Stardate 60015.24 - Cingular Says Wait Again

Talked to Cingular today again about trying to get my phone activated again. Spent 19 minutes (1315-1334) on the phone with human #5, Jamie, who told me (I'm paraphrasing) that Lisa or the technical department f'd up and the "case was issued on the 4th". This means that 72 hours from Wednesday (that's right! Next Monday! The 9th!) is when the issue should be solved. Deja Vu - Exactly what Lisa told me last Friday! Jamie also told me, "This just happened to another guy who was a former AT&T customer." Really...just cements my belief that Cingular doesn't give a rat's ass about the AT&T customers they gained. As long as they could talk about "the largest customer base" in their commercials they were happy.

So, Jamie assured me that she would call me on Monday after the tech department is done working their magic (which apparently takes 72 hours) and she has activated the phone. She told me I should hear by 1 PM my time. Why do I feel like I'm being lied to? That's right, because Lisa told me the same thing one week ago today! And she didn't call me back...

For those keeping score, Monday is 12 business days after I ordered the phone, 6 business days after I first tried to activate it, and a whopping 11 calendar days after I first tried to activate the phone.

So here is my plan:

1. I've contacted both a friend of mine who worked the Nextel/Sprint merger, and a relative who works for a small wireless company to see if there is any regulatory body I can complain to. Justice? Commerce? SEC?
   
2. If that f****** phone isn't working Monday, it is going in the box back to the store for a full refund. I'll then walk from the store to a T-Mobile store, purchase a new phone and port my number over to them. I'll also send a letter to the President of Cingular with the details of this entire process (not that it will do any good).
3. I'll switch my wife over from Cingular as soon as is feasible.
4. I'll put the entire story together in a huge post and will tell all my friends, family, and other readers about it.
5. I may even call one of the local TV stations, like CBS' "Shame on You" segment, to see if they are interested in this as a story.
   

I believe I have been more than patient.

***UPDATE***

As I was finishing this post, at 1401 Lisa called me back to tell me to turn off my old phone. She said she would call the technical department and work through the problem immediately, and would then call me back. We'll see. I've been lied to before.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

***UPDATE***

Lisa called me back at 1414 to say that there was "some problem" with changing me over and that "someone" was supposed to call me back on Wednesday to let me know. My issue has been "escalated" to another technical group, and someone will call me back at some point to let me know what is going on, but she had no idea how long it might take. She was very apologetic that no-one called me on Wednesday, but I just don't care anymore. I. Just. Want. My. Phone. To. Work. I think I am still going to execute my plan above if it isn't working by Monday.

NYC