Archives: Phones & Cell Phones

Johnson Naidoo, a Cingular customer for three years, stood to lose almost $500 in charges for canceling his cell phone service. The problem? He wasn’t the one who cancelled it, T-Mobile was. While perusing the T-Mobile store on Feb. 15 earlier this year, Johnson was intrigued by a deal the company was offering its new customers. He asked a representative to sign him up, on the condition that they wait three days to do so, when his contract with Cingular was set to expire. The T-Mobile representative ignored Johnson’s warning and post-marked his new T-Mobile contract that day, prompting Cingular to charge him $480, the price of canceling his three cell phone contracts and the remainder of his cell phone bill with the company. Rather than pay the charges, Johnson took action. In a recent phone interview, Johnson told use exactly how he fought back.

Consumer's Union: What steps did you take to rectify these problems prior to calling Consumer's Union?

Johnson Naidoo: I’d been going to and fro and talking to different people at Cingular and T-Mobile up in senior management. I visited the T-Mobile store several times before I came to you guys.

CU: We gave you the names and contact information of several consumer advocacy organizations, which did you find helpful? Which were less helpful?

JN: The people that weren’t too helpful were the Cingular and T-Mobile help groups, but the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) gave me reference numbers and within 14 days I had my money back. I filed a complaint and the next thing I knew Cingular had reversed all the charges. I’m assuming the BBB and FCC had handled my case when I got my money refunded.

CU: Was it easy to file a complaint with the BBB and FCC?

JN: Absolutely, the process was fairly straight forward. It took 10 min minutes to file a complaint.

CU: What information did you have to provide them with?

JN: I just told them my story exactly like I told you. I gave them the dates and times and names of the people I talked to, then they gave me a reference number and assured me that they would get back to me within 14 days. I got my money back before that time.

CU: Would you suggest other consumers with a similar problem take the same actions you did?

JN: Absolutely, because I got positive results, $450 is a lot of money to give away and a lot of people just pay the bills. At first I was just going to pay it because I didn’t want a negative mark on my credit report, but then I decided that that was just too much money.

CU: What was your experience working with Consumers Union and our Hear Us Now Web site?

JN: You guys were great. I sent you an email with my story and you sent me the emails of the people to contact right away. You guys responded perfectly.