a constant headache
Written: Aug 03 '02
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Pros: open 24 hours a day to "help you"
Cons: disorganized, you get a different story every time you call in
The Bottom Line: Save yourself the headache and don't use voicestream.
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| mikew796's Full Review: General Reviews of T-Mobile Customer Service |
To Whom It May Concern:
My boyfriend and I have had a cell phone plan through Voice Stream for over a year now. Over the last two weeks we have had some of the worst customer service of our lives. Most of the people that we spoke with were concerned about our service (or lack there of) and were immensely helpful, but the ones that weren’t have completely overshadowed the hard work of your good employees.
We recently moved and had not thought to change our mailing address with you because we pay all of our bills online and never look at our paper bill. Since we neglected to change our mailing address in sufficient time a bill was returned to you and our phone service was turned off. Your records showed that the bill was paid in full and on time because we paid it online. We called and the customer service lady we talked to changed the address for us in the computer and said all was fine and the phone would be turned back on in 30 min. This was no problem; we understood and took full responsibility for the inconvience. However the phone was again turned off two more times in the proceeding two weeks. The explanation we received was because of the billing address again which was supposed to have been taken care of two weeks earlier. After the third time it just became ridiculous and we were paying for a service that we were unable to use. Michael called to find out when our contract was up so we could cancel the plan and use a different provider.
When he called he explained the situation: that our phone had been repeatedly turned off during the month and that my phone didn’t function when I was at work due to the AT&T wireless issue. I have a Samsung N105 that I purchased only a couple of months ago that reads emergency only when I am at work. We had called months ago and were told that the problem would be resolved but it never was. I paid $150 for a phone that only worked half of the time. The customer service person tired to keep our business by saying they would offer us one month of service and a new phone to replace the N105 for free, if we signed another year contract. Michael told the customer service rep that he would have to talk to me first since it was replacing my phone. The customer service rep said that he would make a note of the offer and it would be valid when Michael called back.
The phone they offered was the Nokia 3390. I purchased the Samsung N105 because it was a flip phone and for many of the features that came with it that did not come with the Nokia 3390. We called back later that night and spoke with at least 5 different people. He explained to them that I wanted a flip phone and then asked them if they could still offer the same deal on a flip phone. The first person went to check for us and explained that while you offer multiple phones the only phone that was comparable to the one that I had and was able to operate in the vicinity of an AT&T tower was the Motorola V60. She explained that that phone was much more expensive and she had to transfer us to the saves department to see if they could offer us the original deal on that phone. As she connected us the call was disconnected.
We called back and spoke to a gentleman named Ron, who was very nice, and went to check on the answer for us about the flip phones and the answer he received was again that the only flip phone that did not have the AT&T wireless problem was the Motorola V60. He said he could not offer it for free but could offer it to us for $200 off of your cost and the one free month would still stand. This left us with paying an additional $50 or so dollars for the phone. Ron again tried to transfer us to the saves department so we could get this all taken care of. He told me that he would connect me with the lady who had approved the call and he again dropped the call in the transferring process.
At this point Michael was a little frustrated from explaining the story several times and being hung up on so he gave the phone to me and I called back. The lady I talked to was again very nice and she explained that if you don’t transfer correctly the call could be dropped so she transferred me to Michael #0477347 in the saves department who began to tell me that no he could not honor the $200 off the V60 all he could do was offer $100 off. Then he proceeded to try to convince me that I didn’t need nor did I want that phone anyway and the rest of the phones were just as good so why did I have to have that one. At that point I was pretty mad because he was not listening to me, I was the customer and I told him what I wanted but he didn’t care, all he wanted to do was offer me the phone I had just told him I did not want. He did nothing to try and keep my business and was very willing to cancel my service then and there just to get me off the phone. I waited to cancel in order to find another provider.
We called one more time that night so I could get his name and customer service number. The person who answered the phone listened to the whole story and apologized. She gave me the address to customer relations and said that she didn’t understand why Michael #0477347 had said what he did. She said that she could clearly see that we were offered $200 and one month free in the notes and that Michael had access to the same notes that she did. She was polite and offered to fix the problem by connecting me with another person in the saves department. The end result was that we were going to get the one month for free to make up for our inconsistent service over the course of the month and a $200 discount off of the Motorola phone. The only reason that the problem wasn’t resolved right then was that there weren’t any phones available at the time. I was told that they would make a note and when the phone came in we could call and get our discount and free month with a one year contract.
Today August 2, 2002 we called to see if the Motorola V60 was in stock because I wanted to keep my plan. They told us no but the store in our area did have them and we were told that we could go to the store get the phone but that we would have to pay the difference between store cost and your cost. We were also told to have the store call in the receipt and our account would be credited the $200 promised as well as the month free and we would be all set.
Finally I thought we were done with this and it worked out for both sides. We kept the plan we wanted and you kept a customer from leaving un-happy. This was too easy, we went to our local Voice Stream store purchased the phone for $275 and the $200 credit was credited to our account. We called and spoke to Ernest #0359197, after all the other problems we wanted to make sure before we left the store and signed the contract that everything was right. Ernest did credit the account the $200 but when he read through all the notes attached to our account could not figure out/understand that we also got a month free. All the other people we talked to understood this but him!!! He said he couldn’t do it but he could put in a request for us, however we wouldn’t know until tomorrow at the earliest if it was approved. Again we tired to explain to him if he read the previous notes it was approved. We asked for a manager, he said there was none in the office at the time. I got on the phone and he was able to find me Jessica #0359185 who said she was a manager. She proceeded to tell me that the offer was one month and the Nokia free or the $200 off the Motorola V60. I asked her why and she proceeded to tell me that she was already giving me a lot. I told her I wouldn’t be asking for the Motorola V60 if you could have fixed the problem with my phone. It is not my fault that that the Samsung phone I purchased is unable to do what it is supposed to do. At that point we returned the new phone we just purchased and walked out of the store ready to cancel our plan.
I called back tonight to verify that my contract had not been extended and explained the whole story once again. I also asked the lady if she could tell me what was written in the notes from today. She told me that Ernest had removed the extension of my contract and that he had written that he had offered the month free as well as the $200 and that we had declined. There was no mention of the “Manager” that we spoke with. She told me that there was no reason for the month free to be declined and that if it wasn’t approved through Ernest’s manager that she would put it through hers and that there would be no problem because she would stand behind what we had been offered.
The end result of all of this is that we have wasted hours of our time and spent money on service that we haven’t been receiving. Many of the customer service people that we spoke to were helpful but then the few that were not helpful made this whole situation much more difficult than it had to be. All we were looking for from you as a provider was the offer that was made to us but, as it stands right now we are actively searching for a new service provider and we will cancel our service once we find the right provider for us.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 69.99
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Epinions.com ID:
mikew796
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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