AT&T Wireless to Cingular in order to get a new phone, and since AT&T was no longer in service they are the only company who can help. Being happy with AT&T for over 9 years we switched. Not knowing that we were going to regret our choice. I was the one who needed a new phone because mine got damaged at work, but the sales clerk also told us that my husband phone was not compatible and he would need a new one also. We didn't understand. They explained that he could keep his old phone and stay on the AT&T bill that we were still receiving and I could switch to Cingular and that way he would be able to keep the phone he had. But we would be on separate plans and with separate companies, and that didn't make scense to us. We were are a family plan, we didn't want to have to spend more money for separate plans. So we both bought phones. The store at the time had a special going on where you buy one get one free, the cost was $150.00 and would would both get a rebate sent ot us on our phone in the amount of $25.00 each. But then came the cost of the whole package. We explained to the sales clerk that my husband needed to keep his orginal number and I wanted to keep mine and we wanted to be placed on a family plan. They said no problem, but after our purchases of the phones and all the accessories that we needed to go with them was rang up it total over $200.00.
We explained to the sales associate the reason why my husband need to keep his 352 area code and how important this was. I also explained that I wanted to keep my 407 number. Well they told my husband that his phone number that he had was not going to work but they could give him another 352 area code but they also explained then that they could not put us on a family plan. I didn't understand why they couldn't when AT&T could. After spending over 3 hours in the store now trying to figure something out we walked out with my husband having a new 352 number and me with my 407 number and on separate plans.
Then joe mom tried to call him on his cell phone and she was being charged long distance to call him from her local phone, we couldn't believe this. They took Joe's old number and threw it away, they had us buy a new phone for Joe and switch him to Cingular stating that his number was no longer any good or not compatible with their service and now his mom was paying long distance to call him; when we were told in the Cingualr store that his wouldn't happened. Well I returned to the store again to find out what was happening here. The clerk stated that Joe's mom should be able to call him and not be charged long distance but they also stated that the 352 area code was in the Lake county area and that sometimes this happens. Well we didn't want this to happen. The clerk stated that if Joe went up to his mom;s and went to a cingular store there they would be able to give him an area code and number from the town his mom lives in and then his mom would be charged long distance to call him. This whole thing was getting crazy. Well Joe did this and his number was changed again. While Joe was up at his mom's in Inverness,Fl he called me on my cell phone to give me his new number; but when I tried to call him back on his cell phone a message kept coming over my cell phone that I need to check the number and try calling it again. I couldn't get through and believe me I tried for over an hour. Then I got tired and drove to the Cingualr store where we bought the phone. I told them the problem I was having and they even tried to call on my phone which they got the same message, then they called Joe on their phones and they got through. It took over another hour to solve this mystery but finally after they made alot of calls they finally got my phone to work so I could connect with Joe's phone. Probably by now you can understand how mad we both were with this whole Cingular problem. I wasn't getting any results with someone hearing my situation I have been through so I wrote a letter to corporate. Finally after that corporate contacted me. I explained the situation and told her that I didn't understand how my husband and I couldn't be on a family plan even though we had different numbers. The corporate person stated that Cingular couldn't make this possible. I stated it was not right that we lived in the same house and were married that we should have to pay to separate plans. She stated the only way we could be on a family plan was for one of us to switch the area code to the same number. So that is why I had to change my area code and my number. This was all done through the mail with different cards for the phone. Was the problem solve not; we get some many drop calls now, I could be talking to someone and the next second the call is gone. Where did it go who knows. Was I able to cancel my contract: no way they wanted me to pay an outrageous fee to do so. What they didn't tell me until it was too late was that since we were AT&T wireless customers and thought we had a contract with AT&T Wireless, that our contracts ran out with AT&T when it sold to Cingular. SO we could have went with another company instead of having all the problems and time we spent with a fmily plan with Cingular. But we weren't toldd about that til after everything was paid for and another contract drawn up. Bad customer service there.
Another thing the rebate we told we were going to receive was $25.00 for each phone we bought. So we tought we were going to receive a check in the amount of $25.00 x 2, but instead we received these cards in the mail; which expired about three months afterwards. We have become no good to me or my husband, so we actually lost out on the rebates we were promise.
Is this how Cingular gets customers is to treat they unfair and then when problems can't be solved the customer needs to climb the ladder or just chalk it up to another experience.

I am a former AT&T wireless customer,I wanted to purchase a new phone for my husband for christmas. My daughter just getting back into a job selling cell phone contracts had informed me that cingular wireless was gonna be better also so I went for the change figuring eventually I would have to go anyway. Well I don't think the management is upfront with their sales employees either (my opinion) anyway. Like some of the comments I read I was told I could not keep my phone either, when I told them no way in h*@ll was I gonna get a new phone when mine cost me 600.00 dolaars then they told me you can purchase a program to unlock your phone so yu can be able to use it with any network of course the more expensive the phone, you guessed it, the program cost me 50.00 rather than some I saw for 8 bucks but in my opinion it was worth it I still have my treo 600. Well shortly my service went down and besides all the attempts to fix it I too was told pay early termination fee, or continue till contract runs out. Some of the customer reps were rude, I had one call my cell phone couldn't hear me and called me back on the home phone and still would not let me out of my contract. I also got the "It'll get better once the towers are switched over blah blah blah" well needless to say it hasn't gotten better and I am waiting out my contract. I read this article and a majority of the comments form other customers and I felt that I wanted to leave my two cents worth. If you are an exsisting cingular customer who never had att then I don't think you should be commenting that att customers are whining. I have had the experience of both services and I gotta say my complaint is that cingular claimed that there service is supposed to be better and it is FAR FAR from it.

