I have been with sprint for years under a corporate discount (about the only thing keeping me there). As long as I never have to talk to their customer service people, I have been happy.

Recently, a friend of mine suggested I get the hot new phone, the S710a from Sony Ericsson, whch required I sign up with Cingular where another corporate contract made the cost and rates attractive.

Now, I mention corporate contracts because one would assume ( ) that when the customer service person sees your account tagged as a 'national account' from a major customer, they would go out of their way to help you - not so.

I had issues with Sprint that had to be escalated to the Florida Dept of Consumer Services before I got anywhere...and every question I asked Cingular was answered with a "no". It got so frustrating, I decided to chuck Cingular out the window, send back the phone and stick with Sprint until Sony releases their update to the P910, at which time I will switch to whoever will support that phone.

The bottom line: they are both bad from a customer support perspective. I think Sprint offers better coverage and voice clarity, but Cingular offers some neater phones. Verizon offers the best coverage and customer support, but their phone selection is abyssimal.