Customer Service Hell!! T-Mobile…Hot Spot? NOT!!!

“Stick Together” – The Irony is coming – read on!!

I can’t believe it!!! Over the past few months I’ve launched a blog all about the power and value of the customer voice in the web 2.0 world. I’ve blogged about and read dozens of stories from “Dell Hell” to the more recent Digg / HD DVD controversy which tell powerful stories of customer “web-swarming” on bad service experiences. I’ve been reading Word of Mouth Marketing, Citizen Marketers, and The Influentials. Suffice it to say, I’m alert to the issues. Even still, I never dreamed I’d have my own experience that so infuriated me that I’d be compelled to write the story…so here goes. This is a little long…but please read it!!

A quick search online tells me I’m hardly alone in my frustration with T-Mobile, but I simply have to tell this story. A few weeks ago my phone (T-Mobile Dash pictured below) developed a problem. I’ve had this phone for several months, and was quickly a big fan of the features, form factor, even the battery life I thought was good. I’ve always been pretty neutral on the carrier – in the end, as long as I have quality coverage at a reasonable price, I don’t really care. T-Mobile changed that for me today…

So, here is the back story. I fully use the functions of this phone (calling, texting, web, calendar/email/contact synchronization). To be honest, calendar & contact sync are the most critical functions after just dialing the darn thing. (Ok, yes…I have synchronized my phone from a bathroom – I admit it!!) Well, a few weeks ago, my connection to the net failed. Now, I still had full functions of calling/texting – but anything else through the network failed. ACK!! I’m lucky enough to have some mobile device experts around who tried to solve – no luck. What follows is the basic course of events, emotions and details leading up to today’s call. This history is not exact as I never dreamed I’d try to recall it all later for my blog – but it is darn close!

Call #1:

Dial Customer service, machine asks me to enter my mobile #, ok. Machine asks me what I’m calling about? “Support.” Ok. Machine will transfer me to an agent. Please verify who I am with last 4 digits of your social. Ok. Ring. “Hello” – I’m at the agent. I start to explain my problem. Agent asks me for my mobile #. (What? I just gave that). Ok. Agent asks me for the last 4 #’s of my social. (What? I just gave that). Ok, whatever, fine. I explain my problem (after also verifying my name…yes, you can call me “Sean.” A little light trouble shooting, some info gathering. No good. Then: “Oh, you are trying to synchronize your email. You should call your IT dept.” NO. I know that is not the issue, if I can’t get to the web, my IT dept is not the issue – don’t refer me somewhere else. “Oh, ok. Let me put you through to our support dept.” My first reminder that I’m not there already – I should know better. Hold. Hold. Hold. Warm transfer to another person. “Hi Sean, can I call you Sean?” Yes. “Sean, can you verify with me your mobile #?” (WHAT!!). Fine. Troubleshooting starts. Lots of this, then that. No solution, but good effort. Problem…over an hour has passed. I say I must go (appointment) and will call back. Ok, here’s the ticket #. (Damn – what a waste of my time!)

Call #2 (a few days later – like you, I have other responsibilities other than chasing stuff like this)

Dial Customer service, machine asks me to enter my mobile #, ok. Machine asks me what I’m calling about? “Support.” Ok. Machine will transfer me to an agent. Please verify who I am with last 4 digits of your social. Ok, but frustration starting. Ring. “Hello” – I’m at the agent. I say “hi, I have a trouble ticket I’m following up on.” Agent: “Ok, let me get a little information first.” Agent asks me for my mobile #. (What? Here we go again!). Ok. Agent asks me for the last 4 #’s of my social. (AHHHHHHHH!). Ok, whatever, fine. Agent verifies my name…yes, you can call me “Sean.” 15-20 minutes has passed and NO VALUE ADDED! Ok, let me get you to the support dept. Hold. Hold. Hold. Warm transfer to another person. “Hi Sean, can I call you Sean?” (Guess what I’m thinking here!). And then it happens…yup, you guessed it: “Sean, can you verify with me your mobile #?” (I’m now officially very mad – but calm). Troubleshoot starts. I explain we did that before, yes, that too, yes, that too. On hold. Hold. Hold. “Ok, Sean. It looks like your SIM card has failed. You’ll need to go into a T-Mobile store and have it replaced. Damn. OK …bye. (Damn – what a waste of my time!)

T-Mobile store (a few days later – like you I have….)

This was easy (process wise, but took more that 2 hrs away from office time). Last word at the store: “You’ll need to give the network a few hours to reset (or something) and then it should work fine. I wait a few hours. No good. I wait a day. No good. I wait 2 days. No good. At this point, I almost prefer the problem to facing another support call…wait another few days. (Damn – what a waste of my time!)

Call #3 (this is at least 7-10 days after the problem starts – you know, like you I have other responsibilities too)

Dial Customer service. Guess what…EVERYTHING I did in call #2 happens again. EVERYTHING! Finally, I’m put through to “Advanced Tech Support.” Ok, now I’m getting somewhere: “Advanced!”. Troubleshooting starts. Try this…try that. No good. Sean, we are going to have to have someone else work on this, the issue is clearly somewhere in the network. We will have someone call you back on this case. WHAT?? Ok, fine. I’m worn out…they’ve beat the life and fight out of me. (Damn – what a waste of my time!)

Phone messages: (like you, I have other responsibilities too….get my theme)

At least 3-4 days pass and I get a voicemail from T-Mobile advanced support. A few instructions and please call us back. I have no time and honestly no energy to deal. I have a business trip I take. I note a few more messages from them. Ok, props for chasing me a bit – I’m glad they did that.