Re. #24. Cingular to some degree continues the AT&T tradition of being behind technologically. They haven't implemented EVDO even though Sprint and Verizon both have it. As a result, no Treo 700 available from them yet, which is irritating.

But, unlike some of the others on here, Cingular does have the best coverage in the Austin area. I can't even get Sprint or Verizon at my house (my wife had both through work and neither worked). And their customer service is not any worse than I'd have expected. I even get someone in the US when I call most of the time - unless it's a billing issue.

Dave

When I called to cancel my old AT&T account, they offered me free phones and no connection fees. I don't understand what everyone is complaining about. I was happy with the old service, but wanted to convert to a family plan. The only issue I had was that I needed to cancel and start new service and I lost my phone number.

I just wanted to clear up a technical point in regards to AT&T Wireless as only having a TDMA network as was implied in a previous posting.
AT&T Wireless launched a national GSM network before Cingular did. Cingular and AT&T wireless were using the exact same Technology paths before the buyout of AT&T wireless. Both were using TDMA technology for their 2G networks and GSM for their 2.5G networks, and AT&T Wireless launched UMTS high speed 3G service in 6 markets before being bought by cingular, and cingular had not launched UMTS at all at that time. Cingular mainly bought AT&T wireless for its frequency spectrum in Major cities and states such as New York and California that Cingular did not own outright, that AT&T Wireless did. Cingular had to share spectrum with T-Mobile and other carriers in those major cities, via network sharing agreements, sharing profits and operating costs, and now they don't. The start of the downfall of AT&T Wireless was when AT&T Long Line spun off AT&T wireless and they had no parent company to go back to the well for extra money to keep up with the spending of verizon,
cingular and sprint in maintaining and expanding their networks. AT&T wireless was spun off by AT&T long line so that they could try to take advantage of the IPO craze that was going on at the time, to help pay off the massive debt AT&T long line had by spending over $100 billion dollars for cable companies so that they could try to be able to provide local telphone service to compete with local telephone companies which was a total failure. They later sold them for around half of what they bought them for to comcast and other companies. AT&T Long line chose a Lawyer to be CEO of AT&T Wireless who was a finacial officer, with no practical day to day experience in running a wireless company. Running a land line company is a lot different than running a Wireless company. They didn't count on the IPO craze to be faltering at the time, so the AT&T Wireless board and executives wanted their money back they lost on the IPO and here we are having a conversation about poor coverage, etc... What's that saying? Follow the money... The lawsuit will be interesting to follow as it goes along. The information in the lawsuit is specific in nature, unlike most lawsuits that shotgun accusations to see which one will stick. Notice that one of the suits was filed in Washington state, where AT&T Wireless was headquartered and Cingular still has a engineering staff and lab. Coincidence? I doubt it...

Well, I have been an AT&T customer longer than I care to say. I always had great service and I might mention that before they were spun off, they were upgrading their network to GSM. However, after Cingular took over, service certainly did decline. They removed a cell tower, probably a TDMA tower that was close to my home and being a work out of my home person, my cell phone now dropped pretty much every call. I was out of business. I have since switched to another carrier and must confess that Cingular tried to assist me with new phones when I switched to their service in an attempt to solve my problem and then let me out of my contract when the service did not improve. The other carrier is not any better, so I have gone back to using a land line in my office at home. How archaic is that. Anyway, I think the lawsuit is justified, its not really about the technology, its about what they promised their customers and regulators and I don't believe that they are living up to those promises. In America, when one makes a promise, one must keep it especially if you are a corporation.
I don't think that there is any doubt after reading what AT&T has said about their planned purchase of Cingular, that the Cingular name will disappear, there is no doubt at all.

I am a ATT/Cingular customer and I am also frustrated. Since Cingular has taken over my bill has been more wrong than correct. Also it seems that my reception is poorer. I am to the point of switching. One last frustratin is Cingular has not kept their promise of maintaining the text messaging web site which seems to go down on the weekends alot. Where do I sign up for the lawsuit???

