Archives: Cingular, 6 of 6

--Some of you may recall my AT&T/Cingular saga. I have decided it is too good to waste away in the archives of the message board where it was originally posted. Join me for my trip down Memory Lane. Bring an umbrella. With me, it never rains but pours.--

Well, FedEx sent me a tracking number today. Seems AT&T/Cingular didn't see fit to ship my Ogo until TODAY. It was supposed to ARRIVE today.

So I got on the phone. Remember, Adrian told me I could simply ask for "Adrian in Customer Care" and speak with him again. So I tried that. The dude on the phone LAUGHED and said, "We have over two thousand call reps here, ma'am." Long story short: he gave me another number to call. When I dialed, I got the "this number is no longer in service" message. Naturally. So I started back at Square One.

Finally got another rep. I calmly but firmly explained that I needed to speak with a manager. After about 40 mins I got Gabrielle.

She was unsympatheic and told me she "couldn't magically make FedEx appear." I said no, but you can further compensate me for this hellish experience. She said, "Look, lady, they already gave you a $25 credit, I'm not about to give it to you free or something."

I said, "What sort of compensation do you think is appropriate then?"

She said, "I can give you 15 courtesy minutes on your cell phone."

HAHAHA. I said, "I am not trying to get something for nothing. I am trying to be compensated for poor customer service and what is, as far as I'm concerned, false advertising on the website."

I walked her through it and she saw the promo herself.

She said, "Oh, well, I can't speed up shipping NOW, and I can't compensate you for free shipping."

I said, "What holds the company accountable, then? What keeps Cingular from offering deals on their website and not following through?"

"Oh, well, I can offer feedback to the web designers."

HAHAHA.

I said to her, "Obviously, since Adrian offered me compensation he felt was appropriate, but you aren't, it's a matter of discretion. I would just like to make it clear that after 5 days and 3 hours on the phone, complete with dropped calls, downed systems, and an order that STILL has not arrived, I am extremely unhappy with your company. I am giving you the opportunity to give me another $25 credit and mollify me slightly. If you are unwilling to do that, I will cancel two cell phones, which is $100 a month, and there will be no $20 Ogo activation fee and no $18 a month Ogo monthly fee. So, for your discretion in not crediting me $25, your company will be losing almost $120 a month. Just to be clear."

She said, "That's fine ma'am, I'm sorry you're upset."

I said, "What would you do in my position?"

"Well I wouldn't think I deserved a free device, but I guess that's just me."

So I canceled my cell phone and Jared's cell phone, and I guess when my Ogo does finally arrive, I get to kiss it good-bye and sell it on eBay or something. Or maybe I'll keep Ogo but take our phones elsewhere. Or maybe I'll have Jared call and give it his best shot at getting resolution with someone else.

And I don't believe it, but my baby's diaper leaked as I was typing this and that nice warm sensation is spreading aaaaaall over my lap.