Locked Out of Cingular’s Online Account Management
Today is the day my wife’s number got ported to T-Mobile. I ended up doing it a day later than I wanted to, but it was so late by the time I got to it that it was basically the next day. Fortunately, unlike Cingular, T-Mobile’s Customer Service is 24×7. They took all of my Cingular information, which I had prepared beforehand, which includes the phone number, Cingular account number, name and address exactly as it showed on my Cingular bill, and the current T-Mobile number. The rep explained to me how I would know the port has taken place (my wife would get a text message) and warned me about the use of 911 during the transition (namely that the 911 operator wouldn’t know anything about who I was and where I was calling from). He also told me it usually took about 24 hours or so for the port to take place, sometimes longer, but usually not. To make it easier for my wife, in case anyone called her number and Cingular still had it, I simply forwarded the calls to her T-Mobile number.
Sure enough, less than 24 hours later, my wife’s cell phone now has the correct number. My wife’s Cingular SIM now says “SIM Registration Failed” when I put it in a phone and Cingular’s Online Account Management has locked me out:
L108: Online account management is no longer available for this cancelled account. If you feel you have reached this message in error, call Customer Care at 1-800-331-0500.</p> That feels like the “don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out” treatment from Cingular. Seems they should let you access OLAM for a period of time after your account is cancelled. Oh well.
