A Singular Cingular Experience ($10.03)

Some of you might remember my posting about the Zips man. Here is Mr. Cingular.

My cell phone has only been successfully charging about half of the time. The other half of the time, when I put it in the charger, there is a message on the phone that says "unable to charge". This has been going on for several months.

I stopped by a Cingular outlet to ask what the problem might be. He told me that he did not have any diagnostic tools. He said it could be the charger, it could be the battery and it could be the phone.

I asked him if he could test the battery. He said that he couldn't, that he did not have any battery testing equipment and in fact he did not have any replacement battery for my phone.

He asked me if I had the charger with me; I said no, and asked him if I should bring it in. He said then he could see if it charges. I said half the time it does and half the time it doesn't. I said: if it charges, you will tell me it looks OK, right? Right, he said. And if it doesn't, you will tell me that it might be charger, it might be the battery and it might be the phone, right? Right, he said. So, what good would it do me to bring it in? No answer.

He then took the phone and put it into another charger. It started charging. He told me that. I told him that it does that half the time. No answer.

He then said that the phone might be getting old and need upgrading. I told him it was just a year old. He said, you know, in cell phones, one year is like ten. I asked him what that meant - 10 years old didn't seem so bad. He said, well, they build them to become obsolete, particularly if you don't take care of them.

I told him I took very good care of my cell phone. He looked at me. No answer.

I wanted to suggest that he might be in the wrong business; maybe he should be managing a Zips.