amp'd related Technlogy and Industry News

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UPDATE: Amp'd has changed closing date to July 31st.

Posted on July 24, 2007 / TELL-A-FRIEND ABOUT THIS!

Amp'd Mobile has given current US customers 8 more day before they "potentially suspend US opertaions" than we originally reported.

According to the Amp'd Mobile Q&A webpage, the company has changed the date from July 23rd to July 31st ... however they are still listing July 23rd as the last day customer service will be provided to current US customers, which was yesterday and it seems as if that is holding true. They've already disabled the CUSTOMER SERVICE link on their website which now goes to a 404 (Page Not Found) page. The customer service page for their Canada department however still functions properly.

And just an update on the ordering situation ... again we were allowed to type in our ZIP code, select a service plan and a phone, but were presented with the same error message as before.

TAGS: dell, amp'd, cellphone, mobile phone

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Bye Bye Amp'd Mobile!

Posted on July 22, 2007 / TELL-A-FRIEND ABOUT THIS!

Bye Bye Amp'd Mobile!
Less than two years after offering service in the United States, Amp'd Mobile will be "suspending" its US operations beginning on July 24th.

According to Amp'd Q&A page (not sure why they posted it here) ...

Is Amp'd going out of business?
Amp'd is potentially suspending US operations on July 24th.

How long will customer service be provided to help with issues such as ports or credits?
Customer Service will not be available after July 23rd.

It's not like we didn't see it coming since Amp'd filed for Chapter 11 at the beginning of June, however I'd be a little ticked off if I were a US Amp'd customer had to find out that my service was going to be "potentially" terminated July 24th by having to surf over to a random part of the Amp'd website. At least to me this seems like a big deal, not something to be pushed under the rug, so why didn't Amp'd even make the smallest mention of it on the front of their website?

To make things even more confusing, US customers can still go through the whole ordering process, from selecting a plan, phone and addons and then right before the checkout screen they are shown the following:

Wouldn't you think if you planned on ceasing US opertaions in 48 hours that you wouldn't allow people to even get that far? And that instead of saying "We will not be offering service in the United States anymore", you just show a generic error message?

Even better, wouldn't you think you'd notify your distributors/resellers in the United States about the decision instead of telling people to contact their local dealer or even Best Buy (which you still can purchase Amp'd service plans from as of writing this post)?

Now I understand, at least going by the news release over at the press room on Amp'd Canadian website that Amp'd "has not filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and is continuing to conduct normal business operations" however then goes on to state "Amp’d Mobile Canada is committed to providing our mobile subscribers with an excellent wireless experience and intends to deliver uninterrupted services throughout the U.S. restructuring."

So how is "potentially suspending US operations" go along with the intention to "deliver uninterrupted services throughout the U.S. restructuring"? Did the U.S. restructuring not goes as planned, and if it didn't, why didn't you mention that on the Q&A part of the website? Yeah, I know you don't want to piss off your Canadian customers, but what about the hundreds of thousands of customers in the United States that you are dropping? Don't you think they deserve a little bit of consideration since, after all, they have been paying you.

Anyways, if this was how you treated your customers when they were part of your service, I am defintely happy that I use AT&T and T-Mobile for my mobile phone needs. Good Luck Canadians ... you'll probably be next!

UPDATE: Engadget is reporting that current US Amp'd customers received a text message today (July 22nd) saying their service may be terminated as early as Tuesday at 12:01am. Wow ... thanks for giving them less than 48 hours notice.

TAGS: amp'd, cellphone, mobile phone

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