I am originally a SUNCOM customer which at&t bought.
My SUNCOM service was ok, some dropped calls, limited service etc.
When at&t took over, my service IMPROVED, TDMA or not. I rarely ever had a dropped call & I mean rarely, maybe 1 a month!
I laughed @ my husbands service, which was & still is Verizon.(???) He has dropped calls daily.
My daughter was with Cingular (her choice) & also had daily dropped calls plus, she couldn't use her phone from her dorm room even if she was hanging out the window! (She really tried it!). My son had Tmobile, I don't recall any dropped calls w/him & he never complained about any.
My comment though is regarding the lawsuit. Cingular stated they were going to "Raise the bar" for all customers including at&t wireless customers. They stated at&t customers would enjoy the improved service, that we could keep our phones, numbers, & existing plans.
All of the promises have turned out to be untruths.
Large corporations need to be held accountable for promising services they haVE no intention of keeping.
Many cannot afford or do not have the time or emotional fortitude to deal with keeping them accountable, and many don't even know they had a choice.
My experience with them (Cingular)has been frustrating. I am still an at&t wireless customer & will be until they can match my plan.
When my phone broke Cinglar reps (I was transferred back & forth between Cingular & at&t several times) finally told me I would have to join them & pay more (for a LOT less) or pay the contract penalty to leave.I was on the phone with them for almost 2 hours.
Finally, I asked if I could buy a phone somewhere else & the last Cingular rep was nice enough to tell me about ebay.
He said, "you have a great plan & I wouldn't give it up, try to wait them out & see if they will eventually offer you the same plan to switch over." He also said, "you didn't hear that from me."
So,I went to ebay & bought an unlocked phone.
I cannot get internet or download ringtones because at&t used Mmode & my phone does not have this.
Aggravating, but in the end I feel by keeping my plan I am costing them $.
I am irritated @ all the dropped calls, the excuses about working on the towers & the fact that after 2 years they still don't always know who to connect me to (at&t side or the cingular side, go figure).
I had to call them about the 3 bills a month I was receiving. One bill wasn't even in my name,nor did it have a cell number connected to it but it was adressed to me!.
They said it was a scam until I gave them the address of the return envelope which was a Cingular address.
I only get 1 bill now.
I have run into a few rude reps. but for the most part if I stay calm & firm they are pleasant & I think they are frustrated with their company also.
My advice to at&t customers is....STAYYYYYY, don't give up,if you don't use the internet on your phone go to ebay & buy an unlocked phone, con't. to cost them money, maybe they will realize it will save them money to woo us.
Don't get me wrong, I don't feel they owe me a phone,I just want them to keep their promises,give me the same service as all Cingular customers get.
And to the Cingular customers I say...you should expect more for your money.
I had none of these problems when at&t took over SUNCOM.

Noticed that some of the existing Cingular customers who are speaking out that there service is good and getting better are missing the point. Each SIM card lets the network know a lot of information at time of call and one is that the phone being used is an old AT&T customer and then reacts according (what ever that is) and in my case the service is crippled. I have entered areas where my phone always work well and now I get a message of area not allowed! Have had several Cingular (established using their SIM) stand next to me to compare signals and they would have three to four bars where I had one or just showing a tower connection. HOPE CINGULAR GETS THINGS SET RIGHT OR HURTS BADLY FOR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE. I know the reason millions of old AT&T subscribers changed to Cingular was because of this deception.

I'm not sure which is more sad: the folks who believe that there is a some sort of secret conspiracy to deliberately screw up service for AT&T Wireless folks (except, of course, for the folks who have no problems), or the folks who insist on staying with their poor AT&T Wireless service because that's somehow gonna hurt Cingular (more than it hurts them, apparently).

Where to begin?

Never mind, both theories are clearly held in contrary to all known facts, so more facts would apparently have no impact.

Phil
You need to take head out of butt and shake it really really hard.

Ditto to the foregoing comments. We, too, have been long-time AT&T customers and have experienced a significant decline in svc quality since the Cingular buyout (e.g. phone frequently doesn't ring, attempts to call out "fail", outgoing text msgs "fail", calls to others on our family plan are inexplicably sent directly to voice mail, etc., ad nauseum) When we called to complain, the reps would dutifully repeat the "ongoing tower conversion/update" mantra followed by a canned "switch to Cingular" sales pitch. I'm neither rich enough to pay the cancellation fee for everyone on our account, nor dumb enough to pay so much more each month for so much less. Thus, we're forced to suck it up. We've long since stopped expecting anything at all in the way of decent service from Cingular. On the positive side, my blood pressure is much improved. Six million AT&T "orphans" have thus far refused to knuckle under to Cingular's policy of "benign neglect" toward its intransigent holdouts. If it's any consolation, you can be proud to be members of such an exclusive club.
37 years had passed since I last maintained a "short-timer" calendar. Well I'm happy to report that only 240 days and a wake-up remain on this contract before I'm finally free to fly off to Verizon. Meanwhile, I'd love to join the class action.....

I am also a disgruntled past At&t wireless client and just wanted to get a new phone as I had worn out my Nokia. Having spent over $5000.00 over the last 4 years and having a introductory SIM card account, I want to stay with my program. Being in Real Estate, I use my phone for busines on a high volume basis. I was told also, that I had to change my progam and that there were no phones that could accept the AT&T Sim card. But that is incorrect, as I understand that there are ways to "unlock" the Sim card for Cingular phones that allow a AT&T Sim card to be accepted. I would like any help in this regard from previous AT&T customers that have found themselves in the same situation. Also, if this is true, then the suit should include forcing Cingular to provide "unlocked" phones for previous AT&T users as well as continuing past programs.

Any help?

I signed a contract with ATT Wireless in the last months of 2004. Since the beginning of 2005, I have been officially a customer of Cingular Wireless, who purchased ATT Wireless.

1. Since mid-May, I have no wireless services at my residence. I continue to be charged for the use of two wireless phones by Cingular.

2. I complained to Cingular technical support in May about the lack of service. I was told point blank that Cingular turned off the ATT Wireless tower that had been serving my house. When I requested a solution to my problem, the support person told me that I would have to sign a new contract with Cingular and get new phones. I called several times about this, and was told the same thing by various Cingular support people.

