Cingular/AT&T Responds To Class Action Suit
Do you feel like Cingular’s service quality has fallen significantly since their merger with AT&T? You’re not alone. A class-action lawsuit was filed in 2004 in a Seattle district court, alleging that former AT&T customers who didn’t transfer service to the big Orange experienced terrible call quality and spotty service. This may all be a bit of a moot point by now, but Cingular/AT&T issued a written rebuttal last week, maintaining that the suit was "completely without merit" and are moving for a dismissal of charges. If the case does, in fact, proceed, it could have significant ramifications for cell contracts as a whole, agreements that are notoriously limiting for consumers.
[Via tulsaworld]
Could someone post the info for participating in this lawsuit?
I have gone through this hell for 5 years plus… ATT to Cingular- back to ATT with phone reception service that was excellent, but numerous terrible phone problems, which caused interruptions… (a phone actually phone blew-up in my hand)! Then backtracking on settlement of lifetime service for a set price. Since I have had deterioration of service to actually not being able to have a single successful call for over a year… threatened cut off of service unless I switch to GSM (I’m still a digital hold out) and drop the lifetime agreement to a 2-year contract. I have recently gotten overages that did not exist so they could cut off my service for non-payment. A supervisor had to remove it after two days of arguing (about 9 hours) and no service for a day.
I think I am definitely a good example and would help win this case!
I filed a class action law suite against Cingular several years ago. Where I lived their service was usless, I had to leave home to us my phone. I tried to cancel their service but they charged me about $200. anyway. They have been fighting in court for years becuase this is their usual practice. Even if you cancel within the 30 days, they still bill for early cancelation. They commit fraud on a regular basis. Watch out if you’re thinking of going with them. And DO read ALL the fine print. And if you talk to a rep in their stores when/if you sign up, be sure to get their full name. Myself, I’d probably tape the entire conversation, because they WILL lie to you.
PLEASE TELL ME WHO TO CONTACT ABOUT THIS LAW SUIT.
A NAME A NUMBER WEBSITE OR MAILING ADDRESS…
THIS DOES NOONE ANY GOOD JUST B*TCH.
Johnny cingular
You seem as though you work for cingular. Let me tell you and ALL Cingular AT&T cellular and every other greedy capitalistic cell phone company. Every company has free phones for signing a contract, If you do not agree you get no cell phone. The fine print says dropped calls, lack of coverage down time, service may not be available is not the fault of the carrier, you are still responsible to make payments. yada ydada yada How legal should that be? And on top of my continual dropped calls appreciation for me and fellow consumers by this comapany is nil. And rude unedcuated staff that give you NO answers and threaten, give nasty attitudes when you ask POLITELY for a supervisor or someone who can answer your question. They act as if they know everything. If they did they could answer a simple question! I don’t go anywhere else because it is the same crap with every company it does’t matter which devil the customer chooses. And why all the free phones for new customers? A freeking incentivce to come over to them to make more money.
Well if only ONE company figured out that it would be more cost effective to give quality service and phones that didn’t cost so much because someone has to pay for all the new contracts phones. Why should I have to pay $400 for a phone that wont break in a day because the next guy got a free phone for signing? Make everyone pay lower phone prices and give QUALITY service and there would be no reason to have to recruit new customers as no one would leave! DUH I hope this lawsuit prevails. NY state is suing Dell for bad biz policies. I think it’s about time the govn’t starts to stand up for the comsumer that makes the hands in their pockets rich! Via corporate scammers trying to make their stock prices rise at whatever cost etthically. I bet if the CEO took this advice his damn stocks from his comany that he is whoring out would skyrocket!!!! Remember, The CONSUMER is the one that feeds the employees, CEO’s, and their kids. Where is the appreciation? I hope the CEO OF the new “AT&T moble” has this passed to him or her via an employee! No it would be you It would be someone educated in the upper echelons in corporate!
The law firm is:
Strange & Carpenter
12100 Wilshire Blvd. 19th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 207-5055
Did everyone get this address of the law firm handling the suit?
