T-Mobile USA
reviews and complaints

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.