Round One with Suncom »
Not long ago, I mentioned that I was in the process of switching cell phone carriers. More specifically, I said that I had yet to see a change (which is nice, what with all the complaints I've received about my carrier-to-be).
So it was with some dread that I reviewed the letter I received earlier this week. In it, I was told that I needed to get a new phone as my current one wouldn't work on their network. Naturally I had an issue as this likely meant that my plan was about to change, and as has been discussed before, it seems as if Suncom doesn't offer national plans.
But all is not as it seems. I'll get back to that in a minute.
With some bad on-hold experiences, I figured I would hit the store instead. So I drove a bit out of my way to talk to a real, live person (and their supervisor, if necessary). The person in the store told me that I didn't need a new phone - I needed to have my phone unlocked. Interesting. So I pursued this avenue. They were trying to point me to a website (I assume this one), which is fine, but they wanted me to pay for the unlock code, and they would reimburse me. Uh, no.
After several moments of trying to get through to this person, I figured it was time to move up a bit higher in their chain of command. After several more minutes, I managed to get the schedule of this person's supervisor, and left with the intent of calling them today (the next day they were supposed to work).
Once I got home, I figured I'd give the 800 number a try. I really dislike sitting on hold, but I had some things to do, and I have a headset, so I figured that it wouldn't be too bad. I ended up spending about 12 minutes on hold before talking to a real, live person.
This lady was very helpful (really, she was). She explained to me that Suncom does have national plans available - but they are available to (previous) AT&T customers only, not to the public at large. Interesting, and a bit bizarre. So I went for the phone. In this case, it appears that Suncom does not offer a phone with Windows Mobile software, a necessity for me at this point.
She informed me that, if they did not offer the phone, I was free to leave my contract with no termination fee. I'm going to go to a store again (a different one), and verify that they have no comparable phones, but after that, it looks like I'll be free to leave. She even added comments to this affect in my account record (allegedly). Yippee!
Comments (10)
I've gone round and round with ATT & SunCom about this mess. 1st they tell me I have to give them permission to 'take' my business or my service will be interrupted July 1. When I don't give them permission, they send me a SunCom SIM card anyway. Then they tell me that even if I don't give them permission or activate the SIM card, I'll still be liable to pay the monthly fees until I officially 'cancel' my ATT contract & pay $175 cancellation fee. My contract does not expire till Aug 30th - but get this... I would not have service as of July 1, but be liable to pay contracted amount for July & Aug, but still have to pay a $175 cancellation fee even thought I never gave them permission to take my business in the first place! I have submitted a complaint to the FCC.
I encourage everyone caught up in this mess to also do so at www.FCC.gov.
For requested resolution I am asking for immediate cancellation of that number and full refund of charged cancellation fee PLUS written verification from FCC that they Mandated ATT sell SunCom our business. I can believe the FCC may have approved it, but in a divested market, I cannot believe the FCC Mandated it.
Posted by sb9 on June 12, 2005 2:02 PM
I switched to suncom.. Ok.. Let me refrase. I Tried to switch to suncom.. Ok.. let me try again. I Begrugingly let them try to switch me to suncom. The day before a long trip (I know I know), finally received my second simcard so I called suncom.
"I have the sim cards, I'm ready to switch, but I am leaving on a long trip tomorrow, and I will need... I say need.. to have my phones working 100%."
"No problem sir, this wont take buta couple hours to get working after we hang up"
Long story short (the whole thing is on http://suncomsucks.us/)
I didn't have incoming cell service after 2 hours, 4, hours, or 12 hours (it was only after 15+ hours I had full service, but they told me it could have ben as long as 36). After speaking to 6 departments Customer care, customer support, Technical support, Porting support , Billing, and cancelation I Finally got them to let me out of the contract (w/o the ETF) and cancel my service so I could get new phones for the trip.
-Jason
Posted by JasonR on June 17, 2005 10:26 AM
Truth in Wireless™
Really?
After waiting in line at the store for 30 minutes on my lunch break the friendly salesperson was unable to make the transition painless.
At first he tried to get me to switch to a regional plan until I told him that the forced migration letter assured me that I would keep my existing plan or better.
