Cingular Treats You Right, with Occasional Slip-ups

I have been a proud customer of Cingular wireless for the last 5 years. I’ll never forget my first green-screen Motorola cell phone, free with my 2-year contract. It got terrible reception, but it was the device’s fault, not the service I received.

A visit to the store to switch my phone for a candy-bar-thick-Nokia was just the ticket. I received brilliant, low-maintenance service for the next couple of years. No frills here (I didn’t use any extra media services, and subscribed to the cheapest nationwide plan possible), but I can’t complain about Cingular’s performance during that time.

So I renewed my plan with the service provider, signing on for another 2 years, and upgrading to another Nokia or the same general style. I enjoyed great reception and had no overcharges on my minutes plan. Life was grand.

About a year ago, it made sense to switch to a family plan and join up with my then-fiancé, now-husband—also a Cingular customer. Surprisingly, we didn’t appear to save much money at all on our joint plan. But it was much easier to pay one bill than two, so we stuck with it until after the wedding. Upon signing onto the family plan, I got to choose a new phone to replace my now 3-year-old Nokia, which held up surprisingly well until it’s old age.

The clerk suggested a new, free Nokia, and I jumped at the chance. But after using this phone and disliking it, I took advantage of Cingular’s exchange program. “If you hate your new phone,” the clerk said, “just bring it in for a new one.” I liked the sound of that. But I didn’t realize that was a one-shot deal. When I got my second Nokia and the antenna fell completely apart after only a week and a half (not to mention frequent audio issues), I jaunted back to the Cingular store expecting them to hand me a new phone.