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Topic Review (Newest First)

  • 09-25-2009, 08:19 PM
    tjhickman
    Hey james I am sorry to hear about the issue that you have had... after going to the store did ever call back customer care? Also did you get the reps name and the managers name?


    Quote Originally Posted by JamesRH View Post
    I just had one of the worst customer service experiences of my life. I'm posting my story here in the hope that someone can give me some advice on what to do, or that someone from t-mobile might read this thread and help me out (Mods if this is the wrong forum, please let me know).

    My T-mobile plan came with a very basic phone but since it was the first cell phone I'd ever owned, it seemed cool enough. But on 3/25/2008 I decided to get a slightly better phone, the Nokia 6133 and keep my old one as a spare since it was way past the return date. Not long after I bought the 6133 it completely died on me. The screen kept going black and it would only let me make emergency calls, when it worked at all. I tried re-seating the battery, memory, etc--nothing doing.

    I had not physically damaged the phone and my local T-mobile dealer here in Oregon agreed to let me return it on 4/25. I got a slightly better phone--the Nokia 6133--as a replacement. I started using it and it was definitely better than my old phone. But now the upgrade bug has got me. I start thinking I should save my money and get something REALLY fancy, like a smart phone.

    So I decide to return the 6133 and save up for something better. But how much time do I have to return my current phone? The T-mobile website says 14 days from the date of the original purchase. But does that start with the date I bought the first phone, the one that died on me? Or does it start with the purchase of the upgraded phone--the one that actually works? When I bought the new phone the girl who sold it to me said she thought I had until 9/25 to return it, but she didn't seem too certain either. I find my receipt and read the fine print and I still can’t figure it out.

    So I called the 1-800 T-mobile customer service center yesterday to ask how long I had to return my current phone and the customer service guy I talked to didn't know either. He put me on hold for a minute to check and when he got back on he told me I had 14 days from the date I bought the WORKING phone to return it. Great! I have this Friday off so I can return it then.

    Today I'm at work and I start worrying about the possibility of not being able to return my phone. (What can I say, I worry a lot). I think I better double check, just to be certain. So I spend a good part of my lunch hour on hold with T-Mobile customer service again. And the same thing happens--the woman I talk to isn't sure, so she puts me on hold, she gets back on the line, and tells me that yes, I can still return my working phone.

    I ask if I can get some sort of confirmation and she says she'll put a note on my account in case there is any problem at the store. Great! But then she tells me that I have until the end of business hours TODAY to return the phone. I tell her I'm at work and I don't get off until 10 pm --the T-mobile store will be closed by then. She says she's sorry, there's nothing she can do.

    I manage to beg off work early. I go home, grab my phone and my receipt and drive a half hour or so to the T-mobile store.

    Can you guess where this is heading ... ?

    I show the T-mobile guy behind the counter my receipt and he says the deadline to return the phone was actually YESTERDAY. I'm too late.

    I tell him I spent my lunch hour on the phone with T-Mobile customer service, they said that I had until today to return the phone, and that I asked them to put a note on my account DOCUMENTING that I had until today to return it, PRECISELY so I wouldn't have to go through any hassle like this. I tell him I left work early so I could meet the deadline they told me.

    He acts like he doesn’t believe me. I very politely ask him to please check my account for the note. He says his computer is off so he can’t look at the note. He seems kind off mad about it. It’s getting near closing time and I can understand his wanting to go home so I politely ask him to please turn his computer back on and just check for the note. He grudgingly agrees to do so and reads the note. Then he says that the person who wrote the note made a mistake. That they must have thought there were 31 days in April but there are only 30, and that’s why they said I had until today to return it.

    I tell him I don’t know anything about that, I don't know what was in their minds, I only know what they told me, which is that I had till today. I tell him that the girl who sold me the phone also said something about my having until the ninth to return it. He asks me her name so the manager can have a talk with her. I tell him I don’t know her name.