Strange & Carpenter
12100 Wilshire Blvd. 19th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 207-5055
If you want to have a legitimate complaint against ATT/Cingular/ATT you will take action and contact these people.
Make sure they are actually who they say they are and combine your efforts with others. That will make what you say have more power and impact. I am contacting these people. I hope you do, too.
You can all get more attention to this suit by blogging and contacting anyone online you can who has had problems with ATT.
We can communicate with one another on this site for news and getting organized.
I miss Cingular! It appears that now it’s officially AT&T, I’ve had more dropped calls and “NO NETWORK” prompts on my one year old Sony Ericsson phone.
And to top it off, Cingular/AT&T have changed my account number which has totally screwed up my online banking billpay.
What was the reason for changing my account number?
And why is the billing on my new account number incorrect. Just today, it stated I had a $600 past due bill. After I chewed out the friendly and apologetic customer service rep, she stated that the new billing system was having errors. And yet they failed to contact me to tell me that this would be a possibility.
It’s a shame you can’t get out of a contract when they can’t live up to the promise of clear calls and correct billing…
My wife and I have been with Cingular/att Before it was Cingular: I think they were called Cellular One then. We live 25 miles outside of Philly and We honestly have had good call quality and only the occasional dropped calls. I do agree that there customer service in the stores and over the phone is pathetic. They are also expensive, but cannot complain about much else.
Unlocking GSM phones is often the best way to avoid buying all over again when switching between old AT&T wireless GSM plans, Cingular, T-Mobile, etc.
We either buy them unlocked or get them unlocked later.
Cingular still takes us for granted, but lately their customer service has been more likely to add courtesy credits to our account if Cingular/AT&T has goofed.
Everyone should be warned that the Samsung Blackjack that recently went on sale is a piece of junk. Windows Mobile 5 is bad enough, but with no WiFi and a proprietary charging/data cable connector, just say no.
We are still thinking about whether it is worth staying with Cingular/AT&T to get new iPhones when they come out later this month. At least Apple had enough pull with Cingular to force them to take a model that does include WiFi for alternate data connectivity to the overpriced cellular data plans.
More customers considering cell-pda combos need to be ready to walk away if they don’t get WiFi .
My wife and I signed up with Cingular and kept there service for a whole ten days. It was the worst phone service we have ever had! When I called to cancel the service I told the Rep. that their contract stated we had a thirty day grace period without being charged for early termination fees, he said yes, thats right. Just twenty days later here comes the bill. Yup, they charged us for early termination fees plus a service I told them the day we signed up that we didn’t want! I then sent letters to the BBB, The Attorney Generals office, The Federal Trade Commission and the list goes on and on. I have now received so for two phone calls from them telling me they made a mistake! I told them, boy did you ever, you picked on the wrong one this time!
Around $2,300 for a Treo 600 and only 5 months of service — 2004 September to 2005 February before I was totally dead-in-the-water in Las Vegas and finally switched to T-Mobile. And I couldn’t get them to drop me until 2005 August — hence the $550 unlockable paper weight (won’t even work with Cingular’s own SIM cards) + $1,400 for 11 months of service (6 unused) + several more hundreds in various cancellation and other fees.
They would not honor anything, would not replace my AT&T Wireless lock Treo 600 of which I had a replacement plan with AT&T Wireless (and openly lied about no one offering a replacement plan — T-Mobile did, and only charged half for a new one), etc…, etc.., etc…
Again, I was still paying them after switching to T-Mobile, despite trying to cancel, through 2005 August. I finally was able to cancel and even after my “final bill,” they lied again and collected additional FCC taxes for things that were not service.
It’s really sad because most of the AT&T Wireless reps became Cingular customer reps and then had their hands totally bound. I paid $125/month for AT&T Wireless because it was well worth the service, and Cingular wouldn’t honor anything, kept trying to change my plan, completely changed my contract terms — including dropping the phone replacement plan on me in 2004 November without informing me.
I don’t know how many times I’d call their 611 after 2004 December and even they’d say it sounded like I’m in a windstorm. They’d say it was the phone, Palm would say it’s the network, etc…, etc…, etc… I gave up. Been with T-mobile every since early 2005 on a small business plan with 2 Smartphones for half the price I got 1 with AT&T.
