I received a call this morning from Cingular. A customer service agent named Cheryl was calling to advise me that the billing error had been corrected and that my account was in good standing again. She was very professional and did not hang up as I vented on her. I was happy that the billing error had been resolved, yes. However I was still very upset with the manner in which Cingular had treated me for the past month. I ranted about the poor customer service and the illogical processes with which Cingular does business. I explained why it was not good business to treat customers with flippant sarcasm or to 'cold transfer' a person to the next agent just to be done with them. People are not stupid and they will adapt however slowly to the realization that Cingular's disregard for the customer is the biggest mistake any corporation can make. These customers are not problems, but rather people. People deserve respect and if you are providing a service to them then these are the people who in fact keep them in business and are therefore thier most important assets of all. I felt bad when I had finished with my rant and did in fact apologize to Cheryl who, like a trooper, had indulged me in my closure to this nightmare event.
Cheryl apologized again herself on behalf of Cingular Wireless and although I accepted her apology, I made mention of the fact that she could in no way provide enough of an apology on her own for the deceptions and unethical behavior of the company itself. She would shine as the one who notified me of the end of the battle, feeling as though her job was complete as far as my case was concerned, ignorant of the truth. That truth being the fact that this skirmish was at an end and yet it merely signified a short respit in a war that rages endlessly on and on ...
I did indeed receive a phone call from Andrew (Mooncat) Nelson today. Mooncat advised me that after going carefully over the information in my account he had come to the conclusion that there was in fact no way I could be in El Rey, Mexico while I was in Galveston, TX at the same time. As dissapointing as this was, I couldn't deny Mooncat's findings. The evidence was conclusive and after weighing it against my alternate theory where I had briefly entertained the notion that perhaps I had stumbled upon a stargate or time/space portal of some kind and had been in two places at once for however brief the amount of time it took to generate the eroneous charges that appeared on my Cingular bill.
I asked Mooncat if he would be so kind as to take my account out of collection and make sure that there was proper documentation to show my current status as pending credit due to billing error. This way when a customer service agent happened to peruse my account as they often are want to do for any number of superfillous reasons, they would not immediately label, categorize, and typecast me as some kind of low life, jobless, disgruntled piece of shit that obviously was not responsible enough to handle a cell phone account and had gotten in over his head past the point of no return and now sought to bad mouth Cingular rather than pay his bill.
Mooncat told me he couldn't do exactly what I was asking but he would push the termination date out until May 01,2006 so that this situation could be cleared up before they shut me off. I would like to thank Andrew Nelson for being one of the few Cingular employees who actually took the time to do his job and to do it with diligence that made me feel like he cared. He even kept his word, something that seems is in rather short supply at Cingular, and called me back just as he promised.
Andrew Nelson, one of the few customer service agents who actually have tried to help me with my situation, will try to see what he can do.... He will be calling me back on Saturday, April 16 to let me know what he can do to rectify this problem. I await his call.
I was busy this morning but managed to place a call to Cingular and was able to speak with a customer service agent who was actually providing some excellent customer service for a change. She ended up transfering me however to a gentleman named Dave in the billing department. I thought Dave was a supervisor of some kind but I'm not clear on that. It doesn't really matter anyway and if he is a supervisor then I pity the system that produces these braindead automatons of the wireless empire. In a nutshell this is how the conversation went:
Cingular: 'Hi Mr.------, I want to thank you for choosing Cingular Wireless as your wireless provider of choice. We know that you do indeed have a choice and we appreciate your continued and loyal patronage.'
Me: 'Yeah, ok, hey listen, I really hope that you can actually do something for me here today. I have been dealing with this situation since March 25 and now Cingular in spite of my having never made a late payment, in spite of the fact that 2 of Cingular's world class Customer Service agents have assured me that this matter is a Cingular billing error and that I am not only in the process of being credited on this mistake but that Cingular is very sorry for all the inconvenience that this has caused me. While I am not an unreasonable person Dave, I feel that when these same Customer Service agents finish apologizing to me for the inconvenience that this has caused, and then actually leave my account in it's delinquent status pending termination for non payment of services, I have to draw a line and tell you that what Cingular is providing is not anything close to acceptable, let alone basic customer service. They left the account in delinquency and just went on about their day like business as usual. Hello? Do you find anything odd about that Dave? What kind of Customer Service is that Dave? I'm really trying to handle this in a positive way but I'm at a loss for why this is happening to me...'
Cingular: 'What could I say to you this morning Mr.------ that could get you to at least pay a portion of this outstanding balance down?'
