Starting on June 25th, callers to my cell phone reached a recording stating that my phone was no longer in service. My billing is current and I could still make outgoing calls, but as a small business guy,
this is not a helpful message. Lost calls means lost business and even worse, suggesting to my callers that my service has been disconnected is embarrassing and damaging to the perceptions others have of me.
Despite repeated calls to T-Mobile's customer service department and a visit to a T-Mobile store where my phone was subjected to various diagnostics, the problem has persisted — even though I was told repeatedly that it was fixed. One of the reps there, however, did let
it slip that hundreds of Angelenos had experienced similar problems over the past few days. The core of my concern is that outgoing message saying my service has been terminated. One way to fix that would be to switch immediately to another carrier — but T-Mobile would then charge me a $200 early termination fee. Since that is probably a lot less than the business I have lost the last couple of days, I asked T Mobile to waive that fee. The company refused. I also asked if they could somehow change the message that callers were receiving that stated my phone was out of service. I was told this was
not possible. I asked to have my phone replaced and and was told the problem is probably associated with my network and replacing the phone may not solve it. The first customer rep I asked about this told me the problem was too complex to explain but it may be due to faulty interaction between my SIM card, phone and the network. "So replace my phone, " I pleaded. "Your phone works now, " he explained, So we can't replace it." (That guy's name is Patrick — they don't give out last names. May he burn in hell.) Of course, the problem was not fixed. Ultimately another service rep agreed to send me a replacement phone — but that will take days and callers continue to get the message suggesting I can't pay my bill and even then there is no certainty the problem will be solved.
Damage Done?
Hard to say. I know I missed calls from one organization that was at least persistent enough to send me an e-mail. I know for certain I missed an opportunity that would have netted me a few hundred dollars. I know I did not get a half dozen or so calls I was expecting. However, the biggest damage is creating the perception that I can't even afford to pay my bills. I may never know what that has cost me.
T-Mobile offered me a $10.00 credit.
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