My T-Mobile Nightmare

sjgusmc21

Member
Aug 9, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
On 15 November 2014 I went to the T-Mobile store at 4130 S New Braunfels Ave, Suite 101San Antonio, TX and ordered myself a Note Edge and my wife a iPhone 6 Gold 64 GB. I have been going to that store since the initial debacle I had when I joined T-Mobile a year ago over the phone. They had always been very courteous and professional towards me. During ordering, this is what I was told:

1. I would not be charged anything until I received a tracking number that the phone(s) had shipped.
2. The phones would ship independently once either one became available.
3. That I should receive both phones NLT 22nd of November, but could take up to 10 days.

The following Monday comes and I see a pending charge of $169.75 to my checking account for 'T-Mobile' upgrade. So I called T-Mobile and they told me that I should have received a tracking number and if not, I should receive it by COB that day. I was also told that my wife’s iPhone was on back order, which didn't make me happy, but did not surprise me as well. The next day I did not receive a tracking number so I stopped by the store that I had ordered them from and spoke with an assistant manager. She apologized profusely and told me that both my phones were on back order, that neither had shipped to me, and that I shouldn't a have been charged anything, pending or not. She could not give me an estimate of when my phones would ship and that I shouldn't have been charged anything. I was not happy when I left.

I waited 2 days and called T-Mobile again. This lady told me that the charge was not 'really' a charge as it was a 'pending' charge that T-Mobile does to ensure they have access to the funds, and that meant that my phone was in shipping, although she couldn't tell me which one it was. I told her that pending or not, the money was out of my account, so I didn't care what she called it. She promised me my phone was in shipping and I should receive a tracking number at any moment.

2 more days go by and I have heard nothing. I looked at my T-Mobile bill and notice that it had gone up $32.00 I immediately call them again, spoke with a customer loyalty person, and was told that $24 of that was for insurance on the phones that I DO NOT HAVE and the other $8 was for misc. charges. I promptly had her remove the insurance, as I did not request it, and although should couldn't exactly tell me what the $8 was for, she removed that as well. Now this representative told me that they didn't know when my phones would ship and couldn't explain why I had the money taken out of my account.

On the 21st I went back to the store to ask them why all of this had occurred and I had been lied to. There was a 30ish male assistant manager there and I had noticed him 'roughly' dealing with other customers in the past. I explained to him all that had happened and he told me that it couldn’t have happened at his store. Ok, I will admit at this point I was about to go nuclear. That's when this 'man' gets close to me and raises his hands saying, 'what do you want me to do for you? What do you want?' I told him that I wanted to know when my phones would ship, why they charged my account with no tracking number, and who authorized them to place charges on my account without my knowledge or approval. He then started to raise his voice, and knowing myself, this was only going to end with me getting escorted out of the store by local security. At this point, everyone was watching us, and I told him that this was not the last they were going to hear from me. And I very slowly walked out.

I will admit, I was beyond irrate. I sat in my car for a while, then called T-Mobile. I was immediately patched thru to 'customer loyalty' manager named Monique. After I had told her everything that had happened, names, placed, dates and all of the lies, the profusely apologized and told me she would file a 'case' against the store. The also said they would start an investigation on who charged my account. When the conversation was over, she said that my note edge was in shipping and I would receive a tracking number in 24 hours. That she guaranteed it was in shipping and I would officially hear back from T-Mobile on the outcome of the investigations. This was about a 1 hour phone call.

48 hours later, no tracking number, no phone call, no nothing. I did receive a email stating that my wifes iPhone would ship between the 28 of November and the 13th of December. So why didn't I cancel everything by now? Believe me I wanted to...but if i canceled one of the phones, the both would be dropped, and I wanted very much for my wife to have her phone for Christmas. That is why.

On the way to work I decided to call them. Big mistake as it put me in a foul mood all day. This person told me that neither of my phones had shipped, couldn’t tell me when they would and again, couldn’t explain to me why the $169 had been taken from my account. I am sure there was a visible mushroom cloud coming from the cab of my truck at that point. I will not even bother with explaining the words that flowed from my mouth.
After work that day, I called ‘customer loyalty’ and this woman was very curt and to the point. There was no way for her to tell me when my phones would ship, she had never heard of Monique and there was no way for her to find out who she is because T-Mobile was just too large with to many call centers. She told me no investigations had been launched and none probably would not be. She said that if I had the money put back into my account, it would cancel both phones, and that they would only ship both when they were available together. I insisted that I be given the distract T-Mobiles email address and she refused to do so, instead she gave me this address:

Customer Relations
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque NM 87176-7380

This had to be done by snail mail and there is no other way. She stated continuously that there was nothing else she could do for me and ended the conversation.

