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"Hello? Hello? … I can't hear you! My cell is cutting out."
Forbes magazine, in a cover story titled "Cell Hell," says cell phone users are fed up with unreliable service and what they consider unfair billing charges, which is one of the biggest complaints people have.
Users also complain of poor sound and calls not going through. The growth in customers and average call time means capacity needs to increase at 75 percent annually, but companies haven't been able to keep up. The government set up the industry to have a lot of competition, but it also makes the quality low.
Choosing a Provider
When looking for the best company in your area, the magazine suggests that consumers remember the following tips:
Smaller is better. Smaller companies often have better quality because their networks are less crowded and their equipment is usually new. Voicestream and Leap wireless are good examples.
Be a detective. If you're getting a lot of dropped calls or dead zones on your commute every day, ask a cell user with the same commute who doesn't have your problems who his or her carrier is.
Check contract length. The contract's fine print can be too much to read every word, so you should ask outright how long the contract will be. You should understand that most contracts go for one year and that there are huge penalties for early withdrawals.
Check phone liability. Before signing a contract, check what the deal is if something happens to your phone. Find out if you can insure the phone so that if you lose it, you can get another for free.
Get in the driver's seat. When the contract is up, the consumer is in the driver's seat again, for it costs a company about 0 to replace a lost customer, so your provider might give you a new phone to keep you from switching. Be prepared to try and make a deal when your 12 months are up.
(Agencies)
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"喂？喂？……我聽不到！我的手機掉線了。"
美國《福布斯》雜志，在一篇名為《手機地獄》的封面故事中提到，目前手機用戶享受到的服務不盡人意，可是卻要交納很高的費用，而這種不合理的費用又是用戶們抱怨最多的問題之一。
此外，音質不好以及信號不通暢也讓手機用戶們忿忿不平。手機的普及和通話時間的增加意味著手機的維護能力也要相應地每年提高75%，然而手機制造商們和網絡服務商們卻做不到這一點。雖然政府的大力扶持促進了信息產業的競爭，但是同時這也造成了手機質量的低下。
睜大眼睛選手機
本期《福布斯》雜志為您提供了選擇可靠的手機制造商和網絡服務商時的幾點建議：
越小越好：較小的公司往往服務質量更好一些，因為他們的網絡不會很繁忙，而且他們的設備通常也是較新的。例如Voicestream和Leap公司的手機就是不錯的產品。
作個有心人：如果每天上下班的路上，你的手機經常斷線或者不在服務區內，向那些和你同路但是卻沒有這些問題的人詢問他們的手機入的是哪家網絡。
留意網絡合同期：用戶與網絡營運商簽訂的使用其網絡的合同中的附屬細則很難逐字逐句的讀完，所以你應該直接詢問合同的有效期。大多數合同有效期是一年，如果客戶提前退出網絡，就將要支付一大筆賠償金。
手機質量可信度：在購買之前，仔細研究合同中有關手機出現問題后處理方法的細節。有的合同中規定，如果你為你的手機買了保險，一旦你的手機丟失了，你就可以免費得到一部新的。
掌握主動：當合同到期時，顧客就再次掌握了主動，因為網絡服務公司要尋找一位新客戶來代替老客戶，平均要花費360美金，所以他們有可能會送你一部新的手機，以便留住你這位老客戶。因此，當合同一年期滿后，你應該隨時準備和商家做一筆新的交易。
(中國日報網站譯)
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Updated: 2001-09-07 01:00