3. No solutions were offered to me that would allow me to continue service without a) signing a two year contract or b) paying for new phones.

I have had my phones for less than two years. They are not obsolete. My phone is an LG 4015, which is a GSM phone that operates at 850 and 1900 MHz. Cingular is currently using GSM phones like the LG C2000 that operates on the same frequencies.

I registered a complaint with the Michigan Attorney General. In their response to my complaint, representatives of the Cingular Regulatory Response Team stated publicly that there is no fundamental problem, that they will work with me to solve my problems, but insisted that I should sign a new contract. Lower level representatives stated that my phones are not compatible with the current towers and that they will not resolve this issue.

Everything indicates that Cingular willfully and knowingly changed its network in order to make ATT Wireless cell phones obsolete. This was done to require the affected customers sign new contracts with Cingular.

Cingular is a utility like the land-line phone company, the natural gas supplier or the electrical power utility. Imagine the uproar if an electrical power utility were to say that they decided to shift their service to 250 V in order to be compatible with Europe and that consumers would have to buy new transformers from them if they wanted to be connected to the power grid.

Such things don't happen because the power companies are stringently regulated. I think Cellular phone companies need to be more effectively regulated.

I too had AT&T, which I had no problems with and considered their customer service to be better than most. About 4 months after Cingular took over I called to add a line to my contract, I was told that Cingular did not recognise the plan I had with AT&T and would have to change to their plan, I reminded them I had a contract with 8 months left to go, I did not like their contracts and would keep mine, They informed me my rate was going to go up and their was nothing I could do about it, when my contract was fullfilled I called and cancelled my service, the operator ask why? I proceded to explain what happened, she said they could take care of the extra $80 and resign me on a new contract, I responded, "you didn't honor the last contract, why should I believe you would honor this one" I will never do business with them again.

Not trying to beat a dead horse but Cingular BLOWS!!! and I will do all I can do to stay with AT&T. my service is fine its just getting phones are the issues. I am having issues with my Treo which is cingular and I unlocked it and now it is messed up and Cingular dont care they say switch to us or deal with it.

$39.99 1000 mins
$24.99 unlim data

cingular is almost twice as much!!!


Sign me up for the suit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You know, all this talk about Cingular and AT&T Wireless has my fingers itching to tell yet another story. Where do I begin? Oh yeah...

I've been a "TDMA" network customer since the fall of 2000 when a fabulous company by the name of SunCom (member of the AT&T Wireless Network) built a brand new TDMA network across southern Illinois and western Kentucky. Initially, the network had huge gaps in coverage, but those were gradually filled in with time as the network matured. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate my service with SunCom at an 8 (with 10 the best).

By 2003, AT&T Wireless had acquired the SunCom network, so I bought a new phone and switched plans. Through this, I noticed very little change in service. At the end of my one year contract with AT&T Wireless, I was offered an incredible deal if I kept my current plan. Instead of 350 anytime minutes with unlimited nights & weekends, AT&T was now giving me 650 anytime minutes with unlimited nights & weekends AND unlimited mobile to mobile, all for just $29.99/month!! How could I refuse such a great deal??

That fall, Cingular announced its acquisition of AT&T Wireless, promising the merger would be beneficial to ALL of its customers. From the message that was posted on their web site, you would have thought man had sprouted wings and could now fly!! At the time, I thought about switching to Cingular's new GSM network, but GSM coverage in southern Illinois and western Kentucky was lacking. As a result, I stayed with TDMA.

Today, I'm still on the same old AT&T Wireless plan because no other company (not even the "new" Cigular) has been able to match my current plan. I have had absolutely NO billing problems in the past 3 years, perhaps because I have my bill automatically paid by credit card each month. (Oh, and let me tell you I DO check over each bill!)

That said, signal quality is a different story. I was once able to call from my apartment without any service issues. However, beginning in the spring of 2004, the party on the other end suddenly started commenting, "I can't hear you! You're breaking up! Could you repeat that?" I also started noticing an increase in the frequency of dropped calls. Additionally, the solid coverage on the interstate highways that I frequently traveled developed gaps in coverage. Oddly enough, this coincided with Cingular's announcement that the acquisition of AT&T Wireless was complete.

Ever since then, I still have the same problems. However I have learned that if I use my earpiece and hold the phone away from my body at just the right angle, most of my calls are just fine. So those of you Cingular die-hards who claim there is no way we former AT&T Wireless customers have experienced a decrease in signal/call quality, answer this: Why is it that for FOUR years, I had excellent service with SunCom & AT&T Wireless, then the exact same month the Cingular acquisition was finalized, my problems began. Coincidence? I think not!!!

Now that I've flushed that out of my system, I'm also knowledgeable enough when it comes to cell phone service to admit that TDMA is probably the least desireable network (analog is even clearer in some cases!). That's exactly why no other major wireless carrier still uses TDMA! To boot, Cingular has expanded its GSM coverage in the southern Illinois & western Kentucky markets, and it was recently announced that another huge chunk of change will go into additional improvements in both areas. And while Cingular once absurdly charged an $18 switching fee and initially did not offer the same deals on new GSM phones to former AT&T customers as it did to new customers, the company has sinced rectified these concerns.

