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The Wireless Outpost News Issue #15 Vol. 5
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
Another (politically incorrect) issue of the Wireless Outpost News. This publication is produced for the soon to be educated cellular phone user community. If you know of anyone else that may have an interest in our publication, make sure to forward them a copy. Don't worry if you miss an issue of our publication, we archive to cellularphonenews.com for your convenience. Now we move forward at Mach II speed!
[Note: This newsletter is delivered Bi Weekly on Wednesday.]
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - EMPLOYEE EXPOSES CARRIER ACTIVITIES
The message you are about to read comes from a concerned employee at a call center who works on Cricket Wireless customer accounts. They came forward to ask our advice in reference to customers getting funds withdrawn from their accounts without customer approval or knowledge which in turn caused them to be nailed for non-sufficient fund fees. As a side note, Cricket is also charging a fee for the local number portability at 45 cents per customer. In any case, we decided that our readers needed to know what was happening. Check this out.
UNAUTHORIZED CHARGES TO CRICKET WIRELESS CUSTOMERS
Dear Editor,
I work at a call-center that is contracted to do billing and activations for Cricket Communications. Starting in August Cricket Corp (in San Diego, CA) starting doing unauthorized charges from customer accts. The way these charges normally happen is a customer makes a customer service, automated system or online payment that is authorized then several days later the corp office for cricket goes back into the customer's financial acct and withdraws another amount of money from the customer (usually not the same sum that customer had authorized several days before).
Many customers have been terribly affected by these transactions which cause huge fees or overdraft fees because obviously they don't plan to have additional funds withdrawn from accts. Cricket realized this was happening two months ago and the problem has become progressively worse. Rarely do customer's get their money back thru a payment research and when they do Cricket is not refunding the non-sufficient funds fees. At least one customer called to complain to the unauthorized charges number for Cricket Corp and had her acct turned off because they labeled her report of their fraud as a fraud against her acct thereby making it so she has to go to a full service Cricket store and can't do business at the call center anymore.
The situation has become so bad that I dread the next incoming call as a customer rep. I need to know who to report this situation to. My husband and I have wondered if it's wire fraud and who is that reported to? I am also contacting the FTC and FCC tomorrow but I believe law enforcement is necessary. The situation always gives the customer a Cricket Corp phone number as the entity that withdrew the unauthorized funds. Because this is always a San Diego, CA number I wonder if I should be contacting the Attorney General in California. Cricket has markets in many different states and cities. All of these markets have been affected.
I would appreciate some information as to who best can help me report this information with good results for my customers. That said, my daughter has a Cricket phone. I have been waiting for the company to do an unauthorized withdrawal from my payment acct but so far I haven't been affected. When it does happen, my husband and I have agreed we will start a class-action lawsuit. Until that time I need to know how to help the thousands and thousands of customers who have been affected. I would appreciate your feedback.
Thank You!
Kerry Q.
CPN RESPONSE
Definitely contact the FCC and FTC as well as filing a notice with the State Attorney General's office and the CPUC or California Public Utilities Commission. If your allegations are proved to be true, there will be many in the public who will appreciate your efforts although you may become one of the unknown heroes. However, we will do our part with posting your message anonymously to the next issue of our publication. Upon request, we will forward emails to an anonymous email address in the event that an attorney steps forward and requests to speak with you in reference to filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of Cricket customers.
As a trade publication, it is our job to help ensure that industry standards are being enforced by exposing these activities and keeping our readers informed. Good luck with your efforts and we appreciate the fact that you are trying to help save people from a good deal of grief. Keep us posted on your progress and we will update our readers with the results or lack thereof if that becomes the case.
MISLEADING EMAIL ADVERTISEMENTS FOR FREE CELL PHONES
I DON'T KNOW CAN YOU ALL ANSWER MY QUESTION BUT HERE I GO,WHY DO CELLULAR PHONE COMPANIES SEND EMAIL OUT ABOUT FREE CELLULAR PHONE AND THEN WHEN YOU APPLY FOR ONE YOU HAVE TO PAID FOR IT? IF THAT'S CASE IT IS NOT FREE IN THE BEGINNING AND ANOTHER THING THEY PRINT FALSE INFORMATION ESPECIALLY ABOUT NO CREDIT CHECK
Sabrina
CPN RESPONSE
It would be hard to say without actually looking at an advertisement. However, those that we have seen of that nature are phones where you have the buy the phone and then send in for a rebate. Negating the cost of the phone unit. If they are doing a credit check with advertising that they don't then you may have a case to file a complaint with the FTC and your state attorney general's consumer affairs office. The only time a credit check is not needed is if you are purchasing a prepaid phone unit.
You should include a copy of the email with any complaints that you file which include the identity of the person and/or company making the solicitation. Typically, our email address is scrubbed from lists for these types of spam emails so we don't see them very often. However, we have dropped in a "tracker" email address to be harvested by spammers so that we can pick up these emails in an anonymous fashion.
If you have the information on the company you are referring too, please feel free to send us their website address, promo offer, and anything else that may assist us in an investigation. From there, we can consider publishing an article to warn other readers of the situation.
This is something we do to recognize the employers of subscribers to our publication. Maybe it will earn you some points and maybe it won't. But it is a minor form of publicity so that should help. In a sense, it is done not only to recognize the employers but the employees of those companies too. It also gives us a chance to throw down our bragging rights and back it up. On the other hand, it reminds us of the immense amount of pressure we have on us to provide an accurate and worthwhile publication. I starting to believe that I am starting to understand how the Greek god Atlas may have felt with the burden of the world on his shoulders.
Let me begin by apologizing to those who didn't make it in this issue. We will try and slip you in on the next run. To all the universities, colleges, and other educational facilities around the world who are subscribed to our publication, we thank you for allowing us the honor and privilege of having an opportunity to influence your opinions and thoughts regarding the wireless industry. We hope that we are of some assistance to you. To the
journalists and reporters, thanks for not busting our chops!
Last but definitely not least, the law firms. We apologize in advance for any slander, libel, defamation, stupidity, or any other slights that any of your clients may assume we have made against them. If you are going to sue us anyhow, please do so for no less than one million dollars. At least we can feel like we are worth something and we will refuse to issue a written apology for any lawsuit requesting less than that amount in damages.
The exception to that would be any lawsuit that exceeds the funds in our bank account which is hovering at $10.83 based on the last audit. Besides that money is earmarked for my presidential bid in 2004 and you can't have it. On top of that, I am owed a ten pound bag of peanuts and I have to eat too you know. To everyone else not listed here, thanks for being loyal subscribers and we will do our best to do right by you. Now without further ado, here are the lists of companies and organizations selected for this issue of the
publication. Be advised that you can do a search on Google.com with putting in the company name to locate their websites.
The wireless companies start this off to get that out of the way. Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Vodafone, Nixxo, Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, Cingular, T Mobile, US Cellular, Alltel, Nextel, Tracfone, Brightstar,
Deutsche Telekom, Rogers Canada (RCI), Cellular One, Panasonic Mobile, Battery Outlet, Orange, Brightstar Corp., US Unwired, YaketyYak Wireless, Sprint Spectrum, and Wireless Retail Inc. (We missed quite a few other wireless companies not named here.)
Next, we have the FCC and FTC. (We didn't list quite a few other government agencies either.) Legg Mason, Lehman Brothers, Gallup, Intel, Ameritech, Merrill Lynch, Sri Lanka Telecom, Taisei Construction, Southeast Telephone, FKI Logistex, Kelly Co. Worldwide Group, Opus International Consulting (New
Zealand), Integrated Asset Management Corp. (Canada), Edward Don & Co., North Central Telephone Cooperative, Roland Berger, International University of Germany, Mining & Geology University of Belgrade, Asia-Europe Communications, Express Lawsuit Funding LLC, Business Research Group, Karelia (Russia), Stop Waste Organization, Honeywell, MTN (South Africa), Transinternational System, Osborne Electric Company, South Bay Circuits, and City National Bank.
Maybe next time, we will have the ambition to list about 2,000 companies but I wouldn't count on it. If you are using a personal email address and would like to have your company name listed in the next issue to recognize employers, feel free to send in their names. In this case, it isn't an issue of space so much as time. Scanning a list as large as ours takes some time and then to look up each company to confirm the spelling of the company or organizational name is time consuming.
PREPAID WIRELESS MAY BE THE WAY TO AVOID BILLING TRICKS
More than half of Americans who have a cell phone say they are "tricked" more than "treated" when opening their monthly cell phone bill, according to a recent survey conducted by Opinion Research Corp. on behalf of TracFone Wireless, the nation's largest prepaid wireless service provider.
"It's no surprise to learn that 53 percent of those surveyed believe they are more often 'tricked' rather than 'treated' when opening their monthly cell phone bills, given the fact that the latest quarterly report from the FCC on informal consumer inquiries and complaints lists billing and rates as the top consumer complaint in wireless telecommunications," said F.J. Pollak, CEO and president of TracFone Wireless. "The majority of our customers are tired of being 'tricked' into costly monthly contracts and on many occasions, actually pay more than what they had signed up for due to taxes and additional fees."
To avoid being "tricked" by your wireless service provider, Pollak suggests considering prepaid wireless. "Having more than 2.5 million customers is evidence that our service fills an important need in the marketplace," said Pollak. "At TracFone Wireless, we are 100 percent prepaid, therefore, our customers never receive a bill and are not subjected to monthly 'tricks' from us."
Billing Complaints Not New To The Industry. According to PlanetFeedback.com, the nation's leading online consumer feedback service, more than 80 percent of customer comments received in the wireless category are complaints. "PlanetFeedback.com monitors the customer satisfaction parameters of hundreds of companies and brands, and TracFone Wireless consistently ranks in the highest tier of customer satisfaction, well exceeding the other major wireless players," said Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing and client satisfaction officer of Intelliseek Inc., which owns the PlanetFeedback.com web site.
Pollak attributes TracFone Wireless' high customer rating on PlanetFeedback.com to the fact that TracFone's prepaid wireless service comes with no bills, no credit checks, no age restrictions and no contracts. In addition, TracFone allows the customer to control their costs by giving them the freedom to purchase and redeem airtime on an as needed basis without contracts and commitments.
The "Are you 'tricked' or 'treated' when you open your cell phone bill" study was conducted through ORC's CARAVAN(R) among a nationally representative
sample of 1017 adults, including 508 cell phone users. The survey was conducted September 18-September 21, 2003. The margin of error for cell phone
users is +/- 4% at the 95% confidence level.
TROUBLED HOP ON HIRES DOTCOM CEO AND ACQUIRES HIS COMPANY
The troubled Hop On Wireless which billed itself as a disposable phone company has recently hired a dot com CEO and acquired his cell phone accessories company to boot. A move which was probably intended to improve the company's image but one that leaves many questions unanswered. You will have to forgive my skepticism but you will soon see why I continue to be the industry watchdog on disposable cellular phone development.
You should also keep in mind that we have been tracking the progress of disposable cellular phone development long before any of the companies mentioned in previous articles in our publication were even known to exist. Hop On Wireless has hired Dan Gannon of wirelesscompany.com as the latest addition to their team and acquired the dot com as well. The PR boasts of the acquired company being listed at # 79 on the Entrepreneur Magazine's list of top 100 fastest growing companies.
The company claimed to be a wholesale/retail company with four million dollars in annual sales and seven employees. We took a look at their website and there wasn't much
of anything available with many pages being not available. However, it appears as if the company focused on specialty accessories such as flashing batteries and other accessories decorated with rhinestones. The PR also claims a "retail distribution network including Office Depot, Best Buy, Eckerd Drug Stores, Home Shopping Network and QVC, among others."
Although four million in annual sales doesn't add up as being a major distribution network with these retail chains nor is it clear if the sales were all a part of the accessories being offered or some other service or product. The dot com, wirelesscompany.com is a private company and therefore, not much information is available nor could we find any other nuggets of publicity on the company from which to pull a comprehensive analysis.
Nor am I saying that the new CEO isn't capable of helping Hop On Wireless making headway into the wireless industry but I smell quite a bit of the same old Hype Marketing. The very same strategy employed by the former CEO of the company. It is a given that many press
releases hype up their companies, but Hop On Wireless is notorious for the amount of hype they try and generate about their company in the hopes of improving their stock price which is sitting at around a penny per share right now.
It also claimed that the dot com was profitable. Selling accessories isn't that difficult in which to make a profit. Our former parent company, EVC, went into the black on
its second year of doing business and made a profit. However, it does take some intelligence and a good deal of business experience to make that reality. Most dot coms selling accessories will never make a profit which counts for something in favor of the new CEO of Hop On Wireless.
Notice that I didn't say how much profit was made. It could have been $24, $24,000, or $240,000 for that year. It is the amount of profit that a company makes that proves
its true viability and grit. Nor was it made known for what amount the company was acquired for either. Chances are that it was a trade in stock because the dot com was acquired by an already troubled company. Which probably means the profit wasn't substantial. You don't allow a company that is very profitable and needs an influx of capital for expansion to be acquired by a cash strapped company.
The hazards of a MBA wannabe like me is that I tend to analyze everything and read between the lines. Allow me to clarify that I am not bagging on the new CEO. I don't know him or his abilities. He may just be a good guy with a solid business background. I am harping on the massive amount of hype noted in the press release that was sent out on this latest endeavor by Hop On Wireless. As far as I can tell, it was enough that most editors snubbed the press release and those who did allow anything to be published noted only a few lines on the topic. The hype was that bad.
In the meantime, we shall give the new CEO a year or two to see what happens. On the other hand, the hyped up press releases are listed for open season. Each and every time they post a press release, we will pick it apart if it is nothing more than fluff and bluff. We promise not to post every one and we usually blow many of them off, they used to send out so many. For now, we will remain in the position of "when we see it, we will believe it" or as they say in the great state of Missouri, "Show Me!"
MILLIONS NOT AWARE OF NEW WIRELESS LNP MANDATE BY FCC
Each and every one of you is a sucker! At least that is how some of the wireless carriers are looking at wireless subscribers. If you had been one of the uninformed non-readers of our publication, you too might have been a victim of the latest trend by wireless service providers. We can only hope that those of you who actually read our publication are taking notes and using the information that we provide to your advantage. Check this out.
Wireless local number portability (WLNP) is going to be in effect as of November 24th and yet there are millions of people who don't even know about it. This was an opportunity for many carriers to take advantage of that fact and convince current subscribers to make a big mistake. Like extending their wireless contracts for another two years with being offered various incentives to do so.
Many people are taking the offers and crowing to their friends about the really good deal they were just offered by their wireless carrier. The catch of course is that they didn't even know that it was being done because of WLNP being implemented in less than a month. Those of you who do know about it are probably holding your cards for grabbing a better deal after it is implemented and enforced.
You are the smartest people in the world! Competition is going to be fierce for existing subscribers and the pot is going to get bigger for those of you who have the leverage of making a switch. The incentives that will be offered to you should be fairly good and are more than likely to be much better than anything that the uninformed will be getting for their troubles. Some people just haven't heard that if it looks too good to be true then it probably is too good to be true.
I mean really. Why do these people think that wireless carriers have suddenly become so generous? Out of the kindness of their hearts to be sure. But the fact that it didn't trip a red flag has me scratching my head. Not because I have head lice but because I am astounded at how people can be so easily fooled by these tactics. It is truly incredible. I can only hope that none of you have fallen for this ploy and taken less than you could have received if you had waited just a few more weeks.
Businesses that have multiple cell phones should stop and take pause when it comes to evaluating the renewal of their wireless phone contracts. The fact that WLNP is going to exist will give you a serious amount of leverage in your negotiations for your wireless contracts. If you are going to cut costs, why not start with your wireless phone bill. Maybe it will save an employee their job or something. Fiscal responsibility and all that stuff.
Telecom managers may want to hide this article from your bosses if you didn't see that coming and the remainder of our readers should do your fellow wireless subscribers a favor and spread the word about CPN. With an estimated 40% of people anticipating making a switch in the next six months, they would do well by being informed of their options. Consider it your good deed for the day and an absolution of your petty "office politics" sins should you have any. Even if they don't appreciate my sense of humor, they will probably appreciate the content of our articles. Don't make me create it as a chain letter!
Speaking of which, my backstabbing in office politics is really bad. Enough so that I use a machete. But I am not as bad as India is towards the US with refusing to help the US with Iraq now that they are throwing down another excuse after the UN mandate was approved. So this article will be my absolution for the backstabbing of my co-workers who try to get in the way of my being able to trash my own reputation and creditability. If I don't, how can I ever be seriously considered as running for a political office.
OK. You don't need any kind of clearance to read these brief notices of things happening in the industry. But I did like how the title read. If you are wondering why we post these pieces of brevity or tidbits as we like to call them, it is because we have industry professionals and college students researching papers who need this type of information. It may also be of interest to us regular folk because we drop in quite a bit of everything. What it boils down to is that we don't have either enough information or time in which to write a full article.
Sprint PCS announces that their subscribers will be able to take their own mobile phone numbers with them if they choose another carrier. However, Sprint PCS & Nextel subscribers should be aware that these
carriers' cell phones will not work on any wireless network but their own. In other words, they are not compatible with any other wireless provider's networks.
Samsung has come out with a quad phone called the SCH-A790 model. Verizon is picking up the unit as a way for their CDMA customers to be able to travel to Europe and keep the same cell phone to use while they are there on the Vodafone network. The phone will not work on US GSM networks such as those used by T Mobile, Cingular, and AT&T Wireless. If you would like to learn more about it, visit the FCC website where they have posted details on the unit while it is being reviewed for approval by the FCC for commercial release.
Cell phone problems during the month of October may have been caused by Solar flares. For a period of three weeks, cell phones will have been affected by the solar flares on the sun which affects a number of radio transmissions signals used by a number of devices as noted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Environment Center. These flares cause what is known as a Radio Blackout. The problems are inconsistent and unpredictable. So if you have been experiencing problems as we have as cell phone power users, blame it on the sun.
Kyocera said that their KE400/KX400 series phone didn't explode after an investigation was conducted. Rather the battery short circuited and tripped a safety function which was to release the heat and pressure. The battery released a harmless graphite dust which made it appear as if the device were smoking. Either way, the battery was still defective and an incident like that would have scared the devil out of anyone.
Did you know? Since January 2002 consumers have paid somewhere around $629 million in fees to wireless carriers for other than wireless services. That is almost 70 million dollars per carrier collecting these fees. The Center for Public Integrity survey of the 10 largest wireless service providers show that nine
wireless carriers have been collecting recovery fees. The fees cover LNP, number pooling, enhanced 911 and digital wiretap requirements. Another watchdog group said that wireless consumers were being bilked out of billions of dollars by wireless carriers and there was nothing that consumers could directly do about it.
Consumers are ready to buy more cell phones. The 2003 U.S. Wireless Phone Evaluation Study found that more than two in five current wireless subscribers are considering the purchase of a new cell phone within the next year. On average, a consumer now pays roughly $88 for a new phone.
Cell Phone Hell for Wireless Carriers is around the corner. The Telemanagement Network Group predicts that 30 million wireless subscribers are going to switch wireless service providers within a year of WLNP being implemented. Around 18 million will switch because of the WLNP and 12 more million will switch because it is convenient to do so.
The study found that 42 percent of wireless subscribers are now aware of the Nov. 24 WLNP mandate. In addition, 16 percent are aware they can transfer their home telephone numbers to wireless phones. TMNG believes this could mean an additional 19 million porting requests, 6 million from people currently without cell phones and 13 million cell-phone users.
Research from Intelliseek predicted that more than 40 percent of wireless consumers are ready to switch carriers following the Nov. 24 deadline, and only 15 percent of consumers are likely to stay with their current providers.
Intelliseek said 30 percent of consumers surveyed cited price or value as the top reason for switching, 19 percent cited coverage areas, 15 percent noted billing issues, 13 percent cited plans or contracts, 12 percent blamed customer service and 6 percent blamed intrusive or misleading advertising. Intelliseek's research also indicated that customers in the 19-to-25-year-old age group are most likely to switch with T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless being the most vulnerable to switching.
Other surveys that we reviewed are coming up with pretty much the same numbers. The first time I have ever seen such consistency in any kind of survey having to do with the wireless industry.
Speaking of T Mobile. They are going to extend their unlimited weekend minutes to now include Friday starting at Midnight or 12:01 AM if that makes it easier. Existing subscribers will have to call T Mobile and request to be put on the new plan because you will not be automatically migrated. You might want to spread the word if you know someone who subscribes to T Mobile.
Next up. Wireless penetration rates in the US are nearing the saturation point. Atlanta has a 75% saturation rate or household with a wireless phone. Followed by 74 percent in Detroit, and 72 percent in Washington, D.C.,
Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and Austin.
The study noted the least saturated markets in the survey included 47 percent in Charleston, W. Va.; 52 percent in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; and 53 percent in Buffalo, N.Y. The survey found the average saturation rate of wireless subscribers at 66 percent for the entire nation. The survey also showed that 14% of respondents planned on buying a cell phone for themselves or someone in their home.
I just don't think the attorneys in this specific case are going to get paid what they had hoped to get. If you recall from previous articles, the lawsuit filed claiming that cell phones caused cancer was dismissed by one judge and then was sent up to for appeal. Once again the dismissal of the lawsuit was upheld by the 4th court of appeals as lacking scientific evidence that cellular phones caused cancer.
The wireless industry lobbyists and the defendants in the case are quite pleased with the current ruling. Another lawsuit making
its way into the court of appeals is to force handset manufacturers to change cellular phones to shield against radio waves. It is believed that this lawsuit will also be upheld in
its dismissal from a lower court.
The President of a company is seeking a wireless technology expert for a fee paid consultation on the following: Seeking an industry professional who can explain the technology and process whereby pictures are bundled with a user's voice and transmitted and then viewed/heard by the intended recipient on their phone.
Please contact Geoffrey Stern at 914-395-1010 during normal business hours Eastern Standard Time.
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