I had been with Centennial Wireless for two years as of 07/2008. The company knew we were looking at other cell phone providers because I told them so in the early summer of 2008. They called me acknowledging the fact that my contract would soon be up. I was a great customer and they did not want to see me go. I was frustrated with them over many issues and I was disappointed that their office which was 2 minutes from my home was closing. Many times I would voice my complaints/concerns with this local office. I had no intentions of staying with Centennial Wireless once my contract was up in July of 2008.
It was in July 2006 that my family and I went to our local Centennial Wireless and spoke to the office manager, Dave. He assured us that within 4 months time Centennial Wireless would have a nation wide calling plan that we could easily add on to our plan. We set up 5 lines. My line would be the main account (online ID) and it was my line and e-mail that I retrieved any information about this account. I set up my cellphone number as my ID and chose a password on their website to make payments. I had numerous complaints to Dave about "roaming" showing up on my cell phone in the states where it shouldn't say "roaming". I voiced my concerns about their billing options and charges for minutes. They charge some outrageous fee for snail mail so I always paid online. Four months had gone by and no long distance plan came to fruition. I felt lied to and railroaded. Again Dave reassured me that nationwide long distance was coming I was beginning to wonder if he just "reeled me in from the beginning". Several times I paid dearly for traveling "outside the cell phone coverage". After a time, any new addition to my plan meant that I had to lengthen my contract which I was not willing to do. I dealt with Centennial patiently waiting for my 2 year contract to expire. As of 07/2008 I went with Verizon. I ported all five lines via the internet. Verizon could not except one of the cellphone numbers and gave us a new number. I believed it was due to the fact that we had to change to a new number for a few short weeks. My daughter was disappointed that she would lose her new cellphone number because it was my birth date. I was just happy that the 2 years were over with Centennial Wireless. It was after that time that I discovered that I could not get back on their website or call them to pay my final bill. When a recorded customer service asked for my cellphone number it did not recognize me and it automatically ended my call. It was in late September 2008 that I finally received a letter and bill. I believed I was being over charged. The bill was not itemized like my online statements. I could not retrieve information from their website since they no longer recognized my ID or password. I was frustrated to say the least and I decided to pay 288.91 because I have always been a responsible person.
To my shock, I received another bill in late November 2008 in the amount of 227.86. On December 13, 2008, I went to a kiosk at our extremely crowded mall several inconvenient miles from my home. They did not have a clue what was going on and sent me to their office across the street. It was at that time they told me that I did have an account with Centennial Wireless and the bill was approx. 252.86. I disagreed, stating that I ported all five lines to Verizon in July of 2008. It was at this time that the cell phone number on this account was the number that would not port to Verizon back in July 2008. I told them that all of these months I tried to get answers via phone and internet to no avail. As far as I am concerned I did not have an account with Centennial Wireless and to be honest, I believed it to be a clerical error on their part. Samantha F., retail sales manager told me that the only thing they could do was credit me $126.43 towards this bill along with any charges incurred while the 30 day cancellation process was being completed. I told her that I shouldn't owe any monies, and that I believed I was due a refund for being over charged in September 2008. I told her I never was able to see a bill and it was at this time while on her computer she discovered that all of my previous cellphone numbers were still there. It confused her to say the least. Samantha said, "I found the problem, " and stated that not only was I being charged for having this "one line" with Centennial Wireless, but that I was also being charged an "additional line" at 9.99 for a month! Vindication? Nope! She quickly credited me 3 months for that error of the additional line, but refused to see the other errors that I believed Centennial Wireless made against me. She suggested that I contact Verizon Wireless. She stated that it had to be an error on their part because Centennial Wireless always allows numbers to be ported no matter how new. After the holidays and my recovery from minor surgery I decide to get back on the band wagon. I called Verizon Wireless and was told by a representative that this number in question is consider a "prepay" ( I never owned a prepay) and that it's against FCC rules to port prepay and Centennial Wireless could not let go of the number. In mid January, 2009 I was able to retrieved a voice mail from Centennial Wireless sent to me on January 8, 2009. It was a recorded customer service person stating that they just received information that I canceled services. (Funny, I never got one of those back in July 2008) This recorded voice said they "were sorry to see me go", "they wanted to make it right", and to please call to "allow them to prove it." I believed I finally had an outlet to settle this whole matter. At this point I was very anxious since receiving another letter stating that they did not receive a "positive response" from me. How was I to get in touch with them? They offered live online chat and calling them toll free from a land line. I don't have a land line. We alone have three cellphone numbers in our own home. We have had such a hard winter it was difficult to get back out to their office by our mall. I also believed my visit to their office in December 2008 was a positive response on my part.
Now this bill is at $339.32 and being turned over to a collection agency. It states that I should pay now to avoid attorney fees, and court costs. I contacted the customer services representative from the information I received from my voice mail. The number is 866-515-2583. I hoped to settle this once and for all. I gave them my name and account number from the most recent letter and before I could even get the young man's name for my records or speak about my frustrations I was put on hold for several minutes. I was turned over to the "bad credit" or "recovery dept." I spoke with a person named Carrie. She stated that they called my cellphone number several times to work with me. I am sorry, I only received one voice mail recording from customer service wanting me back as a customer on January 8, 2009. I tried to explained the entire situation as she talked over me. She made it difficult for me to explain my frustrations. I am sure she has a hard job, but she was extremely rude. She blamed Verizon Wireless and me for errors on our part when it came to porting this number. What do I have to do to explain how much I wanted this number to be ported! There was no error! I was put on hold for over six minutes so that she could talk to her "contacting supervisor." I asked to talk with someone else and she told me that I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone but her. She told me that they could settle at 258.77, 20% less. I stated that I have a hard copy from another Centennial Wireless office saying that I could have gotten a credited for $126.43 back in December and I refused back then due to me believing wholeheartedly that Centennial Wireless is at fault. She told me that me being offered any credit would have been completely impossible because no one is authorized to give anyone a credit but her office. Once again I feel that I am being railroaded by this company. Now I am at a crossroads. I do not believe that I owe them a dime nor a penny! I believe I over payed back in October 2008. They owe me! We have never experienced a collection agency. My husband has work hard as a Minister of our church for several years. I have the benefit of being a stay at home Mom while we both are building a home based business in leadership development/health and wellness. We are responsible people. We pay our bills. It is what God expects of us. Is it possible for Centennial Wireless to have so much control over people? What should we do? Please help us.