Call #4: (I finally had a ”free” hour in my schedule to call support. Reminder T-Mobile: Every hour I spend with you is an hour away from either my job or my family – I am not available at all times – oh, and by the way, I am the customer).

Here we go again…Everything in call #2 happens…again…everything…everything…ahhhhhhhhhh….please kill me. Fine, I was ready for this waste of time. Finally: “Ok, Sean, let me put you on hold and transfer you to “advanced tech support.” Ok. Agent comes back. I’m sorry Sean, they closed the case as resolved because you didn’t call back. “RESOLVED?” I said. Yes, I understand Sean. Are you still having the problem? (Uh, no, I just called to share my mobile # and social 4 more times!) “Yes, I still need help.” Ok, let me try them again. Hold. Agent comes back. I’m sorry Sean, it seems they won’t take the call until I create a new Ticket #. “Whatever, ok.” # created. Ok, please hold again and I will get them on the line. Hold. Agent comes back. Sean, “I’m sorry, they won’t take the call unless I perform troubleshooting again, I know this is not a good situation.” Me: “I won’t do that.” Agent: “I understand, let me try again and I will add my supervisor to the call if I get stuck with them (note this word). Hold. Agent comes back. “I’m sorry Sean, they will not take the call without trouble shooting. What is the # I can call you on in 15minutes? She then makes it clear that we are just going to “fake” the troubleshooting, but I must be on the phone in another call to verify we did it. Me: “NO, I will not do that. Please let me talk to your supervisor.” Supervisor: “Yes, Sean, this is just what we have to do.” Same “fake-it” routine. Me: “I cannot believe this? Why are you so disempowered?” Supervisor: “I’m sorry sir, this is just the best way to deal with them.” Me: “I can’t believe you are so powerless in this to solve the problem. Who is your supervisor? ” (She says Robert Dotson: the CEO). Me: “That’s just not true, your boss is not the CEO.” Awkward silence. She shares her frustration. I say: “If it’s that bad, you should quit! How can you work in a place like that??” She says: “sometimes I think about quitting.” Then, back to the task, “sean, can I just have the agent call you back so we can handle this? Me: “NO! I won’t do that. This is not my problem, this is your problem. Now you want to take time from my family on another call. NO.” Supervisor: “I understand, what do you want me to do? You don’t really have any other option here.” Me: “Don’t have an option? Hah. I can drop you as a service provider.” Supervisor: “Yes, you could do that.” This was maybe the most depressing part of the call. She really didn’t care. And it was clearly not because she’s a bad person but because she has given up on her own employer. I actually felt sorry for her. I couldn’t yell at her. I said goodbye.

“Stick Together” – These poor employees aren’t even stuck to their company/service – and they are the face of the company. Why should customer stick? Goodbye T-Mobile. Now I write to cleanse…I’ll leave it at that. I was stunned.

Who would like to add to this? Does this story feel familiar? Please DIGG this story. Please link this story.
[digg=http://digg.com/tech_news/Customer_Service_Hell_T_Mobile_Hot_Spot_NOT]

One more comment on the inner workings of a “citizen marketer.” I hated wasting all my personal time on the phone. I have passionately enjoyed spending the last hour or more writing this to publish. Look at all the energy going to the negative.

ADDED 6/20: For the record, I’ve been a CS agent in the past, I know what it’s like. While at the end I spoke very directly to the supervisor, I never raised my voice. Was never confrontational. I certainly never uttered a single expletive (unlike some of the clever responses here from a few of you passionate readers). Yes, I drew a line at the end on where I was done jumping through hoops and was clear about that. I certainly regret if anyone here has the impression from my post that I was irate to the agent who was following policy. I was certainly upset with TMobile – but I can distinguish the company from the people involved. The problem with my phone “appears” to now be solved. I have a followup call with TMobile scheduled to validate a few things. Once complete, I will post back here what the problem was and what the resolution was. I certainly credit TMobile for taking responsibility for solving the problem, sharing openly with me what the process issue (break) was on their end and their intent to address it. In the end, all I want is for the device to work (no refund, no credit, don’t care…just make it work).

Sean

del.icio.us tags: Tmobile, support, nightmares, casestudy

Alisha

We all know what it feels like. You ring the bank or building society and an automated voice tells you to press a dozen buttons on your telephone keypad, then you listen to ‘Greensleeves’ for 10 minutes and finally hear the dreaded recorded message: ‘You are held in a queue, your call will be answered shortly…’ By the time a human being answers, your stress levels are sky high.

Now spare a thought for the person on the other end of the telephone. You could be the 500th disgruntled customer they have had to deal with today, while staring nonstop at a computer screen on long shifts without proper breaks and under constant surveillance.

Call centres – where often huge teams of people handle a never-ending flow of customers’ calls – have been described as ’21st century sweat shops’ and modern-day ‘dark satanic mills’, while their workers have been called ‘battery hens’ and ‘galley slaves’. Horror stories, which have recently come to light, include tales of managers who threaten staff with wearing disposable nappies if they visit the toilet too often, and the worker who was disciplined for taking two six-second breaks between calls. It is no wonder some call centre staff report high levels of stress and anxiety.

Yet at the same time, some centres are being held up as model employers and trade unions are driving hard for improvements. So what are the stress facts about call centres?

The results are outlined in a TUC report, ‘Calls for Change’, published in April 2001. It highlighted the following complaints:

extreme monitoring of work
staff being timed over how often they go to the toilet and how long they spend there
staff having to ask permission to go to the toilet and being hauled in front of bosses to explain why they go so often
inadequate or no breaks
stress and other health problems.