Me: 'What!? Are you even listening to anything I'm saying? Those charges are not supposed to be there! I was not in Mexico... those are International Roaming charges that cover a 3 day period from October 25 - 27, 2005 and further, the charges were aquired only on the wireless networking card. None of the outstanding balance as you call it is from phone usage. Isn't that odd as well Dave?'
Cingular: 'If you would take a look at your Cingular Service Summary which is located on your statement each month you would find that roaming charges apply when you are outside the United States.'
Me: 'How many times do I have to say it!? I was NEVER outside of the United States. I don't even have a passport. These charges need to be reversed and during that process no matter how long it takes, my account should be frozen or at the minimum placed in a special status so that it is not shut off and that anyone looking at my account can see what is going on.'
And around, and around we go... It's just unbelievable how arrogant and unwilling Cingular has been since this whole thing began. With the exception of a very few employees I have been treated like a piece of shit. I've been threatened, ignored and made to feel insignificant to them in general. All because what? Oh yeah, they made a billing error which I brought to their attention... FUCK YOU CINGULAR. I haven't done anything in violation of my contract, I've paid my bill on time, EVERY time since I opened my account, I've kept my composure for the most part during this entire fiasco and what has it done for me? Not a damn thing. So the only thing I have left is to just say FUCK YOU CINGULAR. I hope like hell that your company suffers and even though you somehow manage to continue brainwashing and hypnotizing witless consumers (like you did me) there are those of us who know the truth behind the smoke and mirrors. I will do whatever I can from now on to let others know my story and help them to see your true face. Anytime I have an opportunity to deface your image or tarnish your name publicly you can count on it. I'm not just some disgruntled slob. I'm not just an irate customer who's shooting his mouth off... no Cingular, I have information that you and your big brother (SBC) don't want aired to the general population. In fact, I spent six years as an employee of SBC, five of those years were spent at the management level and I was privilage to quite a bit of unethical and immoral practices which you fuckers call Policy. Let's play assholes...
I called and spoke with a girl at the Cingular Store in Arden Mall, Sacramento, CA [916-440-0445] who told me that there are no records on my account prior to April 5, 2006 which is interesting because that's just two days after Cingular waived my deposits and allowed me to add devices to my 'delinquent' account. She said I should call the Downtown Plaza Store at [916-649-9971] and ask for a manager. I called and was told there was no manager working today but the guy I spoke with after listening to my problem told me I should contact Accounts Receivable on Monday at [866-404-2167] and they would be able to do more for me. We will see...
As of the time I posted this I have reciecved an automated call from Cingular Wireless [800-947-5096] which advised me to call them immediately regarding my delinquent account. I returned the call and only got a recorded message advising me that they were closed and would re-open on Monday, April 10, 2006. The message then directed me to visit the 24 hour automated payment center to make a payment. Finally I was told that if this was an emergency to contact 'after hours' support at [866-801-3600] which I dialed and was able to reach a woman who told me she could not help as I had reached technical support and would have to call back on Monday. I explained briefly my situation knowing that my words fell upon deaf ears. When she again stated that I was going to have to discuss my 'unfortunate' situation with customer service on Monday I lost it and was rather rude as I told her that I have talked with customer service already and it has got me nowhere. Further I was going to file a legal suit against Cingular Wireless if they did not resolve this issue. She noted it on the account and with a bit of effort actually asked me if she had done everything this evening to make my experience with Cingular Wireless a pleasant one... I asked when the account was scheduled to be turned off and she told me April 10, 2006. Well folks that's Monday! How much do you want to bet that they shut it off before I can get them on the phone Monday morning?
I was at the Cingular Store in Sacramento, CA [Store Information Included Below], I purchased a cell phone, which had a $100 mail in rebate but I was offered a $100 'in store rebate' instead if I purchased it. I also purchased a new SIM chip for my old Sony Erricson wireless card and added them both to my existing plan which I then upgraded from National to Family Talk. I now had 5 devices on my account. The customer service agent who assisted me was named My and he is the one who advised me that my account was seriously delinquent and that I would need to also make an $800 deposit per device before he could help me. After My called Cingular and spent close to an hour on the phone, he handed me the phone and was informed by a woman that I was definitely getting a credit to my account in the amount of $1,609.00 and that it would be split up into two payments one of which I would receive by check and the other half would be credited to my account. She said this was currently 'being processed' but would take around two weeks. Also she informed me that I had established enough credit with Cingular due to my history of on time payments to do away with the need for requiring a deposit. She apologized for all of the inconvenience and I thanked her.
