UCAN DECLARANTS

DECLARATION OF PAMELA ANDERSON

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-06-003

            I, Pamela Anderson, state as follows:

1.                  The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.

2.                  My home address­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­___________, San Diego, California 92109.

3.                  I have been using Pacific Bell Wireless/Cingular telephone service for approximately four years.

4.                  Around October 2001 I began to notice serious service quality problems with my Cingular telephone.  I am disabled and depend on my wireless telephone to place and receive calls in emergencies, for which I missed about three calls, and for convenience in my every day life. I had been a faithful Pacific Bell/Cingular customer for several years and had never experienced service problems to that extent before. 

5.                  Around this time in October 2001, I became unable to make calls or receive calls throughout large stretches of San Diego.  Specifically, whenever I was driving around Del Mar or Carmel Valley I could never get my service to function properly.  I would repeatedly get a busy signal and the calls would not process.

6.                  I immediately called Cingular customer service to discuss the lack of service quality. The service representatives would always tell me that Cingular was building cellular towers in the areas in which I was experiencing the service problems and that the service quality would improve after the construction was completed. 

7.                  In February 2002, I could no longer tolerate the lack of service because it left me vulnerable and unable to communicate when I was driving around San Diego.  I decided to call Cingular customer service again in order to cancel my service contract.  The customer service representative was very helpful and gave me two free months of service and two heavily discounted months of service. When my Cingular contract expired in May 2002, I decided that my best option was to change to another wireless provider.           I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at San Diego, California.       

_____________________                                          _______________________

Pamela Anderson                                                         Date

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DECLARATION OF VERNA CRAIG

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-06-003

            I, Verna Craig, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is___________, Spring Valley, California, 91977.
3. On November 10, 2001 I went to the Cingular store at Grossmont Center shopping mall in San Diego, California.  I purchased two cellular telephones and signed a one-year contract for a mobile-to mobile service plan.  We made sure that our son, ______, would be able to use one of the telephones in Las Vegas, where he lives.  My husband,_______, and I wanted to use the cellular telephone as a convenient and reliable way to contact our son.  The Cingular sales representative told us that the mobile-to-mobile plan would be perfect for our situation.
4. From the very beginning the service quality was awful.  The telephone does not consistently work inside or outside my home in the Spring Valley area of San Diego.  If I want to call my son, often times I will drive to the local shopping mall where I am sure that my service will function.  The telephone most often flashes a "SOS only" message across the screen and only has a busy dial tone.
5. Immediately after the service quality problems began, I called the Cingular customer service number, the representative informed me that a new cellular tower was going to be built in the Spring Valley area very soon and the service quality of the telephone would be excellent. 
6. When we received our first bill, I noticed that the calls from Joel in Las Vegas were not being included in our mobile-to-mobile minutes.  I called Cingular customer service and was informed that those calls were not included in our service plan.  I was angry because I felt that the Cingular sales representative knowingly deceived us by offering us the mobile-to-mobile plan even though it did not cover my family's situation.
7. I have called Cingular customer service at least nine times since then to discuss the poor service quality that I receive. I spoke to: Employee (ID#XXXX). The Cingular customer service representatives always tell me that new cellular towers will be going up soon and after the towers are installed my service will improve.  Cingular has trapped me into a contract in which they knew, from the very beginning, was flawed because Cingular can not provide enough service capacity to satisfy all of its customers. My service quality problems continue today.
8. Over the last several months, I estimate I have spent over 5 hours in my dealings with Cingular.

      I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on July 31, 2002 at Spring Valley, California.            

_____________________                                          _______________________

Verna Craig                                                                  Date

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DECLARATION OF DEBORAH L. DAVIS IN SUPPORT OF UTILITY CONSUMERS’ ACTION NETWORK