(I've happily kept the same rate plan AT&T promised me for a year since the switch so why would gsm require me to change?)
(They did get rid of my free incoming sms that AT&T promised but they gotta raise my rates somehow right?)
Anyway when the guy realized I was educated about the whole switch he looks again and my plan shows up as an option on his screen as an option. I was so happy -- no minutes lost no new charges! We have such low expectations with wireless companies the bar is very low.
Now about the phone. I like my sturdy tdma Nokia 6360 and get better signal in places where my sister's suncom gsm phone drops calls. The guy assured me that all the tdma towers would become gsm towers and that gsm would very soon be better.
I told him i just heard about a class action lawsuit against Cingular from former AT&T Wireless customers due to not maintaining tdma networks. Greedy lawyers. But really its the fcc's fault because they were forcing Suncom to give up the tdma frequencies, he said. Sounds complicated.
How could they look out for consumer interests if they are also to blame?
But i do think they are not just being nice to former AT&T Wireless customers to keep us here based on great service. Tricky mega rebates for "free phones" and 2 year contracts are much stronger predicter of loyalty. Are they being nice because somebody who approved the buy out said they had too?
Admittedly, I don't know all the issues. But I do hope for truth in advertising still especially in a company whose marketing team has trademarked it. Perhaps the sales team has never met with the marketing team?
The letter that urged me to show up at the store promised a free replacement phone.
From the press release "but approximately 64,000 in the Southeast rely on older Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology. SunCom will provide those customers with a new handset - free of charge - and help them transition to the fastest growing wireless technology."
Great "free" phone for cooperating in switching.
Not really though. The guy said the free phones required a 1 or 2 year contract. I don't have a contract and I don't want a contract. So what is the difference between me and someone who switches companies every two years.
I get to keep my national rate plan if I know to ask for it. That is it. My "new handset free of charge" comes with a contract of two years just like everyone else who signs a new contract.
What a misleading statement and what a let down.
Suncom Truth in Wireless™*
*well its not 100% untrue at least.
Posted by Anonymous on July 12, 2006 5:26 PM
Ok. To be fair I must report that I did end up getting a free phone. I had to work for it. I made a complaint to the company about the misleading press release and a member of the "executive" response team tracked me down to let me know that I could get a free phone and keep my existing terms (no new contract) by calling the customer service number. The customer service woman urged me to go to the store because they could offer me more free models and i wouldn't have to pay shipping. I told her they required a contract and she thought that sounded strange. So anyway she said she could only give me the motorola C115 for $15 shipping. I said I was told it would be free, she put me on hold and then said its in the mail. The C115 can be found on ebay for $20. I took it to the store and they put in the sim card in 5 minutes and were friendly. Phone doesn't have the bells an whistles and doesn't work inside my house like my 3 year old tdma did. Welcome to the future. So the transition only cost me my time, some bells and whistles, and being able to talk inside my house. On they upside, the people I dealt with were very polite and as helpful as they knew how as far as I could see. The loss of coverage may be a technical issue that will be fixed once the towers are converted i hope. Now if they change their plan on beginning to charge for incoming sms which was free under my att contract i may be even more happy.
Posted by Anonymous on July 24, 2006 9:48 PM
The c115 cell phone they sent me didn't come with a sim card so i had to go to the store.
For some reason it won't let me save any phone numbers to the phonebook. I lost all of the phone numbers in my tdma phone. Now it keeps saying "operation fail" when i try to store a new number. I looked for support on the suncom website nothing, the motorola website, nothing for c115.
I tried to change the SIM1 number to see if i could get into a useful menu. It said failed 3 times and now the phone doesn't work at all SIM PUK1 is showing. i guess i have to go back to the freakin store.
Posted by Anonymous on July 26, 2006 12:12 PM
I have been with Suncom for about four years. I have seven phones with them because it is neccesary to run my business. Only two of the seven phones are on the new gsm network. The other five are still on the old tdma network, and they work great! Everyone that I know that they have talked into switching to the new network is very unhappy.
Recently I was informed that in September I will have to switch my other phones over to the gsm network. I am not happy at all about this. I use an old Panasonic Duramax phone. It works wonderfully!! I get a signal in places where no one else can, my phone holds a charge longer than any other phone out there.
