Cingular Wireless being investigated in California

SAN FRANCISCO - The California state Public Utilities Commission is launching a probe of Atlanta-based Cingular Wireless. <br> <br> PUC investigators say the nation&#39;s second-largest mobile phone company has been unfair to consumers by locking them into long-term contracts and failing to deliver promised service. <br> <br> The PUC says it has received thousands of complaints. Most say calls are routinely disconnected or that Cingular does not provide coverage where they need it. <br> <br> The customers say that when they try to cancel service, they&#39;re threatened with a termination fee of $150 or more. Some claim they were told flatly there was a ``no-return&#39;&#39; policy. <br> <br> Cingular says it has attracted so many complaints because it more than doubled its customer base in California last year and mistakenly printed the PUC&#39;s telephone number too prominently on bills. <br> <br> Cingular also says it&#39;s spending almost a billion dollars to upgrade its network in California and other Western states. <br> <br> And the company says it changed its return policy to give customers 15 days to return phones without paying an early termination fee. <br> <br> Cingular is a joint venture between SBC Communications and BellSouth and currently has almost 21.6 million customers nationwide.