I have been a longtime customer of Centennial since the late 90's. I didn't have many issues with Centennial until about 3 yrs ago. My first and foremost complaint; I had decided to rely solely on my cellphone as my primary phone. The reception at my house is HORRIBLE i found out!! There are only a few places in my home where I can get just enough reception to talk. All the while fighting dropped and lost calls. And oddly enough the only way I can get reception in one of these few places is to have the phone on speaker mode and sitting in one spot during the entire duration of the call. I kept going back to my Centennial store to try out different phones in hopes of finding one with good reception. I tried 4 different phones, all different brands, NONE of them were any better and one was just a little worse. My fourth and final phone I tried which i have now is a Blackberry and it's awful too. So for months now I've called complaining about the reception and had submitted several trouble tickets. They would claim they sent a field tech to my area and the findings were that my reception was great. I couldn't figure this out because I KNOW my reception is no good so I would wait and endure the bad reception a little longer and finally call to complain again with same ending results.

Eventually I got sick and tired of all arguing and excuses with various customer service reps. I sent Centennial an email threatening them with the BBB and a lawyer if they did not attend to my complaint to my satisfaction. A day later we get a call from a rep who says he is going to send a field tech to my house and they are going to put a tap on the line to test the reception i'm getting for awhile. I was satisfied with this. A couple weeks went by, no field tech ever came, and I never heard anything else on this matter. So I called yet again. They didn't know anything about what the last guy had told me and they said they would send a field tech to the area. About a month later an engineer for Centennial called and said she'd taken over my trouble ticket. She said she would send a field tech to my house. A couple days later I see the centennial field tech in front of my house. He was testing the reception. He said his readings showed that the reception is very poor. Uhh yeah, I know this!!! So what are they gonna do to help me out?! He also said something very interesting...he said that the reason the other field techs said that my reception was good is because they were being sent to a totally different address!! Incompetent employees can't even record the right address!!!