OK CINGULAR....... IF YOU ARE READING THIS PLEASE ANSWER THE OBVIOUS QUESTION: IF I'M A DELINQUENT WHO WON"T PAY HIS BILL AND MY ACCOUNT STATUS IS IN COLLECTION AND YOU ARE GOING TO TERMINATE MY SERVICE THEN WHY DID YOU SELL ME ANOTHER 2 DEVICES AND ALLOW ME TO PURCHASE THEM WITHOUT THE NEED FOR A DEPOSIT?? YOU PEOPLE ARE INSANE. EVEN SPRINT NEVER DID ANYTHING THIS UNETHICAL TO ME...
Cingular Wireless
547 L ST
SUITE 1066E
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916)440-0445
Fax: (916)440-0445
Hours: MON-SAT 10:00-9:00 SUN 11:00-6:00
Store Email Address: jason.jaekel@swmail.cingular.com
I placed my original call to Cingular in regard to the incorrect charges on Saturday, March 25, 2006. Dolores Pitts was the customer service agent who originally advised me that Cingular had made a billing error and that she would open a case file on Monday, March 27, 2006.
My experience with Cingular was until recently a refreshing one where I was always willing to recommend them to others and stand in support of the good customer service and excellent coverage they offered. Recently however a lot has changed. It seems that I was perhaps premature in my evaluation of their customer service. More to the point, I was not qualified to give more than an overall or general assessment of them. How could I qualify them if I never had to deal with them? I could and still do however stand by the coverage they offer which is in my opinion the best compared to the competition that currently is available.
Consider this: If your service is working and you are not experiencing any problems, then you probably have little need to contact customer support. In that event you are not likely to be able to evaluate how the company handles real problems. You are also less likely to be able to rate the customer service you would receive in situations where the object is not to sell a service but rather to fix it. That is important to keep in mind because the one thing that I find consistent amongst all the companies I deal with is that customer service is usually the ability to recite scripted verse and follow a flowchart coupled with a fake smile and a few compliments thrown in for good measure. This false courtesy is not only transparent and patronizing, it has become a standard which consumers seem to be numb to and just accept. While this scripted and robotic customer service practice works well to sell services or handle small questions that don't require technical response, it completely falls apart when confronted with the customer who has an identifiable and real problem or complaint with the service provided. Now there is nothing to sell, nothing to push or promote. The customer service falters, noticeably.
My point is that if you want to know what people think of the service they receive from a given company, then you are most likely going to receive a 'general' or 'overall' perception of service rather than a qualified review. This is how corporations misdirect the general public into believing that they are highly favored and well respected. By doing surveys and 'sweeps' for random opinion they tend to gather information from large groups of people all at once and then compile the data which statistically will be mostly favorable because most of the participants in the survey will have only the general perception of the company in question rather than a detailed synopsis of the methods and procedures they use to troubleshoot problems.
These customers will for the most part have nothing but good things to say about the company as they are only aware of them based upon the impact of marketing and targeted response tacticts such as doing follow up calls to customers who have recently subscribed to a service even though they have not had a chance to evaluate the service in question.
There are hundreds of such tactics in use to draw out a mostly positive response to a supposed random survey. These numbers are tallied, then sorted for use in propoganda and various inter-company newsletters and reports. In the end they are all catalogued and used to sway potential customers to sign up as well as prove to shareholders that the company officers are diligently at work making the tough decisions that need to be made in order to raise the stock value, which as always is the determining factor at the end of the day.
I thought it might be a good idea to detail my own personal experience with Cingular Wireless for people to read over.
For the past several days I am unable to log in to the Cingular web site. While this may not be a problem that plagues most customers, I have been on the phone with Cingular's top notch customer service team for over 4 hours in the past 3 days where they assured me 3 times that my account login had been fixed. But when I returned to the web site I was still denied access. Much to my relief, I was able to log in this evening for the first time in over a week. Imagine my surprise when I was confronted with an outstanding and overdue balance of $1,190.43!!!
Perhaps I should start at the beginning as this is a rather long and complicated story...
I have been a Cingular customer for just under 1 year. I have always paid my bill on time. I paid an $800 deposit per device on my account. In the beginning I had 2 phones. I then added a wireless networking card for my laptop. I recently added 1 more phone and 1 more wireless networking card. I currently have 5 devices on my plan. I'd say I am a good customer, 5 devices, never late on my payments, promoting them whenever and in general feeling good about them.