One in four people (25%) who called the TUC hotline complained about excessive monitoring. Telephone conversations were recorded and timed, and supervisors complained if staff deviated from a set script or took too long on a call. Some staff reported being set time limits of as little as two minutes 28 seconds for each call. Several call centres had ‘shame boards’ where names of staff who failed to meet targets were pinned.

Many staff said trips to the toilet were monitored and timed. Callers from two separate companies said managers brought in disposable nappies and threatened staff with being forced to wear one if they spent too long in the toilet. Some staff had to ask permission to get a drink of water and others had to pay for disposable cups.

Lack of breaks was the complaint made by 15.5% of callers. For many staff this means no control over the flow of calls. As soon as one conversation is finished, the computer routes through the next. Staff say there is no time to take stock, even after an abusive call. Some workers complained they had only 75 minutes break during a 12-hour shift, while others said they worked without any breaks, in contravention of the European Working Time Directive, which entitles workers to a 20 minute break after six hours.

A study of call centre conditions, by the Health and Safety Executive in 1999, identified insufficient breaks and repetitive work as significant problems. The research, published as guidance called Initial Advice regarding Call Centre Working Practices, found staff complained the job was monotonous rather than stressful. But the researchers identified several stress symptoms including headaches, migraines, high sickness rates and high turnover.

A further study by the HSE, published in 2001, found half of call centre staff had their performance continually monitored by electronic systems – a practice many workers say they find stressful. About four out of five staff had the duration of their calls and the time lags between them monitored. Over half the staff interviewed had to ‘hot desk’. Following this research, the HSE has issued advice on improving working conditions and reducing stress in call centres.

Sol Mead, senior national officer with public service union UNISON, which represents many call centre staff, says some companies provide good conditions and try to alleviate stress. But too many still have oppressive regimes.

‘Quite often you see companies who want people to answer calls quicker and quicker and quicker,’ he says. ‘Computers monitor how many calls individuals take in an hour, how long they take and how long people are waiting. These measurements can be used against people if they are not taking enough calls. That is where the stress and the pressure comes.’

‘In a sense it is almost a galley slave situation, where you are constantly under pressure to answer calls,’ he adds.

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Got this from this link:
http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/0-9/4health/stress/saw_callcenter.html

I work for tmobile pda tech support and this above is sadly true…

I am not saying that tmobile is a great provider. I agree… they suck the big time. But keep in mind those reps you are speaking with are humans who are going through much of what is in that article…

We did not cause your problem or break your phone, but yet when you get mad at tmobile, you yell at reps like we have not already got the most stressful and depressing job working in a fascious call center with grueling, sometimes overflowing call queues (which by the way, with too many calls in the queue, we get breaks and lunches taken away until the calls are clear…), not enough breaks, and highly stressful work hours…

So when you are hanging with your buds, eating popcorn on a saturday, drinking some beer, and you call in to scream at our reps about [insert problem here] keep in mind that we are not machines… we have feelings. We will help you if we can but for god’s sake, don’t treat us like dirt.
Lloyd Caraway

This was my 2nd call in which we repeated the same stuff as before what you cannot see is the 2- 5 minutes system lag between me typing a response and Justin’s response:

