T-Mobile USA
Reviews and Complaints

I signed up with T-Mobile in June of 2004. I got what I thought was a decent plan at $39.99 for 600 minutes per month, a one year contract, and a Samsung phone which came with a $50 mail in rebate. I sent in all the paperwork and never got the $50 rebate. After a few aggravating months, I stopped calling T-Mobile and accepted the $50 loss. In September 2007, I decided to upgrade my phone, which also came with a $50 mail in rebate and of course I had to extend my contract with T-Mobile for another two years. I received the phone in a timely manner but with absolutely no paperwork, for the rebate, nor the charges for the new phone. I called T-Mobile days later to see why I haven’t received the bill or rebate forms and was assured that I would receive those in the mail. I never got them. I called T-Mobile again and was told to wait until the charges were put on my credit card and then to call their office to have the rebate forms sent to me. Well, it wasn’t until late November 2007 that my credit card was charged for the new phone. I called their office on December 2, 2007 to discuss this with them and the representative that helped me told me that I had to call Young America (the company that deals with all their rebate offers) to have them mail me the rebate forms. Now the representative at Young America (Lewis #493366) tells me that they cannot mail me any rebate forms, T-Mobile has to do that. So I call T-Mobile once again. This time, their representative (Jenna #0150409) tells me that they cannot mail me the rebate forms either. WHY AM I GETTING THE RUN AROUND? I don’t understand, so I request to speak to a supervisor or another representative that could better assist me and all she does is say, “I understand how you feel, but there is nothing that we can do.” I also tell her that I was given the run around when I first signed up with T-Mobile and that I refuse to let them do the same to me again and that now I am just requesting that T-Mobile credit my account for $50. She refused to that by saying again, “I understand how you feel, but there is nothing that we can do.” T-Mobile is simply refusing to send me the rebate forms and if they ever do, then I will be denied the rebate because I didn’t file it in a timely manner with the company. T-Mobile has seriously disappointed me. I will never recommend them. I will make sure that I tell everyone about how T-Mobile has no regard for their customers.

Below are the exchanges I have had over the past few days with T Mobile Customer Care. Unfortunately I did not make a copy of my original complaint to T Mobile, which is replied to below.

----- Original Message -----

From: customercare AT t-mobilesupport.com

To: Brett

Sent: Sat Nov 17 08:45:06 2007

Subject: Re: My T-Mobile.AccountManagement

Dear Brett,

Hello, my name is Beckee. I am so very thankful that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to contact T-Mobile! I will be more then happy to assist you, as we at T-Mobile always want to leave you with a long lasting impression of T-Mobile's World Class Customer Service! I see from your email that you are upset because of the handlings of the account yesterday as you were both unable to verify the account and have it unlocked. I am very sorry that this has happened, as I know how frustrating it can be when you are unable to access the account! I will be happy to look into this for you! Brett, I am truly sorry as I know just how annoying this is, but the account has not been verified. If seems that a PIN number has not been added to your account so we will need you to create one. In order to do so, I need you to verify this account with the following information: Account holder's name: Account holder's birthday: Address listed on account:

Please verify with the above information and as well include a PIN number to add to the account. This can be 1-10 numbers (numbers only). We will then add this to your account so that you can verify it in the future with no problems! If you have any more questions Brett, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care Center by calling the toll free number [protected] or by dialing *TOGO then SEND on your handset. You can also reply to this email and a Customer Care Specialist will be more then happy to assist you! Thank you again Brett for contacting T-Mobile and for being a loyal customer! We value our customers as without you, we would not have won our 6th J.D. Powers and Associates award! It is because of you that we strive to make our company the best! Kindest Regards,

Beckee F. 7284550

Customer Care Specialist T-Mobile USA

----- Original Message -----

From: Brett

To: customercare AT t-mobilesupport.com

Sent: Sat Nov 17 09:38:29 2007

Subject: Re: My T-Mobile.AccountManagement

Beckee or whomever receives this,

The information as presented below is incorrect. Locking the account was my mistake but it was fixed yesterday morning with my first phone call. Now I will get to the real matter at hand. The REAL problem came from an attempt to add money to my daughter's Sidekick from Thursday night. When I input all applicable data and my contact phone numbers the next screen said you were having technical difficulties and were sorry. As I found out with my third or fourth phone call to customer care this was because my credit card had to be verified. I also found out from the 8th person I spoke with that you have a 4 hour timeout for verification and if you are busy and don't get to a request it still timeouts without any action being taken. I asked why I wasn't called and the third person I spoke with said you have to abide by telemarketing rules. I then asked why my cell phone wasn't called. He didn't have a response. This was the same customer care rep that told me the $100 option I chose Thursday night isn't applicable to the Sidekick. (if it isn't applicable then why is it an option for her account? Makes you wonder) I then got back online and chose the $50 option. The exact thing happened with the error screen. I called back to inquire and it was at this time I was transferred to and thru 3 reps. I requested to speak to a supervisor more than once. I was hung up on during one of these. I finally spoke with Allan in the verification department who was my 8th care rep in an hour of trying to find out why I could not add money to an account. It is my impression that I was lied to which is evidenced by the different information provided by 2 people on the $100 option and by the statement you have to abide by telemarketing rules so my phone wasn't called to verify the credit card. I told Allan that if this Sidekick wasn't a gift to my daughter I would just throw it away. There is no reason I can see for me to have to go through what I did yesterday morning. In fact, my very last line requested a phone call to discuss this issue and T Mobile figured it would be easier to modify the issue at hand and send an e-mail instead. Now, do you think there is a reason for me to be frustrated and to have a fabulous long lasting impression of T Mobile? It is back in your court. What do you think the leadership of T Mobile would make of this? I do not think this is in line with the core values of the company. Brett