My best friend & her husband just got royally screwed by both Cingular and ATT. When they came in about three months ago (or less) and told them they wanted to upgrade after 17 months, that they couldn’t use the phones they had, the guy at the store talked them into two refurbished phones that worked about as well as the other ones, but worse – and they still had to pay an outrageous price for them. That was right when ATT was coming back and they didn’t say a word because if they had they would have dropped them right then & there b/c they had them before and had nothing but bad luck. They’ve been stuck with two phones they can’t use for the last three months and finally, after her husband was stranded when their car broke down she called & demanded out of her contract. He had both phones with him and couldn’t even call anybody and he was *not* in a bad area either. ATT’s answer? No, you’re bound to your contract because of the phone upgrade a few months ago, regardless of your service so you’ll need to go buy a pay as you go Cingular/ATT related phone. These people just put a lot of money they honestly don’t have into these idiots and now they get told they have to go buy more phones????
I thought it was against the law to not let someone out of their contract when they haven’t been able to use their phones for months on end even after an upgrade and not being told a crappy company was secretly buying it back? They sure as hell don’t need to be telling them they have to buy more phones when the service they have sucks. Its not the damn phones!
Gee this lawsuit sounds like a bunch of people who dont read their contracts or listen to the terms and conditions when given to them over the phone. Bitchy, whinny ass people who just have to complain. I admit i’v had my fair shares or frustrations with dropped calls or bills that were wrong but i mean come on….FCC charges, regulatory cost recovery fees and shit that the government charges you blam the cell phone company? And when a phone drops a call you immediately think “Oh well their serivce must suck” then when people call to complain about the problem suddenly either dont have time to troubleshoot the issue? Or no matter what we do to try to fix it weither exchanging the phone or sim card, checking the coverage, etc…you all know that its the service like you’ve been working for the company and knows what is going on… and the name change back to At&t has not a damn thing to do with your service. Your phones just simply say At&t thats it! You people want to get out of your contract when you drop calls and since we have the fewest of them (as an average percentage indoors and outdoors thru the US) you expect the freaking world….if your so damn unhappy then go to another service provider or stop complaining. You are worse than these companies greedy sedistic, dastardly bastards that have nothing better to do with there day then do this stupid ass law suit….i live where there is hardly any coverage for verizon (get charged .49 cents a min for roaming) i just got a different service problem solved…im not going to the BBB, FCC, Attorney General, or filing a class action lawsuit stating that they should let me out of contract and give me back all of this money bc they stated to me that they are “The Network” give me a break. Grow up, get over it, and do something else with your day.
and yes nobody forced anyone over except for the FCC that is shutting down the old service thru at&t and cingular. go sue them since you all are on a witch hunt for anyone and anything. And yes everyone can get a bad cust rep or a mgr even but stop trying to surpass the goddamn policies that you agree to for 2 yrs.this is the same with every cell phone provider out there…..the next thing you will sue about is wanting a free Iphone or something for being a with the company for 2 yrs. And when they cant allow that much of a discount you will run back to the BBB and everyone crying that they dont appreciate you…..”well did they tell you to go to hell or what?……”No they wont give me everything i want for free” have fun sharing stories of sorrow and madness….just as long as it makes you happy
Your comment is particularly ironic and somewhat amusing since your comment of others” not understanding”. Your English, grammar, and syntax is astonishingly bad for someone with a critique. If you are not having troubles with Cingular/AT&T, why are you here? This is a forum for those who need to connect to get assistance with a problem you obviously don’t have anything to do with. Why don’t you find another hobby and let us deal with our situation together without your hateful and judgemental comments.
a little known law lets you multply your mo. bill in to lost days of phone service and deduct it from your bill,what are you waiting for? i do it every mo, with cingular.
