Cingular Wireless Accurate Billing

Cingular Wireless' current deceptive billing practices can cause unnecessary additional expense to customers who unknowingly use minutes in their plans they don't believe they're using.

Cingular Wireless bills phone calls that cross between the "on-peak" and "off-peak" barrier as "on-peak" calls, even when the majority of the call actually took place during "off-peak" hours when more plan minutes are available.

Cingular Wireless also counts "mobile to mobile" phone calls, which are supposed to be "unlimited" in most plans, against the plan's "nights and weekends" minutes instead when the plan doesn't include unlimited nights and weekends.

Both of these practices are unethical and deceptive, as the company's advertising proudly boasts "unlimited mobile to mobile calling" when in reality it can cause gigantic phone bills at month's end. Billing calls as "on-peak" just because they originate a minute or two before the off-peak period begins also causes unexpectedly large phone bills.

We, the undersigned, petition Cingular Wireless to change its billing policies to more closely match its advertised offers: "unlimited mobile to mobile" minutes should be used regardless of the day or time of the call when a Cingular device is used to call another Cingular device, and minutes consumed during off-peak times should always be billed at off-peak rates, regardless of when the call was originated.