            I, Deborah Lynn Davis, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support Utility Consumers’ Action Network’s intervention in I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. During the time that I was a Cingular customer, my office billing address was____________, Los Angeles.   I have subsequently moved my business office to Brentwood, also in Los Angeles.
3. I am the owner and operator of Cleaner By Nature, an eco-friendly dry cleaning business with retail stores located in West Los Angeles and Santa Monica.  Prior to that I was a marketing executive with Price Club and the chief-of-staff to then State Senator Lucy Killea.    I consider myself a fairly informed and competent consumer.
4. On or about November 1999, I initiated service with Pacific Bell Wireless.   The following year, I believe that Pacific Bell became Cingular Wireless.   Therefore, I’ll refer to the company as Cingular. 
5. When deciding to subscribe to Pacific Bell/Cingular, I was assured that the company offered wireless service throughout the metro Los Angeles area.  This was an important factor for me, as I drive all around Los Angeles for my business and I must be in constant contact with my stores.   I rely very heavily upon my cell phone as my primary phone.  It is the way that most people contact me.   And my cell phone bill averaged $130 per month when I was with Cingular.
6. Initially, the service was adequate.   While not perfect,  it was suitable for my needs.  However, on or about February 2000,  I moved my residence to a neighborhood between Century City and Beverly Hills.  It is called Beverlywood and is located in between Pico and Olympic Blvds near La Cienega.   Specifically, my address___________.   It is in the middle of Los Angeles City proper and there were no hills or physical obstructions anywhere near my house.
7. Immediately upon moving there, I realized that I could not get any wireless reception on my phone.  In fact, reception was unavailable for the entire neighborhood.   I had to abandon using my Cingular phone for about a quarter-mile before I approached my home because reception quality was so poor.
8. Shortly after realizing that I was unable to use my cell phone at my home – but also realizing that I had a one-year commitment to honor, I contacted Cingular Wireless  (at that time, it was still Pacific Bell Wireless) and inquired as to why I couldn’t get reception.   At the time, I assumed it was a problem with my phone.   However, I was told that it was not my phone but a reception problem and that someone would look into the matter and get back to me.
9. No one ever returned my call.   One week later I called again and was told that someone would, again, return my call.    Again, no response.
10. By the end of the Spring 2000,  I called again and got a customer service person who told me – and I remember this quite clearly --- that Cingular was in the process of upgrading my neighborhood and that service would be improved in short order. 
11. Throughout 2000, I would intermittently call Cingular to get an update on the upgrade in my Beverlywood neighborhood.   Each time, I was told by the Cingular customer service representative that they didn’t know exactly when, but my neighborhood had been targeted for an “upgrade”.    They were quite friendly and concerned and made it sound like the upgrade was imminent.   I renewed my service in 2000 thinking that sooner or later, the upgrade had to happen.
12. Remarkably, the upgrade never happened.  I finally terminated my service with Cingular in the middle of 2002 as the upgrade had never occurred and I got tired of waiting.   In fact, I reluctantly switched to Verizon Wireless solely because it provided me with coverage to my home in Beverlywood.   
13. I was frustrated by having to switch wireless service as it meant having to change a phone number that many people used to reach me.    I most certainly would not have stayed with Cingular Wireless had the company representatives told me the truth, i.e. that an upgrade to my home was not likely to occur.    Had they been honest about the coverage problem, I would have quickly cancelled my service with Cingular before too many of my business associates had become accustomed to using that number.  

Changing my phone number was almost like changing my name and I did it very reluctantly.

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on at San Diego, California.      

_____________________                                    

Deborah L. Davis                                                                  Date:  October 18, 2002

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DECLARATION OF EDWARD DRUCKER

IN SUPPORT OF INVESTIGATION 02-06-003

            I, Edward Drucker, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is___________, San Diego, California, 92117.
3. In July 2001 my wife and I went to a Cingular kiosk at the University Towne Center in La Jolla to inquire about wireless service.  The Cingular sales clerk showed my wife and I a map of the U.S. that depicted Cingular service coverage areas.  It appeared from the coverage map that the Cingular network covered the entire route I planned to take on an upcoming road trip to St. Louis.  In addition, the sales clerk told us that if Cingular did not have coverage in any of the places I was going to be traveling, the telephone would pick up other wireless service.  On those assurances, my wife and I bought a Cingular telephone and entered into a one-year service contract. 
4. As soon as we brought the telephone home, we began to have serious service quality problems.  We rarely got a signal in Clairemont near the 5 freeway, La Jolla, Kearney Mesa or other areas we traveled around San Diego. 
5. During August 2001, I drove from San Diego to St. Louis.  I was only able to get service in and around Amarillo, Texas, Oklahoma City, and St. Louis.  My wife,_________, and I had bought the phone for safety and convenience reasons but it was not working in either type of situation.  I was also disappointed because my original Cingular sales clerk assured me that I would have service throughout my trip, either on Cingular's network or through another wireless provider.
6. On March 18, 2002 we decided to take the telephone to a Cingular store to discuss our service quality issues.  We brought the telephone to the Cingular store at the Clairemont Square shopping center.  The Cingular service technician replaced the telephone due to low reception strength.  He told us that our service would improve with the new telephone.  We left the store feeling much better about our Cingular service.  Unfortunately, our service quality remained at the same dismal level as with the original telephone.  There was no improvement at all. 
7. During June and July of 2002 we were debating whether to cancel our Cingular service when our contract expired.  We were at the University Towne Center again and decided to inquire about our options at the Cingular kiosks located in the center of the mall.  A Cingular sales representative admitted to us that he telephones from last year "had reception problems" and he offered us a free upgrade if we entered into a new one-year service agreement.  This made my wife and I angry.  Cingular was admitting that their past telephones were of low quality, yet we had to pay for our Cingular service each month or face a high early termination fee if we canceled our plan.  I could not believe Cingular was allowed to operate a business in such an unprofessional manner. 
8. We canceled our Cingular service as soon as our contract expired in July 2002.
9. Over the past several months, I estimate I have spent over two hours of my personal time dealing with my Cingular telephone service.        