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you…
You have been connected to Justin T.
Justin T: Hi. My name is Justin. How may I assist you today?
lloyd Caraway: I have been trying to get brickbreaker reinstalled all day.
Justin T: I understand how that can make your day so boring, so I’m going to do everything I can to get this fixed for you.
Justin T: You’ll actually have to use your Aplication Loader on te Balckberry Desktop Manager.
lloyd Caraway: not boring. frustrating.
lloyd Caraway: downloaded it
lloyd Caraway: there is no brickbreaker on any menu on app loader
Justin T: When you got your phone, it had Brickbreaker on there right?
lloyd Caraway: yeah it stopped working properly and one of your associates had me delete it’
lloyd Caraway: why does it take you guys so long to type?
Justin T: What you’ll need to do is backup your information into the Blackberry Desktop and do a hard reset.
lloyd Caraway: yeah – I’m betting that is a long thing to do
Justin T: No, sir. It only takes a couple of minutes.
lloyd Caraway: my phone is connected to the computer right now
Justin T: Ok.
lloyd Caraway: Justin it takes you one minute to type “OK”. I’m not encouraged
Justin T: Our system has a lag in it.
lloyd Caraway: fine let’s do it
Justin T: Do you need instructions?
lloyd Caraway: yes. I need you to walk me through it because written instructions have not worked yet
lloyd Caraway: has anyone gotten pregnant and then given birth during your system lag?
Justin T: Click the backup and restore icon
Justin T: Click backup.
Justin T: Select the file name and location.
lloyd Caraway: done
lloyd Caraway: which file name
Justin T: Click save.
lloyd Caraway: ?
lloyd Caraway: ?
Justin T: What choices do you have?
Justin T: Select the one with today’s date
lloyd Caraway: backup 2008 10-22
Justin T: Right.
Justin T: Then click save.
lloyd Caraway: saved/backed up
Justin T: Awesome@!
lloyd Caraway: now what?
Justin T: Remove the batery with the device on.
lloyd Caraway: theres a skin on so I have to unplug the utb ok?
Justin T: Okay. Take your time.
lloyd Caraway: ok done
Justin T: Have you reinserted the battery?
lloyd Caraway: nope
Justin T: Go ahead and insert it.
lloyd Caraway: ok done
Justin T: Let me know when It powers back on.
lloyd Caraway: hourglass
Justin T: Awesome!
lloyd Caraway: my guess is that this will totally roin my phone if history is a teacher. ha
lloyd Caraway: ruin
lloyd Caraway: ok home screen is on’
Justin T: Ok. Go ahead and reconnect your device to the computer.
lloyd Caraway: I never disconnected it
Justin T: Does it show it up that it is disconnected?
Justin T: or connected?
lloyd Caraway: how can i tell
Justin T: Diconnect it and reconnect it for me please.
lloyd Caraway: ok it says connected to compuer
Justin T: Awesome! Click the Backup and Restore icon.
Justin T: The ‘Backup and Restore’ window appears.
Justin T: Click Restore.
lloyd Caraway: next
Justin T: Find the .ipd file that contains the backup data you want to restore.
lloyd Caraway: where do i find that?
Justin T: It should have the date.
lloyd Caraway: Back up 2008 10 22?
Justin T: Right!
lloyd Caraway: click Open?
Justin T: Click Open.
Justin T: Click Yes to proceed.
lloyd Caraway: there is no yes
lloyd Caraway: it says it will remove all these files
lloyd Caraway: there’s “OK”
Justin T: Give me one moment. Okay?
Justin T: Is it talking about from your device or your computer?
lloyd Caraway: it shows “Warning!” and then a list of everything on my blackberry
lloyd Caraway: On the device
Justin T: Are you sure that you clicked the Backup and Restore button?
lloyd Caraway: caches, bookmarks
lloyd Caraway: you said restore. that’s what I clicked
Justin T: After you did the hard reset, did Brickbreaker come back?
lloyd Caraway: I just cancled out. shall I click it again and see what comes u[p?
lloyd Caraway: nope
Justin T: Yes, sir.
lloyd Caraway: how about “advanced”?
Justin T: Go ahead and cancel it out.
lloyd Caraway: ok
lloyd Caraway: when I backed up data, brickbreaker wouldn’t be on there because I deleted it this morninbg
Justin T: That’s correct.
lloyd Caraway: that was what your counterpart told me to do
Justin T: We’re going to run the aplication loader to reinstall Brickbreaker.
lloyd Caraway: ok
Justin T: Click Application Loader if the pop-up window does not appear.
lloyd Caraway: ok for about the tenth time it’s loading
Justin T: We haven’t tried doing the Application loader yet.
lloyd Caraway: It says “Add” but there are no files to add. Benn here for the millionth time
lloyd Caraway: before I got hold of you
Justin T: I didnt know that.
Justin T: Is that the only option it gives you?
lloyd Caraway: I have read every information on line in the bokk what have you
lloyd Caraway: yeah, I have done this a bunch
lloyd Caraway: no option
Justin T: Do you see an Action column?
lloyd Caraway: it says choose the application but there are no choices
lloyd Caraway: yep, it’s empty
lloyd Caraway: Justin, your lag time is driving me crazy
Justin T: I’m sorry sir, but I’m going to have to research the issue further, because the options you’re getting shouldn’t be options.
lloyd Caraway: by the way. I don’t drink or do drugs and I’m fairly smart
lloyd Caraway: I have to let my dog out be right back
lloyd Caraway: I’m back
Justin T: Does it ask you to add a specific thing or do you have an option that says continue or next?
lloyd Caraway: it has an “add” button and then an empty screen below
Justin T: Click add.
lloyd Caraway: it gives me files that are on my computer and unrelated to BB
lloyd Caraway: Blackberry
Justin T: I thought you said there was an empty screen.
lloyd Caraway: when I click “add” it brings up a new window that contains fles that are on my computer
lloyd Caraway: my photos, my music etc
Justin T: The aplication Loader wouldn’t bring anything up that pertains to your computer files, only files that pertain to your Blackberry.
lloyd Caraway: well it sure does
Justin T: I beleive you’re still in Backup and restore. Do you have any options?
lloyd Caraway: when I click app loader it loads the screen with nothing in it
lloyd Caraway: while its loading it says java etc. “welcome to application loading wizard
Justin T: You’re going to have to uninstall BB (Blackberry) Desktop Manager. Then reintall it, because it’s not functioning correctly.
lloyd Caraway: then “next”
Justin T: click next
lloyd Caraway: then java
Justin T: click
lloyd Caraway: then empty “add” screen
Justin T: Are you still under warranty?
lloyd Caraway: it also says “total application space 0K
lloyd Caraway: zero kilobytes
Currently experiencing network delays, one moment please….
Network connection re-established.
lloyd Caraway: oh man….the blackberry is less than a month old…are you going to tell me to take it in to a store?
Justin T: I’m doing some research right now.
lloyd Caraway: because there is no reason to have spent hours today messing with this if you are
lloyd Caraway: Brickbreaker isn’t that entertaining. now it’s about the principal of the thing
lloyd Caraway: this stuff is supposed to work…the blackberry , online help T-Mobile…it’s all supposed to help not make me crazy
Justin T: Do you see any arrows moving on your BB (Blackberry) screen?
lloyd Caraway: not moving but they are there
lloyd Caraway: can you disable the system lag?
Justin T: Your phone is receiving service books. Your phone may freeze for a couple of seconds. Check to see if the game is there.
lloyd Caraway: it’s been frozen for more that two minutes now I cannot make it go away
lloyd Caraway: still frozen
Justin T: Turn it off and unplug it from the computer.
lloyd Caraway: in that order because it won’t turn off with it plugged in
Justin T: unpug it first then take the battery out.
lloyd Caraway: OK it’s off
lloyd Caraway: battery oout
Justin T: Turn it back on and make sure its not plugged into his computer
Justin T: When it boots back up check and see if you have brickbreaker.
lloyd Caraway: ok its booting
Justin T: Awesome
lloyd Caraway: and booting…
lloyd Caraway: no brickbreaker
Justin T: I do apologize that it didnt work, but I suggest you contact us at 1-800-866-2453.
lloyd Caraway: not on the applications list in advanced options either
lloyd Caraway: Here’s what I think. I think Blackberry or T-Mobile should send someone by my officve and either bring me a new device or fix my brand new BB
Justin T: Try uninstalling BB (blackberry) Desktop manager first and then reinstall it.
lloyd Caraway: nope. been there, done that
lloyd Caraway: read the blogs about technical assistance sometime
lloyd Caraway: it’s a real eye opener
Justin T: I do apologize but theres nothin gelse we can do. In order for us to set up an exchange for your device you need to contact us at 1-800-866-2453
lloyd Caraway: gee, thanks a bunch Mr. Justin T. I really wanted to waste another three hours. Now you’re done???!!!
lloyd Caraway: I don’t have a land line
lloyd Caraway: I just have a cell
Justin T: Sir, I apologize once more, but there is nothing else that I can do from you here. You can use your device to contact us by dialing 611 from your device.
lloyd Caraway: AMAZING!
Justin T: Is there anything else we can assist you with today?
lloyd Caraway: YEAH, PAY MY OCTOBER BILL
Justin T: You’ll have to contact financial care for any billing issues.
Justin T: Is there anything else we can assist you with today?
lloyd Caraway: How reasonable. OK. Not your fault but the disconnect here is just mind boggling
lloyd Caraway: Have a nice vening
Justin T: You too sir!
Justin T:
lloyd Caraway: you know my number. give it to someone that can do me a equalizing service for my trouble
Justin T: Unfortunately, I can’t give your number to anybody here. It’s against T-Mobile’s policy. If you have any further questions you’ll have to call in?
M T Martin