I HAVE NEVER been treated this poorly, lied to this many times by any company in my 51 years of breathing oxygen. If it wasn’t for my wife’s Christmas Present I would have had them shove the phones and their service where even worms will not go. I just wanted to share my experience as I hope it helps others. After I pay the phones off, we will be going back to ATT. I initially left ATT because T-Mobile saved me $1200.00 a year and gave us many for features then ATT did. Now, I regret it. The frustration, the lies, and the aggravation is not worth it. How a company can legally work this way I will never know. If anyone could send me the email address of the distract manager of San Antonio for T-Mobile, I would greatly appreciate it. I had it once, but cannot find it now. Thank you.
 

zorak950

Well-known member
Feb 2, 2011
1,243
12
38
Visit site
It's been my experience that T-Mobile has no real customer service quality control, so the quality of your interaction amounts to a roll of the dice. If everything works behind the scenes things are usually great, but nobody seems capable of dealing with contingencies, which is when you need customer service the most. Then some reps make things worse by making things up to mollify you, because it never gets back to them anyway. It's sad, but I've learned to expect less than nothing from them beyond the most basic tasks, just because I never know who to actually trust.

T-Mobile needs to do a lot of work building a system of accountability so that bad CSRs can be corrected, retrained, and if necessary, fired. The way it is now they just vanish back into the system when you're done talking to them, and nobody's the wiser.
 

sjgusmc21

Member
Aug 9, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
Thank you. I don't tweet and I don't do Facebook, but I did send Mr. Legere a email. The problem is, that although public, all of it is true (and I left a heck of a lot out) and I know they don't care. Why? Because they get away with it. I am far from done with T-Mobile. I am retired Marine and damn if they are going to take my money, LIE to me, and not provide me with the service I paid for and expect. Next on my list is the state Attorney General. They played with me, they lied to me, they deceived me. Now its my turn. Public, private, doesn't matter. This crap should be illegal, if it isn't already. But thank you for your advice and help.
 

Lee_Bo

Well-known member
Apr 4, 2010
929
58
28
Visit site
T-Mobile is also on Google+ (https://plus.google.com/u/0/+T-Mobile/posts) and they will reply to posts they are tagged in. I hate to hear you've had this kind of experience with them. I've had nothing but excellent customer service from them in the 12 months I've been with them. I've had better customer service with them that I did with 15+ years with Verizon.
 

lsmachado

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2014
548
0
0
Visit site
I'm sorry to hear about your issues. I learned a long time ago that when dealing with customer service reps over the phone that simply getting their first name is useless.

If you have to call back to follow up on your issue or request, you will be told that no one knows who the previous rep you spoke with is, there are no notes on your account, blah, blah. I learned to document the date, approximate time of the call, rep's first name, and, above all, the rep's operator number or personnel number. This has worked for me since I started gathering those details.

Posted via the Android Central App on my awesome Note 4
 

sjgusmc21

Member
Aug 9, 2012
8
0
0
Visit site
T-Mobile is also on Google+ and they will reply to posts they are tagged in. I hate to hear you've had this kind of experience with them. I've had nothing but excellent customer service from them in the 12 months I've been with them. I've had better customer service with them that I did with 15+ years with Verizon.

I posted a comment on that page...though admittedly, not for sure if I did it correctly. Somewhat socially challenged. Funny...I can trouble shoot a network or server, build a freak'n AK on my balcony, but when it comes to social media...pretty clueless. That has to change though...two daughters...but they are still young. Thank you again.

I did receive a reply from my posting, just as you said they would. Again, its the same old story that I have heard, over, and over, and over. And even if this person is telling the truth, what makes them different from the others? I guess I am so tainted by all of the lies that I doubt I would even believe the CEO if he talked to me face to face.
 
Last edited:

Old Stoneface

Well-known member
Nov 16, 2013
626
0
0
Visit site
So why didn't I cancel everything by now? Believe me I wanted to...but if i canceled one of the phones, the both would be dropped, and I wanted very much for my wife to have her phone for Christmas. That is why.
But, by this time, you had been given no reason whatsoever to believe you were ever going to see either device. Every time you interacted with T-Mobile you were given a different answer.

