T-Mobile
T-Mobile USA Problems Since Day One With Unauthorized Contract Extensions and Lots of Lies

I have been a customer of T-Mobile for over seven years. Since my very beginning with them, I have had nothing but bad omens. I was originally SUPPOSED to be signed up for a plan with 600 anytime minutes with unlimited nights and weekends (what's always been their most popular plan), unlimited texting, and insurance on my line. I was actually signed up for 600 ANYTIME minutes, including no free nights and weekends, no texting. So as a fresh adult, I received my first cell phone bill for over $600. I called and complained several times and had it fixed, finally. That's an employee problem, and I understand that, but once you have a problem, customer service is there to investigate and hopefully fix the error, and about one in three times when I call customer service I end up with someone who is EXTREMELY rude and unhelpful.

The next problem came when, a year later (I signed a one year contract initially) I called to ask about upgrading and getting a discount on my phone. I had heard from some friends of mine that their mobile company did it, so I figured mine did, too. Well, they did, but somehow I did not qualify because at one point, I fictionally renewed my contract. Though I never authorized it, never talked to the first living person, and certainly never put my name to paper for them. I complained, AGAIN, and was given a phone at a hugely discounted price to shush me up, but they would not cancel the contract that I did not sign. They just, as I said, wanted me to take the phone so I would stay. So I did, and I stayed, unfortunately.

Since then, there have been multiple service issues. Entire days, sometimes weeks where my text messaging is so delayed that I may receive a text message three days after it was initially sent. Even though we have "great" coverage in my area, my calls drop two to three times a week in metro areas where there is no justification for a drop in coverage. No trees, no metal roofs...

The biggest issue so far, and what finally drove me to file a formal complaint against T-Mobile with the BBB, was the phone I have now.

Let me say that if you ever thought of purchasing either the Samsung Beat or the Samsung Blast, do yourself a huge favor, and DON'T. Those are first gen MP3 player phones, and they are TERRIBLE. I have officially been through three different phones, not because of any wrongdoing on my part, but because the phones just STOP working. They start to freeze, messages disappear, the music player won't read music files. I could go on and on.

I had it replaced the first time quite cheerily. I always back up all my information, so it's not a big loss to me when a phone dies. So I just had them send me a replacement, transferred my SIM card, and went on my merry way. Until four months later when the replacement phone started doing EXACTLY the same thing. I called them, and spoke with a rep, and this time I was upset. I told the rep I spoke with that I wasn't satisfied about having to have the phone replaced again in such a short time, and she assured me there and then that this was the last time I would ever have to accept the same phone for an exchange.

From what she explained to me (in a recorded call, mind you, so the company somewhere has a record of this employee telling me this), you have to send your phone back a magic three times before you can request an equitable replacement phone. I asked her at the time about a warranty, and she said that since they were sending me a BRAND NEW PHONE (yeah, right!) every time, I automatically got a one year warranty since it was a new handset. That made sense to me, so I thanked her and waited for my new phone. Keep in mind, each time this happened, I had to pay $19.95 for shipping. So now we're up to forty bucks and the inconvenience of being without a phone twice.

So, I get the new phone, and it works great, at first. But within six months this time, the phone starts to act like its predecessors. Freezing, losing information, the whole shebang. I contact T-Mobile, BEYOND frustrated at this point, to complain and ask that they issue me a new phone, only to find out that. Guess what? You only receive a one-year warranty on the INITIAL PURCHASE of the handset. So the rep I spoke with blatantly lied to me to retain me as a customer, because I assured her at the time of the call that if I EVER had to accept the same phone as a replacement again, I would be canceling my service.

I've read my contract, I've read every piece of paper I've ever received from them, including all the paperwork sent with my replacement handsets, and no where in there does it mention anything to do with the warranty not being extended when a new handset is received. Though I did find out that all those units aren't new, they're refurbished. So, lie #2 from the customer service representative of the year.

I escalate the complaint, ask for a supervisor, and all they are willing to do is, get this. ALLOW me to sign another two year contract, and then I can receive the phone for a discounted price. You have a customer threatening to cancel, and the one solution you offer them is that they can stay with you longer if they want any sort of help? That makes no sense.

I eventually was put into contact with Jason Moten, an executive customer service relations expert. I think you translate that into "rude." We spoke on the phone and he told me they were willing to do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to retain me, and that they were unconcerned about whether I was happy with that outcome or not. He actually told me, "You can pursue this complaint all you want, but I have all issues with your account now forwarded to me, and I can assure you I am not going to be helpful toward you at any point."

At this point, I filed a complaint with the BBB. I provided them with every piece of evidence I could, and T-Mobile had the same response to them. No one at any point seemed concerned that their employees are obviously handing out incorrect information and upsetting long-time customers like myself. There was never any apology, other than an apology if I didn't like their offer. No one ever said they were sorry I was lied to. I told them I would send them my defective phone back, and since I paid well over $200 for it, we could consider that my cancellation fee. They obviously did not accept that.

So here I sit, several months later, with a phone that barely works, indebted to T-Mobile for another several months, and sick and tired of being treated like garbage by a company that, by my best estimate, I have paid over $6500 to for monthly bills, new phones and accessories.

Please, please do not sign up with T-Mobile. Avoid it, at all costs. And if you do decide to go with them, or if you already have a contract with them, please heed my advice:

If you talk to ANYONE, ever. You write down their name, rep ID, whatever they will give you. If they make you any sort of promise or offer, you tell them that they are to NOTATE YOUR ACCOUNT with that information. Then, YOU write down the information, along with the date, time, and name of the person you talked to. After you speak with them, hang up and immediately call back and ask the new representative you speak with if those notes were made. If they weren't, you have all the information that you just wrote down, so now it's big trouble for the lying rep.

Keep records in everything you do, keep names, and do NOT allow yourself to be bullied or bamboozled by T-Mobile.

Zmobiegirl
Kingwood, Texas
U.S.A.

Company: T-Mobile
Country: USA
Site: www.tmobile.com

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