    He tells me it is too late for me to return the phone. He tells me that only a manager can override the something-something and the manager isn’t there. I ask him if there is someone he can call. He calls someone and spends a few minutes on hold. He asks me a few more questions. Then he tells me that since T-mobile told me the wrong return date, they will give me a $20 credit on my phone bill. But I don’t want the $20 credit. That won’t even cover the time I took off work to get here, much less the $200 I paid for the phone. I just want to return the phone. He says it’s too late. I ask when the manager will be back. He says not till Friday. He gives me the phone back and says he will have the manager call me, but the way he says it, it’s obvious that the manager is just going to say the same thing.

    Now, I work in customer service. And I know that if my company gave a customer a documented return date on an item, my company would HONOR that return date. Even if it was off by ONE day. I also know we would apologize to the customer for the extra hassle we might have caused him or her. But not only does T-mobile refuse to honor the return date they GAVE me, not only do I get no apology for my time wasted and money lost, but I get treated very COLDLY, like I’ve come in the store to ask for spare change. I know how rude and unreasonable some customers can be and I’ve taken great pains to remain very polite in seeking to return the phone--I even thanked him in the end, though now I wish I hadn't--but it makes no difference. They already have my money—and that’s all they seem to care about. It doesn’t make sense to me: they get to keep my $200 and lose me as a customer for life? Will that really work out well for them in the end?

    Thanks to any of you who managed to read all of this. I know it is very long and somewhat rambling. But this experience has left me a little shook up and I had to share it. If any of you have any advice that might help me I would greatly appreciate it. I’ll let you know what happens on Friday, but I don’t have much hope.
    Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 1.5; en-us; T-Mobile G1 Build/CRC1) AppleWebKit/528.5+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.2 Mobile Safari/525.20.1
  • 09-17-2009, 12:42 PM
    AaronStack616
    I better rush off and return my phone now.
    :: burns rubber ::
  • 09-15-2009, 03:03 PM
    ryantp
    My house is a T-Mobile deadzone. No bar whatsoever.
  • 09-11-2009, 04:08 PM
    LeroyXbrown
    Damn, that just really sucks.
  • 08-29-2009, 12:12 PM
    falkorr
    That is Horror!
    I live in the netherlands and over here they arent too bad.
  • 08-10-2009, 12:57 AM
    marcmywrdz
    Quote Originally Posted by starfadedblack View Post
    1) Yes, I agree you paid for a working phone but anyone who would have read a single review for the wing would tell you it had issues because the hardware was not up to snuff for the software. Also, take that to HTC, they built it, not Tmobile.

    2) Cant argue with that, was a poor comparison. But in the same respect, would you take the Ferrari if you had problems in the past or move on?

    3) They are not selling them as a courtesy, they are subsidizing on the cost. Hence where the whole contracts issue derives from. Thats why if you buy the phone at retail from Tmobile, they dont give you a contract.

    4) You clarified that. Which is what I hoped you meant to begin with.


    To jump on the G1 part, that was a major fail on your end as that was a very good price on the phone but of course it has lowered since the MyTouch came out but it was good at the time so I really dont understand that decision..


    My daughter picked and ordered the Wing, thinking it was a good phone. She doesn't research things like you or I do. : ) I'd never buy anything that I had read was bad. Well, at least not knowingly.

    "Tmobile doesn't make the phones, they buy them from the manufactuere and have them to resell to you as a courtesy." That is a direct quote from the post that I was replying to.

    My biggest problems with T Mobile is the fiction that Ralph kept creating. He promised her the phone of her choice--because the Wing was so bad--then changed his mind. He completely made up the reason my daughter wanted a new phone. Then, both he and Jennifer, his supervisor, made it seem like she was getting such a great deal. Don't you think that someone that has had an account for a long time and has had numerous issues with the same phone model should get a better deal than any new customer off the street? I sure do.
  • 08-10-2009, 12:41 AM
    starfadedblack
    Quote Originally Posted by marcmywrdz View Post
    1. I'm not trying to get a brand new phone for nothing. We paid for a working, non-defective phone, as well as for the service. This phone is proven to be a lemon.