Have you ever heard the saying "Fool me once: Your fault. Fool me twice: My fault?" Yes, T-Mobile's behaviour, with respect to your case, has been execrable. No question. Not making any excuses for them. But, at some point, your abuse starts becoming your own fault. It's as if you're telling them "Please mess with me some more! I want some more abuse, please!"

I would've canceled the entire thing when I was in the store on the 21st--if I'd waited even that long. I have an exceedingly low tolerance for poor customer service.

Yes, T-Mobile offers the best deal, if you can get adequate service where you need it. But there are four carriers with nationwide coverage. Unlike landline service, cable TV, Internet service, natural gas, electricity, or municipal water and sewer: You have choices. With mobile service, there's hardly ever any reason to put up with poor customer service.

My customer service interactions with T-Mobile, wrt wireless service, on-line, on the phone and in in the local store, have all been nothing short of exemplary, but, given closingracer's experience, and yours, I doubt I'll ever be tempted to buy a device via T-Mobile. I'll stick with BYOD, thankyouverymuch.
 

Closingracer

Banned
Apr 5, 2012
3,033
0
0
Visit site
It's been my experience that T-Mobile has no real customer service quality control, so the quality of your interaction amounts to a roll of the dice. If everything works behind the scenes things are usually great, but nobody seems capable of dealing with contingencies, which is when you need customer service the most. Then some reps make things worse by making things up to mollify you, because it never gets back to them anyway. It's sad, but I've learned to expect less than nothing from them beyond the most basic tasks, just because I never know who to actually trust.

T-Mobile needs to do a lot of work building a system of accountability so that bad CSRs can be corrected, retrained, and if necessary, fired. The way it is now they just vanish back into the system when you're done talking to them, and nobody's the wiser.

Lol this is basically the reason why I left though I will never tell them that and my excuse is bad coverage area which is true but I'll deal with it and use wifi calling .


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Closingracer

Banned
Apr 5, 2012
3,033
0
0
Visit site
So a month ago I wanted to return the signal booster since I want to leave t-mobile so I asked for a label and they insisted it can't be emailed but shipped to me . Waited 2 weeks and no label . Called again and got me another order for a label but after I was curious can he email me one and he tried it and got one through the email. About a week later I got the one he shipped me and note he lied that he expedited the shipment because it didn't even go ups ground which is 3 days to me from Texas ( he said he could do 3 day shipping ) but used ups mail innovations which is slow . Now about 4 weeks since I called for the first one did that one show up lol. Can't wait till I can dump them .


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

clevin

Well-known member
Nov 12, 2010
1,769
2
0
Visit site
I really dislike placing online orders in store, too many things out of control with no definitive proof of order details.

My dealing with tmobile had been okay, sans occasionally when they don't know what they are talking about.

For all the hassles, I would just cancel the order and be done with it. It's not worth getting irritated for weeks over a phone (your patience so far is admirable, lol). I'm sure your wife would understand this.

@T-Mobile GN3
 

xendula

Well-known member
Sep 24, 2014
469
0
0
Visit site
I noticed that there is no real customer sevice as well. When i first ordered a Tmo sim card, they started charging me fees before I even had the sim in hand, and when I called to ask them to remove whatever I was charged before the SIM arrived, the woman I talked to was super snotty and refused, claiming that if i had wanted to, I could have started enjoying their services even without a SIM card. When I asked what I could have possibly done without a SIM, she claimed I could have sent text messages online?! Great way to start a relationship with a new carrier. The second time I called, for something else, the person was much more customer oriented, so when I mentioned the early charges, he refunded those no problem. Like someone else said, it's like a roll of dice.

When I bought my Gear S, I was assured repeatedly that I could unlock it, then my unlock request came back denied, and Samsung was blamed for Tmo's inability to complete my request. I sent the T-mo Gear S back, bought an ATT Gear S for $50 less, and ATT kindly removed the SIM lock, which my own carrier refused to do. I sent the Tmo device back almost 2 weeks ago and am still waiting for a refund. A claim was supoosedly submitted to find out the whereabouts of the device, and I have not heard back since.
Moral of the story for me: never ever buy a device from Tmo. Get an unlocked device elsewhere, and only use them for their plans, if their plans match your needs (they do for me) and if you enjoy the freedom to of not being locked up with one carrier for years. Everything else is just too much of a headache.

I would have bought the Note Edge through ATT straight out and asked them to unlock it, and would definitely never buy an iPhone anywhere else than the Apple store, or you risk it being carrier locked. I can see how that would be a steep investment, but that's the price of freedom. Buy upfront, unlocked.