It's bad enough that they quit making the phone that I like because it works too well and they can sell more of their crappy new phones. I buy the exact same phones on eBay and have them connected instead of getting their newer models because they really are that much better. The phone that I have was built to military specifications.
It is made of a durable rubber that can with stand a 20' drop. It is not water proof but it is very water resistant. Whereas all the new fancy, light weight phones will fry at the first hint of moisture. I also travel a good bit and my phone works almost everywhere. They tried to tell me that I will get better service with a new phone on the new network but I know that is a boldface lie. When I told them that I will not switch my phone they said that my service would be disconnected.
They offered me free phones to switch over but that's not what I want. If anyone has any idea where I stand legally I would highly appreciate any info that you may have.
Posted by Greg St. Pierre on August 9, 2006 11:09 AM
I have also been told that I will have to switch over my TDMA Nokia 3560 to GSM in Septemeber or really by August 18 or lose my service. Of course I have stayed with the 3560 because it is TDMA and works a lot better than any GSM phone.
I talked to Suncom Customer Care about the FCC regulation that states that any Cellular Carrier who still has any customers on Analog (my phone does TDMA and Analog) that the carrier cannot stop the Analog signal to the end of 2007. Which this is a true regulation.
They told me that the owner of Suncom was going to do it anyway and that if I wanted to file a complaint with the FCC that I could. I hate GSM in my area. Too many friends have it and drop calls all the time. I tried it when it first came out and it was terrible. For GSM to work properly towers have to be placed within so many feet (miles) of each other.
Just changing the TDMA towers over the GSM WILL NOT fix the problem. Any suggestions on what we can do???
Posted by Cory A. on August 13, 2006 3:47 PM
I am a soldier; user of this number; Yesterday I learned via my wife who is back home in Puerto Rico that my sumcom bill reflected several (27) outgoing messegaes to a 704 area code which belongs to North Carolina. All this during a period of time (may 6, 8, 20 thru June 3, 4, 7, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22) while I have been traveling from Virginia to now New Mexico. Needless to say that you can imagine the problems and grief that this has created and brought upon me and my spouse. I dialed the 704 number and the number appears to be disconnected/no longer in service.
This situation has brought great grief, pain and sorrow emotionally; mentally and physically to both of us since my spouse was informed by the suncom company that there is nothing that can be done stating that if such number appears on my bill then it is proof enough that it was made from my number. I will not... repeat; WILL NOT sit back with my arms crossed and just let this float by and try to make ammends with my spouse and try needlessly to convice her of the truth which is why I've decided to investigate upon my own and research on lawsuites made upon cell phone companies or in this case the suncom company itself.
To me this is not an issue of billing payment or money. This is a serious problem which I need to resolve as my marriage depends on it. All I want is for suncom to do thier job; I don't care how, but I want someone to research these messages and find out how they got attached to my phone bill, whom the 704-345-3115 number belonged to and since when it has been disconnected, and not for some representative to just lay back and say they're sorry. I want the happiness and peace of mind which co-existed in my marriage back, although the unrepairable harm has already been done. Please advise; any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated or I will proceed to file a lawsuite and proceed with it at all costs go public with news media and other resoucres regardless of the outcome. Thank you.
Greatly concerned; U.S. Soldier
Posted by Antonio Rios on July 3, 2007 4:39 PM
I had the same problem today with the 704 number. I called and the Suncom customer service operator said that all text messages are routed when you're in a roaming area. The routing center registers the 704 number. It fits since I was in Atlanta (out of my area) during the only times this # shows up.
Posted by Laurel on August 15, 2007 12:46 PM
Dear Soldier!
I am a suncom dealer and I know exactly why that 704 number has appeared on your bill. That number is actually a virtual number. When you goto Messages in your phone and that into setup, you will find that number as the message center number. If for some reason you are messaged from MSN or Yahoo or any other network that doesnt have a number, than you will find that 704 number.
I hope I was not too late to save your marraige.
regards,
tehsin khan
Posted by Tehsin Khan on November 22, 2007 10:20 PM