    2. We want a comparable phone. Your "do the math" statement is inane and tired cliche. I'd much rather have a 2007 Ferrari than and 2008 Kia.

    3. So, T-Mobile is selling phones "as a courtesy?" That comment doesn't even deserve a reply.

    T-Mobile has a F Rating from the Better Business Bureau for a reason. Well, actually, THOUSANDS of reasons. Maybe you'd have good luck with them, maybe you work for them. But to be condescending--it doesn't make you sound intelligent or knowledgable. it just shows your lack of bothy.

    3. I never expected to speak with the CEO. I wrote to the CEO, knowing I'd never speak with him, THAT'S why I cc'd his underlings.

    1) Yes, I agree you paid for a working phone but anyone who would have read a single review for the wing would tell you it had issues because the hardware was not up to snuff for the software. Also, take that to HTC, they built it, not Tmobile.

    2) Cant argue with that, was a poor comparison. But in the same respect, would you take the Ferrari if you had problems in the past or move on?

    3) They are not selling them as a courtesy, they are subsidizing on the cost. Hence where the whole contracts issue derives from. Thats why if you buy the phone at retail from Tmobile, they dont give you a contract.

    4) You clarified that. Which is what I hoped you meant to begin with.


    To jump on the G1 part, that was a major fail on your end as that was a very good price on the phone but of course it has lowered since the MyTouch came out but it was good at the time so I really dont understand that decision..
  • 08-04-2009, 11:06 AM
    marcmywrdz
    Quote Originally Posted by nashobaslove View Post
    1) stop trying to get a brand new phone for nothing, 2) the people you are speaking w/ are working on behalf of the CEO but you will never speak with the CEO. Are you dumb enough to think that if you called the White House Obama would drop everything and take your call? When you buy a phone it comes with a manufactures warranty Tmobile doesn't make the phones, they buy them from the manufactuere and have them to resell to you as a courtesy. If you were to call the maufacterer about a replacement, all they would offer is the same phone. People..Pull your heads out of your fannies and get a life.

    the wing released 5/2/07 and the sidekick in 11/2008>> do the math peopld
    1. I'm not trying to get a brand new phone for nothing. We paid for a working, non-defective phone, as well as for the service. This phone is proven to be a lemon.

    2. We want a comparable phone. Your "do the math" statement is inane and tired cliche. I'd much rather have a 2007 Ferrari than and 2008 Kia.

    3. So, T-Mobile is selling phones "as a courtesy?" That comment doesn't even deserve a reply.

    T-Mobile has a F Rating from the Better Business Bureau for a reason. Well, actually, THOUSANDS of reasons. Maybe you'd have good luck with them, maybe you work for them. But to be condescending--it doesn't make you sound intelligent or knowledgable. it just shows your lack of bothy.

    3. I never expected to speak with the CEO. I wrote to the CEO, knowing I'd never speak with him, THAT'S why I cc'd his underlings.
  • 08-03-2009, 05:36 PM
    abowlofrice
    truly horrendous
  • 07-24-2009, 04:39 PM
    nashobaslove
    Quote Originally Posted by marcmywrdz View Post
    I am involved in a customer service nightmare with T-Mobile. I’ve tried dealing with them to no avail. First I spoke with “Ralph” from the “office of the president.” I’ve also written to their media relations department, Robert Dotson, Brian Kirkpatrick, Susan Nokes and Hamid Akhavan, all of whom have ignored me. All I want is something fair and simple, yet the are they have dug their heels in and are being completely unreasonable—and have been quite deceptive to boot!

    My 19 year old daughter has not has good luck with her T-Mobile phones. She had a Razr which gave her problems on many occasions. She eventually switched to a Wing—the source of her current, ongoing problem.

