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February 28, 2007
I'm not exactly sure how interesting this is, but I have been engaged for several months in a customer-service tug-of-war with Cingular over a $150 early termination fee that they charged me in November. That was when I left Cingular's high-priced, questionable service for T-Mobile's MyFaves plan, which costs a lot less and allows me to talk a lot longer. Competition in the market needs to be rewarded, so that cell phone companies--the used car salesmen of the 21st century--can improve service and lower costs or face mass desertions of customers. (Interestingly, fierce competition among cell companies in India has reduced average monthly charges there to $11.)
This week, I finally got them to remove the charge. Here's what happened: My original two-year contract ended in September 2006. They insisted that when I upgraded in February 2006 to a new phone, because my old one had stopped working, that there was some sort of new two-year agreement. I knew that I had not actively agreed to such a thing, and presented them with a sort of "What does God need with a starship?" type question: "Where is the proof that I agreed to a new two-year contract?" They got very agitated when I called several times a week asking for actual proof that I had agreed to all of their terms. They insisted that I had either agreed to a two-year contract on their website when I ordered the replacement phone, or when I called to activate that phone. I don't remember agreeing to any such thing, I said, and even if I did, the terms were not made known to me in a way that was acceptable. It's an interesting question of cyberlaw. Anyway, finally one of the customer service managers agreed with me, but only after I complained about being treated unkindly by one of the reps. She removed the charge. Because they made me mad, I am now spreading the word that there are online rumblings that anyone may be able to get out of a Cingular contract because they raised their text-messaging fees. Check it out here. |