----- Original Message -----

From: Customer Care

To: Brett

Sent: Sun Nov 18 19:30:46 2007

Subject: Re: My T-Mobile.AccountManagement

Dear Brett,

Hi my name is Tom, thank you for taking the time to contact T-mobile. I understand you are very upset over an issue you experienced when trying to add a $100.00 refill to your daughter's prepaid service account and you asked a few questions. I will strive to provide you with world class customer service. We realize how important this issue is to you Brett, and I will be happy to help you out today. I understand your frustration with the refill issue you experienced and I sincerely apologize for that. I have reviewed the prepaid account and it reflects a refill of $50.0 was added to her prepaid account a couple of days ago. I am not sure how I can help you, but I will answer the questions you have provided as best as I can.

1. When I input all applicable data and my contact phone numbers the next screen said you were having technical difficulties and were sorry. As I found out with my third or fourth phone call to customer care this was because my credit card had to be verified?

This information was not available to us for a review, but I believe this information was provided to you by the prepaid service center and it sounds correct.

2. I also found out from the 8th person I spoke with that you have a 4 hour timeout for verification and if you are busy and don't get to a request it still timeouts without any action being taken?

Again this is not information we have available to us, and I believe the prepaid service knows their system better than we do. I am not sure if this was correct, but it sounds good as an answer.

3. I asked why I wasn't called and the third person I spoke with said you have to abide by telemarketing rules?

This is definitely a correct statement, and I am sorry we are not able to call you to address your prepaid refill issue.

4. This was the same customer care rep that told me the $100 option I chose Thursday night isn't applicable to the Sidekick. (If it isn't applicable then why is it an option for her account?

This is definitely confirmed mis-information, and I sincerely apologize as she is able to add a $100.00 refill to her prepaid service account.

5. I requested to speak to a supervisor more than once. I was hung up on during one of these. I finally spoke with Allan in the verification department who was my 8th care rep in an hour of trying to find out why I could not add money to an account?

Again I apologize your call was disconnected with the prepaid service center, and for future reference you can add a refill by contacting the prepaid refill center by pressing *ADD and send on the prepaid handset.

6. Now, do you think there is a reason for me to be frustrated and to have a fabulous long lasting impression of T Mobile?

I definitely see where you are coming from and I would be upset as well if my call was mis-handled and I was transferred around from one agent to another. Again I apologize!

7. What do you think the leadership of T Mobile would make of this?

This is a very good question, and regrettably I am not upper management and I am unable to comment on how they would handle your concern.

If you have any further comments, questions, or concerns feel free to contact us at anytime. Reply back to this E-mail quoting this case number 1018197, or please call back at [protected], *TOGO send from your handset.

Thank you for choosing T-mobile. We appreciate and value your business and loyalty since December 2006 Brett.

Sincerely,

Tom G. Agent rep ID# 7284055

Customer Care Specialist

----- Original Message -----

From: Brett

Sent: Sunday, November 18, 2007 8:15 PM

To: customercare AT t-mobilesupport.com

Subject: Re: My T-Mobile.AccountManagement

Tom,

You are just as incapable of addressing this as the last. I will send this to T Mobile management to address as well as any other pertinent business tracking agencies which report on the customer service received. Brett

THIS IS A COMPLAINT.

After spending over 1 hour with 2 of T-Mobile representatives namely John & Josh whose ID numbers are P12447565 & 4837530 respectively, I was so dissapointed in the type of service T-mobile if offering.

Both of them could not explain to me as to why T-Mobile is charging me close to $ 60.00 on SMS's that I didn't even make.

Surprisingly Josh who claims to be a supervisor with T-Mobile even told me that he would gladly cancel my service while I was still on the line with him. If it's true that T-Mobile records conversations with customers for quality assurance purposes, then I hope you will be able to listen this my conversation with these T-Mobile representaives.

After endlessly explaining to them that I don't know any thing on these dubious charges, all Josh told me is that I have to pay.

When I opted to talk to his surpvisor he said that the supervisor wasn't in at that moment.

If this is the type of training that T-Mobile is offering to it's representatives then this Corporate is doomed.

I know that what I pay T-Mobile is just a drop of sand in the ocean, but it adds up eventually. So for a "supervisor" to say that he would help me there and them to disconect my line just sends shivers down my spine.

Again all I'm asking to revise my bill & take out those "yahoo mgrs" with a code of "4701".

Bye the way John naively told me to call "Yahoo" & said "Yahoo" would be in a better postion to help me.

Again I'm extremely disappointed in the type of service I received tonight 11/14/2007.