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at San Diego, California.       

_____________________                                          _______________________

Edward Drucker                                                           Date

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DECLARATION OF DANIQUE FRASER

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-06-003

            I, Danique Fraser, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is_____________, San Diego, California 92109.
3. I purchased my Cingular telephone and signed my service agreement on August 28, 2002 in Mission Valley at the Friars Mission Center.  From the very beginning, I experienced terrible service quality problems and continuous missed and dropped calls.
4. I placed my first call to Cingular customer service shortly after I began to "use" my service.  My telephone kept flashing a "system busy" message on my screen that prevented me from making or receiving any telephone calls.  Initially, the majority of my service quality problems happened between 8pm-10pm every night.  The service representative told me that the problem would be corrected by October 2001 and issued a $10 credit to my next statement. 
5. I waited all through September and October 2001 but my service quality was still horrible.  I was unable to make any calls during off-peak hours in downtown San Diego, Bankers Hill, Linda Vista, Pacific Beach, or Torrance. I was also unable to make calls inside nor outside of my house in Pacific Beach.
6. Between November 2001 and April 2002 my service was still not functioning properly during off-peak, nor peak times.  I called Cingular customer service a few times during this period to discuss my service quality problems, but my service continued to deteriorate.
7. In May 2002, the service quality of my telephone drastically worsened in the same locations as stated above. I had several business clients tell me they were unable to get through to my voicemail.  When they called my telephone number, the telephone would initially ring and then either roll over to a busy signal or to a recording that would state the cellular user was "temporarily unavailable."  At one point in May, this occurred for four days straight.  Sometimes, if a person were able to get through and leave me a message, my voicemail notification would pop up only several hours after the message had been left.
8. I called Cingular customer service over six times during May 2002.  Each time I called *611 (the Cingular customer service number from a cellular telephone), minutes were deducted from my peak minutes account.  Each time, the representative would explain that since I entered into a contract, I could not cancel my service without being subject to an early termination fee.  During my May 3, 2002 call, the service representative told me that when I signed the contract, I agreed to pay even if service were interrupted.  I requested a copy of my service contract because I did not believe that such an unreasonable provision could be included in a legal document.  The response was that I would have to wait two weeks to receive the copy of the contract because it was in the Cingular archives.
9. I called Cingular customer service again on May 23, 2002 to try to cancel my service and to inquire about the whereabouts of my contract.  Tashika, the customer service representative, told me that she understood my problem.  She told me that the reason so many people were having service quality problems in San Diego was because Cingular took over Pacific Bell Wireless and reduced the number of cellular sites from twenty to five.  Tashika also told me that a copy of my contract was "on the way."
10. I called back on May 24, 2002 and spoke with a customer service representative named Jenny.  Jenny proceeded to tell me that what Tashika had told me the day before was not true.  She agreed to give me a $12 per month pro-ration until my contract expired on August 28, 2002.  Jenny also told me that my contract was "on the way."
11.  During June 2002 my service quality problems continued.  I could hardly ever make calls during off-peak hours and even during peak hours I had a lot of trouble making and receiving telephone calls on my Cingular telephone.  On June 6, 2002 I spoke to another Cingular customer service representative named Geenie.  She told me that I had already received the maximum pro-ration of $12 per month and there was nothing else I could do except cancel my plan and pay the early termination fee or wait until my contract ran out in August, 2002.
12. On June 26, 2002 I received a letter from the Cingular Customer Care Center.  It was accompanied by a brochure that listed the terms and conditions of service.  I was upset because I had requested a copy of my actual contract, not a brochure with general terms and conditions.
13. I plan to cancel service on August 28, 2002.  I would have liked to cancel service much sooner but then I would have had to pay the early termination fee and be stuck with a telephone that will only work on a Cingular service plan.  I am angry that Cingular can force people into service contracts but then provide severely substandard service quality to its customers.  I felt powerless when dealing with Cingular.
14. Over the last several months, I estimate I have spent over 7 hours in my dealings with Cingular.