Went through a horrendous time when my phone was stolen

6 calls to a the Customer Services team
1 call to a retail store

Was promised reconnection in 24 hours it took 5 days.

Not surprised they are lingering at the bottom of the UK market
Lee

I was dropped from their service in June of this year because they lost the contract with the tower I use. I was told I would not be charged any fees for breaking contract because I wasn’t the one breaking it. So I waited for my final bill, and yup on it were 4 charges of 200 bucks for contract fee. I called them, spent 2 hours on hold, finally got someone, told me they would fix it and send me a new bill. Got another bill, samething. I called them again, samething all over again. Didn’t get anything from them. Called, samething again. And now it’s Oct. they’ve sent it to collections for 800 bucks. Still telling me they will fix it. Saying now they have to reverse it from collections and review why the charges were not taken off correctly. They’re crooks. Writing it off to get their money that I don’t even owe, thinking I’ll pay it to save my credit. I have contacted the BBB. But I don’t know what else to do. This HAS to be Illegal!!!
chris

I have been with T-Mobile for 2 years and I have a family plan. I have an expensive Nokia phone which is the biggest piece of shit/hassel. My brother has the same exact thing and we have the same exact problems. Here are the problems: Battery Life last about 12 hours, reception is horrible, dropped calls at least 1 out of every 5 phone calls, The battery falls off the phone and what baffels me is that they put the camera on the side of the phone. I HATE T MOBILE AND CAN’T WAIT FOR MY CONTRACT TO END. CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR T MOBILE IS HORRIBLE.
zane rankin

My problem with Tmobile is that I have been a customer for 8 years, do you know anyone who has stayed with the same carrier for so long. My place of business was relocated to an area that T Mobile does not service, unable to use my phone at work(which in my business is a necessity) I had to switch carriers, I, had 2 months left on the agreement. So after 8 years of being a loyal customer, their sales rep tells me too bad you signed a contract, now I understand this, but when T Mobile is no longer able to offer me service in an area where I NEED coverage, and they expect me to pay a $200.00 cancellation fee for service they can not give me. If I was simply changing carriers I can see this, but not when TMobile can not service me. Stay away from Tmobile and stick with ATT or Verizon two superior companies.
Don’t bother talking to the morons hired to answer the phones ask directly for customer complaiint.
http://None Edward Sharp

I wrote a hand written letter to:
Robert Dotson
12920 SE 38th St
Bellevue WA 98006

Don’t know if good ol Bob ever read it, but Vince with the “Office of the President” called me. Didn’t do a damn thing to ease the pain of dealing with T-Mobile. They’re still charging me for an account that isn’t mine. There’s a phone number out there in my name, but no one has ever made or received a single call on it. It’s been out there for two or three months now. Someone somewhere was high on crack when they put my order through, and gave me a new account. They won’t shut it off and they won’t stop charging me either. I’ve stopped paying my bill until they fix this. I hate T-Mobile with every ounce of my being.
http://None Edward Sharp

Forgot to add, if you go on the T-Mobile website or search the net, get the names of as many execs from T-Mobile you can. Their template for email is firstname.lastname@t-mobile.com
I’ve sent email to robert.dotson@t-mobile.com and the “Office of the President” mentions my emails when we speak, so they get through. Everyone with a complaint send good ol Bob a thank you for great customer service. Oh, and send him a link to this website.
mike

i have no service at home so what good is this phone and t mobile say’s sorry but you can cancle for $200 ,this is a GREAT customer service the next time i walk by t mobile in the mall and they ask who is your server look out
mike

O i forgot to say my wife called fcc.gov and say’s that every one should call them and let’s make life for t mobile as good as there sevice
Bernita

