When I first signed up, I clearly stated I needed 2 phones: one for my mother 70 miles away and one for myself. Without hesitation, TMobile stated it could be done being we live in the same state. After getting the phones and setting it up and calling Mom on her new phone, it was not very good reception at all. Choppy voice and sometimes dropped service completely.in notifying TMobile initially, they said Mom would have to call them in order to troubleshoot the phone. I thought, well why don't they call her themselves. That wasn't too much of an inconvenience as Mom called right away. The only problem was, the phone's service was so poor the call was dropped and no further troubleshooting was done at that point. Then, I was pretty convinced T-Mobile was aware of the problem and would do what they can to get us up and running. Not the case. After calling again, the customer service rep said Mom would need to do more work including finding another TMobile phone to swap out the SIM card to rule out the SIM card being bad. Since my mother is 70 miles away, I told them it was unreasonable for me to travel that far to swap SIMS. The tech then suggested she find someone to do so or else there was nothing they can do about the issue. My mother is homebound because of her illness. I told them it was unreasonable request. I then said I would mail them the phone back so they can do their troubleshooting. The tech said that would be unacceptable and I had to find a way to do this troubleshooting step. This service rep was extremely obnoxious: telling me there was nothing else she can do even as I was explaining I was a new customer who wasn't experiencing the service they promised. I then got tired of her ignorance and asked to speak to her manager. She hesitated explaining the Manager would not tell me anything different. I insisted and she kept me on hold for about 5 minutes and came back explaining there was nothing she could do. Yes, the same obnoxious tech did not get her manager despite me asking to speak with them. I demanded she get me her manager and she put me on hold again. This repeated for about 3 times at which point I finally hung up and called back immediately. Then, and only then, did I get a tech explain that I could go to a TMobile outlet and they would help troubleshoot with the SIM. Needless to say, the previous customer service tech was ignorant and clearly trying to frustrate me by not helping or suggesting any other way to get this phone fixed. Since my mother is homebound, she cannot go anywhere. I explained this to the technician at which time I realized TMobile just will not budge: The SIM swap had to be done by us in order for TMobile to be convinced the service is bad on the phone. It wasn't until 2 months later that I could drive up to Mom's house, take the phone to the TMobile outlet and do the SIM swap. The girl at the TMobile counter was extremely nice. She quickly did the SIM swap and confirmed it did not make a difference in the quality of service. Finally, TMobile agree's to provide a new phone. Of Course, even though I was at a TMobile outlet, they wouldn't give me a replacement phone at that point. I understand that not all of these outlets are fully operated by TMobile yet I don't see why there cannot be some kind of exchange program. I figured I could give them the bad phone and they give me a good phone. Not the case. I was told it would take the standard amount of time to recieve a new phone and was asked if I wanted to pay for next day service of 15.00. It was a Friday, I figured it would be worth it being that mail can be slow on the weekends. I paid the 15, Gave Mom back her broken phone and told her a new Phone would be arriving by Monday. TMobile loves to charge the overnight fee but do they stick to their promise of next day delivery? What RipOff report would be complete without more frustration? The phone did not get to Mom's until the following Thursday. Furious, I called TMobile and demanded my money back for the overnight. I was a bit upset and said 'damn' in my conversation to the tmobile tech at which point they said they would hang up on me if I continue to be 'disrespectful'. I asked, "damn" is a cuss. She said yes and put me on hold. This tech had a truly inflated god complex but I was not about to let them weild any further frustration and remained civil. I then kindly asked for my money back at which point they said I would get my money back and a 35 dollar credit. I told them I appreciate this and that I was glad TMobile finally showed some empathy. As of this writing, the service still suffers from the same intermittent choppiness often causing Mom to hang up. She tries to tell me something and I can't hear but the first syllable of each word. It's like talking to a robot. Since its been about 3 months, TMobile will not let me gracefully bow even though the service does not live up to it's availability for what I pay. Additionally, Tmobile calls Mom constantly to have her mail in the broken phone. Unfortunately, it will have to wait as I have to drive 70 miles to mail back the phone that they could have swapped at the TMobile outlet when I was there. Moving Mom 70 miles away, my worries are still there that she will be unable to get through to someone when she needs help. I really trusted TMobile to provide reliable service after thinking a cell phone was a good idea. I guess I am unlucky and Mom will have to scream for help because TMobile only cares about their precious bottom line and do not want to act in good faith to paying customers. Unfortunately, they can get away with it legally. They know this and do the minimum amount of work to ensure that their CEO's live more prosperously while tricking customers into thinking the TMobile network is good. It is not and you will exist in bondage with TMobile until your contract expires. Stay far away from TMobile if you want reliability.
Eric
Harleysville, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
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