Consumer Reports: Cingular, Sprint Bad Performers

dcgirl20006 writes "It's that time again, Consumer Reports is out with the annual cell phone review. And Verizon has risen to the top. And, Cingular, with the most subscribers (post AT&T mega merger), claims it is the company with the "least dropped calls" but consumers say otherwise. What can be done? Provide risk-free 30 day trial period; realistic coverage maps, upfront price disclosure, and end early termination fees."

Comments

For best coverage in YOUR area...

[Retardican]

Ask your local real estate agent. Someone commented asking a trucker for coverage, but usually highways are very well covered, even by the worst providers because it is easier to towers very near highways. Your local real estate agent will have traveled all over your area, and probably would even be able to tell you which service doesn't work in what particular neighborhood.

T-Mobile has gotten SO much better...

[xyankee]

I agree with the chap who said they have the best customer retention dept... One year ago, I was going to leave (I had no contract) and they convinced me to stay by giving me 1500 day minutes, ul night/weekend, nationwide roaming, etc. for $49 a month -- no contract! I was going to switch to Cingular anyway a few months later, but ended up staying because 1) T-Mobile significantly improved coverage around Dallas-Fort Worth and 2) switching to Cingular, for a plan with similar minutes and text messages, would cost me at least $20 more each month AND that would be with a 2 year contract! I recently called T-Mobile about upgrading to a Blackberry... not only were they willing to give me a good deal on the phone (I told them I wanted no contract -- not having a contract gives you a HUGE bargaining chip), but they said I could keep my sweet minutes deal and get the unlimited data plan for only $15 more a month -- again, way better than Cingular. If I wanted to be an ass, I imagine I could call T-Mobile every few months and threaten to cancel and they'd probably comp my account $50 each time for staying. They're really working hard to keep their subscribers happy. I have no plans to switch to anyone else now.

Another Virgin Mobile customer (in his 30s!) here

[orangepeel]

- As a downside, the phone has a Virgin Mobile logo on the front. :( I don't think 30s engineer is their target demographic, so their company image doesn't exactly match what I'm trying to express all the time.

I had to post a reply after reading that. :-) I'm not an engineer, but I am technically-minded and in my 30s. Virgin Mobile has continued to be an easy choice for me for a few reasons, including...

1. Near-perfect anonymity. You don't even have to give Virgin Mobile a name when you activate your phone. Buy the phone with cash at a physical store, complete the activation of the new cell phone using another phone and their automated system (use a payphone and dial Virgin Mobile's 800 number to do that for a paranoia level of anonymity), and you're as close to being a completely anonymous cellphone owner as is possible today. Continue buying "top-up" cards with cash at physical stores, and you'll maintain that anonymity.

2. Awesome service reps. Let's face it, few places are perfect, but I've had the best luck with VM's call centers amongst those I call with any regularity. The staff are typically a younger bunch, but they're the bright kind of younger, you know?

3. They actually understand local number portability, and how to make it happen for their customers. I transferred my land line number (so long, Verizon bastards!) to a second VM cell phone. The transfer was completed in less than a week, and it worked flawlessly. The service rep (see above) I spoke with when arranging the transfer was absolutely on the ball.

4. Some of their phones have an easy hack for blacklisting incoming callers. Here's the cool part: if your VM phone can download ringtones, you may be able to set up a blacklist...

After I started receiving faxes from a pool of about 20 different phone numbers at all hours of the night, I phoned VM's customer service and asked if either the VM service itself or my phone supported blacklisting (i.e. block the fax machines that were calling me). The rep was apologetic and told me that no, unfortunately, neither the phone nor the service had that capability. So I asked him if my particular phone supported downloadable ringtones. A bit confused by the sudden change in topic, the rep said that yes, it indeed supported that. And so I asked if by any chance -- amongst the collection of thousands of ringtones VM outlines on their website -- if they happened to have one that played complete silence. The rep immediately got where I was going (see my comments above about bright service reps) ... that with my particular phone's ability to assign specific ringtones to specific incoming phone numbers (provided there is callerID information), I could store the phone numbers of the fax machines that were calling me under a special group, say, "SILENCED MORONS", and then assign the silent ringtone to each one of them. At that point, if they ever call me again, sure the phone will light up and display the incoming call and phone number, but the phone will play the special ringtone -- COMPLETE SILENCE! That's about as good a blacklist as anyone could ask for.

Anyway, the representative immediately got what I was trying to do, thought it was a pretty damn cool approach, and then proceeded to take about 15 minutes hunting through VM's massive database of ringtones. And guess what? He found one -- a ringtone consisting of pure silence. The rep pointed out that the only downside was that, like all their basic ringtones, it would cost $2.00 to download. I told the guy that was the best deal for some silence I'd ever been offered! Now I have my blacklist. :-)

Seriously. Virgin Mobile is awesome. I don't normally go out of my way to offer much praise for any corporation, but I've been so impressed by what I get for the money I spend with them, that even the occasional glitch I experience (rare) just