Dissapointed "Customer"

Today i contacted tmobile regarding disconnection of my service. I spoke to
Don the financial specialist and then Kelly in your Kansan office who is also another financial specialist. He could not help me so he transfered me to kelly who could not hear me and said she was going to call back but did not.I have four issues with t-mobile but i honestly do not expect to get them handles as you have no interest in customer service it's all about the money with tmobile. This is illustrated in the many other complaints that exist for your company.

1. Service. In the past 2 to 3 months your service has degraded. Calls are periodically not being delivered and are going straight to voice mail, which will eventually show up. This is happeining to other tmobile customers that i know in other states.

2. In July of this year i changed with my girlfriend and her daughter to a family plan. I was told i had to zero balance before this could go into place at the amount of about $ 740.00 i was told at this time that i had a zero balance. Two weeks later i get a bill for over $ 800.00 dollars, when questioned you support their answer is that it was an outstanding amount and we should have been told about it. This is wrong is was paid up.

3. In August i get a bill and i was expecting a bill for $ 180.00 because we had changed to the family plan back in August and most of our calls are between the three of us. But instead i get a bill for about another $ 600.00 saying that we have gone over the plan. This is impossible and your system is erronous, i have timed calls and recorded them and your system is not accurate.

4. I was in Canada at the end of September. I just checked on the internet that i had roaming charges for 630 minutes. I know this is expensive and this is why i keep my calls short. There is no way that i have over 10 hours of talk time i was only there for 4 days.
i moved 2 months ago and notified your office. I have not recieved a bill since then.

My main complaint with this company is that they totally screwed me on a phone that i upgraded to. I originally purchased a blackberry a little over a year ago. I was able to upgrade after the year of the service so i did, i upgraded to the sidekick id (i originally wanted a sidekick a year ago but they were not in stock) I paid over $100.00 and added an additional 2 years to my service contract to do this.

I received my new sidekick and for 2 days it was stuck on the activation screen so i called and they had to trouble shoot for me to get it to bypass this (the phone is completely inactive while on this screen, so i had no phone for 2 days) once this problem was solved i was able to use the phone but i noticed that all of my calls had this really high pitch sound in the ear piece and the sound would cut in and out in the conversation (i had perfect reception by the way)

So i called into tmobile and they did some trouble shooting and i went along with it and gave it a day or so and it still did the same thing as before and so i called back for a 3rd time now and they advised that i needed to replace my sim card. In order to replace the sim card you have to go to a tmobile store (the nearest one is 45 min from my home) I had to wait until the weekend to do this seeing how i have kids and work and all that good stuff during the week.

I went to the store and they advised that the sim card would cost me $20.00 and then an additional $20.00 to have the information transferred to the new one from the old one. So i refused the new sim and tried it on 2 other tmobile phones that i had and i had no issues on these phones so in conclusion it was the phone that they had sent me.

I called back to the t mobile tech support and advised and they wanted me to do more trouble shooting and i refused and demanded a new phone be sent to me. They agreed and sent out a phone. The phone they sent me is a used phone and it works worse than the first one i received.

My point is that i paid for a new phone and i have not received a phone that works properly yet. I don't think i should have to settle for a used phone seeing how i called in from day 1 on the new phone.

On top of that this same month i called in and advised that i was going on a cruise and that i needed to know how the rate would work on this cruise. The rep asked where i was going and i told him to the Bahamas and Cococay. He told me that the cost would be $2.99 a min. I received my bill and it was $322.00 instead of the normal $118.00 a month. The charges were $5.99 a min and they charged me for roaming and texting after i was told by tmobile it was included in my plan.

How do people get away with this. What is a person to do? Advise smb!

I cannot get a signal in my own house... unless I manage to stand in certain areas of my house (never exactly the same). I don't get coverage in other businesses and residences where I spend most of my time. I get random voicemails a day or two after they are left.

I want to get out of my plan and I don't think I should have to pay an ETF because they aren't delivering the product offered. I know others in the same situation and I'm getting ready to start collecting other unsatisfied customers and starting a big class action. This is a total scam.

I have had many dropped calls in the middle of business telephone conferences. I have had family and business situations where I've needed to contact somebody and have been forced to borrow a cellphone from a Verizon customer... who for some reason has full signal in the same spots I have none or been forced to find a landline.

I am being charge for a cell that I never used. I have never had a cell phone from t mobile. First letter was for $758.58 now they to pay half and call it paid in full

On Aug 2 I have requested a change of area code on a T-mobile To Go prepaid card. I have been told that the new number would be active within 24 hours. Immediately after I received a text message with the new number. 24 hours later the number was still not active. I called the customer service and was told that it could take up to 48 hours due to a backlog. After 48 hours I called again and was told that, due to a widespread technical problem, it could take up to 72 hours. After pressing to know what the nature of the problem was, I was told that it is actually not known how much it can take to perform the requested change, 2, 3, 4 days, a week... They told me to keep calling to know the status! I told them that both their service and their communication to customers was extremely poor (why did they not tell me upfront that there was a problem? I could have kept my old area code for a few more days) and that they were loosing customers. Not much of a reaction, they obviously have enough customers. The floor supervisor I spoke to is a Charlie (#[protected]). Is there a minimum guaranteed service that operators have to provide with telephone prepaid services? Thank you. Alberto Gianoli

I have been with t-mobile for over 3 yrs, and recently got a huge bill from them. After speaking to a supervisor at customer care I was told that there had been overdue balances carried over since the first month of service. Than was told a few other stories, and eventually told that they can only look at 60 days. But I should pay it and keep track from this point on. I never accrued any extra charges, nor did I have a balance that was carried over for 3yrs. I think they are trying defraud the consumer. Every extra dollar on your bill that you pay without noticing equals to a million dollar of fraud charges. Just be careful, as you can't trust this company... They lost my vote after 3yrs and I am looking for another carrier...

