T-Mobile USA review: My phone. iPhone 14 Pro

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My name is Tim Stehr. My wife and I have been customers of T-Mobile for over 8 years. We have been very satisfied with your company during that time. In fact, we have recommended T-Mobile to many friends, neighbors, and colleagues.

I am contacting you so you know how disappointed I am with your service when I had an issue. I would never bother you if I hadn't tried diligently to solve the problem with your people. Please bare with me as I describe the steps I took to try and resolve the issue.

I purchased an Iphone 14 Pro in October of 2022 from the T-Mobile store in Encinitas California. This phone was working fine until February of 2025. At that time I was unable to charge my phone, even when trying several different plugs. I contacted your customer service and was told that since I have T-Mobile insurance on the phone they would just replace it. I was reluctant to trade in the phone, because other than the charging issue it worked great. They ordered a replacement phone for me and sent it to the T-Mobile store.

I went to the store and picked up the "new" phone a few days later. The employees at the store were great and helped transfer and start the replacement phone. It was then I noticed that the battery level on the new phone was just 82%. I asked about this and was told that a replacement phone is considered good to be used if it has over 80% of life. I told them my original phone still has 91% of battery life, and I don't think I should get a phone with that much less battery. I was told there was nothing that could be done, so I took the phone.

I immediately noticed a difference in battery life when I used the replacement phone. In July of 2025 (just five months later) while I was on vacation, I noticed my phone would hardly hold a charge. I checked the battery level and is showed "critical". I then contacted customer support and was told I would again have to get a replacement phone since the battery was not good.

On July 27th I went back to the T-Mobile store, and again they helped me start my "new" replacement phone. I immediately checked the battery life and is was at 82%. I told your representative that this is the same as the last phone, and I would like one with better battery life. I was again told nothing could be done unless this phone also became unusable.

I again noticed poor battery life on the second replacement. I contacted customer support on August 18th. I first tried talking directly to someone, but due to the wait, went to "chat". I had a lengthy chat with a person identifying himself as "Mike". I explained my frustrations to Mike and asked if there was anything that could be done to help my situation. He said he could again get a replacement phone, but that might also have 80% battery. I told him I was not going to do that, and I was very disappointed with the insurance I paid TMobile. He suggested a new more expensive plan and I could get help paying for a new phone. I said I had no intention of getting a new plan, I would rather reluctantly change providers. He then told me he could get a new battery for the phone. He said it usually costs $99 at the Apple store for a new battery but he would do his best to get a discount or the fee waived. He ended the lengthy chat by asking me not to call in or chat again for 3-5 days, and he would personally get in touch with me to resolve the situation. (I took screenshots of our chat, several are attached).

I waited until August 30th after getting no response from "Mike", and then called in. Again I had to explain the entire situation to the call taker and asked to talk to a supervisor. I was put in touch with "Al". Al spoke with me for one hour and 49 minutes. During that time he connected me to an Apple support person and we had a group conversation. He asked the Apple representative what could be done about the problem, and she basically said that it is up to T-Mobile since the insurance is through them. Al also told me that he is going to credit my account $10 a month for six months. I told him I appreciated that gesture, but it does not solve the issue and it is not something I asked for. Al also told me that the battery on an Iphone 14 Pro cannot be replaced. He said he cannot understand why anyone at TMobile would tell me that.

After we talked for nearly two hours, he told me he would get us on a group call with Assurant Insurance and try and resolve the problem. I told him I was not able to continue the conversation at this time due to a commitment. He then arranged to call me back on August 31 at 9AM.

Al called me on August 31, and again we had a conversation for over one hour. He said he was checking with Assurant to see how he could resolve the issue. After this lengthy conversation, he said the only thing he could do was to order another replacement phone and it may also have a battery at 80%. I asked him after all I went through is there anyone he could talk with who could just allow me to get a new Iphone Pro. He said there was no supervisor or management person currently working who could help me with that request.

I am asking as a loyal customer, is there anyway you could help me with this situation? I do not think anyone should have to go through what I did when contacting your people. I still don't know if I was told the truth about the phone.

Thank you for looking into this matter.

Sincerely,
Tim Stehr
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