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on July 31, 2002 at San Diego, California.     

_____________________                                          _______________________

Danique Fraser                                                 Date

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DECLARATION OF LARRY GERACI,

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-01-007

            I, Larry Geraci, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. I own a business located______________, San Diego, CA 92123. The business is Tax and Financial Center, Inc. I have about five employees involved in doing bookkeeping and tax work for small companies.
3. About three years ago I purchased five phones through Cingular (which was then Pacific Bell Wireless). For a long time we were generally pleased with the service. It was not perfect, but we could generally get coverage in all the populated areas of San Diego County.
4. This changed about a year or so ago. I began to notice that I could not get service is some areas where I previously had no service problems. This included parts of the I- 15 freeway between Kearny Mesa and Escondido, a highly populated part of San Diego County. I had no problems there before. 
5. I called Cingular to ask about these problems. Each time I called I was told that the problem would be fixed in a month or two since new cell sites are being built. (These phone calls were made on many occasions in the last year.) Since they made these promises, I did not cancel the phones right away. Canceling the phones would involve changing phone numbers and other hassles, so I kept all the phones in service.
6. A Cingular representative also suggested that I upgrade all five phones in order to improve coverage. When I upgraded phones I also had to sign a new contract.
7. The sales centers where I purchased the additional phones implies that there is very good service. All I was told is that they don't guarantee service in very remote areas.
8. The new phones did not improve the situation. I could only get through about 40% of the time. I cannot run a business when there is only a 40% chance that I can reach my clients or employees.
9. Finally, in July of this year I decided to cancel the phones. When I told them why I wanted to cancel, I was told  “read the contract...we don't guarantee service.” Of course, when I was sold the phones I was told something different. I went ahead a paid a $549 cancellation fee because I did not want bad credit. But let me state that the $549.00 is only the beginning, changing to another service did involve nearly $2000.00 including new business cards, purchasing phones and all the equipment that goes along with these phones. Cingular cost me a lot of money because of the horrible phone service.
10. I recently purchased Verizon phones for all my employees. Since I went with Verizon, I have been able to get coverage where I need it. This includes many places where Cingular had no coverage.

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on October 3, 2002 at San Diego, California.            

_____________________                                          _______________________

Larry Geraci                                                                 Date: 

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DECLARATION OF MIKE GEORGE

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-01-007

            I, Mike George, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingualar Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. I live in the Tierrasanta area of the City of San Diego. I work in the City Heights section of San Diego. .
3. About two years ago, I was a Verizon cellular phone customers. However, I my daughter was beginning to drive and I wanted to get her a cell phone.
4. In looking for a new cell phone service, I had two concerns. First, I wanted a lower cost “family share” plan since now I would have three members of my family with cell phones. Second, I wanted good coverage. I wanted my daughter and my wife to be able to call me if they ever got into trouble while driving or elsewhere.
5. I went into a Cingular store. I told the employees there what I wanted and why I wanted it. I asked about coverage. I was told they have “nationwide coverage”. I also was shown a map of the San Diego area. It showed coverage in most of the county. According to the map, there was coverage where we lived and where we all worked or went to school.
6. Since Cingular apparently had good coverage and because they had a low cost family talk plan, I decided to get Cingular service for my entire family. I cancelled my service with Verizon, which had more expensive service.
7. I soon realized that the coverage map the salesman showed me was not accurate. I could not get reception at our home in Tirrasanta, even though the map showed the area was coverage. I also could not get coverage at my workplace in City Heights. My wife could not get coverage at her workplace in the South Bay area of San Diego. The store map showed coverage in all these areas and my Verizon phone had worked in all of these places.  
8. Most importantly, as my daughter drove around the area, she would frequently lose coverage and be out of touch. The whole purpose of getting the phone was for her to be able to contact me in case of emergencies. My wife also occasionally traveled alone across country back to her home in Grand Island, Nebraska. With our old Verizon phone she would get reception almost the entire way. Despite Cingular’s promise of “Nationwide” coverage, she could not get reception during this drive- and she could not use it for emergencies. 
9. I went back to the store to complain. They suggested the problem might be with my phone rather than with the Cingular service. They also told me I could not cancel the contract for two years.
10. The new phones did not fix the problems. I still could not get coverage in any of the areas that were important to me.
11.  I continued to complain to Cingular about this lack of coverage. On one call, I finally spoke to a supervisor. He said he understood my frustration, but he would not cancel my contract.
12. This Cinuglar representative promised that Cingular was putting up towers all over San Diego, including in my area. He stated that by January 2002 everything would be up and running and my coverage would be better. However, I notice no difference at all in January 2002. I believe this was a lie to keep me from canceling service.
13. I am now counting down the days until my two year contract is up in September 2002. At that point I think I will go back to Verizon. Even though their service is more expensive, they actually have coverage in the areas my family and I work and travel.

