Travel Technology - North Carolina ATT customers get screwgied

This has flown pretty much beneath the radar for me until I got interested by a rather uninformative full page ad in the Charlotte paper today. ATT customers in at least parts of NC are no longer ATT, they're not Cingular, they're SunCom. Who the heck is SunCom? No idea. I thought I'd go to their website and ask them some questions but I get an error saying that they will be offering coverage in my zip code (required on the form) but not yet, thanks any way. So we're part of SunCom...no coverage maps available, no rate plans, no waiving of termination fees. Truly amazing to me.

Charlotte Observer questions and answers with SunCom loser (http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/columnists/mr_watchdog/10445894.htm)

In order for the merger of ATT and Cingular to be approved, the companies were forced by the federal government to divest some of their assets. In some areas where the combined ATT and CIngular would have too large a market share, the companies were made to "sell" some of their customers.

I am not sure what your options are. I believe you are able to leave your contract without penalty if this happens. SunCom should honor your terms, though. If you do terminate your contract, you should be able to port your number to another carrier-- even ATT/Cingular.

For what it's worth, Verizon may be announcing new plans tomorrow, with cheaper additional lines on family plans. Although, my experience with Verizon Wireless has been totally negative, as they seem too arrogant for me, and they are substanatially more expensive. I'm happy with ATT for now!

You're partially correct. The way I ended up with SunCom doesn't really have anything to do with the merger but Cingular's desire to say they have the top 100 markets covered according to another story. Linked here (http://engadget.com/entry/1234000840023541/). I would hope that I could break the contract without penalty, but that's not what the president of SunCom said in the first linked article. I want a national, name brand carrier; not a regional no name who can't even get a letter to their customers telling them what is going on.

My favorite quote from the originally linked QA with the Suncom loser is:
"Kalogris insists SunCom will become a household word in the region once consumers can see the carrier's offerings."

I'm sure they will when the subscribers in that region are forced to change to them...how moronic is that.

IIRC ATTW bought parts of SunCom in the upper midwest around 2002 and converted them to ATTW. I might be mixing up my wireless providers.

It would really tick me off if I got sold off, wasn't told about it and couldn't break any contract I had. Sounds like a class action to me.

Suncom has claimed they will honor all ATTWS contracts and give you a better one this summer or if they cannot honor it, then there is no fee to terminate. I, for one, will port to Cingular if necessary because I do not think they can match the FAN discount I get from work. I am trying to get clarification because technically I think I am under a business plan and there is some indication that such plans may not be included in the switch. I also did not sign up with a regional carrier and picked ATTWS for the GSM national and international coverage.

Your best option to leave Suncom without an early termination fee is related to International Roaming. Suncom does not currently have any agreements and if you had and need this feature on your account Suncom clearly does not provide it so that should satisfy the clause of a "substantial change" to your service in the early termination clause of your contract.

That's what I was thinking as well. The part that sucks is that I'm going to be out at least an activation fee from all of this.

If you get a new plan through Amazon, you might be able to find one that includes a phone and enough rebates to cover all fees and the cost of a new phone with a little extra to spare. A year ago I made $70 changing my service, getting a new phone and free bluetooth headset. I think all told the rebates from TMobile and Amazon added up to about $270. Total cost for the phone, activation, etc was $200.

A timely update courtesy of the local paper:

SunCom, which is operated by corporate parent Triton PCS and based in Berwyn, Pa., serves 950,000 customers in the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

SunCom's 211,000 new customers are located in the Triangle, Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem. SunCom has been serving the rest of the state for five years as part of an affiliation with AT&T Wireless.

SunCom has sent a "Welcome to SunCom" letter to new customers and will follow up with periodic updates. SunCom has been placing full-page ads in local newspapers to introduce itself. In one ad, CEO Kalogris promises to "read and respond to all customer letters that come to me."

Not all AT&T Wireless customers will be switched. Triangle customers will stay with AT&T Wireless if they work for a company that has a national AT&T Wireless plan and most of the employees are outside SunCom's service area. That way customers don't end up splitting their contracts and employees with different carriers.

Next month, SunCom's new customers in North Carolina will be offered a $69-a-month unlimited calling plan, along with zippy wireless devices.

Among the novelties are the Firefly phone for children. Instead of a number pad, it has programmable buttons that allow kids to call mom and dad at home or work with one button. The Firefly has a button with an icon of a dad, a mom and a home.

The company also will sell the Hiptop2, an all-in-one device with a cell phone, swivel screen, keyboard, Web browser, e-mail capability and digital camera.

www.newsobserver.com (registration required now :( )

Thanks for the update Biggs. It still amazes me that as of yesterday there was nothing on their website and in fact no way for me to contact them via email on their website. I believe this company may rue the day this acquisition of customers took place.

An update:

On my business Blackberry, the default is Cingular even thought it has the ATT SIM card (auto network selection). This happened a week or so ago. , I just got a new replacement phone for my wife from Cingular going through my company's business services contract. The old ATT SIM card is being used per Cingular instructions (still have ATT plan) and the default is Suncom. I also get messages from Suncom like I am their customer. I am waiting to see how the billing, service and other issues go with this confusion on my part. :rolleyes:

Another update:

I just got a letter welcoming back to Cingular (confused if I ever left) saying corporate customers transferred to Suncon are back with Cingular. I found a press release saying that Suncom sold 29000 accounts not yet migrated back to Cingular. I guess the big corporate customers in NC may have balked because my account info was all with Cingular and dealings were with the corporate customers service reps. I fear the forced change to Cingular plans I hear is rumored, being happy with my grandfathered ATTWS plan.

Anybody else get a letter?

I believe from what I remember concerning this, all SunCom accounts would be merged into AT&T/Cingular accounts, with similar plans. I used to have an account with SunCom, when I lived around Norfolk, VA. I didn't have a problem with their service, and they had an UnPlan, which I loved - unlimited minutes, as long as I was in their area. However, when I moved, and tried to cancel service, right around the time of the merger, I ran into a ton of problems. In fact, we're still disputing the charges. I moved to an area in which SunCom does not offer service, and that should have cancelled the account. However, AT&T does, but the service is horrible. When I cancelled my account, even though I cancelled in the 30 day window, they still charged me an early termination fee for both lines, so they want a ton of money that I'm not paying.

Not related to NC, but related to the topic...

My friend had an ATT wireless account in Oklahoma. During the merger, he was also sold off to another company. He spent no less than 3 hours on the phone one day (we were at work - so I can vouch for him) complaining to everyone he could. Eventually he spoke to someone at the "home office" (or something similar) and they offered to let him stay w/Cingular. So I can say 100% without a doubt that if you complain enough, at least in OK, you can keep Cingular.

...I apologize if this information would have helped someone before - I just saw this thread right now.

:) Chris