Good retail service, questionable text messaging practices
Written: Mar 25 '05
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Pros: good retail customer service, inexpensive phones
Cons: $.05 charge for each incoming text message, less-than-stellar coverage area
The Bottom Line: In major and medium-sized metropolitan areas, T-Mobile has good coverage and is worth getting. Otherwise, you might experience dropped or static-filled calls. Watch out for the text messaging charges.
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| tazzosu's Full Review: T-Mobile Phone Service in Columbus |
I was ready to switch my cellular service away from AT&T and decided to go with T-Mobile. Their phones seemed pretty nice, and the monthly rates were competitive given the amount of "anytime" minutes that were included with the plan. Also, T-Mobile to T-Mobile was free, no matter what time of the day, in addition to the free nights and weekends.
So, I went down to a nearby store in which a T-Mobile retail kiosk was set up. I was impressed with how quickly they setup my service. After getting my billing details, the kiosk rep opened the phone box up, popped the battery in, turned the phone on, and in about two minutes, it was ready for use. The phone itself was fairly inexpensive, especially with the number of features that came with it. I opened the phone up and I was happy to see five bars of signal strength. But, as I would find out, that was where the positives ended...
I got home, and saw only two bars of signal strength. Every now and then it would drop down to one or even zero bars. Luckily, I have not had any dreaded "roaming in the house" as T-Mobile has national coverage with no roaming on most plans. Sound quality of phone calls was acceptable, until I moved into a part of the house where the signal faded. Some callers complained about my voice cutting out. Aside from that, voice calls were ok.
My biggest complaint with T-Mobile is how they handle text messaging. Unlike some other cellular services, T-Mobile charges for both outgoing AND incoming text messages. Although each message is only $.05, I can see this becoming a major issue as SMS spam begins to increase. I first noticed this potential deal-breaker when I signed up for online account management (which itself is free). The website sends a text message to the phone containing sign-on info. When I logged on and checked my billing statement, I noticed that they charged me for that message. Rather annoying. Later, I received a few spam messages, and yes, I was charged for those too. It is bad enough to get spam on your cell phone, but it is much worse to be charged for those messages.
Overall, the benefits outweigh the downsides, for now. If T-Mobile added some more towers, their call quality would be better. And if they do not do something about the incoming text message charges, they will have many unhappy customers as SMS spam becomes widespread.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 50
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Epinions.com ID:
tazzosu
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Reviews written: 4
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