Things have changed. When I wanted to buy the first wireless card for my laptop, I went to the Cingular store. I was told they don't sell them. I would have to order it online. No explanation was given, just that it was a policy. The Cingular store employees all seem to share a common ignorance when it comes to the products they are selling. Not all of them, but more than half of the people I personally dealt with throughout the entire country did not have enough knowledge of the products they were selling to even be able to answer questions for me. Now let me say that since I am a line haul driver I am on the road 99% of the time. I have a PO box for my mail but I rarely get more than a few bills. I conduct all of my financial and business transactions online. That business does not include shipping me products. When it comes to purchases, I always pay cash and pick up at retail centers. It is not only inconvenient but most of the time impossible for me to provide a physical mailing address as I sold my house and am still looking to buy another.
With this in mind you can see how my frustration began to build as I slowly worked my way across the country stopping at Cingular stores along the way in many different states hoping to find a single wireless card that I would gladly purchase. I ended up finding one in Denver, Co I believe and it worked as well as I had hoped, once again proving that the network is reliable and I did not harbor animosity even though I felt that the Cingular stores were little more than outlets for the latest model phones. I couldn't figure out why they would spend money to open so many stores and then not stock them with items that could be sold locally. It's possible that certain markets may not sell certain items as well as in other areas. I understand this but as a consumer I don't feel that having someone tell me that I have to order online because it's just a policy and not having much knowledge in general on any topic that I try to discuss related to Cingular products, services and policies is a good way to promote or foster a relationship between Cingular and it's customers or potential customers.
Some time passed and I didn't have need to contact Cingular as things were working just fine. This is how it should be perhaps. Finally I had need to bring my daughter onto my account. She had been a Cingular customer for a little over 1 year under my mother. When I asked Cingular to do this they obliged without any real issues. Again we are all happy customers. The next time I dealt with Cingular was when I upgraded my laptop card to the Sierra Wireless Aircard which utilizes the 3G network that Cingular is rolling out in certain markets. I wasn't eligible for an upgrade but I decided to just buy the card.
I went once again to a local Cingular store and found that they were in fact not only selling these cards, but even had a contract with the manufacturer and a huge ad campaign that focused on the 3G network. I told the Cingular employee that I wanted to buy the card and that I currently had the unlimited access service. I asked if I needed to call Cingular to have them make any changes to my plan. I was told to just take the SIM chip from the old card and use it in the Sierra card. I was told that there was no need to have to call Cingular. Well the first problem I had was that the connection speed of the Sierra card was slower than the Sony Erricson card had been. That's when it would even connect. I called Cingular again. Technical support worked with me for a bit and then asked me to remove the SIM chip and read the numbers back to them. I did this and was told that the SIM chip they sold me with Sierra WIreless card was no good. It was a 2G chip for the older wireless cards. Well of course it was, it was the chip from my old Sony Erricson card. So in essence what we have is a Cingular store full of Cingular employees who are selling Cingular products and services. These employees are the front line of Cingular's vast network and they certainly get the most face to face exposure with the public on a daily basis.
Why then don't they know that in order to operate correctly the Sierra Wireless Aircard which Cingular has contracted with, requires a 3G SIM chip to function with it's 3G architecture? Well I asked the technical support person this question. He told me that the Cingular store employees are not required to know anything like that. They are just there to sell the stuff. Wow. I was developing a new appreciation for the art of illusion that corporations like Cingular employ with the huge ad campaigns and marketing strategies which target various triggers in an effort to sell us the phones and cards and get our signatures on those contracts for 2 year commitments while at the same time not even providing training or education to the very people who are handing us the pens to sign our names with.
I felt like I was not important to Cingular. I would have to make another trip to a Cingular store and get a 3G SIM chip now. For all of my inconvenience and frustration I was given $10 credit towards the purchase of my $10 3G SIM chip. I guess they really do consider me an important part of their continued success after all.
Well after the 3G chip my Sierra card performed flawlessly. Again I congratulate Cingular for making the transition toward the high speed wireless network age we are at the brink of. The broadband functioned wonderfully in Phoenix, AZ and also in Las Vegas, NV although Portland, OR gave me a problem but I understand that they are just rolling out the 3G network so there will be a few problems in the beginning. Overall a fine job. Again, in spite of the inept customer service I am once again backing Cingular and wondering how they did that to me.