    My daughter has gone through several Wings. In the beginning, they were replaced with refurbished units. She dropped one and paid the insurance claim out of her own pocket. Her current Wing (a new unit), which she received a few months back, started to give an error message saying it was out of memory, repeatedly froze, etc. It finally stopped working altogether. Research on Google shows that this is common problem with this phone. The tech at a T-Mobile store said that there was nothing they could do and suggested she go to Wal-Mart and get a pre-paid phone until she got a new Wing!

    I tried reaching Ralph from the “Office of the President” (877) 290-6323 x-341-8022, several times. After leaving many messages, Ralph finally called me back. He said, “If the account number isn’t left, I won’t return the call.” To me, that is NOT customer service. All he would have to do is to look up my daughter’s records OR call me back! Finally, Ralph got back to me, then my daughter. Initially, Ralph told my daughter that he would exchange her Wing for any other T-Mobile phone. She was pleased to hear this. My daughter went to a T-Mobile store again and tried out different phones. Because of her needs and the shape of her fingers, etc., she settled on the G1.

    When my daughter called Ralph back and told him the phone she wanted, he told her that she could have any phone EXCEPT THAT ONE! I’m sure you can imagine her disappointment—and outrage. He offered to give her a Sidekick 2008 (quite old) or a Dash (even older—and one she doesn’t like). These are not even close to being in the class as a G1 or a Wing. He said that she could get the G1, but she’d have to pay for it—and offered her a “discounted” price of $179.99. I then spoke with him and expressed my disappointment and how it was insulting that even though she had a flawed, lemon of a phone, she’d have to pay even MORE money for a different one—one that was also close to a year old technology-wise. I asked for his supervisor to call me.

    Jennifer Martinez (877) 290-6323 x-8011 called me the next day. She basically reiterated the same offer, making it sound like we were getting some amazing deal, saying that “retail” price on the phone was $399.99. This was absolute deception, of course, as hardly anyone ever pays the “suggested retail price,” and, the T-Mobile website offers the very same price of $179.99 to ANY new customer!

    I declined Ms. Martinez’s offer and told her that I would be contacting other people. She said that “I could feel free to do so, but they would tell me the same thing.” Now, I understand empowering employees, but when they come off as sounding like even the owner or CEO can’t or won’t do anything they won’t do, it just sounds ridiculous.

    Apparently, my letters trickled back to Ralph, who called me and clearly indicated that he was authorized to speak on behalf of all of the executives that I had written to.

    Among the many absurd things that he said, he told me that he could not (or…WOULD not) contact my daughter when I called him the first time, since I didn’t’ leave her cell number, since there were others with her name in their system. I told him flat out that as far as I knew, there are NO other people with my daughter’s name in the world! I again wrote to T-Mobile asking for some type of proof of this. The fact is, Ralph refused to be proactive and just make a simple phone call to me. He tried to cover his tracks with this ridiculous statement. Ralph also told me that the $179.99 was a huge discount—the only thing that that my daughter qualified for. It seems that T-Mobile is more is more interested in getting new customers than keeping the ones that they have.

    This situation has been going on for over a month. My family has had an account with T-Mobile for many years. We’ve paid T-Mobile thousands of dollars through the years. My daughter’s Razr and now her Wing have given her problems. I’ve tried to resolve this fairly, yet they refuse to budge over $200—and an old phone—one that’s already being updated!