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at _______________, California.     

_____________________                                          _______________________

Mike George                                                                Date: 

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DECLARATION OF IAN LANGMORE

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-06-003

            I, Ian Langmore, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is 8861 Villa La Jolla Drive, #21, La Jolla, California, 92037.
3. On Saturday, 11-18-2000 I purchased a Cingular telephone and signed a service contract at a Cingular A.J.B Inc. d.b.a. Premier Wireless store located at 3861 Sports Arena Blvd, San Diego CA, 92110.
4. I soon realized that the service quality was below that of most of the other wireless phone companies.  My phone had poor reception on and around the UCSD campus.  For instance: People with Verizon were able to make calls inside of the library, I was not.  I had to walk to a select few (geographically) high points on campus in order to receive good service.  I realize that Cingular cannot guarantee service in all areas.  Since it was immediately apparent that my quality of service would be greatly reduced if I stuck with Cingular, I believe the proper thing to do would have been to let me end my contract without or with minimal fees.  There was a one time hook-up fee of about $50. I did not expect to be reimbursed for this fee, just for the other costs.
5. On Monday, November 20, 2000 I visited Premier Wireless and tried to end my contract.  They told me that there was no way to end my contract without paying full early termination fees.  This would be $150.  It was explained to me upon signing the contract that I would have to buy the phone for approximately $200 if I terminated my contract before two months had passed, so it was assumed that I would be buying the phone as well.  I explained to the representative that I had only had the service for less than two days and I was sure that the telephone service quality was below acceptable standards.  After much arguing, the Premier Wireless salesman gave me Cingular’s customer service number.  After some time I was able to convince the Cinguar representative to let me out of the contract without any early termination fee.  When I returned to Premier Wireless, they called me a liar.  I had them call the Cingular representative who told them that my termination fee had been waived.  The Premier salesman then told me that I also needed permission from his own regional office.  The regional office would not waive the fee so I felt I had to keep the service and the telephone because I did not want to spend over $350 to cancel the contract, or waste any more time.  If I had more time on my hands, I would have brought up a case against Premier Wireless.
6. About six months later I changed my service plan.  This plan changed the number of minutes/month and monthly payments that I would make.  Making this change also caused my contract to be extended for another year till June 2002.  Cingular did this for service plan changes that either decrease your monthly minutes, or take advantage of a running special.  I’m not sure which one it was in my case. 
7. Around December 2001, the service quality of the telephone deteriorated even further.  Between the hours of 6pm and 11pm, it was virtually impossible for me to send or receive telephone calls on my Cingular telephone.  After repeated attempts at dialing a telephone number, I was occasionally able to get a call through. 
8. On April 25, 2002, I tried to cancel my service again.  Initially, Pam (I.D.# 8582), the service representative told me that I had signed the contract and there was no way for me to get out of it without paying the $350.  After prolonged arguing, I was finally able to get Pam to prorate my cancellation fee.  I would have to pay the time I spent in my (new extended) contract divided by 12 months.  Cingular was at fault for terrible service quality, yet they wanted me to pay them.
9. Within the last month, Cingular service has improved but I am still upset about the way that Cingular virtually trapped me into a contract that was wrought with service quality and contract problems from the very first day.
10. Over the last six months, between the dropped calls and contacting customer service, I estimate I have spent over six hours trying to resolve my service quality problems with Cingular Wireless.

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on July 30, 2002 at San Diego, California.     