Now I will relate the latest events which are as of this writing still in a state of limbo. I say limbo because as you will read below, I am not sure if even Cingular knows what is going on with my account anymore. I was in Nevada when my father called and told me he had just received the Cingular bill. That in itself is odd because I have gone to the Cingular web site and checked the little box next to the option to only receive my statements online. In fact I go there every month and check it again because without fail every month I receive a Cingular statement in the mail anyway. Well my father tells me that I owe Cingular one thousand six hundred nine dollars [$1,609.00]. I knew it had to be a mistake so I called Cingular and when the customer service agent got on the line we discussed this. She told me the amount in overage was caused by excessive data usage. Excessive data usage sounds like a penalty of some sort. But as I explained to her, I am on an UNLIMITED USAGE plan for $79.95 a month and this must be an error. She put me on hold and when she returned she did in fact confirm that it was an error. I was relieved to hear her say it but something in the back of my mind warned me not to get too excited just yet...
I was told by Dolores Pitts that she was going to turn my account over to another department that reviews before making any type of credit adjustments to the accounts. It would take about a week she said. That's fine I didn't care as long as the problem was corrected and my account was straight again. So at her request I paid what she called 'the actual balance' of $417 and she processed the payment right over the phone with me. We hung up and I began my wait hoping she had been sincere and that this would be cleared up.
On April 3, 2006 I added a friend of mine to the account with one more phone and another laptop card. This brings my account to 5 devices. I switched my plan from the National to Family talk and ended up actually saving a little over $50 a month. Not a bad deal but then the Cingular store employee got a look on his face as he was reading something on the monitor while trying to set up the adjustments to my account. I knew it wasn't going to be good news. The employee who's name was My asked me if I was aware I would have to pay an $800 deposit for both new devices. I told him I knew that I had done that in the past but asked if there was really a need for that since I have always been current with my payments and have perhaps earned a break given the fact I was adding 2 more devices. He then told me that I was not current and in fact my account was in serious jeopardy of going into collection for being late in the amount of $1,109 and he was surprised my service was still active at this point.
Oh that's an error I told him, it's being reviewed and credited. Then I realized just how stupid this situation was. I didn't expect My to take me on my word that Cingular had made a billing error and hand me a cell phone, waive my deposits, upgrade my service, shake my hand and send me on my way did I? Nope. This was going to be a complicated process. I explained in detail the situation to My and after listening and verifying what very little he had the power to access from his terminal he got on the phone and called Cingular. I don't know who or what department he talked to but he was on the phone for almost an hour. Finally he asked me a few questions and then told me that Cingular needed to speak to me. I got on the phone and spoke with a woman who informed me that Cingular had in fact made a billing error and that I was being credited $1,609 to my account which would be split and I would receive a check for half the amount while the remainder would be credited to the account, although it would take about 2 more weeks for this to all get straightened out. It sounded odd but at least it was confirmation that I was getting this cleared up. She also told me that I have been current always with my payments and so I would not be required to pay any deposits. I thanked her and then handed the phone to My. About half an hour later I left with the new phone and my service adjusted to the Family Talk Plan. Everything seemed fine.
Why is it that if Cingular made a billing error and acknowledged it that in the system, the very system that all customer service agents use when you call in on the 800 number, I still show delinquent? Does this make sense? The customer service agents that pull up my account see only that I have a bill for $1,109 that it appears I have made no attempt to pay and is in a collection status. What kind of system is this? The left hand doesn't talk to the right hand.
It's the same as when a customer service agent takes your call and after listening to your problem asks you to give them your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first. This would be the same number you were asked to punch in on your keypad while waiting on hold. The recorded voice came on and said that Cingular values your service and that they are so sorry you have to wait on hold due to exceptionally high call volumes (anytime of day, any day of week), but to ensure you receive the fastest possible service you should enter your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first. It always says that because you always have to wait on hold because there is always exceptionally high call volumes and after you wait on hold and do the same thing you do each and every time you call in, the customer service agent will finally pick up and always without fail they wait until you are well into explaining your problem before they interrupt and politely ask you for your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first. This process must surely have been designed for some rational and logical purpose even if it defies all logic and serves to aggravate an already aggravated customer. Right? Where does that 10 digit cell phone number, area code first that you punched into the keypad go? Who sees that? Anyone? Nobody? Why do we punch it in if it doesn't matter? What happens if we don't punch it in? Will we stay on hold longer? We don't know and we just do it. Each and every time. We are sheep to this system of hoops and mazes and the inevitable always welcomed sound of the customer service agent picking up and saying 'Thank You for calling Cingular Wireless, My name is _________________, how can I provide you with excellent customer service today?' and we are happy to be out of the 'on-hold' place that is not a friendly place but a place we know is part of the process and it's the place where all of the people who pass through have to enter their 10 digit cell phone number, area code first.