Recognizing that southern Illinois and western Kentucky are typically toward the bottom of the list for network upgrades east of the Plains, it stands to reason that 6 million of us have little reason to keep from switching to Cingular's GSM network. Oh, but wait, the plans are more expensive, not as many minutes, no more free incoming text messages, etc, etc. It leads me to believe there are 6 million of us out there who are willing to put up with a sub-par network because it's such a "great deal"!!

But then there's the possibility that Cingular will get tired of throwing money into maintaining the TDMA network and will give the remaining former AT&T Wireless customers a GSM plan identical to our current plans, with a great deal on a new phone too! No? Oh, come on. Admit it. This is why you and I are still on a TDMA plan. Smart, very smart. Not worth a lawsuit though. Afterall, Cingular has improved coverage for all of its customers. It's just that 6 million of us are on the wrong network... :)

A clarification to my previous message...

6th paragraph, 3rd sentence should read "However, beginning in the spring of 2005..." instead of 2004. This is important since the merger did not receive regulatory approval until the fall of 2004, and was not finalized by Cingular until the spring of 2005.

Sorry for the mistake. That's what I get for writing such a long message this late at night. Hey, at least this gives me a way to transition my body into the upcoming round of midnight shifts!! :)

Cingular has done nothing but "Lowered my bar". I have property in Northern and Southern Wisconsin, and ATT had digital plans in the northern part. Since Cingular 'raised the bar' HA HA, I'm unable to call in areas now that were digital with ATT. Call and complain, the standard response "We didn't change anything". What a crock!

I'm still on my ATT calling plan, which Cingular doesn't offer. Now, I hear sommething about a $5.00 monthly penalty for using 'older phones'. Take care of your phone and get a penalty, lowered my bar again.

Once I decide to get a new phone, it certainly won't be with Cingular. Sun Com, please come back to Wisconsin. The company I started with and was bought out by AT&T. Nothing changed when they bought out Sun Com. Cingular should have reviewed their plan for keeping customers.

And of course, change phones and get the 24 month required contract. I haven't been under contract for 5 years, and I'm not about to do it again. Nice way to treat existing custonmers...... I mean former customers!

Looking for some releif in Wisconsin!

AT&T wireless was giving new phones to registered customers every two years, but I can't find any of that information anywhere. Anybody remembers anything about that???

I still have the old AT&T plan and tried to convert it to a family talk plan so that i could get my wife a phone, but it doesn't allow me to do that.... so even if you want to convert to Cingular plans, they have made it difficult. especially since a lot of the deals are online only deals and if you talk to a rep they charge you full....

they deserve to be sued....

Cingular STINKS!!! I too was a very satisfied AT&T customer from the TDMA network and then their GSM network for 8 years. I had great plans, great coverage and great customer service. Once the merger came into effect, that all went downhill! My service became worse and worse! So in an attempt to achieve the service I once had with AT&T, I made the switch to Cingular. I too paid the switch over fees and bought a new phone with all they had to promise. Cingulars service still was not all that great, the customer service was lousy and my monthly bill was ridiculous!! I still do not understand their methods to their billing or the roaming fees I accumulated while in my calling area. So, I paid what I belived was fair and I am still disputing a $1900 bill from Cingular. I lost my number that I had carried with AT&T for 8 years. And made a switch to Nextel, I am happy once again with my service.

I agree with the comments regarding both the switchover from ATT to Cingular and the comments from previous websites regarding their rebates. When a company says "Rebate" I automatically get nervous that there will be a loophole so they won't pay my reduced price difference. With Cingular's rebates they've sunk to a new low. Why give me a credit card that I have to activate? So now I have to activate my rebate as opposed to depositing it in my checking account, I have to find a place that "honors" my credit card and I have to check and confirm what my remaining balance on my "card" is . . . I might be blonde, but I'm not stupid. Everyone knows that Cingular is counting on the "hassle" factor to keep their money and not honor their rebates. I'll be happy to join any class action lawsuit that comes up. I've bought and upgraded 4 phones and two bluetooth. I've now got SIX cards in various stages of CINGULAR rebate hell. I will never buy Cingular again. When my contract is up . . . so long Cingular.

RE: former AT&T, current Cingular users: Thanks for the info! I was shopping around, because T-Mobile also sux, especially their rebate policy (between 180 and 210 days of service, send in your receipt, yeah right), not to mention no bars at home. Was going to go with Cingular, until I read all this. Apparently they have no ethics, so there is No Way now that I will lock into a 2 year contract with these people. I appreciate the heads-up.

I have that great ATT $99 plan, and no contract. I dont really have any problems with service, though I didn't realize I am on TDMA. The strange thing is my blackberry uses the cingular configuration with no problem. I buy my phones unlocked, costs more, but it works. In fact I have the new black berry (unlocked). Cingular told me I am on a month to month with ATT. Can they finally force us to move?

I love my AT&T Plan,
But I did not go for Cingular,
Because if I did not pay an extra $25-$35 more I would not get 60% of the features I already have.
So if they were going to try to make me switch over, I would have found another Company.
I have family members that had AT&T wireless and they found out that Cingular got Sued for Lying to AT&T users about better service & plans, Now they let let you keep your AT&T Plans,
So now Cingular is doing right with AT&T users when they switch over, (It's About Time!!!!)
I will switch over my self, it will be better when I have my same plan & Roll Over minutes

Yep, as soon as Cingular bought over AT&T, my AT&T wireless service started degrading from bad to worse. For more than 6 months it kept getting worse and everyone who calls me complain to me about it.

