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T-Mobile USA

T-Mobile USA review: Out of warranty fee scam 7

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Author of the review
12:00 am EDT
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I received a phone when I started up the plan. The phone had terrible reception and often cut out. The representative recommended changing to a Nokia. I paid for the upgrade and then received another phone in which the reception, service, and coverage was even worse. It progressively got worse until 3 months later the LCD screen went completely white. There is almost a weekly history of my calling in to complain about numerous dropped calls, being connected to telephone numbers that I did not dial (crossed wires-that ate up my minutes), no bars, and my lack of reception and service even though I was in a green coverage area. When the phone kept getting worse, one of the reps said I needed to send it in under warranty. I did and they sent back another phone. Since then (2 months), I have had acceptable coverage and the dropped calls have been considerablly less frequent. Apparently the original phone was defective when they sent it to me. They claim the phone was damaged internally and that it was as a result of something I did. I was charged the Out of Warranty fee. The only proof they have is a letter they are sending out to me. Their position is that they read the disclaimer out loud to me stating that I would incur the fee if it was physically damaged. This phone had no physical damage. If there was internal damage, then it was defective from the start as indicated from the constant problems I had with the phone-reported the day after I received and started using it. Although the company can read the constant complaints I had with the phone, they are unwilling to look into this further. I am disputing this fee in the amount of $100 and the processing fee of $6.50.

7 comments
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Gilbert Velasquez
Pembroke Pines, US
Jun 03, 2016 8:32 am EDT

Dear, T Mobile May 10 2012

The following is our concern concerning our service with T Mobile. We have been a loyal customer of T Mobile for a very long time. We have been experiencing drop calls and no service in my home and surrounding areas. At home I’m unable to receive or make calls or use any of my applications due to the lack of signal. The most I get is one or less signal strength bars. The only phone that we have is the four cell phones from T Mobil. No line phone. I have trouble shouted this on going problem with technical support with no solution. I spoke to customer care and they advised me that there is a booster that could help with the signal but I need to sign up for an additional two years contract. I explained that I don’t understand why I needed to sign up for additional two years contracts to get the service that I’m paying for in the first place. They informed me that T Mobile doesn’t guarantee survive in all areas. And if I wanted to break the service with T mobile I needed to pay $ 800.00. Why should I have to pay $ 800.00 to T Mobile for cancellation due to lack of service from your company. Why are we being forced to stay with T mobile when we can’t use the phone at home due to bad signal? Why should we stay with T Mobile when we are unable to use the phone when needed the most which is at home? Why are we being penalize for lack of signal. If T Mobile is un able to provide the service that we are paying for we should be able to look for a provider that can. Why should we pay for service not rendered? I feel this is totally wrong. And for customer service to have a no care attitude and state that we only have two choices. Sign up for an additional two year’s contract with the booster to see if that helps and again no guaranteed. If not pay $ 800.00. Is totally wrong especially to a long time loyal customer. We are writing this letter with the hope that this lack of service issue can be resolved with out taking it further. And at this point after speaking to customer service and experiencing the lack of caring and lack of support we want to terminate our service.

Please advice

Gilbert Velasquez

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Sabyne
New York, US
Oct 17, 2014 10:17 am EDT

I received a phone from insurance with T-mobile. Shortly after I received the phone the speaker phone stopped working, I called in because is was still in warranty. The lady explained I will be charged if any damage is on the phone. I got the new phone and sent back the damaged phone. 2 months later there is a out of warranty fee on my account. I called in and they sent me a pic of my phone saying it was cracked. I DID NOT SEND A CRACKED SCREEN PHONE TO TEM! It was a warranty claim. A CRACKED PHONE IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THAT'S COMMON SENSE. I refuse to pay and extra 200 for something I didn't do. I am not going sown without a good fight. BBB is next. I'm writing to the customer relations department and everybody under the sun. This is so unfair. They are offering me a payment plan. I can pay it but I won't because i did not send a cracked phone to them.

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sd1976
deltona, US
Mar 05, 2011 1:03 am EST

i have been with them since 2004 and they billing me $90 for my cell phone that the screen went blank(nokia) In fact when i spoke to csr she told me that those phones are popular for blanking out. When i called to dispute the bill I was told that they couldnt give me specifics on what was damaged on the phone cause they dont get that information themselves, then i speak to supervisor and she proceeds to tell me it was a cracked screen... WAIT i was just told specifics arent given! Complete BS my screen was not cracked not even a scratch on it! I too filed a complaint with the BBB.

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Vinod
Houston, US
Dec 07, 2008 8:41 pm EST

same here. I have logged a complaint with BBB. I really want to sue them for unauthorized charge, how to proceed ? Thanks for your help.

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La Verne
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May 24, 2008 3:33 pm EDT

T-MOBILE LYING ABOUT WATER DAMAGE. I posted today, and hope it helps others that my phone has NONE of the indicators used to determine water damage on a cellphone. I guess they figure people are too busy or too uneducated to file legal actions - big mistake on t-mobile's part.

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-r
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Dec 11, 2007 4:14 pm EST

Hi,

I went through the same out of warranty scam/scenario last week Friday. I was so frustrated that I went online and filed a complaint on the Better Business Bureau (BBB). TMobile called me yesterday stating that they received my complaint that I filed with the BBB and they would look into it. TMobile called me today and stated that this is a out of warranty issue so the charge of $108.25 was correct. However, they will do a 1-time reversal of out-of-warranty charge. In the end, I got them to reverse the $108.25 charge, but they are still standing on the fact that my phone was damaged by water.

Good luck in your fight!

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judy corn
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Oct 13, 2007 8:46 pm EDT

This exact same scenario happened to me. I had problems with the reception on my phone, called T-Mobile, they willingly agreed to exchange it and happily slapped my with a $100 bill for a $10 phone because they claimed it was water damaged. Water damage should not be something that occurs from normal every day use as the previous writer claims. That is simply ridiculous. If this isn't some type of scam by T Mobile, then why is it that everyone who tries to exchange their phone, for whatever reason, ends up with this same diagnosis - "water damage". Sounds like a rip-off to me and you know it is too.