A couple days later I called Centennial to find out how they were going to accomodate me since, you know, there is proof now that my reception stinks!! They said they wouldn't let me out of contract which is what I wanted. That infuriates me because if they can't provide the adequate service i'm paying for and had for a long time been paying big bucks for, then I should NOT be forced to remain under contract. The only thing they said they would do is reduce the price of termination to $125.

Another complaint is; my bill was kept getting higher and higher consistently. Several times I went to my local store to make adjustments to considerably lower my bill and would always be assured that it would be lower with a quoted price. Well, the quoted price never happened. It was always higher, usually alot higher. And it would still continue slowly to get higher without revealing why at least to my knowledge.

Lastly, a few months ago I went in to cancel 2 of my 4 contracts (2 of them weren't being used by the way). And I paid $250 per contract equalling $500. They also said it would take 30 days to shut the phones off and I would be billed for another month. Now I have a major problem with this!! I couldn't understand this and still don't. I got into a big arguement with a rep on the phone. He said the reason they don't shut them off for 30 days is because the entire process of cancelling the line takes that long. And this what I told him, "Boy it's awfully funny you say that because I know for a fact when you're late on your bill it takes a split second to have your phone shut off". IMO that is the excuse they give to soak you for yet more money!!! I don't care if that IS in the contract it's nothing but an excuse to get more money!! Anyway, I gave them the $500 to terminate the two contracts. I was told by my husband to call and make sure I wouldn't be rebilled for the contract termination fees because apparently the way they do it when you pay off a contract is to put the charge on your bill. The lady assured me I would not have to pay that amount again, so I also asked her what my current bill was. She said I had a credit in my acct. A couple days later I get my monthly bill and see that I owe $601!!! Oh I was FURIOUS!!! I went straight to my local store to get this figured out. They couldn't give me a straight answer as to where my money went, more INCOMPETENCE!! I had to call to try and find out. The lady told me that some of the $500 that I had paid for the termination fees had been applied to my last bill, and then some had also paid my current bill ( which coincidentally happened to come out that day), and only $55 of the $500 had been applied to termination. So I owed them another $601!!! In 2 months time I had given Centennial $1200!!! THEY ARE A TOTAL RIP OFF, I HATE CENTENNIAL WIRELESS!!! I wouldn't recommend my worst enemy to this company!!

We went to Centennial to add a second line and buy a Blackberry Curve. After telling me how Sprint's service and my Treo 650 sucks compared to Centennial's Blackberry Curve, we decided to try it out. He "got us the best deal he could", but it ended up costing about $145/month. But, the bill has been $185/month. The salesman said that the $145/month was all we had to pay, and he later said it was "installation cost"? What is installation cost? And why did he not tell me before that that cost was going to be added, and not tell me it was going to cost $145 instead of $185, and I came to conclusion, so he can lie to me and get his commission.

The main reason we picked the phone was the GPS. And, by picking the phone, the GPS cost $25/month extra. But, that don't include vocal directions, which is another $5/mo. And, on top of that, the GPS hardly connects to the satellite until after you pass the street you are supposed to turn on.

My kids tell my wife that they like my Treo 650, which the Centennial salesman said is an out dated phone. It is funny that kids, who love quick and easy, like my phone more than this Blackberry Curve.

Also, the salesman, on several occasions, told us, "to be sure that we want this because they cannot take it back". I think that it such baloney because their GPS sucks, they lied about the cost of the monthly service and they are a lot more expensive than Sprint. With Sprint, fot $99/month, I could get everything. So, if I switched to Sprint on both phones on those plans, they would get a lot more for the money.

So, STAY AWAY FROM CENTENNIAL!!!

Apparently in the 2- year contract we signed it stated that we needed to give a 30-day notice to cancel. Well our contract was fulfilled and we ported our numbers 2 days after it expired.

Well now Centennial sends us a bill for Sept - Oct for services we can not even use becuase our numbers were ported to our new provider. And they won't remove the monthly charges becuase of thier 30 day notice. I think it's BS that you pay these companies so much money every month and then they won't even credit you one, especially since we can not even use it! And what peeves me the most is that I had done thier online chat and went to thier local office before we switched to inquire about switching since this was our 1st cell phone account and i was not sure if we needed to do anything special and not once did any one find it necessary/helpful to 'remind' me of this 30 day policy that's stated in a contract that the terms were up on anyways.

