Remember the Jeff Jarvis skirmish with Dell? Well, I had a frighteningly poor customer service experience with Cingular that I just have to share. Here’s the rundown.

I have an Audiovox SMT 5600 phone. I bought the phone at a company event where Cingular was offering a promotion. The phone is less than a year old, and I haven’t done anything to void the warranty. Recently, I began having troubles with the phone. It started out with a couple of “sticky” buttons, and then progressed to the point where the button that is used to terminate a call simply doesn’t work.

This evening, I called Cingular’s customer service line. I explained the problem and was told that I need to call the warranty service center and they would take care of everything. So I called them, explained the issue, and I was again told that everything would be taken care of. Then came the “fine print” portion of the call. According to the Cingular representative, my phone was no longer in warranty. Apparently, the warranty started in September of 2004. This is interesting since I didn’t purchase the phone from Cingular until December of 2004. I explained this to them, and they replied that this is “what their records show”. But, if I could prove that I purchased the phone in December, they would provide an exchange. So naturally, I asked them what constitutes proof of purchase? I have a receipt from my credit card charge and a billing statement. Would that be enough? Well, of course it wouldn’t be. Cingular requires an invoice with my phone’s serial number and the date to prove that I purchased it as I said I did. Nevermind that I purchased it from them at our company event and they didn’t provide that invoice to me. In addition, I was told that once I return the phone that it would be sent to Audiovox, and if they determined that I had physically damaged the phone I would be billed the full cost. I told the warranty service representative that I would attempt to find documentation and get back to them.

Frustrated, I called back into customer service and explained my situation again. I politely told them that I wasn’t satisfied with the warranty service options, and I explained to them that I’d like another option. I’ve been a customer for 20 months and have spent approximately $3000 with their organization. I’m trying to get a phone so I can keep using the service that I’m contractually bound to pay for until April 3, 2006. This doesn’t seem complicated. After being put on hold several times, I was told that I could get one of two Nokia phones. They’re very low end phones, not at all comparable to my Windows Mobile device. To add insult to injury, they explained that I’d have to commit to another year of service to get one of these phones. Since the Nokiea phones are worth no more than $30 a piece and I spend about $1500 on phone and data services per year with Cingular, I can hardly see how this is a fair deal. Especially considering the fact that I’m only asking to get a replacement for a phone that I bought from Cingular that they incorrectly believe is out of warranty.

After explaining to them that I would be forced to cancel my service if I couldn’t get a better phone, I was told that the problem was that I’m on the “old” network (AT&T). If I simply go to the web site and “convert” to the new network, they could help me they explained. So I asked for more information. If I was willing to commit for another 2 years, maybe that would be ok if I could get a new phone that is comparable to my Audiovox. But, to do that I would have to pay the price listed on the web site. The closest model to my current phone would cost about $160. Again, I was unsatisfied. I told the service representative that this was unacceptable and she told me that there was nothing else she could do.

Frustrated yet again, I decided to try to call one more time. If I were to sign up for another two years, was there any other option that Cingular could provide? I explained my situation to another customer service representative, and the only thing that they could offer is a Treo at the bargain price of $350. Despite the obvious problem there (the Treo model offered doesn’t support Windows Mobile yet), why should I have to pay $350 to get a phone when I’m paying for a service that I can’t use because the phone that Cingular sold me is defective and they refuse to provide any alternative to replace the phone.

In summary, I think that this is terrible customer service from Cingular. Sure, they’re polite on the phone and provided me with choices. But none of those choices come close to solving my problem in a reasonable manner. Even if the phone is out of warranty, which it isn’t, they should be able to offer something that doesn’t require me to extend my contract. I pay for the service and bought devices from them that no longer work. And even if they need me to extend the contract to provide assistance since I’m on the “old” network, I shouldn’t have to pay between $160 and $350 to get a comparable phone. I’m being penalized because I was an AT&T customer and they don’t know how to properly support their customers through the merger. In short, I’m being ripped off by Cingular and I strongly discourage you from using their services unless you want to be treated poorly as well.

By the way, my phone number is 636-448-4263 (for now). I’m inviting someone from Cingular to call me to try to solve this. If they do, I promise to update this post and provide a full accounting of how the issue was resolved. But until then, I’ll continue to say that Cingular provides terrible service for their customers.