I think they are just trying to force us to switch since the AT&T plans are much better.

But dont let them fool you. I am sticking it out and not switching to Cingular. If I am going to switch, I will take my business elsewhere.

You dont have to switch because your AT&T phone dies or you need a new phone. Just go buy an "unlocked" GSM phone that support quad band (GSM 850 and 1900), take out the sim card from your old phone and pop it in the new one. You now have a new phone and your old account will be intact. It is totally transparent to Cingular and they dont even know about it.

Wow, lots to read. Glad there is a place to read others in same situation. I think all would be well if Cingular would just allow former AT&T customers to upgrade phones and such, but keep old plans. Yes, we all know that AT&T gave us everything under the sun to stay with them before the merger, so they could haver larger numbers, but that's not my fault. Cingular made the purchase. If they want us on GSM, then they should provide an easy way to switch without forking out more money for "less" service.

I CANCELLED MY CINGULAR WIRELESS CONTRACT BEFORE THE TERMINATION DATE. I AM A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. I MAKE MY LIVING ON THE PHONE. AROUND FEBRUARY OF 2006 I STARTED HAVING MANY DROPPED CALLS. TO HAVE A FIVE MINUTE CONVERSATION IT WAS TAKING TWO TO THREE CALLBACKS. I SPENT EQUIVELENT TO DAYS ON THE PHONE WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE. THEY SUCK! THATS THE ONLY WAY TO DESCRIBE IT. I HAD THEM CHANGE MY SIM-CARD AND STILL NO LUCK.I FINALLY GOT VERIZON. GUESS WHAT? FOUR MONTHS OF NO DROPPED CALLS. CINGULAR STARTED SENDING ME HATE MAIL. ON 9-26 I GOT A CALL FROM A COLLECTION COMPANY, SOUTHWEST CREDIT SYSTEMS I BELIEVE IS THERE NAME. THEY THREATENED TO TAKE ME TO COURT AND TO RUIN MY CREDIT.I BASICALLY TOLD THEM TO GO HAVE INTERCOURSE WITH THEMSELF AND I WILL SEE YOU IN COURT. I AM IN THE RESEARCH OF MY NEXT MOVE IN BEATING THESE BULLIES. IT AINT THE MONEY, BUT THE PRINCIPAL. THEY SUPPLY SHITTY SERVICE AND NOW THEY WANT TO GET PAID? I DONT THINK SO.I HOPE YOU DO WELL WITH YOUR LAWSUIT.I WILL FOLLOW THIS SITE. PLEASE POST IF YOU NEED MORE PEOPLE TO JOIN THE CLASS ACTION.

I am currently still on the AT&T network and since the merger with Cingular, I have had an increasing number of problems with dropped calls, delayed voicemails and missed text messages. I recently spoke to an AT&T rep and told her about my problems with Cingular. She gave me her email and told me to send her in writing my situation. That way she would have something to show her supervisors. I encourage you, if you are/were a former AT&T Wireless customer to send her an email and describe your situation. Remember they can't do anything is they don't know about the problem.

[Personal contact info deleted]

Cingular sucks most heinously, they KNOW IT, and THEY DON'T CARE.

I am NOT a former AT&T customer, so I have no insight into that debaucle. What I am is a brand new customer who is purchasing a phone for the first time.

I first ordered a Nokia 6030, which is a very basic slimline model, no flip top. The day I bought it, it slipped out of my hand while I was putting it in the case, fell on the floor and broke into four separate pieces. I called customer service and they were happy to exchange the phone.

I received my replacement about a week later and it was a complete dud. I called customer service again to tell them this phone was defective. After jumping through all those hoops, they finally agreed to issue me another replacement. They also blithely indicated that I was allowed only 1 more exchange on my plan before I would be "stuck with what I have."

I waited almost 2 weeks for my replacement to arrive before I called them back. This time, the agent flatly informed me I would not be given another phone. This was it, too bad so sad, have a nice day, buh-bye. I demanded to speak with a supervisor, and none to nicely either.

I then spoke to a supervisor (who informed me that she just walked in the door and that she hates taking "sup" calls first thing on her shift.) She was very nice and all, and even upgraded me to a more expensive model phone without increasing my rate.

At first I thought I was getting a real deal, until I realized the phone was also a dud. Among other issues it had, I was even at times unable to DISCONNECT CALLS! Much like a PC locking up, the phone did the same thing.

Once again, I attempt to reach Cingular, only to be met with "NETWORK BUSY". That was at 7:00 a.m. this morning. It is now 2:00 p.m. and the network is still busy.

When I finally reached another supervisor (from a land line this time), I was informed that they would not let me out of the contract, period, second, that if I wanted to exchange the phone, I could do it for the exact same model and nothing else, and third, I was allowed only one more exchange and after that, there was absolutely nothing that could be done.

Now I don't know what you all think, but if I'm paying my bill ON TIME, and I'm a NEW CUSTOMER, and I have YET TO RECEIVE A PHONE THAT WORKS RELIABLY, you would think they would be bending over backwards to help me, right?