I have been with T-Mobile since the Aerial days, and must say the service and support has declined dramatically over the years, until finally, I just had enough. Every month or so, the signal degraded until finally I could no longer get reception anywhere, including my home, which had worked for about a decade. Their support people were not only rude, but also incompetent. I was tricked into changing my plan, as I was grandfathered into a great rate, only to find out that they not only misrepresented what I would get on my new plan, i.e. t-zones and unlimited internet, but also boosted my charges into orbit. I was also promised I could go back to my old plan if I was not happy. Not true. It really wasn’t about the money, as I was accustomed to having bills as high as $1,800.00 ... once it was $1,400, because they signed me up for unlimited internet and then charged me by the packet. Absolutely Ridiculous. I changed to a blackberry, which they could barely get to work, and paid top dollar for it, with the promise that I could go back to my previous plan if I was unhappy (Should have been wise to them after they pulled this one on me the first time). Don’t fall for this. Not only could I not go back, but I was out over $400 bucks for a device that didn’t work, and a 2 year contract to get into my new crappy plan. I raised enough of a stink that they promised to unlock my Blackberry phone, so at least I could sell it. This they also changed their minds on, and decided keep the lock my phone, making it for the most part, a paper weight. This is quite unfair, I paid for the phone, it is my asset, my property, and they crippled it. At this point, I was pretty much fed up with T-Mobile, and gave them an ultimatum. Either fix my issues, or Cingular would. Once again, T-Mobile promised to work with me, unlock my phone and try to figure out what the problem was, but once again, they decided not to unlock my blackberry, and ignore my service issues. As I promised, I made the jump to Cingular. I had to purchase yet another Blackberry, because T-Mobile would still not unlock my device. (Note: the Cingular transition went off without a hitch.. They did exactly what they promised, and then some)

T-Mobile called, now demanding $200 dollars for breaking my contract, and another $100 for my monthly bill. My take was, no way! I feel they owe me money for my device! And as for the contract, I just signed it, nothing was working right, the contract is a 2 way street! They must provide service as promised, or the contract is null and void! My house is clearly on the map for supported areas, not to mention that I was promised that if this did not work, I could cancel. I refused to pay... After working with their billing folks, I agreed to pay the bill, if they unlocked the phone. They felt that was reasonable (I didn’t, as I felt the contract issue was totally unfair, but would have paid it just to make this all go away). Once again, they changed their minds, and refused to send me the unlock, and once again, I refused to pay. I now am being hounded by credit bureaus, threatening to damage my credit.. but, still I will not pay. It is just wrong. In summary, this would never have had to escalate to this point if T-Mobile had just been honest, upfront, and provided the service as agreed. As it stands now, they might have put a dent in my otherwise stellar credit rating, but I have cost them countless customers by sharing my experiences with everyone I deal with personally and professionally. With the competition for cell phone service being at a peak, T-Mobile should at least try to buff off their already tarnished reputation. I feel their unscrupulous underhanded and unethical behavior is rapidly catching up with them.

Buyer Beware!

T-Mobile's service is horrendous and customers are not even worth $20. T-Mobile's automated system gives out incorrect information about your phone being restored in two hours. However, my service was off for more than 5 hours and a supervisor acted as if because I had a past due amount, I shouldn't be saying anything. And, one of the reps who restored it said that the system is supposed to automatically restore, but I had to call in and keep checking with them.

On top of that, they refused to refund my restore fee, but offered 100 free minutes. I told them whatever, but that I was going to still talk to a supervisor. I go back this month to check my bill and to make sure the minutes are on there and they aren't. So I call and the rep tells me that in someone else's notes it states that I didn't want the minutes. Now I sit there and tell them that that is incorrect. The rep refuses to listen and just keeps repeating like a broken record that the report states I refused them. Now you would think after the first incident of having an unhappy customer write a 2-3 page letter about their system giving out incorrect information, they would go ahead and provide good customer relations the second time around, listen to the customer, believe the customer and give me the 100 minutes as THEY offered. But they don't. I ask to speak to a supervisor AGAIN, explain the horrible customer service that I've been receiving and he sounds like the first imbecile refusing to give me the minutes that THEY offered.

T-mobile needs to be ashamed of themselves! I would tell anyone not to get their service unless they want to be treated like a servant!

Jacquelyn Bridges
Chicago, IL

I'm having a terrible customer service experience from tmobile so far as it has $75 of my money. I was a happy camper when I was with Cingular except their customer service which I feel is very good compared to what I'm going through with T-Mobile now.