Telephone Bill Complaint

On or about July 29, 2008, I came in contact with a t-mobile employee through instant messaging (IM) offering his discount of $800.00 to get the t-mobile dash and the sidekick for cash of $550.00. The employee credit my t-mobile account with $800.00, instructed me how to order both phones and gave me the UPS telephone number to track the order. Employer then instructed where and who to send the $550.00 by western union using the name of Alex Rivera, Bronx, NY and gave me the secret question code “What is my favorite movie, answer: None and I would receive both cell phones the next day. I question if this was a scam and if this would come to bite later in the long run. Employer stated no, assured me that it was not and to prove it, stated, he was a t-mobile employee and was working therefore, the transaction would show up on my account as him making such transactions on my t-mobile account. After sending the $550.00 by western union, all went well. I got both cell phones the next day and my account had a credit of $800.00. The next month September 2008, I received a bill for over $1000.00 and my service was interrupted. I call to question why was my service off and why was my bill over $1000.00. Representative stated that the two payments totaling $800.00 did not clear and was returned and in order to discuss the account I would have to pay the bill in full. I told them I did not make the payment that was returned, I explained and representative referred to the fraud unit. Every since my service has been interrupted every month, I have been speaking with different reps in the fraud department each explaining the situation. On November 13, 2008 my service was interrupted again and in order to have my service restored I had to pay the bill in full and I decline to do so. I spoke with another rep and she stated that her manager would agree to restore my service and credit me for the $550.00 providing that I fax proof of the western union money transfer and make and set up payment arrangements on the cell phones as follow to come out of my bank account: $350 on 11/24, $200 on 12/5, $200 on 12/19 and $220 on 1/2/09. I feel that I should not have to pay for these phones simply because the employer backed out his discount after he received the cash funds and reneged on the deal using his discount. I will be speaking with a lawyer and fight this to the end. If you look on my account the employer name is noted as to handling this transaction and he should be the one to be charged with fraud, larceny with t-mobile and should be the one to pay for these cell phones, not me. I do not want to lose my t-mobile account but if I have not heard from someone in the t-mobile legal or fraud department before the payment of $350 is due to be paid I will be taking my complaint to an attorney. I have also been told by the various reps in customer care and in the fraud unit that my service would not be interrupted until they have completed the investagation and solved it, well, that have not happened either, my service has been interrupted every month and problem still have not been solved.
Soon to be a former Tmo rep

Sure is a lot of whining going on here. Some I can understand but some is just BS. If you want good service treat the rep like a human being. They can’t help you when you are ranting on about how they CAN’T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND, and so and so company sucks etc etc. After the first month or two on the phones you get confident. After three to four months you get good at dealing with it and then after about six months you spend every day wishing you could just get off the effing phone so you don’t have to get yelled at for half of your day. Why does calling your provider suck? Cause anyone worth a damn can find something better and not have to deal with with your attitude. I’ve loved working for T-mobile. Their commitment to their customers and employees is a lot better than any of the other wireless companies. I’ve dealt with all of them and seen how they act. I love half my day but the other half isn’t worth it.
jax

tmobile is one of the worst communication providers and has most of the worst customer care employees i have ever had to deal with.i challenge anyone who is buying a communication service not to purchase tmobile stock at any cost.bye.
John Mills

HELP ME !!! WE MUST BRING TMOBILE TO THEIR KNEES !!!!!! I HATE THEM I HATE THEM I F***** HATE THEM …… AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Anna

I HATE TMOBILE! Cancelled with them in August was told that my account has to be cancelled for 3 months before I get my refund!!!
Well, it’s December no refund in the mail .. so I had to CALL THEM! The rep said that I already been refunded in September! She is then reading the notes of the call I did then.. since when I did cancel in August the person Did NOT cancel the auto-pay so it was taken out in September.. yeah, I called them and thru alot of frustration got refunded right away!
Anyway supposedly now the refund had been processed.. and to expect a check in the mail in 5-7 business days… Oh I hope so! So I don’t have to call them ever again!!!!
Dave Erickson

