How to resolve cell phone (service) not working?

Last year I took out a family share talk plan with AT & T. Then a couple months later they merged with Cingular Wireless, which is who I had originally. I had to switch because at the time Cingular didn't cover the area my daughter is living in while away at college.

She has moved to another side of the college town and we cannot communicate hardly at all. We just don't get the signals needed. Cingular told me we're still on the old AT&T network, but if I want to commit to ANOTHER two year agreement and BUY new phones, we can do that.

Now, in my opinion they should give me new phones and and/or transfer me to the new network without any obligation. I can see no reason why I shouldn't be able to communicate with my daughter whose only about seventy miles away. We tried a new phone (same type) and it didn't help.

Any wisdom on how to handle this? I don't want to enter into another contract when the cell phone service may not be any better. And I don't want to buy new phones. Has anyone ever been successful with these telecom giants in getting decent customer service issues resolved?

Thanks!
Sandy

Threaten to take your problem to the Attorney General's office of your state government, or In Ky we have a Public Service Commission, which oversees the operations of public utilities. Hope that helps.

Please keep me posted. I spent a lot of fruitless time on the phone with them arguing your position.

I'm in the -exact- same boat except my sevice decreased suddenly due to "network consolidation" or some such. I had near perfect service in my home area for close to two years, and it went to hell from one day to the next.

See this discussion from last week:
http://forums.dealmac.com/read.php?1,2414388,2414487#2414487

Sounds like class action material to me . . .

ho'ard

They told me right before Rita hit and I argued I desperately needed my phone, that they are changing over the AT&T cell towers to cingular. It would take a while and is affecting signals even on new Phones. They all try to feed us a different crock of stuff don't they??
I heard 3 different stories. This one makes sense but still stinks. Make sure you are not being charged roaming.



Raising the bar...Bah Humbug!

You can file a complaint with the FCC, Form 425 I think. Just go to their site. Tell your provider that it is your next step. Most companies do not need a lot of complaints against them.

I had issues with AT&T a few years ago and after countless hours on hold and countless hours arguing with people who could only say 'we're sorry for your inconvenience' but would do nothing about it I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I received a call from AT&T the next morning and my issues were resolved within the week. Some companies don't care if you file a complaint against them but some really sit up and take notice so it's worth a shot. I had also filed with the FCC with no results - but I'd do that too, you never know which squeak is going to get noticed.