(My letter to T-mobile corporate)
My experience was as follows:
1. I purchased a phone and an activation kit online, which I received and activated Friday evening, 7/27.
2. Upon activation, I discovered that there was no service inside my home. Since that is a major place that I make calls, I was concerned, and tried working with the phone/coverage over the weekend. Unfortunately, the service will not provide what I need, so I elected to cancel the
service and return the phone.
3. I called this morning and asked for cancellation due to lack of coverage, and a refund. I was told the account had been cancelled, and that since I was within 14 days of my initial activation, I could be issued a refund. The rep transferred me to the "refill" department, saying they would be able to process my refund. I was concerned about being 'blind transferred' like this, but waited on hold.
4. The phone menu only gave me the option to "refill my account", so I chose that option. The rep I was connected to said she could not help me with that, and would need to transfer me to someone else. I reluctantly waited on hold for a second time.
5. A rep named Kay (rep ID# 0178) came on the line saying she was a supervisor. I told her I had cancelled my account because I didn't have coverage in my home, and that I was told her department could issue me a refund. Kay looked up my account and told me since it had been
cancelled (although less than 10 minutes before), there was "nothing she could do."
6. At this point I was feeling very frustrated. I told Kay about my experience, that I had been transferred twice, that I'd been told her department could help me. She said she "could not do
anything" and offered to transfer me back to the customer service department. I told her I had just been transferred from there, and did not want to be sent back, since I would likely just be sent back to her department again.
7. I asked Kay if she would take responsibility for the call and see to it that I got to the right
department. She said she no, and that she "could not" help me. I asked her again if she would accept some accountability as part of good customer service, and help me get the issue resolved. She said "we just process payments for T-mobile, there's nothing I can do." She then offered to transfer me back to customer service. I very reluctantly accepted and was transferred.
8. I was connected to a rep in Customer Service, and told him I was looking for a refund on an account that had just been cancelled. This rep told me that since I was on a prepaid plan, I was not eligible for a refund. At this point I became very frustrated and demanded to speak to a supervisor.
9. I was connected to David N. (rep ID# 854090), who spoke with me at length
about the issue. David was the only bright spot in the otherwise terrible customer service experience I had this morning. He was patient with me (despite how frustrated & upset I was), listened to what I had to say, and provided the only option he had available to him—that
of having me contact the corporate offices of T-mobile. He provided me your email address, and I thanked him and proceeded to write this email. David did explain that the situation was out of his hands, and that the system did not allow him to take actions towards providing my refund, particularly with the account having already been cancelled.
So the situation is this:
-I purchased and activated your service with the expectation (backed up by your online coverage maps) that I would have cell signal in my major calling area.
-Once activated, I had 1 or zero bars of coverage in my home. This was consistent over several days of testing.
-Since I was not receiving the service I paid for, I feel I am due a refund for the price of the service.
-I have been told that I am eligible for that refund (then later told I wasn't), then told that because a T-mobile customer service representative cancelled my account, a refund cannot be given. Customer service provided to me was exceptionally poor (with the noted exception
above).
-I am not responsible for the error of a T-mobile rep in failing to issue a refund prior to closing the account.
-Again, I did not receive the service I paid for—therefore I should be issued a refund.
These are tough economic times, and I personally have been out of work for over a year. I was interested in a T-mobile prepaid plan because I had heard good things about the service, and needed to save money.instead I had my money taken from me, was not provided with the service I paid for, and was treated poorly by T-mobile representatives when I objected.
I respectfully request a refund of my plan fee as a gesture of good faith on the part of T-mobile.
I've since been called by someone from the corporate office who interrupted me, talked over me, and repeated over and over "it's our policy not to give refunds". He refused to answer any of my questions and when I complained about that, threatened to "end the call."
I filed a report with the Better Business Bureau yesterday, and the T-mobile corporate office contacted me again today to "explain their stance." I told them I'd already heard their 'stance' and had no interest in hearing it again, so he ended the call.
The dishonesty and complete lack of concern for the customer shown by the T-mobile company in this instance is disgusting, if not outright criminal.
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