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Sometimes, support doesn't do anything.
you won't find a more service oriented wireless company, so call back and bitch a major bitch, tell'em you're going to switch to an iphone....$$$$off your bill
I have personally experienced such service when I last bought a new car (Also my first & last new car). The problem is that as much as we grow great technologies, we also make it easier to disconnect those responsible from a feeling of responsibility. “Out Source Hell” if you wanna call it that. People need to rediscover a sense of ownership... just another challenge we have created in our oversight to ultimate productivity.
I have worked in a call center and the issues in my opinion are as follows:
provider outsources their customer service to cut costs
outsourcer sets up contracts with provider that they are paid based on # of calls vs resolution of calls
Hires agents at minimum wage, provides minimum training and wants agents to churn as many call as possible per hour
create a team called supervisors, they are agents with generally same powers as front line agents
Provider like T Mobile know the grass sucks on the other side, in your case AT&T and create a situation where customers do not call in anymore
This is the same situation with almost all telco's selling consumer service and will not change until the the telco's have the same type of situation as Dell where they loose market share.
This is all based on companies running their business on metrics and not looking at the details.
The example of Dell is real, they spent $ 300 M to improve their customer service after loosing their number 1 position to HP and fired a CEO that looks at metrics and is too far removed from customers to know the reality.
maybe some day, one of the telco's will break the mold and take a proactive stance in customer service.
They are all like sheep and follow each other instead of looking at customer service as a " marketing advantage".
Dave
You will almost always be connecting yourself to the least paid and the most junior person in the organization. Or more often than not you will be connecting yourself to someone, similarly, badly paid, who has nothing to do with the organization who supply the product or service for which you need support.
(lack of) Support stories are legion in modern technology. Whatever happened to you, someone else will be able to cap it.
But keep them coming. This one, in particular, was great. I'm gonna link to it.
We have about 15 T-Mobile MDA's in the company and I also have a personal pocket pc with a T-Mobile SIM in it, and in my 15 years as a T-Mobile customer (10 thereof overseas) I have yet to have a bad experience with customer support.
I agree with the comments about the account verification and all that nonsense...it just gets old after a while...more of a problem with their help desk system than anything else.
As for the service, I just spoke to them yesterday to get a SIM unlock for an employee going to Europe. Was no problem at all, got help in a very professional and courteous way and this morning the phone was unlocked. While I was on the phone I had some specific questions about GPRS roaming fees, and even that the rep did not have the answer, after a 20 second hold time she got the answer for me from a peer.
Past calls included a phone exchange after the standard 30 days which was no problem and billing inquiries, which always were being taken care of instantly. One thing I really have to say about T-Mobile (Had Verizon for our work phones before, which was a completely different story) is that I can not remember ever being on hold waiting for a rep for more than a minute.
Not that I discount any of the bad experiences above, just wanted to share some positive T-Mobile experiences as well.
So far I've been very happy with thier service, both in terms of coverage ( haven't had a single dropped call, great reception etc.) and customer service. They are headquartered in Portland, OR and are a reseller of cellular services.
No contracts, low rates, great coverage, and a real focus on customer service.
One drawback is the small selection of phones. I hope they add more in the near future. Although you can always buy an unlocked phone.
sprint
dell
I have no idea how Sprint stays in biz. I was in a Sprint store in the West Village in NYC and the store employee had to wait on hold for 30 minutes to get internal support to complete my sale. Mind numbing.
Chuck
ASKaSQLGURU.com
On the other carriers, I have used the old AT&T, Verizon and Nextel (who i guess is now sprint) and T-mobile has by far the best customer care. Don't switch, you'll be witting a new blog in a few months about how you are locked in to a new contract with a even worse provider.
Helio? Cingluar?
Once, though, I got a new phone from them and found that the screen didn't light properly. I called, and was told that this was entirely my problem. After a bit of arguing and explanation that they were not allowed to disclaim the implied warranty of merchantability in my state -- initially they said that I would have to send the thing to Motorola to be repaired, even though it was defective when sold by T-Mobile -- they agreed to exchange the phone. It was explained that they'd charge me for this replacement phone, and credit my account when they got the old phone back. This is dumb, but it's fairly standard procedure.
I got the new phone, and it worked, and I sent back the old one. DHL reported that it had been delivered, but either T-Mobile lost it or they failed to credit me. I called them, and they verified that the phone had been delivered (on their nickel), apologized, promised to make everything right, and told me not to pay the charge for the phone.