_____________________                                          _______________________

Ian Langmore                                                               Date

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DECLARATION OF VICCI MILLSAP

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-06-003

            I, Vicci Millsap, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is__________, San Diego, California 92120.
3. In November of 2000 I went to a Home Show in Del Mar, California and saw a Cingular kiosk advertising phone service.  I purchased an upgraded Ericcson wireless telephone and entered into a one-year service contract that would continue if I did not cancel service after one year.
4. I live in the Del Cerro area of San Diego and I put my address on the contract.  When I got home, my husband,_________, and I discovered that the service did not work at our house or in our neighborhood.  My neighbors have service with Sprint PCS and Verizon and their telephone service works fine all over our neighborhood.  I could not believe that Cingular sold us service that obviously did not work in our area of San Diego.  
5. I called Cingular customer service a few times to discuss my lack of service.  The customer service representatives told me that the fine print of the contract does not guarantee service in every location.  I am upset because the Cingular sales person was aware of my address and my usual calling area when I signed up, but he never told me that there was a chance my service would not function properly.   I am an elderly person and I honestly could not read all of the fine print on the contract I signed.  I trusted the Cingular salesperson, which was obviously a mistake.
6. I continue to pay Cingular for monthly service even though the telephone service rarely allows for incoming or outgoing telephone calls from our home in Del Cerro. 

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at San Diego, California.       

_____________________                                          _______________________

Vicci Millsap                                                                Date

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DECLARATION OF TOYA REECE

IN SUPPORT OF INVESTIGATION 02-06-003

            I, Toya Reece, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address___________, Escondido, California.
3.  I originally entered into a service contract with Pacific Bell Wireless in 1999.  My quality service was always fine at both my home and office.  In fact, I had such confidence in Pacific Bell that I had bought two other telephones for each of my sons. When my wireless provider changed from Pacific Bell to Cingular I began to experience immediate service quality problems.
4. I know that the problems began when my service changed to Cingular is that I can remember the exact day that my service quality degraded.  I had been using Pacific Bell wireless service successfully inside my office for over a year.  The day my screen prompt changed from Pacific Bell to Cingular I could no longer answer calls inside my office.
5. Instead, as soon as the telephone began to ring, I would have to grab the telephone, run outside of my office, and maneuver my body in a specific position in order to answer and hear my client on the other end of the line.  In addition, I began to have the same problems at my house.  With Pacific Bell Wireless, I had been able to send and receive calls inside my house.  I could do neither with my Cingular telephone.
6. I decided to get the service quality problems fixed at a local Cingular store.  I went to several Cingular store locations including: Escondido (now closed); Poway; and Carlsbad.  None of the Cingular representatives were able to solve my problems.  I was told over and over that Cingular was building new cellular towers and the service quality problems would be fixed.  I finally had enough of the same line and told the Cingular representatives that I wanted out of my contract.  They suggested that I call Cingular customer service.
7. Sometime in 2002 I called Cingular customer service from my wireless telephone.  I was in the middle of a call to a Cingular troubleshooter when my telephone dropped the call because it encountered a service break.  Interestingly, I had not moved from the spot where I had initially made the call.  Oftentimes, the service would be fine in an area one minute and then the next minute my telephone called would get dropped for lack of coverage area. It was very frustrating.  I had to call Cingular customer service back using my home landline.  The troubleshooter instructed me on the proper method for cleaning the chip inside my telephone. I cleaned the chip as instructed but it did not solve the service quality problem I was having with my Cingular telephone. 
8. In May 2002, a Cingular representative explained that the service quality problem must be generated by my telephone because I had an older model.  He assured me that if I bought a new telephone my problem would be solved.  Trusting that the Cingular representative knew more about Cingular than I did, I agreed to enter into a new one-year contract and I bought a new telephone.
9. Much to my dismay, my new telephone have the exact same service quality problems as my old telephone.  All the locations throughout Escondido that I could not get service on my old telephone are the same places that I can not get service on my new telephone.  I am very angry because Cingular scammed me into entering a new contract based on the false promise that my service quality would improve drastically.  If anything, my service quality has deteriorated with the new Cingular telephone. 
10. I contacted UCAN in July after I saw a news story on the PUC investigation into Cingular.  As a direct result of my contact with UCAN, I recently received a call from Cingular.  Hopefully, the end result will be that I am released from the crooked contract that I entered into with Cingular.             
11. Over the past several months, I estimate I have spent many of my personal time dealing with my Cingular telephone service.        

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at Escondido, California.       

