Consumerist

cellphone

Sprint Drops You Because You Call Customer Service Too Much

“Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general account information. While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs…”

Michael says:

I have called them alot over the past year, but those calls were to have them fix their errors. I’ve always been polite to their employees (whether it be over the phone or in a Sprint store). I’ve never missed a payment and have always paid my bill early. I’ve never asked them for discounts or freebies.

apple

Apple: We'll Only Help You With Your iPhone After It's Too Late To Return It

By Meg Marco 7.2.07

Darin’s iPhone was defective, so he tried to return it to the AT&T store where he purchased it. No dice. AT&T told him that Apple was responsible for the device. When Darin tried to exchange the phone with Apple, they told him he’d have to deal with AT&T for the first 14 days.

snoopware

Family Stalked Using Cellphone Snoopware

By Meg Marco 6.22.07

Holy crap, this is scary! A family interviewed on the Today show is being stalked by “hackers” who have taken over their cell phones. The stalkers use the cell phones to record conversations and the play them back to scare the family. They also leave messages saying they are going to rape one of the family members.

at&t

AT&T Cold Calls You, Demands 4 Digits Of Your SSN, Disconnects Your Phone

By Meg Marco 6.20.07

Dustin paid the price for following Consumerist’s advice and never giving personal information to people who call and claim to be from your phone company or your gas company or your bank. Someone called Dustin claiming to be AT&T and demanding that he confirm the last 4 digits of his SSN. Dustin honestly thought, as we would, that it was a meth-addict trying to get his SSN.

alltel

Let's All Learn Some Cellphone Acronyms

By Meg Marco 5.25.07

Let’s face it. Cellphones are here to stay and you need to know a little something about how they work if you’re going to know which one is right for you. Over at Yahoo! they’ve got a list of some cell phone acronyms that you could learn, thereby increasing your knowledge of the world around you. We know most of our readers are pretty well versed in everything cellphone, but its still worth taking a look.

cellphone

Alltel Going Private, Bought Out For $27.5 Billion

By Meg Marco 5.21.07

Big news for 12 million Alltel Wireless subscribers, Alltel has been bought out for $27.5 billion and will be taken private by its new owners. From SmartMoney:

The deal must be approved by Alltel’s shareholders and by regulators. It is expected to close by March 2008.

readers

Sprint Makes A Minister's Wife Cry

By Meg Marco 5.2.07

The life of a Consumerist editor can be a roller coaster ride of emotion. One minute you’re laughing at Delta airlines uglyass new planes, the next you’re reading a letter from a minister who says Sprint made his wife cry.

cingular

Cingular: Can't Pay Your Fraudulent $26,000 Bill? File For Bankruptcy.

By Meg Marco 4.25.07

If you dig through all the fine print in your cell phone contract, you’ll most likely discover a statement that reads something like this: “Should your cell phone be lost or stolen you are responsible for any costs incurred for unauthorized calls made prior to reporting the cell phone missing.”

cingular

Cellphone 911 Is Crappy At Locating You

By Meg Marco 4.23.07

If you’re calling 911 from your house, use your land-line. If you don’t have one, be prepared to give your address or location to the 911 operator. Why? From USA Today:

Owing to limitations in Emergency-911 technology, the dispatcher probably won’t be able to pinpoint your location. Unless you can get to a pay phone — not an option in this case — you’ll probably have to give the dispatcher detailed information about your location so emergency personnel can find you.

utilities

How To: Make A Cellphone Charger Box

By Meg Marco 4.9.07

Organizing the chargers for your cellphone, PDA, Nintendo DS, etc. can be hugely annoying and expensive. Why expensive? When you leave chargers plugged into the wall, they’re still drawing electricity—even when your phone isn’t plugged in.

Verizon: Watch Non-Recordable TV On A Tiny Screen For $15 A Month

By Meg Marco 4.3.07

I watched on the LG phone and was struck by the video’s sharpness and detail — it felt as if I were watching a miniature HDTV. Under an overcast sky, the screen wasn’t that viewable, and on sunny days, forget it. But in a car or on a bus or indoors, reception and clarity were great.

Watching TV in cars makes us revisit our last meal, so we’ll pass. —MEGHANN MARCO

wireless

Be Your Own Wireless Company

By Meg Marco 4.3.07

If just half of one percent of the group’s 5 million members sign up for NWF [National Wildlife Federation] Mobile, the program stands to generate more than $100,000 a year, says Greg Griffith, director of cause-related marketing at NWF. The organization’s other affinity programs and corporate outreach generate some $3.5 million a year today. Based on the response to NWF Mobile’s first ad, Griffith expects as many as 5% of NWF’s members to sign up&–more, in fact, than the number currently using the group’s affinity credit cards. “People will say, ‘I spend this much on a phone anyway, I might as well spend on the cause I care about,’ ” Griffith says.

Bad news for Virgin Mobile, good news for panda bears. —MEGHANN MARCO

wachovia

Cingular: More Banks On The Mobile Banking Bandwagon

By Meg Marco 3.29.07

AT&T Inc. said on Tuesday it has taken a step toward the long-promised notion of phones replacing credit cards, checks and cash by signing agreements with Wachovia Corp. (WB.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and several other banks.

increases

Cancel T-Mobile With No ETF Thanks To Txt Msg Increase

By Meg Marco 3.22.07

T-mobile has confirmed that starting in June, there will be a increase in text messaging rates for users who do not subscribe to a text messaging plan. As Consumerist readers well know, this means that if you don’t have a text messaging plan the rate hike constitutes a materially adverse change and you have the legal right to terminate your contract with no ETF per T-Mobile’s Terms and Conditions.

telephone excise tax

Tax Tip: Cell Phones Qualify For Telephone Excise Tax Refund

By Meg Marco 3.20.07

You may be one of the nearly 160 million phone customers who can request a refund of the 3% federal excise tax paid on long-distance and bundled phone service billed after Feb. 28, 2003 and before Aug. 1, 2006. Federal long-distance excise taxes paid on cell phone, land line, fax, Internet phone service and bundled service all qualify for the refund.

For more information about the telephone excise tax refund, click here.

travel

How To: Use Your Cellphone Abroad

By Meg Marco 3.15.07

People often write in and ask us how to use a cellphone abroad without roaming. Roaming can be insanely expensive. We don’t recommend you do it. But what should you do? The answer depends on what type of cellphone you have.

cellphone

Urban Legend: T-Mobile Has To Give Your Cell Number To Telemarketers

By Meg Marco 3.14.07

There’s a chain email going around with some T-Mobile contact information attached to it claiming that if you do not register your cell phone with the “Do Not Call” list in 12 days, T-Mobile will be forced to release your number to telemarketers.

lawsuits

Drummer of 'The Band' Sues Cingular Over Commercial

By Meg Marco 3.13.07

“It was just a complete, damn sellout of The Band — its reputation, its music; just as much disrespect as you could pour on Richard and Rick’s tombstones,” said Helm, 66, a longtime Woodstock resident.

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