I was told that T-Mobile had the best customer service and some cool plans. I'm a member of the American Airlines AAdvantage Program and T-Mobile has a program promotion through American Airlines offering 8000 Miles for 1 year commitment. That sounded cool and I placed an order by calling [protected] on 12/8/2006 for a Black PEBL phone with 1 Year of service for $50(Eventually will be free after $50 dollars mail in rebate). I also placed an order for a PEBL PACK VPC & CASE for $19.99 along with this order. The order number for reference is 112775xxx(I'm putting x's for security purposes). I got an email order confirmation from T-Mobile and I didn't find any tracking number even after 3 days. So I called the customer service dept again and I was told that due to the glitch in their system, It didn't generate a tracking number and Tmobile rep said that they have to cancel the original order(Order Num 112775xxx) and do a reorder with a free overnight shipping. They finally re-ordered with a new order num 112808xxx. This time I saw a tracking number, but was shocked to see about $317($299+tax) on my credit card online statement, instead of $50 + taxes. So I called TMobile the same evening, and they apologized as usual for the mess up and T-Mobile rep told me that the amount will credited back to my Credit card account in 3 days. 3 days passed by and nothing happened and called again. And after repeated callings( I spoke
with atleast 15 representatives), finally the amount($250 + taxes) got credited back to my account after nearly 2 weeks.

During this period, it hurt me personally and finacially as T-Mobile was holding about $265 of my money . I promised my wife and kids to take them to restaurant and I could not go as my credit card had near maxed out. I have to curtail my grocery expenditure. I looked like a bad father and a bad husband. I lost nearly about 4 to 5 hours of my quality time in total by talking to the Customer Service Reps who took me no where instead of spending time with my wife and kids. I thought everything would be fine from there onwards and tried to put the whole thing behind. But I was wrong. On 1/4/2007, I got a email telling that a new line has been activated to my existing account, which I didn't approve at all. I got a package with a new black pebl phone and my credit card was charged for nearly $75 dollars, without my authorization. I called the tmobile service rep and she told me that there was an error and everything would be taken care of. When I looked at the invoice, it had an order number of 112775xxx(Which is the same order Which Initially I was told will be cancelled) and TMobile ofcourse did not cancel the original order. They messed up again. The customer service rep told me to send the package back using the return form or to return to the nearest t-mobile store. I returned the package to my nearest t-mobile store after driving 25 mins and spending my money on gas all because T-Mobile screwed up. I talked to some one from the administrative office and they told me that they will only credit back the $75 dollars after the receive the package and It would take 10 to 20 business days after they receive package. I cried foul and demanded as It's tmobile's fault that they are responsible for crediting the $75 dollars at once. She finally told me that she will transfer me to her supervisor and after waiting 20 mins, the line got disconnected or may she disconnected. Who Knows!. In a nutshell,TMobile has my $75 dollars again now and I feel betrayed and cheated by T-Mobile. Keeping my fingers crossed when I will get my money back!

My cell phone was not working correctly and I needed a replacement. Because the phone was broken, I did not want to sign a new contract, just replace the phone. I explained this in detail to the sales person. I spent a lot of time with the rep at the T-Mobile store reviewing the prices and available rebates of the different phones. I chose a phone with a great rebate--$50 instant and $50 mail-in. When I went to pay, the rep then said that no rebates applied at all to my purchase! The phone cost $100.00 more than I was led to believe! I feel I was duped. I am angry and I want the rebate I was originally promised.

What a piece of absolute CRAP this phone is. Shame on me for replacing it twice with more of the same. 3 of these have cracked at the upper left hinge under normal use. T-Mobile and Motorola both call this "physical damage" and won't replace any of them.

Calls to Motorola's Consumer Advocacy Office were a complete waste of time. Don't bother.

Don't waste your money on any Motorola product - if you have trouble with it you may be in for the same experience I've had.

Everybody seems to know now that the RAZR is worthless. T-Mobile people put it politely when they tell me, "Yes, these phones are a bit more delicate than others."
They're practically giving them away now... they know they need to get rid of as many as they can before the whole world discovers what trash they are.

Copy of Email to T-Mobile:

Dear T-Mobile,

I recently discovered that I am being charged $39.99/month for two T-mobile accounts, one that I use (username: mrzebhogan) and one that I have not used since Jan 2005 (username: zeb555). The "zeb555" was used for one month, from Dec 2004-Jan 2005.

The “zeb555” account was created at a time when month to month accounts with T-mobile were deactivated after one month of use unless the subscriber paid for another month). When T-mobile changed their policy and began charging subscribers for month to month plans, I signed up for a new account using the username "mrzebhogan", with the understanding that the "zeb555" was deactivated. However, "zeb555" was not deactivated and in fact T-mobile has been charging me $39.99 for that account for the past 19 months, though I have not logged on since Jan 2005 and I am an active user of another account in my name, using the same email address and credit card.

As a result, I have been charged over $700 over the past 2 years for an account that I did not know that I had and that I have not used. In addition, as a loyal T-mobile customer, I have paid T-mobile several hundred additional dollars for an account that I do use (and I do not dispute those charges).

