>I got a letter from Cingular the other day and it said that
> they will no longer be supporting my (4+ year old Motorola
> V60) TDMA/analog cell phone (whatever that is) and I have
> to get a new GSM cell phone (whatever that is).
>
> Now Cingular is offering a "free" Nokia 6030 phone, but the
> rebate deal states that I have sign-up for a new 2-year contract
> with them and I have to get a Cingular VISA Rewards Card
> and I'm not interested in going thru all that BS.

I too got a letter from Cingular in September.
I had a Nokia 6340i Gait phone (worked both TDMA and GSM). My plan was the
Home-50 (50 any time minutes) at $19.99 plus taxes etc. I was informed that
I would
begin paying an extra $5.00 a month because I had a TDMA plan. I'm a retiree
and
I don't use a cell phone a lot but I don't want a pre-paid one either.
I Just want a reasonable plan.

The letter said that I could get a Nation 200 plan (200 anytime minutes and
1000 Night/weekend) if I signed up for a 2 year contract. This offer
included either a free
Nokia 6030 or a 6102i for $29.99. There wasn't a 'Credit Card' stipulation.
Thanks for that.

A visit to the Cingular store they said they had no information regarding
the offer and the plan was non-existent. They suggested I call customer
service. I did that 4 times. The first two times I got no real help. The
Service Rep.s (SR's)
could not verify the Cingular offer and left me no where.

The next two SR's each had me fax a copy of the offer. Finally someone
called me back
but still didn't offer me what the letter stated. They tried to get me to
sign up for $39.99 a
month and would allow me to purchase the Nokia 6102i for $29.99 and waive
the $18.00 upgrade
fee. I stated my displeasure. Then he said I can credit you $10.00 a month
for the life of the contract.
I said NO DEAL. I'll pay higher taxes and get stuck for sure at the end of
the contract for $39.99.
I complained as this wasn't what the offer stated and that I would escalate
the situation.
The SR said I'll transfer you to a department that handles special
promotions.
I said really, what's taken so long for that to happen?

Not surprisingly that department knew of the offer and I agreed to the 2
year contract and got the Nation 200 plan and the Nokia 6102i for $29.99
(with new Sim and free
shipping) and the $18.00 upgrade fee was waived.

I believe that Cingular offers different upgrade incentives depending upon
the old TDMA plan.
Factors could be 'You were previously an AT&T customer', 'your monthly usage
reflects a
good fit to the $39.99 plan', 'your location' or your old Cingular plan was
like mine and had
very little monthly calling. That is, we hardly ever exceeded 50 minutes a
month.

By the way the old Sim (32kb) from my Nokia 6340i wasn't totally compatible
with the new 6102i.
The 6102i uses a 64kb Sim. After checking with a Cingular Tech I inserted
the 32kb Sim and transfered
my calling list but got an alert message that said the Sim wasn't correct.
Didn't need it anyway. I was just happy to
be able to transfer the calling list. I wouldn't go so far as to say you can
always put an older Sim
in a newer phone. It would be best to check with the Provider or someone
knowledgeable. I did
read where the wrong Sim could disable the phone temporarily or permanently.