Friends No More

As you all know, I am a big fan of Cingular and I try to big them up wherever I can. However, that flawless relationship we have has been greatly tarnished.

It all started on March 8, 2006. After much outside pressure, I placed a call to Cingular to ask them to put insurance on my plan. You see, I have a phone (Motorola v180) that has had a damaged outer LCD screen for some time. I spoke with a woman who talked to me about the insurance policy that Cingular offers in the event of a damaged, lost, or stolen phone. I went for it. She informed me that it would take about 15 days for my information to get into the insurance company's system. I was also told that there was a certain protocol with their insurance company. It starts with paying their $50 deductible. They would take inventory of the phones they had, and if they had it in stock, they would ship me a new one. If they were out of your model, they would send you a letter, saying that your phone was no longer insured, after which, you would basically have insurance for nothing. I grilled the woman for another 20 minutes, just to make sure I got everything right.

Fast forward to March 23, 2006, 15 days after the insurance was put on. I excitedly call, eager to receive my new v180 the next day. I go through all the insurance fraud warnings and automated messages. I get to a customer service rep., and I run down my account info. She pulls up that I have a v180, and I am requesting a replacement. She rehashes the protocol about the non-refundable $50 deductible, saying I would have to ship my broken phone back when I got the new one. Then comes the kicker. She says that they have no v180's in stock. She says that I will be getting a SAMSUNG X497, instead of another v180! I'm dumbfounded by this time. I reply by damn near re-enacting the conversation I had 2 weeks prior. The insurance lady replies that I received improper instructions. Not only that, but I could have filed my claim as soon as I got the insurance put on my phone! Then, I asked how long they have been out of v180's, she said 2 weeks!! She was getting tired of hearing my arguing, and plainly was telling me "the only thing I can ship you is a Samsung X497." I declined and hung up.

Cingular, you and I have bad blood from here on out. The culpability is not just on them, though. I should have followed up with another person, just to make sure I was getting the correct info. Lesson here: NOBODY'S above a second opinion. Luckily, ebay was able to bail me out, and I bought another v180 for around $50, but I might not be so lucky next time. God was on my side this day!!

-B