TELECOM Digest OnLine - Sorted: Cute Cingular Junk Mail

Cute Cingular Junk Mail

Paul Robinson (paul@paul-robinson.us)
Sat, 09 Sep 2006 04:15:57 -0400

My brother recieved an ad in the mail for free delivery of a pair of
Cingular cell phones. One of those "you have been pre-qualified
because we bought your info from a credit reporting company but we
might change our mind after we discover we can charge you more by
claiming your credit isn't as good as we thought it was" offers.

Currently we have one cell phone -- mine -- and due to my disability I
don't go out much, so my sister borrows it from time-to-time.
Technically it's a Sprint PCS phone rather than a cell phone, but you
get the idea.

So when she saw this offer she wrote me a recommendation to take it
and get rid of the Sprint PCS phone, since it would give us two phones
on a shared minutes plan (or at least I imagine that was the case).
Since she basically would be paying for the service, if she wants to
get it it's no skin off my nose since it's her money.

The ad mentioned that it's a camera phone, which closes up "clamshell"
style, which means you don't have the problem of accidentally dialing
a number if you forget to lock the phone. This was the feature she
most liked.

It mentions all the features: 2 free LG CG225 camera phones with free
delivery; VGA Camera with 4x digital zoom; Multimedia messaging
service; text messaging; net browser; address book; speed dial;
ringtones can be MP3s; org tools like alarm clock, calculator, world
clock and more. And, of course, the $175 termination fee, if you
cancel any time before two years. And that means that even if you
cancelled it at 23 months they'd still want the $175 early termination
fee!

I've had mobile service since about two weeks before the September
11th tragedy so having to take a two-year contract really isn't a
problem.

If it wasn't for the fact Sprint's service where I live, indoors,
sucks so badly I might simply consider asking them to match Cingular's
offer to stay with them. But I don't know if Cingular's service is
any better indoors here in Arlington, Virginia than Sprint.

Service features include caller id, waiting, 3-way, unlimited
mobile-to-mobile minutes on some plans, voicemail, rollover of unused
minutes, and no roaming fees.

Having gotten burned a couple of times by stuff I've bought from ads
on infomercials where I didn't check the whole price, I noticed
something.

I found it very cute that in all the advertising copy, with the
mentions of prequalification, free delivery, 30-day return privelege,
and so on, there is NOT ONE WORD about how much the monthly service is
going to cost, not even a rough estimate!

I have a theory about pricing of products or services. When a company
won't even give you an idea of what the product costs, especially on a
monthly service plan, it's a clear admission they *know* they are
ripping you off and if you knew what the product was going to cost
you, you might not take it.

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