Here's the condensed version. Mom, Dad and I share an account. Our bill has always hovered around $150. Last month, darling teenage daughter began sneaking my cell out of my room and ran up around $2000 in charges, above and beyond the 5000 minutes we get with the plan. Yes, that's two grand. Yes, we owe it. It is a legit debt. I'm not arguing otherwise. Here's the question: Do I have any chance at all of getting Cingular to cut us a break here? We've been loyal customers for many years. I know on landlines, when kids run up ridiculous bills, the reg. phone co will sometimes lower the bill. But have any of you ever had luck with a cell phone co. in this regard? And yes, my teen is grounded for just about forever.

Quickly, I would like to express my sincere unhappiness with cingular wireless. To say the least, it is disheartening to be in a contract with this absolute sham of a company.

I have chronic billing problems, and I have the misfortune of spending a countless amount of time on the phone with cingular personnel trying to correct billing errors. The "customer service" staff is generally rude, unhelpful, and unsympathetic of their own mistakes. And just like the customer service reps, the so-called managers of these help centers are unqualified to handle billing errors and unhappy customers. (they should have plenty of practice in these matters - unhappy customers are the only kind of customers cingular has).

Don't be victimized by this company. Even if the monthly billing plans appear to be more cost-effective you will without-a-doubt pay above and beyond through cingular's billing mistakes.