Of course, they didn't credit me, and about a week after I'd paid my bill minus the charge for the phone, their collections department started calling. I told them that the debt wasn't valid, gave them the ticket number, etc., etc., but they didn't care. They continued to call and abuse me several times a day.
Eventually everything was sorted out as it should have been, but I calculated that it had taken about 12 hours of my time to get a defective phone replaced.
Tech support takes the call but due to easy, scripted, prompt by prompt software needs to verify you again. CS could provide the data but that could lead to customer on hold + lower metering for both (They're on the phone to each other). Also potential privacy breaches. Tech begins to troubleshoot for Sean whereas CS just transferred Jane.
Where he's spot on is the real lack of technical know-how.
My amusing story;
A Telus tech support guy, when I asked for additional info on the phone, couldn't get the phone emulator/flowchart to work. He ended up running to their real IT dept. where he borrowed their test bed device to troubleshoot with me.
# of phone models past and present x # of CS reps=!possible.
You'd have to rely on emulators, manuals,etc...which is no substitute for hands-on experience but can solve the 90% of calls like "how do I email the internet?" and "how do I look up my own cellphone #?"
Sean, You should be smart enough to do some basic troubleshooting on his own. With some verifiable results...and patience, you'd get further.
sean
1 It looks like they made a Master degree @ our "world class schools" in Argentina they are "better" ... welcome!!
2 “sometimes I think about quitting.” Did you carge her for the session?? :)
At least, you can switch.... in our lands there is when the problem really starts.
A few quick google searches could have solved this problem real quick for you. Also, if you would have taken a second and asked for the direct number for PDA support, you could have just contacted them directly.
Now I know that it is idiots like you who are clogging up the hold times when someone with a real issue needs support.
PS - Call VZW / Sprint and see if it gets any better for you.
Awful service, nightmare customer service.
The only thing that's rivaled it for me so far is DirecTV. But that's a whole other sack of potatoes.
TMO easily has the best customer care of any of the carriers. They may not be able to fix everything, but you will get that no matter who you are dealing with.
So I have not had a problem with T-Mobile until now. Every time I called customer care they have been great.
Now my recent problem is I moved. I moved to an area despite what T-Mobile service says does not have coverage. Well, I sort of have coverage...if I am outside and the ear I have my phone in is facing the South then I can sometimes get one bar.
So I called T-Mobile and they asked me to do a couple of things, which I did and it still did not help. They said they would escalate this to their engineering folks. Well a few days after they "escalated" it I hear back from them basically saying "tough luck" our maps show we have coverage and our engineers say there is no problem.
My response "have them come out here and show me that there is coverage" I asked them to investigate how many dropped calls I have had...and that is sort of where I am at.
They say I cannot get out of the contract because their maps say I have coverage.
I too felt that these folks were not empowered to do anything. Back a year or so ago, I think they were much better.
I work for a company in similar conditions, as far as trouble resolution goes and working conditions. I can either solve your problem, or I can't, and there's no way you can break through that simple fact. It helps that most of our customer issues are user error. However, you made a few mistakes that someone from the "inside" of a similar company can point out to you.
They gave you the ticket number. Good, nice and professional, leaves you feeling all fuzzy that you can cut to the chase. Did you ask if there was a way to shortcut through the normal processes? Sometimes, if the rep finds you agreeable to work with and honestly wants to help you, they'll slip you the all-important callback number IF YOU ASK, and it will skip a department or two. Honor their trust, though, and don't give it out. Otherwise it will have to be changed, and nobody likes that.
The second mistake I can see was not keeping on them. Most companies have lighter rules for customers, but they can't just leave a ticket open forever. For example, we'll leave your ticket open for three days. Tops. Then we're considering it fixed. You HAVE to keep on it, or it's assumed to be fixed, or you don't care. If possible, resolve it on the first call, come hell or high water. Try to make sure that if it isn't fixed on the first call, THEY initiate the end of the call, not you. I have to say from personal experience, I hate the "I don't have time for this" crowd. But to put it in perspective, part of my responsibilities is escalating issues that are outside of our network to NOCs in other companies. Generally, those companies will close your ticket in 24 hours and makes you start from scratch if you miss by even a minute. Customer service is being nice to you, comparably.