Wrong. Instead, they have taken the position that so-and-so million other customers are satisfied, so wtf is my problem?

Accountability is non-existent at Cingular Wireless.

Agreed with #56.
In the same situation. If you need more people for class action count on me.

Thank you martin628 for your info on cingular & at&t. I got into my pin menu not knowing what it was and ended up with my sim card rejecting. I went to cingular and was told I fried my card and had to switch my phone to cingular and a new plan. They would give me a discount though. My mom was not happy. She kept thinking there was a way for them to unlock that card. She found your message on cingular changing name back to at&t and the lawsuit forcing Cingular to either unlock the phones or provide a phone to work with the blue sim. She went in 3 days later, explained that the card rejected and expected them to put up a fight. They asked for the phone # and who the account was under. Put in a New sim card switched number over and no questions asked. Total different story then I was told and my Dad was even with me at the time so they were not trying to take advantage of a younger adult. I thought my Dad's jaw was going to fall off his face when she told him what they did. Took less then 10 min from the time she entered the store and left. She never had to mention the lawsuit or nothing. Thank you Cingular also for the great customer service!!! I should say the 2nd time. I won't hold it against you since I have my phone, my plan, and my at&t. Hope this gives other at&t plan holders under no contract with cingular some hope of the future!!!

The cellular phone infrastructure in the US sucks. Due to their capitalistic system, they started having cell phones here in the US a long time ago starting with an analog infrastructure. Now that technology has advanced, they are trying to migrate into a digital infrastructure, however the cost of switching from analog to digital is to large for the companies and the country to handdle. So who pays for that price? Us the customers. In europe they never had an analog infrastructure and they went straight into digital. The phones, the receptions and the plans are amazing. I mean here you have to pay extra for everything, where as in Europe everything is included in your plan (3way calling, texting, internet, email etc.) I have Sprint and they suck big time. We recently moved to a new apartment in Boston and I have absolutely NO reception on my phone. I literally have to leave my apartment, walk 2 blocks just so I can get 2 reception bars on my phone. When I called Sprint to complain their answer was "Since we don't guarantee reception inside buildings, there is not much we can do for you". Now why don't the sales reps tell you that when you go to a Sprint store to purchase a phone and a plan? Bad for business right? But it is mentioned in the plan contract. Yes that paperweight thing that no one reads? SPRINT SUCKS AND SO DO ALL THE CELLULAR COMPANIES IN THE US. Unfortunately they have us all by the balls, cause we live in times where everyone needs a cell phone and they need us the customers to pay for their infrastructure switch from analog to digital. By the way if they tell you that everything is digital it's a LIE. Nothing is 100% digital yet in the US!!!

I have been a customer of Cingular for quite a few years since LA Cellular was around in the Southern Cal area. Lately the service has been terrable with drop calls happening all of the time and people trying to get ahold of me when I am available but going to my voicemail but ariving about 2 hrs after the message was left. It sucks when you are talking to someone and having the call dropped at least 2 or 3 times to finally get the conversation through. My friend who I talk to has Cingular also and that is the problem. I called customer service and told them that I keep seeing an add on tv that Cingular has the fewest drop calls but my friend and myself must be the ones that are getting the dropped calls. They are giving me a month of free service, but I am still going to have the same problem. I can't change service because I signed up in January for 2 years. I would like to know where I can complain to for getting Cingular to fix their problems. I have heard that they are selling or leasing some of their cell sites to other cell phone companies and that is the problem with all of the drop calls.

I can't add another phone line to my att&t family plan and I have to sign a new 2yr contract to switch to a cingular family plan. I have unlocked phones so I don't need new phones. I have cingular sim cards so I don't need those either. I understand signing a 2 year contract to get a free phone or a discounted price on a costly phone but what is the purpose of a contract if the customer is not getting anything out of it? I have already fulfilled my 2 year obligation. All I want is to be on a cingular family plan so that I can add an additional line. This is totally ridiculous!

i just found out that cingular is going to do away with the go phone service. is it true. my daughter just recently purchased her motorola go phone and then only to find out they are going to discontinue the pre paid service. this really sucks. i am going to purchase either a virgin moble phone or a trac fone.

I have been an AT&T wireless customer ever since they bought out Cellular One. After At&t was taken over by Cingular I experienced a short period of awful service but then it has been great ever since. After the hurricanes hit florida over the past two years, I was the only person I knew whose cell service worked in the days immediately after. My only problem is that I desperately need a new phone and have been told I will lose the $99.99 a month unlimited minutes plan that I currently have. To switch to Cingular or any other company I will be paying double to be limited to 5000 minutes. I keep reading about unlocked phones but don't know where to get them or how to find the programs to unlock them. Any suggestions? Thanks

Note..... IF YOU WANT TO STAY WITH ATT BECAUSE OF THE LOW COST WHICH BY THE WAY CANT BE MATCHED BY ANY COMPANY.. YOU CAN GO TO E BAY AND BUY AN UNLOCKED CINGULAR PHONE AND JUST INSERT YOUR SIM CARD INTO THE NEW PHONE. DONT LET CINGULAR TELL YOU THAT YOU HAVE TO SWITCH TO THEM NOW THAT YOUR PHONE DIED!!!!

I strongly urge every one of you who has a complaint against Cingular to contact your Attorney General's office and file a complaint against Cingular.

