If You're Thinking Of Switching To Cingular Wireless...Don't!

Back in December, elfs and I decided to go ahead and switch from AT&T Wireless to Cingular. We really showed up at the end of December to explore our options, but we found the options compelling and decided to go ahead with it.

What a friggin' mistake!

We've had nothing but trouble from them from day one. When we first switched over, we got a sample bill of how much it would probably cost per month. The amounts would vary depending on how many minutes we used over our monthly amount, and taxes and miscellaneous fees, we were told. Yeah, right. That's not quite what happened. The first bill turned out to be higher because even though they say that the initial joining fee is waived, they then charge a fee that is the same amount for "administration costs". Har har. So they catch you with this fee anyway. And guess what, that fee didn't show up in the sample bill.

Then there's how much they charge you for going over the alloted minutes. Forty-nine cents a minute!! That's ludicrous.

Oh, and their website is ridiculous. Apparently if you are logged in for more than a particular amount of time, they log you out automatically and you have to log back in...whether you are in the middle of doing something or not. Only this time period seems to be random.

And when I tried to discuss the bill with Cingular, I was told that I was not on the list of people who they were allowed to discuss the bill with. What?! I had no problem discussing the bill with AT&T...our phone numbers transferred over, but apparently no powers did. So Elf had to call in and authorize me to discuss the bill with them. But he still is the only one who can close the account...because his name is the only one on the account. Grrr. Oh, and did I mention that Elf never had to authorize me to discuss the bill with either AT&T or Verizon...I guess they felt that since I was *married* to the guy and owned one of the phone lines, I could actually discuss financial matters. If I wanted to steal money from him, I could just as easily do it by taking money from his friggin' wallet.

I've worked with all but one of the major wireless phone services...Verizon, AT&T, and now Cingular (we haven't tried Sprint yet). We weren't happy with Verizon's customer service and their coverage left much to be desired. AT&T's plans weren't good enough...we still weren't getting what we wanted; and now they are just Cingular anyway. But Cingular has got to be the worst of the bunch so far. If it weren't for the fact that we are locked into a contract with them right now, I'd dump them this instant.

And when the contract is up, we'll be going elsewhere.

McDonalds...Farewell, Goodbye, Alvedesane, Goodnight

Okay, so a long time ago the Elfmeister and I decided that we were not going to be doing much fast food anymore. There are a few exceptions...I will do Arby's, for example, on occasion. But the burger places, McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendys, we try to limit to one or two jaunts a year...to remind ourselves of why we don't go.

Yesterday I had an experience at McDonalds that has convinced myself that I will never go there again...not for anything. I mean it's bad enough that you are paying good money for worm meat, but when you get bottom of the barrel customer service...then it's time to move on.

Let me explain:

We drove up to the drivethru of this McDonalds over in Southcenter. As Elf mentioned, we were in a rush and just needed something quickly. I had been more interested in Burger King...at least the burgers aren't fried. But McyDs was closer, so we went. Trying to order made me feel like I'd fallen into the "Large Orange Drink" zone. We couldn't understand half of what the woman said because her accent was so thick. The screen next to us was reeling off what we ordered, but it wasn't doing so well...it needed formating help. And Elf moved the car too quickly for me to read it through. I caught what I thought was "no ketchup" on my order.

So I told him that I needed to ask the woman who took our money about it to make sure that they got our order correct. When I tried to talk to her, however, again a thick accent got in the way. Also, she was a bad communicator to begin with, and when I started to ask her about the order, she told me to wait, and then she seemed to be talking on her headphones to the next car. Only by the time she was done, I realized that she was talking to us still. So I didn't hear half of what she said. And then Elf moved the car to the next window (grr.)

So, we get to that window, and I want to look at what we got. I am opening up containers, but Elf wants to move on because there are cars behind us. So we move over to park the car and confirm that we got what we ordered. By now, I'm thoroughly irritated with Elf because he just can't stand up and say, "we move when we are done." And of course I open my bag up and though I ordered a quarter pounder with lettuce, tomato, and ketchup, a small fry, and a drink, the only thing they got right was the drink. No fries, and the burger was a cheeseburger...nothing else on it.

So I went into the place and talked to the assistant manager. He apologized, then took my order. He kept getting it wrong. I finally stood there and held up my hand and said, "lettuce, tomato, ketchup," holding up a finger for each one. Then I paused, then said, "burger, bun," just in case.

I get my burger, my small fry, and get in the car. I look at it. It is a quarter pounder with lettuce, ketchup, and pickles.

I can't win.

Fortunately for this McDonalds, I didn't react the way the guy in that comedy stint did.