For weeks now, my cell phone has been shutting off. It wouldn't hold a charge, either.
I had gone to two Cingular Wireless stores in some nearby strip-malls and told them about the problem. The sales people were eager to help, until they saw that I wasn't eligible for an upgrade until my contract came to an end next February. Once they found that out, I was shown a wall of phones and was told that I'd have buy a replacement at full price.
But then a few days later, I drove my the main Cingular headquarters in my area on my way to an appointment. I had a few minutes, so I dropped in (third time is the charm, right?).
I ended up talking to a helpful young man named Chad. I told him about the problem, and he immediately said, "Oh, sounds like you've got a bad battery." Then he disappeared to the back room for a minute.
He came back out with two replacement batteries. Opened up my phone, took the old battery out, put a new one in, and gave me the second one as a spare. Before I could ask how much it was, he said, "No charge for these...just come back to us in February when you're contract is up for renewal."
No attempt to sell me a new $300 phone. No charge for the replacement battery.
He didn't make a sale that day, but he will if he's still with Cingular next February. And, I'll go back to that store when its time to upgrade. They've earned the business...simply by being honest, quick, and a great problem solver.
Good job, Cingular Wireless.
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