Johnny Cingular:
When I signed a contract with AT&T, I did not know that they would soon be acquired by Cingular. So that’s the first thing I did not “agree” to. I also did not “agree” to the fact that when my phone broke within the first year, I would not be able to replace it with an AT&T phone (because AT&T cellular was no longer selling phones at that point); instead, I would have to buy a new “Cingular” phone and my husband, whose AT&T phone was still working fine, would also have to buy a new Cingular phone in order for us to keep a family plan. All at full list price, because we were within the first year of signing the contract so not eligible for upgrades. (fortunately I found my way around giving Cingular more of my money, by buying a used AT&T phone). Third, when my husband’s AT&T phone broke recently, he did not “agree” to being forced to buy a new Cingular phone, rather than simply replacing his AT&T phone so he could keep using the AT&T plan. Getting a new Cingular plan (and a new 2-year contract)- it was his only option at that point. He was also lied to- he told them that I still had an AT&T phone, and we were on a family plan- the Cingular representative told him there would be no problem with me continuing to use my phone on the new plan he had signed up for. That was an outright lie. I now either have to keep a separate plan (= more money), or buy a new Cingular phone to switch to a family plan with my husband (= more money), or have to pay to have my AT&T phone unlocked and then pay for a new Cingular SIM card so I can be on my husband’s plan (= more money). I’ll spend more money because I’ll have to, but I intend to give as little as possible of it to Cingular.
Exactly why are you having difficulty understanding why customers are upset and feel they have been taken advantage of? Or is it that you are so brain-washed by your corporate superiors and it’s too hard for you to admit that they don’t have customers’ best interests in mind? Does that burst your capitalistic bubble?
Description: I have had telephone only service from Comcast (for several years), which was bought by Time Warner. Time Warner offered me to convert my phone service to digital. I agreed. They made an appointment with me for June 9th to make this change. They called back and changed the appointment to June 15th. Upon arriving on June 15, the paper work was in the name of my roommate. They said his was the name on the account. I showed them my most recent bill containing my name. They said to call Customer Service to correct the situation. I called and was told that the policy of Time Warner was to only allow one account at a given address. I showed them that I had had a separate account before and during the time, Time Warner became the provider. They insisted that they could not provide me service unless my roommate was willing to have the service in his name and I pay him. This was unacceptable to both of us, partially because it would put me in the position to have my phone service dependant on his paying of the bill etc. I was told that this was the situation but that they would give me until June 21 (an extension of two days from the day that they intended to end phone service to anyone who had not converted) By that date I was to either have made an arrangement with Verizon to provide me with phone service or agreed to have Time Warner put a message on the line giving out my Cell phone number as my new phone number. For reasons that Time Warner knows, they ended my phone service that day, the 15th of June, without honoring their extension or allowing me to arrange with them to have my Cell phone number given as the number where I could be reached. This morning, June 19th in communications with one of their representatives who identified him self as David, I was told that because they could not give me service, they now had control of my phone number 310-745-4504 and that my options were to establish new service in my room mates name or forfeit my phone number. I am asking for your assistance in formalizing my complaint in the proper form (if something more than what I have just written is needed) and to pursue a fair resolution of the matter including them now possessing my phone number. I believe this issue is bigger than just me and may affect thousands of past customers of Comcast as I live in the Marina Del Rey, one of the largest rental communities in the USA. A large number of these rentals are shared rentals thus many of these past Comcast customers are being forced to change to Verizon (the only other company allowed to provide service in this area) or to have their room mates take on the responsibility for the charges for their phone services. I believe it is the Utilities Commission responsibility to intercede on behalf of all those in the public who are being put in this position by a policy of Time Warner. When Time Warner bought Comcast, they knew of this situation with multiple accounts and single address and yet took no measures to accommodate these customers, nor gave them adequate notice so that other arrangements could be made. Question. Are there lawyers who specialize in these areas that you are familiar with from past cases? Please advise me of their names and phone numbers. Thank you.
Stanley,
I think you should contact those attorneys in LA that handled the AT&T/Cingular class action suit (as well as others, as you’ll see when you go to their website). Jackie mentioned them (see above, June 2 posting):
Strange & Carpenter
12100 Wilshire Blvd. 19th Fl.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 207-5055
It sounds like a situation that has probably affected many others besides you so that is the stuff that class action suits are made of. And these lawyers are in your area.
