xbm is exchange by mail the warranty service

yea isnt that cingular?

lockline is a whole different number correct?

i never could use xbm when i had the $4.99 warrenty+insurance package.

well before xbm and pre merger there used to be repair stations inside some COR stores around the country, they moved to xbm for all warranties to save the company money

But Cingular, just like all service centers, makes money on warranty service. They get paid to perform repairs by the manufacturers.

Cingular has to pay shipping and an outside company (Palco) to refurbish those phones - a true manufacturers warranty does not replace the cosmetics when performing warranty work, so cingular is still loosing money on every warranty swap. If the service centers were making money (I personally know they could not break even) cingy would have kept them, heck they should have kept them just for customer service reasons.

Service centers, when run as just that, are profitable. Cingular's business model for in store service was very different.

And Cingular ended their relationship with PALCO a long time ago so I am not sure on what you are basing your opinions.

I have been away from corporate for about 2yrs, but I still see a few palco stickers still trickling through at my service center - and the poor performance of refurbs is still there. BTW I worked in a corporate svc center and we could barely break even - salries for experienced techs and keeping training current is really expensive.

how are they MAKING money? 🤨

if one doesnt pay a fee to cingular and just takes advantage of the 1 year warranty?

Because they get paid to perform warranty service for the manufacturer.

Cingular does not own any repair centers - they closed the repair depot in Atlanta just after the merger,and warranty does not reimburse if a handset is shipped in to them for repair. Cingular does have to pay for shipping to/from the customer, they have to hire people for the XBM call center, they also have to pay an outside company to refurbish the phones (warranty does not cover cosmetics) so there is a net loss, it just may not be more than having in store service centers.

If a customer returns a phone with significant cosmetic damage they are charged. Those charges are used to pay for those costs of refurbishing equipment.

They also sell many of those refurbished handsets online with an activation, bringing in additional revenue. A lower cost of aquisition for that customer equates to a savings on the balance sheet.

As far as you saying ALL the service centers are closed because one was closed in Atlanta, I just don't agree. Maybe some were closed, but some remain.

No, I said the repair depot was closed - the depot was the in-house service center where all the WWW units came from when it was BellSouth Mobility - cingular closed it. The in store service centers were closed in my market and the CWA asked if this was company wide and they were told yes - if they only closed some and did not offer to relocate technicians this may be a breech of contract. How could cingy charge for cosmetic damage on a warranty exchange? it does not affect the operation - especially since manufacturers warranty does not cover cosmetics - physical damage resulting in inoperable equipment is a different matter.