UPDATE: California court ruled that it is unlawful for Sprint to charge early termination fees and ruled they must pay back the fees they charged in the past. GOOGLE it and you will find lots of info on it. It should be illegal. We should have a choice and if the customer service stinks we can leave and that way these companies would go back to the way it should be where they treat people like customers, NOT prisoners.

If you are considering Centennial wireless as your carrier or if you are experiencing problems please read this. We need to work together to take companies like this down and get them to run an honorable business or close down. Businesses should not be allowed to operate dishonestly and unfairly no matter what kind of contract they think they have us under. It is unprofessional and unacceptable.

I started using Centennial wireless as my carrier over 9 years ago. I learned early on to start asking questions because they are not going to volunteer any information that gives them an advantage of you not knowing. The "trusted blue shirt advisor" is a joke. The customer service is terrible. I have gone into the Beaumont, Texas location several times and had to wait, with my infant, for long periods of time with lots of people in line and one to two customer service reps available and they usually can't do much of anything except "put in a request" or "put in a service order" etc. I have been overcharged more then once with nothing I can do about it because I have no proof other then my knowledge that I didn't call someone 31 times in a row minute after minute consecutively to be charged extra minutes on my bill. So, mistakes happens and life goes on but lies and deception are NOT acceptable.

I think we need to have them sign a contract with our contract to make them stick to the service they promise which is totally a joke. Once they have you under contract they really DON'T care, they think they have you under their control. People, don't fall for it. We have laws to protect us and this contract stuff isn't in blood. If they are not keeping their part then the contract is null and void. Let us fight this fight with integrity but fight we should. This company needs to have a class action suit filed against it. I am personally bringing mine to court if Centennial doesn't step up and take responsibility for their actions. I really don't even care about winning or losing, they cannot hurt my credit enough for it to be an issue, it is about what is right and a company should not be allowed to get away with the kind of lies they do, PERIOD!

Years ago I asked my rep about all the surcharges we were paying. I was told they were a federal/government mandated charges and all phone companies charge them. So, stupid me trust my company. Lots of time goes by and I ask again this time asking for details about each of the three charges. They give me a long spill and let me know they are all Federally mandated or required fees. I again believe them. Then when talking to my sister about her phone bill for the same number of minutes and phones I wonder why hers is so much less then mine? We go over it and she tells me she doesn't have those kind of fees. Only a small amount not near the percentage of mine. HMM...I call again. This time calling and asking for a supervisor. They again inform me what I have always been told...same garbage...these are required BY LAW this time. They make it sound even better. My husband keeps telling me to get another carrier but I keep telling him they all have these kind of fees because that is what we have to pay due to government charges. I did try and call one of the carries but they told me they couldn't tell me what the fees were because they vary by state so I never could verify the cost difference. I cannot tell you how many times exactly I asked about these fees but it was at least 5 times over the years, probably more.

Finally this weekend a friend comes down from upstate. They are telling us about their Sprint plans and how good they are. My husband gets me to call them and I ask them about their fees. They tell me it is Sprint's charges to recoup some of the Federal line charges they have to pay the government and that they are not mandatory but part of Sprint's fees they choose to charge. This info is even on their brochures. They were upfront and honest about these fees and not trying to lie to just get you to sign up. I am so angry at Centennial I call them again acting like I don't know that these charges are not law and ask about the fees and surcharges. They again tell me the same lies. EVEN when I come and ask "Are these Federally mandated charges required by law" and they state YES! They don't bother telling me the truth. I call again the next day another rep tells me the same info, I even got the names of the reps. I call my local office the next business day and ask for the district guy whose name is Robert or Bob Patterson. Of course, he is in a meeting, which is always the case when I call. So, I ask for the next to him as far as management. They go to get her and find out she is "in a meeting" HHMMM, how convenient.

