My T-Mobile bill every month was about $135 for two lines on a flex pay account (not a contract). When they accidentally took out $270 (using my credit card for automatic recurring payments) I had enough. I went straight over to Sprint and signed a contract with them and then walked across the street to T-Mobile to cancel. T-Mobile store reps admitted the mistake on the double charge but could not help me with a refund or a cancellation and therefore instructed me to call customer support. The store reps even sympathized when I explained how painful it is to deal with their customer service over the phone.
After a lengthy phone call and speaking with no less than 9 different people I was informed by a supervisor that my T-Mobile account was indeed closed. I then inquired about the refund for the $190 credit after final charges which they had mistakenly charged on my last bill. They informed me that because my account was now closed a check would be issued in the full amount of $190.
A few weeks later I received a new bill saying they had used a portion of that money to pay my final charges and that my new balance showed a credit of $140. I bit my tongue and called again to ask why I am still being charged. The rep explained that the account was still open (even though my number had been switched over to Sprint for weeks) and that a refund had never been issued. Several discussions with several reps later, a supervisor agreed to finally send me a check for the new balance of $140. Apparently I originally cancelled my service the day after the billing cycle restarted so they "generously pro-rated my new charges" for the DAY at $50. Thinking that $50 was a bit steep for one days charges, I was also exhausted from spending hours talking to incompetent call center reps and I resolved myself to accept the refund of $140 to be mailed out within 10 business days and for my account to now be officially closed.
The other day I came home to notice a T-Mobile envelope in my mailbox. Thinking this must be my refund I opened it and discovered yet another new bill stating that they had taken yet another mysterious payment for the account that I had already closed, TWICE! The double charge "accident" was now almost entirely in T-Mobiles hands. I braced myself to call again and asked immediately for a supervisor. The supervisor, Nathan, informed me that while the account was in fact closed I was expected to pay for yet another month service charges. Being driven to the point of nearly losing control I hung up the phone, composed myself to be calm and decided to wait just a bit longer for the newly reduced refund check for $65 that Nathan assured me was on the way.
The Bottom Line
In total I have spent more than 7 hours with approximately 23 different representatives of T-Mobile over a 5 week period. They took $190 over what they were legally allowed for my account charges and are unwilling to send it back.instead they are distributing it out to random mysterious charges that are a result of their representative's incompetence. They have blatantly lied to me and falsely reassured me that they will send a check for my refund or that my account was indeed closed and still I have nothing to show for my hard earned money owed.
Since I have no means to hire an attorney I am simply sharing my case for consumer awareness. I doubt I will ever get the funds T-Mobile illegally took from me but at least I am not forced to deal with them exclusively for cellular service. I would strongly recommend that you the reader consider a different provider if not for the fact T-Mobile might accidentally take your money, then perhaps you should consider their poorly trained, inexcusably unorganized and incompetent customer service.
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