None of this is meant to be a joke. This is exactly how it is when you are dealing with a problem, a real problem that maybe shouldn't have happened but it did. I don't expect Cingular or any other corporation to be perfect and there will be problems and billing errors or other things that happen. That's fine. But the entire process of calling in for support is flawed by the fact that the left hand doesn't talk to the right hand. And we all know what happens inevitably after you have given your cell phone number once again to the customer service agent. You are asked for your name and then finally on cue, the last four digits of your social security number. Then you are given a brief moment to wonder what you were in the middle of saying as the customer service agent pulls up your account on the computer. Then it really doesn't matter anyway because the customer service agent tells you that you actually need to be speaking with the 'other' department and you must have called in on the 800 number instead of dialing 611 on your cell phone. You try to respond that you pressed zero for customer service just like the recorded voice asked but your customer service agent is professional enough not to let that stop him or her from actually offering to transfer you so that you don't have to call back in. You will be lucky to get another word out before you are swiftly dumped back into the 'on-hold' place again and wondering what just happened.
Are you getting frustrated yet? This is just the beginning. When you are finally picked up by another customer service agent the natural assumption is that you are now speaking with the person who can help you. After all the Cingular Wireless customer service agent took charge of your problem and transferred you to the 'right' department, even though you made a mistake and called the 'wrong' department and after all, they aren't some hole in the wall company, this is Cingular Wireless. A huge corporation with many trained professionals to assist their valued customers. So now you will be provided with more great customer service and soon have your problem fixed and be on your way. As soon as this customer service agent is finished reading what the first customer service agent entered into the computer in regard to your particular issue that you took the time to explain in the beginning before you were asked politely to provide your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first that you had previously entered on your keypad while you were waiting in the 'on-hold' place where all of Cingular Wireless customers have to wait and wonder where the 10 digit cell phone number, area code first goes when you punch it in. Then the voice on the other end of the phone says 'Thank You for calling Cingular Wireless, My name is _________________, how can I provide you with excellent customer service today?' and you honestly pause for 2.8 seconds because you aren't sure if you are the victim of a really bad joke. Well we all are in a way as we have to start from ground zero again with customer service agent number 2 who is maybe or maybe not in the 'right' department this time. This customer service agent will let you not only tell how you were just transferred over by the other customer service agent because something must have happened when you were waiting in the 'on-hold' place the first time when you had to choose a number and you chose zero for the customer service department but it didn't work and you got sent to the 'wrong' department anyway and then you realize this customer service agent is waiting for you to describe your problem because Cingular Wireless doesn't employ any type of system to hand off it's customers with information to make the transfer more efficient. That type of transfer is known commonly as a 'warm transfer' and it's not a process that requires an additional army of engineers, but rather a few extra seconds to provide some actual 'excellent customer service' instead of reading a cue card and then doing what is commonly known as a 'cold transfer' which as it sounds is not very comforting.
So now you begin the process of relating again your particular issue to this new customer service agent and you are interrupted and asked for your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first. This is a 98% probable flash point for most of us. If you are one of the few who can maintain your composure and give out your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first for the third time now you will then be asked again for your name and then on cue, that's right, the last four digits of your social security number. Now the customer service agent is prepared to let you describe what type of problem you are having. That problem seems fairly insignificant compared to the problem you are having with the Cingular Wireless customer service team at the moment.
Don't make the mistake of thinking you will be able to discuss the finer points of customer service with this customer service agent. That will earn you a nice 'cold transfer' back into the 'on-hold' place again while you wait for a supervisor to handle your problem because the customer service agent has other people with real problems that have been waiting and this type of discussion is not something that a Cingular Wireless customer service agent is here to deal with. So if you want to make a complaint you will most definitely need to speak with a supervisor.
That's it. If you are here then you blew it because now you are going to wait for an undetermined amount of time in this 'special-on-hold' place where there is not even bad music, just strange clicks from time to time. This is where they send the ones who have bad attitude problems and really can't appreciate how the professionals at Cingular Wireless have gone out of their way to provide you with excellent customer service. In spite of your selfish and offensive behavior you now have a 50/50 chance that the supervisor will be along shortly and the supervisor is trained to handle situations like this. You may however just be out of luck and will end up hanging up never knowing if anyone would have picked up or even if they would have done anything before getting your 10 digit cell phone number, area code first.