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you…
You have been connected to John D.
Dave Erickson: Hello
John D: Hello Dave, my name is John and I am reviewing your note and assist you in a few minutes.
John D: I understand you would like to know how to return your G1 phone. I am happy to assist you immediately.
John D: May I ask for a minute so that I can open your account?
Dave Erickson: Please
John D: May I ask for the last 4 digits of your SSN for account verification?
Dave Erickson: ****
John D: Thank you, may I ask for a couple of minutes to review your account?
Dave Erickson: Sure
John D: You can return us the handset within 14 days from date of receiving it. The handset was shipped to you on October 25th. You have already passed the buyer’s remorse period.
John D: Is there anyway we can do to keep you happy with the phone?
Dave Erickson: I would have returned it the same day I received it save for the following facts – (i) There are no return instructions in the package, (ii) there are not return instructions online, (iii) the local store will not take it, (iv) the local store does not know how to return it, and (v) I travel a lot. I have many hours into trying to do this. You make it IMPOSSIBLE to do!
Dave Erickson: I cannot devote myself 24×7 to this task.
Dave Erickson: The phone is useless as a business device
John D: The phone package shows you how to return the handset. You can do as simple as chating with us and we can help you. The local dealers should be able to tell you how to return us the handset.
Dave Erickson: I am sorry, it does not. The local dealers do not know how to do it.
Dave Erickson: Please tell me where on the package
Dave Erickson: I have all the original packaging in front of me.
John D: I do not have your package in front of me. But if you can contact us just the way you chat with me, you will know how to return us the handset. You can drop the package off at a UPS drop box or UPS store. If UPS drop box or UPS store is not convenient, you can call 1-800-PICK-UPS to arrange package pickup of refused package.
Dave Erickson: I did not refuse it. I tried it and did not like it.
Dave Erickson: There are ZERO instructions on how to return the phone, ANYWHERE.
Dave Erickson: I am chatting with you out of desperation.
Dave Erickson: I have tried everything else
John D: As a consumer myself, I perfectly understand your difficulty. But there is nothing I could do because I still need to follow the Handset Returned Policy and your request is beyond my scope of support. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you!
Dave Erickson: That is fine. Please cancel my T-Mobile accounts immediately.
John D: If you have issues with your G1 phone, I can connect you to our Technical Support team. They can help you and even replace you another handset.
John D: You are still under a contract. If you cancel your account now, you will incur an early termination fee of $200.00 per line.
Dave Erickson: It is not a technical issue. The phone does not work well for my purposes, no POP mail, etc.
John D: Request for cancellation must be processed over the phone to ensure that your request is completed promptly. You may call our Customer Care representative at 1-800-937-8997 or dial 611 and then press “SEND” on your handset.
Dave Erickson: Whywould all my lines still be undre contract?
Dave Erickson: The only reason I extended ONE of them is because it was necessary to get this phone that doesn’t work.
Dave Erickson: That does not explain the other two.
John D: You changed your plan on February 18, 2008. The new plan requires a one year contract for the lines.
Dave Erickson: Good trick, get the contract extension before issuing a product, then refuse to return the product and charge a $600 fee for quitting the extension that was never used.
Dave Erickson: How much does it cost me to wait until Feb 18 (assuming NO USAGE) before I quit you forever.
John D: I know your frustration, Dave. But what would you like me to help you? If I can help you, I will do it.
Dave Erickson: Please tell me my NO USAGE cost between now and February 18th, 2010.
John D: Two of your lines will be up on February 18, 2009. The line ending in 6471 will be up by September 23, 2010.
Dave Erickson: So what is the cost for the two lines to February 18th, 2009?
John D: If you cancel the two lines now, you will incur an early termination fee for a total of $400.00.
Dave Erickson: What if I pay them to February 18th, 2009? What is the cost?
Dave Erickson: Asked a different way, what is the monthly cost of the two lines for two months?
John D: Your monthly rate plan for the 3 lines is $79.99; your unlimited mobile to mobile is $9.99; your unlimited messaging feature is $19.95. In addition, the line 6477 is paying $9.99 per month to share the family plan. It is difficult to break up how the two lines will cost because you are on a family plan and services. You may need to decide what features you decide to keep or cancel for the two lines.
Dave Erickson: What features can I cancel now
Dave Erickson: Can I go to a lower plan?
John D: If you do not need the messaging service and mobile to mobile, you can cancel them to save about 29.00 plus taxes per month. You can lower your plan from $79.99 to $59.99.
Dave Erickson: Will this change my cancellation date?
John D: But the $59.99 is not a myfaves plan. Fortunately, the $59.99 includes unlimited mobile to mobile, night and weekend in addition to 700 bucket minutes per month. But this plan requires a one year contract extension.
Dave Erickson: I do not want to do anything that will extend my contract. I want to lower my cost to the minimum. I also have AT&T so I will use ZERO minutes. Please tell me what I can do. I have set a date on my calendar to go to the store and quit forever on February 18th. In the meantime, I want to minimize my cost with you thieves.
John D: If you choose the Family 800 plan with unlimited weekend and mobile to mobile, you do not need to extend a one year contract. But the plan does not include unlimited night.
Dave Erickson: I will not be using ANY minutes at all so I do not care.
John D: The lowest family plan we currently have without a contract is the $69.99 plan.
customer

Never seen a big operator like T-online offering products that simply don’t work. I bought xtraCard (web’n'walk DayFlat) that is a excellent product: you can stay in the foreign country and use your own laptop. It has work in four different countries with local operators (and sims) where I have been, but T-Online service (and product) absolutely stinks. It just does not function at all. After contacting couple of times to the retail shops a same promise has always been given: “our customer service will call you back and give you instructions…” Guess how many time they have called so far…?
Josie

After what I’ve been through on the weekend and this morning with Tmobile, Im compelled to start “some kind of dependency” to take my mind off the BS I just encountered with customer service! Did I mention that this BS is inescapable too? Everyone that I talk to acts like a freakin’ stoner repeating things that have already been mentioned to them as if they’re really solving the problem! I have no response…I’m just a regular person – not a part of royalty, a Hollywood persona,or someone with a recognizable name. Because of those factors, I guess my money isn’t valued as much, so customer service isn’t quick to resolve matters concerning me. It seems that Tmobile is quick to offer ‘Im sorrys’ and ‘You are truly a valued customer-s’ – - but never offers actual solutions. What’s an average joe to do? This isn’t the first time big business has screwed me over. Perhaps all the fight has been squeezed out me. Having to concede when you KNOW you’re right – especially after paying your money – after you’ve invested in that business – It’s a sad sad thing to have to do.
Maggie May

Screw’em Josie. Leave them behind and get you an iphone with att. It is great. Small snafu on billing but quickly resolved. Weird that you can actually talk to a person pretty fast too. T Mobile will become the next charter cable…cheap stock, poor customer service. Hope they go out of business.
shay

Sean your such a douche. Like everyone else said verification is for the protection of ur acct. If that’s the case I could call in with your name and number and say “hi l’m Sean and I want to order 2 sidekicks just add it to my bill” the call is being transferred from one rep to the next who are in different call centers. Sometimes different countries…..
When you go through trobleshooting process they have to ask you to powercycle your phone. The reason bc everytimme you powercyle your phone off and on it refresh itself back to the network. I’m a rep myself but like tech supprt says you cooperate with me then I cooperate with you. We are only human some problems cannot be fixed if you don’t comply. Especially if you sound irate when I am trying to help you. I am not the reason your phone is not working. They gave you the ticket number for a reason to call in and check on it and you let a few days pass and didn’t call. So they think the issue have been fixed. Trust me people who have a pleasent calm tone always get by with reps, and not just reps in life period.
shannon

