I have been with Cingular for about 4 years now and really haven't had any major problems with my service. When I had questions about my bills or other queries, I called Customer Service and they were handled promptly. I moved at the beginning of the year and did have a little trouble getting my new local number established, but there was some confusion and they thought I wanted a new number, when I just wanted to relocate.
I ended up getting a new phone at the end of the year and though it was a phone that Cingular sells, I bought it from Amazon. At the time, Amazon had a special offer that if you activated the phone through them as a new customer and signed up for either a 1 or 2-year service agreement and then submitted a copy of your receipt etc., you could get a refund check for the full amount paid. The phone was $150, hence you get $150 back. Needless to say, there was some laziness on my part and I missed the small print about not being an established customer, so I forfeited the money back. I think if you bought the same phone from Cingular, they would give you either $50 or $100 off the purchase price if you signed a 1 or 2-year agreement.
The phone I got is the Motorola V551 and has these features:
- Quad-band GSM phone with built-in Bluetooth
- Integrated VGA camera with 4x zoom and video capture
- MP3 ringtone capable
- Features EDGE high-speed data network compatibility
- Conference calling and integrated hands-free speaker
More info:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg.../-/B0006I2G3U/
I did several weeks of research before deciding to purchase this particular phone and so far have been very pleased with it. The price of the phone has gone down about $50 since I purchased it, too.
Prior to the Motorola, I owned two Nokias and while I think that their phones have easier menus to navigate, I wanted a flip phone. Nokia has a flip phone coming out in the future, but I didn't like how it looked and I heard it was going to be fairly expensive.
Since Cingular joined up with AT&T, service and other features have gotten even better.
Good luck in making a decision.
