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General discussion

Help! Cingular "not a working phone" for Sprint callers

by bluepaper Jan 13, 2006 12:41PM PST

I have been having a problem with my phone for over a week now and Cingular has not been helpful, blaming the problem on other carriers. Basically, I have received reports from many people telling me that when they call my cell phone number, they get the "this is not a working phone" message or "this phone has been disconnected" message. The people who report this have usually been using a Spring carrier or a landline phone. I can make calls to these people just fine, but I cannot receive calls from them! I had my friend (on Sprint) call my brother (on Cingular) to make sure that it wasn't a general Sprint-Cingular network connection problem, but my friend was able to get through to my brother. Cingular has blamed Sprint saying that everything with my phone is fine. I feel like it's a Cingular problem and they just don't know what they're doing or talking about, especially since the "disconnected" or "not a working phone" message comes up when landlines call in as well. Cingular has also told me to figure out the carrier for the landline phones that have tried to call me and contact the carrier's customer service to "update their information." I'm pretty sure that Sprint and these other landline companies will blame Cingular and I'll just be screwed.

Has anyone else been experiencing this problem? Any suggestions on what I should do? This is my only phone so I want to get this issue resolved quickly... what good is a phone if people can't get in contact with you?

Discussion is locked

9 Posts
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problem
by birdmantd Forum moderator Jan 13, 2006 10:25PM PST

Have you spoken with tech service yet? If not, I would request they open a technical case for your phone. Unfortunately the avereage cust serv rep may not see an issue that may take a little more research to resolve. It is a common assumption that it is the fault of the other carrier, but maybe not in your situation.

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Re. problem
by bluepaper Jan 14, 2006 12:08AM PST

I have been contacted by a tech person, and she was the one who insisted that it was the other carriers' fault. :-/

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Sprint connecting to Cingular
by loneranger01 Jan 14, 2006 4:51AM PST

I had Sprint in the past and always had issues connecting to other people on different phone networks.

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makes no sense
by drew38 Feb 26, 2006 1:29AM PST

except for network coverage

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Cingular has problems
by rabaumann Jan 27, 2006 8:34AM PST

Yes,

You are correct. I have had this problem now for 1 to 2 weeks. When I call from my Sprint phone to Cingular users I get a message that the call cannot be completed. If I then call from my BellSouth land line, I get a busy signal. So, the problem is not Sprint but is Cingular. This happens when I call the three people I know who still use that pathetic service. We are all Florida users, Dade county to be specific. Perhaps it is a local issure, but for sure it is real. Keep your sprint phone and tell your cingular friends to switch to a decent service already.

You are vindicated!!

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help with problem
by sandykync Jan 27, 2006 9:02AM PST

Hey, i work at Cingular tech support, if another carrier cant call you then it is cingulars problem!!!! If you cant call another carrier or landline that it is the other carriers problem!!!! The problem is called a LRN issue, (Local Routing number) is probably not correct for your phone. it needs to be changed call cingular, and insist on speaking to Tech support, dont talk to customer service rep they have not idea how to fix the problem and then if you dont get the answer you like from tech support, then insist they let you speak to a tech support manager or tell them you would like them to put in a "Case" for the issue. I hope this help and to let you know if you are living in Jackson MS or Birmingham AL or in South Fl it has been a issue now for a few weeks and they are working to resolve this issue. hope this helps.

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wrong
by wonderwzer Feb 15, 2006 2:55PM PST

i work at cingular also and you are wrong, it is not cingular's fault. it is sprints. they do not have your npa/nxx loaded into their calling table. sprint tech support has to correct, not cingular.

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thanks
by bluepaper Feb 16, 2006 4:38AM PST

Thank you for your responses. I have resolved the issue since my original post in January. For those who come across this post because they have encountered the same problem... I had to have one of my friends with a Sprint wireless carrier call Sprint customer service and tell the rep that they were not able to call me. The rep then made the appropriate corrective action, and it all worked out! So, in the end, it was actually a glitch on Sprint's end. The difficult matter in resolving such a situation is not being able to get through to the appropriate Sprint customer service tech people unless you are a Sprint carrier. Therefore, I had to get my friend to call and investigate the issue on my behalf. Good luck!

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the solution!
by bluepaper Feb 16, 2006 4:39AM PST

Thank you for your responses. I have resolved the issue since my original post in January. For those who come across this post because they have encountered the same problem... I had to have one of my friends with a Sprint wireless carrier call Sprint customer service and tell the rep that they were not able to call me. The rep then made the appropriate corrective action, and it all worked out! So, in the end, it was actually a glitch on Sprint's end. The difficult matter in resolving such a situation is not being able to get through to the appropriate Sprint customer service tech people unless you are a Sprint carrier. Therefore, I had to get my friend to call and investigate the issue on my behalf. Good luck!

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