I called T-mobile customer service and they told me that they cannot refund past 60 days. This is ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE to me (since this would be a refund of $80, while I was charged over $700). As an excuse, T-mobile representative told me that it is my responsibility to monitor my bank account to make sure that I am not being overcharged.

I travel much of the year. While it is possible for me to monitor my bank accounts on occasion, I do not look at them regularly. Moreover, when I did happen to see the two T-mobile charges on my account, they usually came a day apart (on the 23rd and 24th of each month) so when I looked at my account I simply thought that I was being charged for one month on the 23rd and the second month of the 24th. It wasn’t until both charges came on the same day that I realized that something was amiss.

Your policy of blaming customers and systematic overcharging is very poor business practice. After all, I am and continue to be a loyal T-mobile subscriber! I’ve told all my friends about this and they can’t believe it! They’ve all urged me to close my account immediately and file a complaint. Still, simply closing my account is not a satisfactory resolution to this problem – I don’t want to close my account. I would like to remain with T-mobile and I would like a $700 refund.

Thank you,
Zeb Hogan

Tuesday 7/11/06
T-Mobile
Customer Relations
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM [protected]

It’s rare that I encounter a customer service issue compelling enough to take the time to write a complaint letter, but I feel that last night’s phone contact with a T-Mobile technical service representative warrants it in this case. I purchased a new Motorola RAZR V3 phone and signed up for T-Mobile’s Get More 1500 Minute and 400 text message plan through LetsTalk.com 2/9/06 (order # *****). Prior to that I’ve been a T-Mobile subscriber on different lines since mid-2003.

In the past month my phone started to turn off randomly, usually while in a call. It would behave this way either with the phone flipped open or when closed and on a call on the handsfree earpieces. It exhibited this behavior while out of town in Florida and Texas.

I looked into the problem online and tried suggested fixes such as taking the battery out every once in a while and also, all along, I’ve followed the phone’s instruction manual which advises that owners completely drain the battery periodically before letting the phone completely recharge again. In my online searches I found articles (examples enclosed) about T-Mobile (and Cingular) temporarily pulling RAZR V3s from its stores due to a Motorola-acknowledged defect on some of the phones which caused exactly the problems I’m describing. Interestingly, my phone was purchased in February and the enclosed Computerworld article indicated

T-Mobile began pulling Razr V3 phones from retail outlets on Wednesday, said T-Mobile spokesman Peter Dobrow. "There was a defective component in a limited number of shipments to us from Motorola during the month of February," he said. "Since there's no way to tell at retail which units [were defective], for the best interests of our customers we pulled them from our shelves." (my emphasis).

On the night of Monday, July 10th I was at wit’s end after the phone repeatedly powered down and interrupted several phone calls. With the phone completely still and the earpieces attached I attempted to call T-Mobile at 611. It kept powering down and restarting. I have the internet telephony application Skype on my computer so I called T-Mobile customer care through it. The first representative was very helpful and noted my problem was a technical one and said he’d transfer me to a technical support rep for RAZR V3 phones. I was connected to a woman and our conversation lasted approximately 30 minutes.

While the technical support rep used professional language (such as addressing me as “sir”) and waited to hear what I had to say, her tone all along suggested frustration with me and her suggestions all placed blame not on the phone but on something such as a faulty cell tower in Chicago or even on my perceived care of the phone. The implication seemed to be that I may not have been properly caring for my phone.

I followed her technical advice in taking out and replacing the battery, power cycling the phone, etc. She asked where I was and I said “the Chicago area,” to which she replied that “that’s probably it�we have a cell phone tower in Chicago that’s been down since June 26th and it’s an ongoing issue.” I told her that while it’s understandable a faulty tower may cause dropped calls, how exactly could it cause my phone to power off? I added that I don’t live in Chicago proper, that Chicago’s a big place with many cell phone towers, and that the same problem happened to me while recently out of town in Florida and Texas. I also mentioned the recent T-Mobile/Cingular shelve-pulling recall of RAZR V3s and that the problem that prompted it sounded exactly like my problem. She did not admit any knowledge of a T-Mobile recall or sales halting of RAZRs, which I find hard to believe.

In any case, instead of attempting to fix my problem, her goals seemed to be:

1.) to place blame on external factors (a cell tower, my possible mishandling of the phone, etc.) 2.) to not offer a replacement or concrete help and 3.) to get me off the phone. She even made an outlandish suggestion that I turn off the phone periodically throughout the day. I don’t have a home phone, this is what I use to communicate, and no other phone I’ve owned required that it be turned off a few times a day!

After sparring about the phone problem (her: it’s something else, me: it’s a publicized and acknowledged phone defect) with her for a while she begrudgingly offered me a replacement since, after all, my phone is under warranty. Wow, go figure! I pay $250+ for a phone and less than a year later it’s not functioning as a phone. Of course I want some sort of recourse! In the “replacement phone” script that followed, disclaiming all manner of future events, I found then that I’d have to pay $9.95 for UPS shipping of my new unit. I ship with UPS all the time and, while I understand T-Mobile is attempting to contain its costs, this is definitely exorbitant for shipping of an item that weighs at most two pounds. That and I’ll probably have to pay my own shipping for the unit I’m returning to T-Mobile. I asked her to waive the fee but she didn’t so I reluctantly agreed to all the (confusing and long-winded) terms in her script.

