Hey Rocco, got a question

[Sven Johannsen]

This is sort of a Cingular question, so I thought maybe you might be able to provide some insight, or have a contact you can bug.

Have a family plan with three phones, mine, wife's and grown son (it is cheap for him). Just upgraded the wife's phone. Lo-and-behold, her phone now comes in with my name on caller IDs. Didn't before the upgrade.

Called customer care and they seemed shocked that it could be any different. It's the way it works. All the phones on a family plan come up with the same name. Ahh-right, didn't two days ago, before we upgraded the phone...not the plan...not the number...just the hardware... Oh, let me look...Oh yes, we have to fill out a form to request that change. Might take till the next billing cycle to take affect though.

OK, so the question is, who in the ATT/Cingular hierarchy believes that the default for families is that they all have the same name. This seems rediculous to me...and thinking back on it, is the same thing I went through when we established the plan two years ago. Would seem to me it would be natural to expect each family member to come up with their name in caller ID, not for everyone to be identified as the plan owner. How hard can that be?

[Rocco Augusto]

Sorry it hs taken me so long to answer this, I have been stuck in bed with the Flu. When I left Cingular, they were still working on there systems to allow othe names for different family members for caller ID. To my knowledge, the upgrade should have happened by Fall, when all ATT and Cingular customers were on the same billing systems.

I would recommend calling customer service again to see if you can get someone more knowledgable on the phone. If they tell you the same thing, politely ask to speak to a manager and see if they can help.

I know the situation is frustrating but try to remain calm on the phone. These people get yelled at all day long and tend to be less helpful when they sense you're annoyed. Once I feel better I will call several account specialist I know to get you a better answer. :)

[Sven Johannsen]

I didn't expect you to take this as a support call. I was just wondering if this really was such a big deal. As I said, I had different names set up, two years ago, with Cingular, when I originally got the plan. When we updated the wife's phone it seems they undid the goodness. I'm a little surprised to hear you say it is a 'new' thing. Just seemed strange that this was such an odd request.

Don't make any special effort. I think they are actualy taking care of it. I'm just curious why, if that is indeed the case, this is this way. I can't imagine a family not wanting it set up with independent names. Mom and Dad probably want to know which kid is calling. I'm sure the kids would prefer their friends know they are calling, and not their parents. It's a name tied to a phone number in the DB isn't it? It's pretty standard to ask a business what they want the caller ID to say, why not a personal phone?

Though sometimes I'm gritting my teeth, I'm always pleasant to support folks. As frustrated as I am, I know the company policies, or their lack of training, are not their fault. I also know that if the guy I get has a bad attitude, yelling at him isn't going to make it better.

Actually had a subsequent great experience with another tech on a different issue...same cause. While getting the new hardware, not only did they decide to change my wife's name, they also decided she no longer wanted her data plan. (Yes the new phone supported it). I couldn't find the old plan on the web to add it back, and it wouldn't let me add any equyivalent ones. Just didn't offer them. The tech guy was great in getting her back on the Media net Unlimited plan she had been on, even though it appears that is not really still around. I do have it on my phone, so he could see we had it.