Cingular Mobile Phone Service in Washington/Baltimore

Pros: Rollover minutes. GSM phones.
Cons: Suburban, rural, and indoor reception. Data pricing.

Free phones! That’s how we’re all baited toward one cellular provider or the other. They offer you a cheap phone for free in exchange for one to two years of commitment. At this point, with Cingular, you are generally required to sign a ...

Pros: Reasonably priced calling plans, sound quality is very good (when you get through).
Cons: Sporadic service, dropped calls, poor customer service.

I live on the outskirts of what Cingular calls the Washington/Baltimore area. I have been a customer for several years and have not switched to another service as I believed Cingular was the best of a bad lot. After recent research I find that friends ...

Pros: Decent voice quality, no billing problems
Cons: Cannot get coverage where I need it

I was an AT&T customer and was one of those people who believed the Cingular hype when they said that the merger would enable them to draw on the huge resources of both networks and they offered a free phone upgrade for a two-year contract. I had been ...

Pros: Decent voice quality, reasonable rates, and rollover minutes.
Cons: Bars are LOWERED to NONE in too many places.

I was an AT&T customer and one of those people who believed the Cingular hype when they said that the merger would enable them to draw on the huge resources of both networks. They offered a free phone upgrade for a two-year contract. I had been quite ...

Pros: Good calling plans, decent phones, OK features, coverage (not that it matters).
Cons: Dropped calls, dropped calls, dropped calls! Regardless of signal strength. Static if not dropped.

Re-reading this review, I decided to update it with more pertinent and timely information. Since Cingular is again becoming AT&T, I'll update it yet again after the change, and I'm hesitant to see what will happen given our last experience. So this ...

Pros: They have cell phones.
Cons: Doesn't insure high-end phones, misinformation, unhelpful, uncaring of customer's needs, etc.

On 3/29 I reported my phone stolen. It was at that point I realized that this particular brand can NOT be insured. I called the customer service line to tell them about my plight only to find that I would not be able to do anything about the situation ...

Pros: The phones look neat
Cons: All hype and no substance

Whatever agency that did the study on Cingular being the company with the least dropped calls needs to check their math skills. Wherever I've been (even in downtown DC) my phone has no coverage.

Originally, I was an AT&T wireless customer so when Cingular "transitioned" my account the only thing they did was transition my money from AT&T to Cingular. The AT&T SIM chip will not even transition to Cingular phones, which was Cingular's solution for fixing my reception problems. So that means I have to get a new phone.

Oh, they'll give me a new phone -if I sign another two year contract with Cingular. So much for taking care of their EXISTING customers.

So what if I want to cancel? They demand a $175 cancellation charge.

Don't use Cingular -use somebody else; like Verizon.

Pros: None
Cons: Service area

Never had i ever had so many dropped calls. My bills are outrageous because I have to redial and redial so much just to complete a call so I probably spend more time on the phone. I am sooo tired of apologizing to everyone because I am going to drop the call, GUARANTEED. My friends/family/business contacts are sooo frustrated with trying to talk to me. I will HAVE to kill the plan and move to another provider.

Pros: Can't think of any
Cons: Horrible customer service and billing.

Cingular is without a doubt the absolute worst cell phone provider on the planet. No wonder they are changing there name to AT&T. Don't let the new name fool you though, if it is still the same management/people, DO NOT USE THEM, I repeat DO NOT USE THEM. I used them for 3 years with no big problems and all of a sudden and without any warning. They over charged me, way over and never made it right. All they like to do is argue, argue, argue. Well this happened 3 years ago and I'm still bad mouthing them to everyone and anyone who will listen. I've used T-Mobile and Verizon, both much better than Cingular. If you are still thinking about using Cingular or AT&T, do a quick search on "Cingular Sucks" and see for your own eyes how bad they are.