I work in teh customer service industry, and the attitude of the reps on here is appalling. Nothing in Sean’s end of the conversation was inappropriate or untoward when you consider what he had already been through. He is the customer…the complications and depressing realities of working for T Mobile are NOT his problem. Neither should the reps’ and tech’s apparent incompetence be his problem. And my guess is that repeating his info only got progressively more annoying because he had to do it over and over while following up on a situation that should have already been resolved. I deal with customers face to face and on the phone every day, and short of screaming, name-calling, or definite sketchiness, I am patient with them because if we had done what we were supposed to do in the first place, they would not be calling or returning to the store.
t-mo

I just spent 1.5 hours on the phone with t-mobile, and I was ready to slit my own throat so I wouldn’t have to deal with them one minute more. I have been trying for two and a half weeks to obtain an unlock code for a phone I plan to take to europe. I have contacted them no fewer than 10 times – both emails and phone calls.

after the initial request, I read their FAQ which said it could take up to a week. at the end of a week, I was told that my request hadn’t ‘gone through’ although I’d received a confirmation email with a case I.D. number. so far my request has been submitted four times.

I am also sick of overseas call centers where the employees seem to think they’re being paid by the word — it takes them 3 paragraphs to convey information that should scarcely fill 3 sentences!

if hell is customized for each of us, I will be spending eternity wrangling on a phone with a telco customer service rep, while first year violin students practice scales in the background.
Morgan

I called tmobile yesterday because another phone on my account was getting charged 20 cent for each text message sent out. They said the messages were international. But no one was texting an international number. So I explained my case to a woman representative. She told me she can’t do anything about it and I would have to just wait for my bill to come in order to do something. So yes, I got upset. I called back again and this time a man was helping me. I told him the situation and he went into details and was actually solving the problem. When he checked the account and saw that no one was texting anyone out of the country he immediately called his supervisor and showed him what was being charged to my account. The man politely fixed it and also credited my account the amount of money that they was charging me for the text messages. I do believe you have some lazy representatives who just go to work and just be there cause they have to be there and then you have other representatives who actually go to work to do their job. I do understand what sean is saying but dude u were being a total douche bag about the information stuff.
maurie

T-mobile is a rip off.

Upon t-mobile’s recommendation I changed phone plans to save money. But instead i was charged 254 dolars in extra usage the first month. They refused to remove these charges although they suggested this plan.

What ever happen to good will in business?
Juniorbiz

So, I ended up reading the post and most of the replies that were posted. I work for T-mobile. Now that being said, why were you so irate over sharing your mobile number and the last 4 of your social? We only ask that for your protection against fraud and theft. I’ve worked for customer service for many years, in different locations and for different companies. You reap what you sow. Every one has had issues with something or another that they have had to call in to a customer care department to get resolved. It isn’t fun doing it, but if you’re at least a little considerate, you’ll usually get your problem taken care of it is within the rep you are speaking with’s power. Getting mad and frustrated about giving your personal information to verify YOUR account for YOUR protection is what is really mind boggling.
porra

i call t mobile for about 4 weeks about not geting service on this location i go to every weekend they said oui r going to send r tech there to see that the prob is.they went there twice .everyting look good oui r going to try again .it point iam about to tell t mobile to go u no
call back again this week .iask that r u going to do to fix this .he said to the best thing to do is to get a prepaid phone for the areas ihave no service.he lucky he wasit next to me .now iam stuck till sepember 20010 t mobile suck big
snakedoctor

The customer is always right is what has cost MANY top notch customer service reps a job. When it comes down to the customer has all the tools (web and customer care) to manage there own account if the customer knowingly exceeds plan minutes the carrier is expected to credit these charges even though was NOT the carriers fault. So when a customer service rep educates a customer that the charges will not be credited that is deemed as poor customer service and a rep can lose a job. The customer is NOT always right. I have taken many calls that have resulted in an adjustment for charges that were correct because of the incorrect mentality that the customer is always right. Managing your acct is your responsibility, you have all the tools you need to correctly and accurately manage this information. If you exceed your rate plan minutes change your plan. Don't call me up whining because you dropped the ball and can't take responsibility for it.
snakedoctor

The customer is always right is what has cost MANY top notch customer service reps a job. When it comes down to the customer has all the tools (web and customer care) to manage there own account if the customer knowingly exceeds plan minutes the carrier is expected to credit these charges even though was NOT the carriers fault. So when a customer service rep educates a customer that the charges will not be credited that is deemed as poor customer service and a rep can lose a job. The customer is NOT always right. I have taken many calls that have resulted in an adjustment for charges that were correct because of the incorrect mentality that the customer is always right. Managing your acct is your responsibility, you have all the tools you need to correctly and accurately manage this information. If you exceed your rate plan minutes change your plan. Don't call me up whining because you dropped the ball and can't take responsibility for it.
Anonymous

The customer is always right is what has cost MANY top notch customer service reps a job. When it comes down to the customer has all the tools (web and customer care) to manage there own account if the customer knowingly exceeds plan minutes the carrier is expected to credit these charges even though was NOT the carriers fault. So when a customer service rep educates a customer that the charges will not be credited that is deemed as poor customer service and a rep can lose a job. The customer is NOT always right. I have taken many calls that have resulted in an adjustment for charges that were correct because of the incorrect mentality that the customer is always right. Managing your acct is your responsibility, you have all the tools you need to correctly and accurately manage this information. If you exceed your rate plan minutes change your plan. Don’t call me up whining because you dropped the ball and can’t take responsibility for it.

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Customer Service Hell!! T-Mobile…Hot Spot? NOT!!!