I then go on to explain my issue and the rep then tells me to look on the back of the billing page which states what these charges are. EVERY time I have called they have never pointed that out, NEVER. Only this time when I let him know I knew the truth. They could have pointed that out years ago, or whenever thy decided to finally disclose that on the bills which I know wasn't always there over the years. They could have told me that when I called instead of making up lies. I really don't care if it is on the bills. The truth is they will out and out lie to you if they think you don't know. It is a fact. I told him what I was doing and how I was going to handle it. IN COURT! I did give him the info that if they wanted to call and deal with this as an honorable company should I would not bring it to small claims, but they would have to start telling the truth to the customers. I am sick of companies thinking they have you in a corner if you sign your name, well what about thier agreement! They need to keep thier word! I have not heard back and don't think I will but I will do all I can to fight this injustice. It is not right and a company needs to act responsibly!

So, I call the retentions department to ask them to cut off my phones and let them know that I am switching. They of course inform me that two of my lines have contracts, I of course let them know I don't care. They then go on to inform me (this is rep LYNN CC88 by the way) that I have to give them 30 days notice and will be billed for another month. YEAH right. She tells me that is in the contract. I tell her they don't inform anyone of that when you are signing and she informs me it is not their place to read it to you. BUT, they don't give you a chance to read it when I last signed for those on their little screen. I had to read it later. It wasn't in front of me and they are not idiots. They know we don't have time to sit there and read all the tiny legal stuff so we aren't going to bother, we are going to trust them to tell us the details. This is unknown by MOST Centennial customers. My friend who WAS with them for 11 years until today was told that and let them know they can jump in the lake in a nice way to put it. IT is their responsibility to let you know that when you sign up so you can be aware of that. OH, and by the way, you need to know that Centennial is the ONLY company who pulls this one. They take 2 minutes to turn on your phone and 30 days to turn it off! HHMM, try not paying your bill and see how fast they can turn it off. She also told me that the fees were mandated until I let her know I knew the truth and at that time she came up with reading it on your bill and told me I was trying to put words in her mouth when she stated it without me saying anything! It was such a joke!

There is nothing about this company that represents any type of service. It is ridiculous that these cell phone companies think they don't have to stand by anything they tell you or even consider treating you like a customer. To them we are prisoners and that is what they treat you like. I refuse to pay the last bill and I refuse to pay the 2 contract amounts. They refused to keep their part of the bargain, I refuse mine. They broke theirs first so it made mine null and void! They will lie if you call them, they will not give you any kind of "blue shirt advisor promises" they advertise and they will rip you off!

Here is a partial list of fees that NO other carries charge you for which Centennial adds to your bill as an option which none of the other companies do to this degree:

Caller ID, Voice Mail, Detailed billing (all the other companies think this is a joke), Call waiting, Ridiculous Texting and Web charges, and the extra month of paying even when your phone is cut off or ported AND the list goes on!

Please use wisdom. If you decide to start fighting for your rights keep logs of names and employee numbers, times, dates, and all info you can. Record conversations. I have the lies recorded but I really cannot be sure if I can use them in court of not yet. We will find out, but it couldn't hurt to try. If you have friends or know of names of past employees you can possibly have them as witnesses in court, at or against their will. There are many angles you can come from. Keep it clean and legal. You don't need loopholes, just truth.

I am not lawsuit happy at all. I just believe companies should have to keep their word as we should keep ours but it can't be a one way street. If you need any help or more info I am willing to help out. I have gone to court against two companies in the past, one a smaller local company and one was First USA bank, I won both cases on my own without a lawyer. Don't fear. You have truth on your side and that is what matters. The web has huge amounts of info on how to handle a small claims suit and it is only around $20-$25 in most states. All companies also have to disclose any legal info like presidents of companies and addresses to send legal work to etc. I was told today that Centennial's president is Phil Mayberry and there is much more info on this company you can get for whatever you need legally, just do the homework.

I have a lot more that has gone on in the years but I tried to condense it for sake of reading time. If you have any witnesses that were with you when you asked questions or were lied to that is really helpful. I have two times where I had a person with me who isn't a family member, and they witnessed what was told to me and one was lied to too. Keep that in mind. There are lots of complaints about Centennial and how many more that people don't take time to voice like this?

The unhappy X-customer,