I have been with AT&T – Cingular – NEW AT&T for over 4 years. I have 4 phones on the Family Plan, which we recently renewed for another 2 years and upgraded our phones. Last week I got a letter from NEW AT&T stating they are terminating our contract on August 16 because less than 50% of our calls are being placed in the 509 service area. Traveling is why I got cell phones in the first place. The only repayment for our customer loyalty was they are letting us out of the new contract without penalty.
After reading these posts, I just had to respond. To those of you who actually do your research and can write legibly, THANK YOU! Those of you who cannot seem to get your facts straight or who write with such atrocious grammar should be ashamed. I am appalled at some of the posts on this web page! Some of you need to retake English 101!
On to the subject matter at hand, I have a mixed opinion of AT&T. My family and I have been with the company since 2000 when it was locally SunCom (Telecorp PCS), which was acquired by “AT&T Wireless” in 2003. For many years, we enjoyed unsurpassed coverage on the old TDMA network, and were able to receive an analog signal where digital service was not available. Signal availability and call quality began to deteriorate shortly after “AT&T Wireless” was acquired by Cingular in 2004. Month by month, I watched Cingular tear apart a once stellar network as they gradually shut down TDMA service. Even though I was no longer under contract, my family kept our former “AT&T Wireless” plans because they were unmatched by any plan even today (Each line had 650 anytime minutes with unlimited nights/weekends & mobile-to-mobile for only $29.99/mo.) Sadly, our market was one of the first nationwide to have the old TDMA service retired (as of Memorial Day 2007).
As a result, we had no choice but to upgrade to a new GSM plan from AT&T. Okay, we could have gone with another company, but we live in a rural area where both Sprint & T-Mobile have very spotty coverage. As a result, it came down to AT&T, Verizon, & Alltel. After signing up for plans and evaluating all three networks, I came to the conclusion that AT&T had the best coverage in 3 of the 4 locations where I use my phone the most. At the fourth location, Verizon and AT&T were essentially tied, but Verizon had pathetic coverage at 2 of the 4 locations. Alltel may have been a good alternative, but we chose to stick with AT&T. AT&T also made the most sense from a cost perspective. Upon comparing the family plans from all wireless carriers, we found they charged the same price for the plans that interested us. True, T-Mobile had plans that were slightly cheaper or had more minutes, but their coverage didn’t cut it. Meanwhile, Verizon was the worst deal with no incentives built into their plans. Alltel’s plans tended to offer up a few more minutes for the same price, plus they included MyCircle. In the end, however, AT&T edged out the other carriers with their coverage (#1 factor), Rollover incentive, and offer of 200 bonus minutes per month.
The upgrade process proved to be an exercise in frustration. To make a VERY long story short, they failed to place the original upgrade order. Then, contrary to what I was told at the time of the order, we had to wait for two of the phones because they were on backorder. We received the third phone on time, but it was the wrong color. I could go on and on, but I have to admit that AT&T at least compensated with multiple service credits to our accounts. In the couple of weeks it took to finalize the upgrade process, I talked to numerous representatives. Contrary to what I have read here and elsewhere, most of the customer service representatives I talked to were actually very polite. However, I must admit that some were less knowledgeable than others, as I encountered numerous contradictions from one person to another. AT&T, if you are reading, you need to do a better job of training your reps!
We still have a couple of weeks left in our 30 day trial period with AT&T, but I don’t think we’ll be cancelling our service. Overall, I’m very pleased with coverage in this area, although there are some locations where coverage could be enhanced. The other two family members have Samsung Syncs, which are actually proving to be very good phones. The jury is still out on my Nokia N75. While it’s a great phone overall, the voice quality is not as good as the Samsung’s. Callers on my end are crystal clear, but those on the receiving end of my conversation complain of choppiness and intermittent “warbles”. I’m thinking this could be a defect with the phone and I am considering sending it in for an exchange.
