How Cingular is Ruining My Life

When I got a good, steady job, I was dying to get a cell phone.

After 3 paychecks, I decided to go with Cingluar Wireless. They had the best deals (at that time) and I really liked their plans and phones.

I started out with a FREE LGC1300 color flip-phone. It had a cute little mirror on the front, and it was FREE with my contract...so of course, I chose that one.

Well, about 7 months into the contract my phone messed up. As it, it was constantly turning off, erasing my numbers from the SIM card, calling my voicemail when I opened it...and a few other technical problems. Well, since it was still under warranty, I got another one and sent that one back. Within 3 weeks, the replacement was doing the exact same thing! I was furious!

So I went to my local Cingluar store and told them all the problems I was having. By this time, my $300/week job was over with, so I was working with limited funds. They said my only option was to buy a brand new phone at FULL price...and if you've ever bought a cell phone without a contract, you know that most of them are somewhere in the $150-$200 range for a quality phone. I told the guy I wanted something that worked and I was not going to buy a new phone because their products were crap. So he talked to a manager and gave me a "loner phone" - one that the Cingular reps used if they went out of town on a business trip. It worked great, so he eventually said I could just have the phone until it comes time for me to renew my contract, and then I can upgrade to another phone.

Well, little did I know, this phone has several problems. The faceplate won’t stay on. The phone can’t receive updates, so I'm not receiving voicemails and text messages up to and ranging from 1 to 4 weeks. The speakerphone doesn't work. I can’t send MMS messages. The phone shut off and the date and time started going backward back to the 1940s (that was wild!) and it erased all of my phone numbers, all of my messages, all of my pictures, everything. So I took it in and they gave me a new sim card and a new battery. I'm still having the same problems.

I've probably spent more time talking to customer service than to my friends and family. I've come so close to breaking contract, it's not even funny. But I don’t have $200 to give them just so I can get away from their horrible service.

I doubt I'll be renewing my contract in August...