All this was frustrating enough but the worst was yet to come. After everything was done I thanked her and she said a scripted “thank you for choosing T-Mobile” goodbye, but after she thought I was off the line I heard her say in a very rude tone, as if to her nearby coworkers, “oh�.my�.GOD.” I understand the call may have been work for her. But it was work for me. I’m the one trying to fix a broken phone. I’m the one who is expressing to T-Mobile customer care that there’s a problem with my phone only to be replied to with nonsense. I’m the one trying to seek resolution only to be thwarted at every turn.

There are web posts galore that say this or that cell phone company is terrible or has bad customer service. Someone’s got a story about every company. But if you need a cell phone, you have to choose one of the companies. Sadly, after this incident, I’m highly unlikely to choose T-Mobile again after my current contract ends.

Sincerely,
DJ Phil.

I'm a single mother of two teenage daughters who works very hard for my money-70-80 a week to be exact! I have a family plan with t-mobile and I spend 120.00-160.00 a month on mine and my oldest daughter's phones. In late winter of this year we decided that we wanted to "upgrade" to better phones, so we went in to the t-mobile store and picked out two Samsung t-309 phones...then came my own little armpit of H_LL! My phone was really jacked up. It got NO reception ANYWHERE, the alarms would go off at completely wrong times, it would light up and blink on and off ALL the time...I mean JUST JACKED UP! So I called t-mobile and they sent out another one-cool. I got that one and set it all up and went to charge it on the second night and it would not charge. Luckily I hadn't sent back the first one yet,so I called them again and they sent out another one to replace BOTH of the others. I got the THIRD phone and sent back the second one, since the first one was bad but could at least be used, and that's what they told me to do. When I got the third phone I sent back the first and went on. Well, that phone was even WORSE than the other two, so I found myself on the phone with t-mobile AGAIN, but this time it was worse. By that time, my daughter was having alot more problems with her phone-she very reluctantly admitted that she also needed a new one(you know16 year olds-they'd rather DIE than give up their phone). Only this time when I got t-mobile on the phone, they said that they were having so many of these problems with these Samsung t-309 phones, that they were now replacing all of them with MOTOROLA V-360s-a completely different brand! Now that must be bad that they aren't replacing them with other Samsungs! So I had them sent out-just to keep you up to speed, these are phones number FOUR and FIVE! We got our brand new Motorolas in a few days and began to set up MORE new phones(youknow it gets REALLY old doing this time and again). Well, that was last month and everything has been okay.

This is where the story gets REALLY BAD! On my bill this month (four months after all of this started with the terrible Samsungs) I had a "restocking charge" for 156.91! I called them on September 28th to have this taken off. The girl, Theresa, said that she showed that all of the handsets had been returned and said that she took the charge off. The next day was the day to pay my bill and I did that at 4 in the afternoon. They shut off my service because of this charge! So I called them back and they said that the charge couldn't be taken off because THE VERY FIRST HANDSET WAS MISSING! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If the FIRST one was still not accounted for, why did they send out FIVE more and then charge me for it FOUR months later. I sent them ALL back, and they still won't turn my service back on. When I call, they don't help me even though I've always paid my bill and they HANG UP ON ME! I only have the cellphones because I can't afford alot. I just want someone to help me. Trust me, nobody else would want to be treated like this and I have NOBODY TO HELP ME! Toni Taylor, St. Joseph, Missouri 64507-I would give you my phone number, but you couldn't call it anyway.

I am deeply disappointed in T-Mobile’s Customer Service. I have called several times to find that my account was not properly noted. I discovered this when I called to speak with one of your account representatives about my daughters cell phone. I am going to forward you a letter we have sent to Fox 4 problem solvers (a local news station) and also to our attorney for counsel. Before you read the letter I need you to understand that I was a Loyal customer for many years. Your customer service department needs serious improvement. Proper documentation is crucial not to mention the common courtesy and respect. In short my daughter purchased a Sidekick 3 from you used it for a week and called to see how to send it back so that she could get the MDA instead. The address we mailed the phone back to and that she confirmed with your customer service representative turns out to be invalid and now you are expecting us to pay for the phone. I am deeply distraught over this whole situation. To think that a huge company like yours doesn’t offer the least amount of flexibility when it comes to customer service is an outrage! We are talking about $300.00 here; that’s chump change to you but 2-weeks salary for my 19-year old daughter. I’m asking you to please review the notes that still exist for cell number xx and xx At one point in time I was PROMISED that once I receive my statement showing the charges for this Sidekick3 that I could call in and receive a credit on my bill. When I received my bill I called in as I was instructed so that my bill would be credited only to find out that you’ve reneged on your word. What kind of customer service is that I ask you? How can you tell me one thing and do another?