    I appreciate the chance to share this information with your readers and let them know that the vows of great customer service by Susan Nokes and her team are nothing but lip service.
    1) stop trying to get a brand new phone for nothing, 2) the people you are speaking w/ are working on behalf of the CEO but you will never speak with the CEO. Are you dumb enough to think that if you called the White House Obama would drop everything and take your call? When you buy a phone it comes with a manufactures warranty Tmobile doesn't make the phones, they buy them from the manufactuere and have them to resell to you as a courtesy. If you were to call the maufacterer about a replacement, all they would offer is the same phone. People..Pull your heads out of your fannies and get a life.

    the wing released 5/2/07 and the sidekick in 11/2008>> do the math peopld
  • 07-21-2009, 09:29 PM
    "Xorou
    Wow. Yeah, if I were you I would defintely not give it up without a fight.
  • 07-19-2009, 11:39 PM
    Okibono44
    That's unfortunate; I have always had a good experience w/ their service...
  • 06-26-2009, 01:16 AM
    AFRICAN lopez
    jsut switched to t-mobile today xD
  • 06-25-2009, 06:30 PM
    BigJames523
    Re to marcmywrdz

    (Dont mean to be bashing, but I have to put my .02 in)


    Now, I do agree that if Ralph said "Any phone" and then when you pick the G1, he says no you can't, I would be upset, but....


    You have a T-Mobile Wing... and you were saying the other phones were old... the Wing was released on 5/22/07, and I am sure the Sidekick was right around there.

    You really need to put yourself in their shoes, and think about if you were the one making the decisions, woudl this be an unreasonable request?

    I am all about Customer Service, and bending over backwards to a certain extent is good, but that does sound a little unreasonable.
  • 06-24-2009, 07:27 PM
    Tyrone15
    Thank you Xexy for bringing good ole fashioned common sense to this post.
    1) Marc, you're daughters' Wing stopped working. There was no mention of any troubleshooting so I'm guessing at this point, the phone was out of warranty. Every piece of electronic equipment has a one-year warranty. This is a common practice of every major company in America, so maybe you should check your expectations of the American Warranty before blaming your bad fortune on your current cell phone provider.

    2) If "Ralph" offered you a G1 at the $179.99 price WITH the current contract not being extended, this was a heavenly deal, and had you used more reason and logic and stopped acting out of emotion, you would have jumped on this sweet deal. I guarantee you were only at a partial discount at the time and were not even qualified for a full discount but they tried to hook you up anyways and you declined again and again. That is YOUR BAD!!!

    3)It is evident that you were not using logic when you said, "I told him flat out that as far as I knew, there are NO other people with my daughter’s name in the world!" C'mon Marc...really. Tmobile has millions of customers, I'm sure there are about 10 Suzy Q's in there so if you were so adamant about getting what you wanted in a timely fasion, you should have left all the correct information. Phone numbers and account number.

    And last but not least...
    Had I gotten a call about a guy whose Razr didn't work, so he bought a Wing, then he broke it and got another wing, not he's out of contract and he has to get another phone so we gave him a very good deal and he's still not happy. I'd have gotten pissed and gave you the business tone of voice myself. I mean really, did you honestly expect to get a free phone of your choice because your out of warranty phone stopped working.

    *IDEA* Let me call Chevrolet, because my 1996 SS Impala's transmission went out. Maybe if I moan loud enough to them, and call all of their supervisors and managers and email everybody from the CEO to the janitor, then they'll give me a whole new car of my choice.

    See how ridiculous that sounds? You need to check yourself. I've been with AT&T, Sprint and Cingular, and none of them gave a rat's ass about my troubles and woes, so you may want to call back in with your "nice" voice and jump on that G1 deal buddy. And make sure you opt in for the extended warranty and insurance, it's $5.99 a month, and with your track record on phones, it seems necessary.

    No hard feelings, just being real with you. We all get a lil pissy when things don't go our way and it's too bad customer service reps can't get THIS REAL with customers (I take that back, Sprint does, which is the reason why if you were with Sprint, you'd have received a little letter in the mail saying that you're service is being cancelled because you call in too much, lol.) Now CSR's do F up every now and then, but this time, you gotta suck it up and take what you can get, or give up however many years you've been with Tmobile and start off as a baby with another company, with no tenure, and no "years of service" to fall back on. Think about it...
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