Date: Thu, 8 Oct 1992 20:08:32 -0400
From: Dave Ratcliffe <eds1!compnect!frackit!dave@psuvax1.cs.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom
Subject: Re: Cellular Phones With Deals Attached
Organization: TELECOM Digest
X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu
X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 12, Issue 768, Message 8 of 12

Andrew Klossner says:

>> "what is the maximum number of nams you've seen for a single
>> telephone."

> The OKI 900 has five.

The Uniden CP 5500 only has 2.

> [Moderator's Note: You say the cell company 'paid $300 of the phone's
> cost' but some of us believe the prices of cell phones are
> artificially inflated so the cell company can then 'offer them at a
> cheaper price.'

This is certainly the case with most cell companies. They charge what
the market will bear and pity the poor customer who doesn't know the
ropes before going in to see about signing up.

> Cell phones may cost $20-30 to manufacture. Like all other
> electronic items, the cost is but a tiny fraction of what it was when
> they first came out nearly a decade ago. You should be able to buy a
> good cell phone for $100 or less regardless of signing up with anyone
> or not. Cellular One in Chicago owns a number of dealers including
> Leader Communications, a company for whom I have no love lost.  PAT]

Our first excursion into the world of cell phones started at Sears
where they were running a special.  Buy a Motorola America series
transportable (in a bag w/ battery, hands-free mike, window antenna
bracket) for $150 and they sign you up with Centel Cellular.  Further
inducement was no start-up fee, 100 free minutes air-time, first month
free.  The salesman filled out the paperwork and sent the unit to
Centel for programming.  We picked it up two days later and found
Centel had screwed up the A/B selection (it was always on ROAMING even
in our home area).  I took it in to Centel to have them set it up
correctly and found out that same day that Sprint was proposing the
purchase of Centel.  After a little panic (I've had poor experiences
with Sprint in the past) we decided to switch to Cellular One.  I
figured there would be a problem knowing the history of low-cost
phones tied to long-term contracts.  Imagine my surprise when I
CLOSELY read the contract we signed at Sears and found that the clause
describing a minimum subscription time was CROSSED OUT BY THE
SALESMAN! We switched to Cellular One by the end of the week and have
been satisfied with the service.

The interesting thing here is that Centel tried some strong arm
tactics to force us to pay $35 which they said was only fair since we
canceled so soon.  I talked to several different sales droids and got
a different story each time.  They finally sent a "Final Notice" bill
and I had my wife return it with a copy of the contract with the
deleted portion clearly marked.  About a week later we got a new bill.
Account credited for $35, balance $0, account closed.  They haven't
bothered us since and I've just recently picked up a portable (the
Uniden mentioned above) for myself.

BTW, the same Motorola unit without the bag, battery and hands-free
mike is now listed in the Sears catalog at $69.00 and the usual fine
print indicates it's tied to a one year contract with "a local
provider".  Here, at least, it's still Centel.


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 vogon1!compnect!frackit!dave@psuvax1.psu.edu           | Harrisburg,  Pa. |