In addition I would like to also file a formal complaint against Matt. Matt was the supervisor that was extremely rude and unprofessional to me when I called in on 09-25-2006. Matt did not handle this situation very well. I was calm cool and collected when I called until Matt began to continually talked over me, rarely letting me speak without his interruptions. This constant interruption got to me to the point of overwhelming frustration which caused me to yell just so he would stop talking and let me speak. I had to say Matt, can I speak. He said yes, I asked can I speak a full sentence without you interruption me. He finally said yes. To which I asked the question, Matt will you look into my notes and find the part where it shows that I called in and a SUPERVISOR PROMISED to credit my account. He said no, he also said that he would not read the notes to me and he would not credit my account. I asked Matt to note my account that I am officially closing my account. As of 10-20-2006 I no longer choose T-Mobile as my carrier for reasons of Poor, Poor Customer Service. I have spent at least 4 hours of my valuable time and effort in trying to get this issue resolved. I do not appreciate being called a liar or a theft. We mailed the phone back to you with the label that was provided; we called and received verification for said address.

At this point in time I have not paid the charges for the Sidekick 3; I will be waiting for your response.
This is the entire story:

My name is Crystal; I am a 19 year old resident of Independence. I am out of ideas for recovery of my money from T-Mobile, and am praying you can help. I have been a T-mobile customer for over 9 years, continually upgrading to keep the latest technology. At the end of May I bought a $400 MDA and a $119 Bluetooth earpiece, which I found to be the ideal equipment for me. This summer while I was in St. Louis, Missouri for my State Boards in Cosmetology, my phone was stolen on July 5th. At the scene of the theft, I saw four police cars, but the officers said I had to call the theft in or they could not help me recover my loss or even apprehend the thief. I called in the report to the police station, and was told to go to a certain gas station and wait for the officers, which a friend and I did. After waiting over an hour, I called again and explained that there were several police cars passing by, but none of them stopped to take my report. I told them I was really tired and asked if a policeman could come to the hotel lobby to take the report. They said this was not possible, and since I was exhausted, I returned to the hotel to sleep. The following morning, I had to return early to Independence, and the St. Louis police refused to allow me to file the report over the telephone. My parents said they believe I did everything properly and none of us can understand the reasoning of the police department. As a student, my part time job barely covers my expenses, so it was important to me to get justice, since the telephone is obviously not recoverable.
Back here in Independence, I went to the T-Mobile store and explained everything, asking what they could do. I learned then that I did not have insurance to cover the telephone like I had had on a previous telephone, a fact of which I was unaware. I told them I wished to terminate my plan immediately, so in order to keep my business, they offered me a good discount on a different telephone which I was unsure I would find adequate, but agreed to try. It was not what I needed so I decided to return it. However, when I looked in the box for the return label, the only one there was for recycling. I called the store to verify the address, read the address slowly to the representative, and was assured the address was the correct one for returns as well as for recycling. I then explained I wanted to order a different telephone in its place. The representative told me to get a tracking number when I returned the equipment, for follow up, if necessary. I did exactly what I was told to do, on July 13th, but when I called to order a replacement telephone on the 14th, and again a few days later, the representative said the telephone had not seen returned, at least to the correct place, and they would not credit me for the price toward a new one.

I was desperate by then, and turned to my mother for assistance. They told her to wait for a bill, and then to call them back, but when she did, they reneged on their word, saying there was no notation in their records that we had been offered this option. My mother and I have considered legal action, but we fear we would have to spend more money on a lawyer than we could hope to recover.

The tracking number they gave me when I returned the telephone to them is XX Further calls to T-Mobile have also produced no results. I had the package insured before I sent it to them, and the Post Office today (September 19th) told me that the package did indeed arrive, but that it arrived at the address on the label. The Post Office can locate it, but for some reason, T-Mobile says it cannot communicate with their own recycle center. I find this frustrating and confusing.

In the past, I know you have helped numerous others who have been unfairly treated, and I am hopeful you can offer more ideas to help me get this resolved. I realize that I am only 19 and am vulnerable to all sorts of dangers and scams, but I am honestly trying to learn from each experience, and become a responsible adult citizen, but being taken advantage of in two successive situations really hurts. If you cannot help, please, at the very least, make my experiences public to alert others not to rely on T-Mobile (and perhaps other companies) to honor their word as well as their failure to document customer service calls. I have learned from this that it is better to record telephone calls or at the very least, have another person on the line to confirm and document calls for customer service. Also, if you have any advice to offer as to how a teenager should have dealt with the St. Louis police situation, I would be grateful to hear it in case I encounter some similar situation in the future.
Thank you for whatever you can do.

Thanks very much for your support,
Susan Hake

If you have signed up for blackberry bundled data service, you may have also inadvertently allowed t-mobile to charge you for e-mail alerts in form of internal t-mobile text messages at.10c per alert.

Each time you would receive an e-mail, blackberry's in-box will show you that e-mail. Duplicating this process, t-mobile than send you an text message alerting you that your in-box has an e-mail and charge you. 10c for such duplicate e-mail. You probably don't need an alert in form a t-mobile text message at the tune of.10c/message when you can simply go to your blackberry message box and know instantly that you have an e-mail.

Now trying to get t-mobile to stop the text message alerts and get them to credit your account for the unwarranted alerts is near impossible. Both the customer service and technical support team will put you through a ringer before they can ultimately resolve your problems. The enhanced customer service team at the president's office will only deal with your complaints after the regular customer service team escalates your complaint. Good luck trying to get the regular customer team to escalate the matter to the higher ups.

Very frustrating and disappointing experience.