Before I go, I must make one final observation. When Cingular acquired “AT&T Wireless” a few years back, this did indeed result in the combination of two separate but compatible networks. I agree that cell coverage and signal strength did suffer in some areas as a result of this merger, especially for former “AT&T Wireless” customers. However, the recent change from Cingular to AT&T is nothing more than a name change. The network is the same. Therefore, those who are trying to equate a degradation of service with the name change from Cingular to AT&T lack an understanding of the details behind the name change and are sadly mistaken.
The comment about ATT and Cingular being a not new entity is not correct.
Cingular bought ATT and turned all entities to Cingular.
Cingular bought by BellSouth (I believe that is the official, legal name). BellSouth now owns everything… and manages everything.
Bell South decided that ATT’s name was a viable brand entity, which would give them a global presence… so they switched everything to the name of ATT. They also merged all the technology, which was laborious and technically challenging. This is when everyone began to have troubles and when service literally got neglected. Their management’s ineptness is clear sign they are not able to handle consumer demands.
With all this going on… they yet again… switch from digital (cell) service to GSM, which all mobile service providers have done.
BellSouth decided to appease the shareholders rather than paying customers; a trick lots of publicly-owned companies achieve by layoffs, plant closings, and consolidation in order to show as little loss for the year.
And this is exactly why we all have no service, poor service and no help in getting it. Bellsouth is doing all this to show profit margins.
Bell South is located in Oklahoma City. You should bombard them with letters, petitions and protests to get public attention and therefore change policy. Shareholders will leave a company who has scandal if their profit margins are being affected by it. The CEO will definitely swing to help if he thinks it will save his job. And a class-action lawsuit is the best way to get this accomplished.
I called the customer service at hawk electronics, a provider for cingular to find out about the rates to call to colombia,while my wife was there with her cell phone and part of the family package I have and they say it’llbe 20 cents if u call her , and 1.99 if she call you or recive a call from somebody else other than you,,,,…….so that means 20 cents if I call her,,,,and that is how we did it,,,,,even she send me messages just to let me know when to call her……and know they billing me for 1.99 a minute saying that , that is what the sales reprsentative said and that they can’t give me the record conversations……….so everithing is a lied and now they want me to pay the bill…and they even say that my wife made all the call , when I was the one making them……..so my point is,, what do I do , whenthey already have bill me and the supervisors I have talk to say they are profesional and the recorded calls are for training purposes, so they can give up those,,,,I know this,,,,,,,is because that conversation prove that I am right,,,,,they made a mistake in their intruccitions,,,,,is there anything I can do?
I am a 99. unlimited At&T original customer. The new AT&T, having bought out cingular is canceling my contract. I know that is illegal. Is there anyone interested in a class action suit. Please contact me bracsfe@yahoo.com
I’ve been with cingular since 2001. Only had a few glitcks which CS fixed. I resigned 01-30-07 at that time I was having no problems with service or billing same with all my family and friends that have cingular. Then WACK some time in late April early may the switched something.. (software maybe) all our phones started droping calls,failing to connect, echoing of calls, names and phone numbers of callers not displayingMy phone bill for may 2007 is a nightmare 80% of the called to or call from # are listed as my own ” AT&T response is for privacy reasons” duh …If I called then then I already have the number right so at least show that… On several evenings I been up all night no calls out no calls in yet calls and texts listed on my bill for all my phones (that all sat next to me on their cargers all night) and the numbers called to and from … yep my own cell phones number they all called them selves all at the same time even accrued text messages. I have been emailing CS and call 611 repeatedly about not displaying numbers that like they did only back in April. If I can not verify by the phone # that I recieved or made the call or text I don’t want to be charged even if the charge is deducting my so called free minutes.. they are not free I pay $50 a month for so many units under contract so I do care If you use bogus padded calls to make me go over my minutes. I am watching my calls and bills like a hawk I suggest you do the same … Plus email, text and 611 CS over and over again about all dropped calls , failled to connect, echoing calls, names and numbers not displaying on caller ID of you cell phone or your cell phone bill…. The whole call ID deal is because they are involved in a Law suit with a company for selling names and numbers so they on went hard line on this to boost credibilty in court to with their law suit.