_____________________                                          _______________________

Toya Reece                                                                  Date

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DECLARATION OF NICHOLE SCHULER

IN SUPPORT OF INVESTIGATION 02-06-003

            I, Nichole Schuler, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is_____________, Imperial Beach, California 91932.
3. In April 2001 I purchased a wireless telephone and entered into a one-year contract with Cingular at Parrot Cellular in Fairfield, California. 
4. In June 2001 my husband, who is in the military, and I were transferred to San Diego along with our six-month old daughter. 
5. Throughout December 2001 and January 2002 the reception on my Cingular telephone began to deteriorate.  During those months, I was rarely able to put a call through during the morning or afternoon commute times.  Additionally, as soon as the time period for unlimited nights and weekends began, my telephone would usually flash a screen that said "system busy" and I was unable to make any calls throughout the unlimited time periods.  I was very frustrated because my Cingular telephone was how I communicated with my parents in Fairfield, California.  Since I had a baby daughter, I wanted to be able to talk to my parents, in-laws, and friends whenever my daughter did something new or I had a question to ask them about parenting.
6. The service quality and coverage problems continued to deteriorate over the next few months.  I called Cingular customer service on January 7, 2002 for the first time to discuss the service quality problems I was experiencing.  It was the first of several calls I made to Cingular to discuss my lack of coverage.  Each time, the Cingular customer service representative would explain to me that Cingular was investing millions of dollars in their infrastructure and the problems would be fixed soon.  Also, I was told that the only way I could cancel my service is if I agreed to paid for the value of my telephone plus a $150 early termination fee.  There was no way I could justify wasting that much money when my husband and I were trying to provide as much as possible for our baby daughter.  I was frustrated because my Cingular telephone rarely worked during the times of the day I depended on it the most. 
7. I also bought the Cingular telephone so I could communicate with my husband and my daughter's daycare in case of any emergencies.     In March 2001, I had a particularly bad experience with my Cingular telephone.  I was driving from work to my daughter's daycare when I got stuck in a traffic jam on the 15 freeway.  I could not connect with my daughter's daycare to let them know that I would be late.  I could just picture her lying there alone after all the other babies had been picked up.  I was also afraid that she may have run out of milk because I was breastfeeding at the time.  I could not get off the freeway because traffic was at a standstill so I repeatedly tried to get a signal on the telephone.  The calls to my husband and my emergency alternative friend (who was willing to pick up my daughter) would not go through.  My telephone kept flashing "system busy."  After two-and-a half-hours, I was finally able to make it to the daycare at Miramar to pick up my daughter.  I was charged a late fee of $105 (one dollar per minute after 5:30pm) and took my daughter home. I was angry that my Cingular telephone had totally failed me at a critical time.  
8. When my contract expired in April 2002 I was very happy to sever my relationship with Cingular.  Unfortunately, Cingular continued to bill me after I specifically cancelled my service contract.  I made several more calls to Cingular customer service to resolve the billing problem.  I contacted UCAN after I made several unsuccessful attempts to get Cingular to credit my account.  After UCAN got involved, Cingular's complaint department contacted me and resolved the billing problem.
9. Over the past several months, I estimate I have spent over three hours of my personal time dealing with my Cingular telephone service.        

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at San Diego, California.       

_____________________                                          _______________________

Nichole Schuler                                                            Date

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DECLARATION OF VIRGINIA VOGEL

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-06-003

            I, Virginia Vogel, state as follows:

1. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
2. My home address is__________________, Oakland California, 94611. 
3. On July 24, 2001, my husband and I signed up for the Cingular Family Plan and purchased initially two and later a third telephone with three telephone numbers. These purchases were made through a Cingular agent whom we contacted through an 800 number published in a Cingular advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle. The service contract began on July 25, 2001.  Our plan costs approximately $80 a month and includes 300 shared daytime minutes and unlimited evening and nighttime minutes per month.
4. From the very beginning, my family could rarely get cellular service.  I have called Cingular several times and complained about the numerous "dead zones" located throughout my community.
5. Specifically, I have experienced "dead zones" throughout Oakland and the Bay area.  My husband,_______, works at UC ______ and the whole northern half of the campus is without service. Whenever I called customer service, I was told that Cingular never promised coverage in all the service areas shown on their maps and that the contract stated in fine print that coverage is not guaranteed to be seamless. 
6. During a call in or about November, 2001, I asked a Cingular service representative why I was obligated to continue paying for my contract while Cingular had no parallel obligation to provide service in exchange. He reiterated that Cingular never promised complete coverage in their service areas but that I would see big improvements after January 2002 because Cingular was investing huge sums in adding cellular towers.  I said that I could not believe that I still had to pay my bill when Cingular acknowledged that the service problems stemmed from their lack of infrastructure to handle all of the calls.
7. In the course of that same phone call in or about November 2001, the service representative transferred me to the department that handles transmission problems.  When I mentioned the “dead zones” to the technical representative, he told me that other people had already reported problems in the same areas, and that service tickets had already been issued for these locations. He "rewarded" me for being so patient with a $15 credit on our bill for that month. 
8. The promised improvements never materialized during January 2002 or the following months.  I called Cingular customer service several more times and then decided I should cancel my service. 
9. In April 2002, I contacted Cingular and told the service representative that I wanted to cancel my service.  I explained that the final straw came when my husband tried to phone home from the Stanford University campus but was unable to get service on his Cingular phone.  David borrowed an AT&T wireless telephone in order to make the call. At first, Cingular would only cancel the remaining four months of service if I agreed to pay a total of $450 for the three cancellations.
10. On April 22, 2002 I received a letter from Cingular that offered to prorate the early termination fee, but gave no specific amount that would be owed.
11. In May 2002 I phoned Cingular and asked that the service be terminated at the end of our contract (July 25, 2002) or earlier if possible. I explained to the customer service representative that I did not want to automatically continue on a month-to-month contract at the end of the one-year term. I did this knowing that we would be out of the country from mid-May to mid-July and I wanted to make sure our cancellation order was a matter of record. Cingular informed me that they could only enter a cancellation order within 30 days of the end date of the contract. I phoned Cingular from France on June 25, 2002 to enter a cancellation order effective July 25, 2002.
12. Over the last year, I estimate I have spent over 4 hours in my dealings with Cingular.

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at _______________, California.     

_____________________                              _______________________

Virginia Vogel                                                   Date

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DECLARATION OF BRIAN WHALEN

IN SUPPORT OF COMPLAINT NO. 02-01-007

            I, Brian Whalen, state as follows:

13. The following declaration is offered in support of I-02-06-003, Investigation of Cingular Wireless, currently pending before the California Public Utilities Commission.
14. I am a resident of San Diego, living at_____________, San Diego, CA 92126.
15. Around April 27^th, 2002 I purchased two phones for my wife and I from a Cingular Wireless store in San Diego. Another company, The Mobile Solution, apparently owns this store. When I asked about the return policy, the salesman told me I had three days to try out the service to see how it worked.
16. I had shopped around for a long time and compared many different services. I chose Cingular because it had the lowest cost shared minute plan and what seemed to be the best regional coverage at the time.
17. I had assumed we would not have any problems with coverage. With my previous phone, from Worldcom, I had coverage in all the populated areas of San Diego- including our home and my wife’s workplace. Also, there was a map at the Cingular store that showed coverage in all the locations I cared about. 
18. When I started using the service, I quickly realized that there was no coverage where my wife worked. She can’t make calls there and I can’t reach her when she is there. This was certainly annoying, but I was willing to put up with this one inconvenience, since the phone was a good deal.
19. I was also in the middle of moving around the time that I bought the phones. When I settled into my new home about three weeks after the purchase, I found out the phone works at our home only sporadically. Calls from my house often get cut off and I have a hard time making outgoing calls.
20. Most annoyingly, my calls will often go directly into voice mail without the phone even ringing (even though the phone is on). This happened four times in a single day earlier in October. Instead of getting a call when it comes in, I am forced to call my voice mail, then call the person back- all of which cost me more minutes.
21. I feel as though Cingular is not living up to their promise. I expected to be able to make and receive calls from my home and my wife’s office. I did not expect perfect coverage at all times, but I did expect that most of my calls would go though and I could depend on my phone to work in populated areas. Instead, I can’t use my phone in the places that are important to me, and I never know when my phone is working properly.
22. I have great benefits like free nights and weekends. However, since I am home most nights and weekends, this benefit is useless to me. I am simply not getting what I am paying for.
23. I want to cancel the phones and, if I am forced to, I would pay Cingular’s termination fee, which would be $300. I don’t belive I should pay this, but I would to avoid damaging my credit.
24. However, until October 27^th I am subject to a $400 per phone termination fee ($800!!) from Cingular’s retailer- The Mobile Solution. Since canceling now would cost $1100, I am going to keep paying for inadequate Cingular service.  

            I swear, under penalty of perjury, that I have reviewed the foregoing declaration, that it is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, information, and belief.

Executed on _______________ at _______________, California.     

_____________________                                          _______________________

Brian Whalen                                                                Date: