For about two weeks now, my cellphone won't work around Fairfax City/Fairlakes area. It will work west and east of there. AT&T/Cingular says it's b/c I'm under an old plan and use an gsm unlocked phone from internet. They originally said it was tower work, and keep changing their story. Anyone else having this trouble? Thanks...

What is the model of phone? Many unlocked GSM phones sold online are from Europe, which many times means it does not support 850 MHz.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/2007 11:43AM by pgens.

The first excuse you mention is just a way to get you to pay them more money. Sue their asses!

Who do you send the checks to for service... AT&T/Cingular? If yes, then they're full of sh*t. They're just making you feel like a dumbass for buying an unlocked phone (ball busting of sorts). What they probably really should say is that they don't support unlocked phones, only phones issued by ATT/Cingular. Nonetheless, they should still help you get service rather than being asswipes, talk to a supervisor. What makes Fairfax different than any other place... nothing.

just curious.. does the phone work north or south of fairfax?

The weird part is the phone has been working for over 4 months and now all of the sudden won't work near the city/Fairlakes area. It's the old AT&T service I orginally signed up with and transferred my older SIM card to 4 months ago. First they said tower, then SIM card, which I replaced thru them free of charge. Still no FFX/Fair lakes area service. Now the, well you were a Blue customer (their term for old service).

They said I can upgrade to a new plan, more $$$ or buy one of their phones for a no-committment price of $$$way too much$$$. They thanked me for my 4 +years of service with this crap.

bdimag, don't know about north/south as I don't go those ways for work/home. They did mention about 12 customers came in the same day with similar problem.

I have AT&T for my wireless service and I have a hell of a time with reception on Guinea Rd from where it hits 236 to Giant on Burke Center Parkway. I'd love to know whats causing it.

They told you it was an unlocked phone? LOL

thats the worse excuse I ever heard.

remind them thay youhave been loyal to them for x amount of years. Mention that Company Y is cheaper and will allow you to use your current phone with them. When they say this is not true, say it is and you are going to switch if Cing/ATT does not give you a free phone with unlimited texting.

Threatening th phone company with switchign to a competitor usually works (got me a free phone, but im with verizon) If they wont give it to you, speak to a supervisor or tell the person you want to cancel right now.

I agree. Phone companies are so shifty! The minute you say you're going to switch they send you all sorts of stuff and give you x free! They should be offering new services to be more competitve, not waiting for customers to leave and then bribing them.

I don't think the phone company can tell if a cell is unlocked unless you tell them.

Looks like they show coverage as moderate(laymans terms=bad) in that area - http://www.wireless.att.com/coverageviewer/

Lurker.. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think the phone company can tell if a cell
> is unlocked unless you tell them.

They can pull up the model of phone last used, it isn't that hard. Which is why I asked what the model of phone is. It could be the imported phone (if it is an imported phone) doesn't support 850 MHz, which is the one AT&T uses more than 1900MHz. He might be going into 850MHz coverage areas and losing signal, then regaining it if he hits a 1900MHz area. But with the phone model a closely-guarded secret we'll never know.

Actaeon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I have AT&T for my wireless service and I have a
> hell of a time with reception on Guinea Rd from
> where it hits 236 to Giant on Burke Center
> Parkway. I'd love to know whats causing it.


Guinea Rd has a large dead zone between 236 and Braddock where it goes under heavy tree cover. other parts are also blocked by trees. to improve reception, your best bet is to burn down all the trees.

as you can see, it's not a happy cellphone area. i think they are being a little generous on the rating of their coverage. they should use the number of "bars" as a legend, not this crap "best," "good," and "moderate."


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2007 01:47AM by Gravis.
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no shit, pgens, you asked the guy a direct question about the phone and he went out of his way to answer any possible question EXCEPT that one.... which was the most important one.

But, all in a day's posts here at the fairfax helpdesk..

pgens, sorry, it was a RAZOR phone

To be exact, Motorola RAZR V3, mispelled earlier...such is life..RESton Peace...not everything is intentionally evasive, brain farts do exist whether from the mouth or thru the keyboard...others, thanks for the input

Hey, it's pretty obvious you're still learning to use technology at the level of a three-year-old, so it's forgiven.