That is how the lawsuit was able to proceed in Seattle. Without formally registering your complaints with the Attorney General's office we cannot hold Cingular accountable for their bad business practices.

Cingular opened a fraudulent phantom account in my husband's name (we had an actual working account) then sent that account to Southwest credit systems. We never knew about the account until we started getting abusive phone calls from Southwest credit systems. We spoke with Cingular and they claimed to Zero out the balance and claimed to contact the collection agency to terminate the account. They never did
and that account has been accruing bad credit.

We are working with the Attorney General to correct this problem. Needless to say, it is a nightmare thanks to Cingular's deceptions, lies and bad business practices.

I know I'm not alone. File all your complaints, it's the only way to make a change.

To contact your
Attorney General go here.

My wife and I have had nothing but dropped calls with Cingular. The service is complete junk. We both live in Minneapolis where the coverage map is one of the most colorful on the grid. But yet Cingular drops at least 2 calls a day on me or my wife. It's rediculous, thank God we're past our 2 year contract mark because it's time to say "good bye" to Cingular!

Cingular just SUCKS ...........plain and simple.

I never had an issue with service after Cingular bought AT&T. The GSM network is far superior to TDMA. But their treatment of AT&T customers is simply terrible.

Here's what happened to me. I upgraded my phone and bought direct from Motorola - paid the full price, nothing bundled with a new plan because I am on a family plan, and it's better than anything currently available. The phone arrived, and it was Cingular-branded. I inserted my SIM card, and the phone requested an unlock code.

Basically, in order to retain even more control over customers, the cell phone companies "lock" phones to their SIM cards. Even though I am now a Cingular customer, my SIM card is still AT&T Wireless, and so the phone was rejecting it.

Simple matter: just enter the unlock code, which Cingular had. I called up Cingular, and they explained that they wouldn't give it to me. I'd have to get a new SIM card, one that was Cingular-branded. I went to a Cingular store for a new SIM card, and was flatly denied. The only way to get a new SIM card would be to change my plan at the same time.

Change my plan? When I'm already paying Cingular, and am a Cingular customer? So that I could simply use a phone that I paid full price for? Maybe I should add a few exclamation marks into there, for those of you who aren't feeling that something is wrong here. The Cingular representatives tried to be helpful, though. They informed me that if I went a bit farther down the road, there was a place that would unlock phones for $20. I appreciate the kind gesture, but I find it unacceptable that I should pay for something that my "parent company" is responsible for causing and could solve for free. (FYI Motorola would not give me the unlock code either.)

At the end of the day, I returned the phone and discovered that unlocked phones are sold on the internet. I bought the same model, unlocked, and for a better price. Cingular's service has been great for me. I spend my time in New York and Los Angeles, but I am now having major issues with the service in Oahu, Hawaii. I won't be surprised if part of the "solution" is to get a Cingular SIM card.

Re: "No major network uses TDMA."

Can you say Iridium?

Someone please post contact information for the firm handling the lawsuit. It seems everyone wants to join but no one explains how. Cingular is not returning my phone calls regarding what I was told, by otherwise clearly lying sales reps at their (formerly AT&T) store, that their was a class action lawsuit and I should contact their legal department for details. I'm constantly lied-to by their sales reps trying to get a commission on the sale of a GSM phone and contract. As I've said elsewhere, I've not experienced this kind of misrepresentation since the recruitment of helicopter pilot trainees by the Army in the late 60's.

Cingular, now AT&T, really has great service, and is truly the best.

After reading all the postings, I see I am not alone. I am a former AT&T Wireless customer with a NY area code on my primary phone. When I needed to add a second phone to my account, I purchased it from AT&T while I was in Florida and received a Florida area code, which was fine since I'd relocated.

Ran into same problem as many; i.e. wanted to upgrade one phone but told I would have to change to Cingular and replace both phones. Also told I could not retain same numbers and would have to switch both to one area code, which I did not want.

NEVER had problems with the old AT&T, but customer service once they were bought by Cingular leaves alot to be desired.

Still don't completely understand why so many people experienced problems when switching from "AT&T phone" to "Cingular phone" & SIM card, but after all the horror stories from everyone I know who made the switch, I refused to be forced into new phones, worse service and higher cost plan by Cingular.

I ended up buying a brand new phone from a local company (instead of through Cingular) who unlocked it. Hmmmmm...guess Cingular doesn't mind losing sales due to the fact they make it so difficult for former AT&T Wireless customers.

How does one get info on the lawsuit? Does anyone know how Cingular's recent change to "the new AT&T" impacts all of this?

Trina

Spent way to much time with at&t then cingular and back to at&t, service wasnt too bad at first with at&t but it continually went down hill from there.
And yes they do have the worst customer service period.
Luckily one time I switched to a roaming plan because of some upcoming travels, the rep failed to tell me at the time I changed the plan b4 using any roaming minutes whatsoever that my bill was over a thousand dollars, because the roaming plan didnt include as many minutes as my $50.00 a month plan. It took half a dozen call to customer support and I finally got the bill reduced to $250.00 ... What a bunch of CON MEN, Beware ---

I have terrible service with AT&T. My son's phone will not work only 5 miles from my home. We did not want to become part of AT&T but had not choice. Had to get new phones. We are considering another service