As far as verification, explain that you're not comfortable giving your SSN and is there anything else you can use? Some places will be understanding of this and let you use a mother's maiden name instead. All you have to do is ask. But on the IVR passing your phone number and such on to the rep? Generally, all they have to identify you by is some code coming up on two line, 40 character LCD screen of their cheap-o phone. Could be as simple as "Support" or "Sales". The technology is there. The willingness to adopt is not. And CID simply can't be trusted. All too easy to fake.
The only other thing I can offer you is DO NOT be the cowboy. If you were to call into our company for support, and I hear the words "I already tried that" without any willingness to work with me? You are going to pay for that. I will make things difficult for you, and stay within guidelines to make it utterly unpunishable. You're calling into a company and asking for help. Don't say "I don't want to" when they ask you to try something, unless it is horribly unreasonable. And I do mean completely and totally unreasonable, not simply "unpleasant". If they say unplug it for two minutes then by God unplug it and cooperate, it's two bloody minutes. If you're not willing to listen, why call in the first place?
"Dude, you are an idiot. They have to verify your information because you would write an equally stupid article if people could just call in and have access to the account. Also, each time you are transfered, do you think there is some magic fairy that passes your information on?"
i agree 100%, i work in costumer service and their is a very fine line that has to be walked between getting your ass fired and treating you costumer like hes worth something. Sometimes people are so pompous and full of themselves when they really have no argument whatsoever. You did seem to have some problem, but there is an order that has to be followed. Now imagine if the guy didn't ask for your number or social, would you like for something worse to happen?
I work in a customer service center and if you think that the reps know all of your information just by hearing your voice, I want some of whatever you're smoking.
T-Mobile reps have by far been the friendliest and most helpful ones I've dealt with. You seem like the kind of asshole that thinks reps aren't people and their sole purpose in life is to make you happy. They're not psychics, they're people and they deserve respect. In one part of the call, you're just blatantly refusing to go along with a process that will help the procedure go smoother.
You're a total douche.
I and I think most customers who've experienced DELL Hell, Sprint abuse, etc do not resent *YOU*. I'd guess most of us ultimately have sympathy for you. It's the clueless companies that obviously have contempt for their companies that people are addressing.
Chuck
ASKaSQLGURU.com
...they rebutted my Righteous Customer Rage too (RCR)
....."Why should I stay with you if youre just gonna waste my money and my time?"
the CSR coldly replied: "That's your option, sir"..
(they took $700 of my money and said they were unable to return it because they had no record of the transaction even though THEY fucked up the charge......it took about 3+ weeks for my own bank to drop the pending charge, they STILL hadn't figured it out.)
Ps>Funny note....the CSR was the rudest of them all....
Sigh, this isn't even worth my time. Don't waste our time again by posting crap like this on Digg.
I
I'm also a service rep. We don't get paid "peanuts".. it's actually one of the higher paying positions because you have to deal with cunts like this all day.
thanks, my 2 cents.
Customer Care is on the 7th Floor, engineering is in the building next door. There's a store in the shopping center right below the building and the manager there can get you sorted.
you sound like a prick and as diluted as sean.
my two cents.
1. Customer Service Standards. When I started working for Verizon my previous work history was Krogers and Subway... Thats called Faking it till you make it! P.S. that was in fact a motto from our trainers at our call center back in 02' LOL
2. Safety scripts! The reason we ask you for your number and SSN is because A. We sometimes don't have that information pop up on our screens, I guess the computers aren't perfect like Dells. B. For your account safety! I can't tell you how many times I was able to fuck with peoples accounts on Sprint and Cingular without so much more then a name and phone number lol. They are trained to verify everytime incase the last asshole you talked to didn't and is letting someone not you mess with your money!
3. Hold time? Try waiting almost 30 minutes everytime you call and end up getting an asshole that just mutes until you hang up or just straight up hangs up on you as soon as you are transferred!(Sprint Btw) In my experience almost 75% of the time T-mobile answers within 3 minutes max and then tries to hang up on you :p
The only reason I would leave T-mobile was for 3G service today instead of whenever they update EDGE or for CDMA phones which in my opinion Sprint has some pretty cool looking phones like the upstage(I live in US and I know you have cooler phones but still). Other then if you have a big family in another carrier you might wanna stay with Team-Mobile(wiki it) because despite all the flaws they are the least flawed with their support team. Just threaten to leave with another company and watch them offer you something. When I try that with someone besides t-mobile they just laugh at you and ready the cancelation fees.
Total time out of my life, a little over 2 hours that I'll never see again.
I think we've hit the point where our own technology is strangling us. You would have never had this problem 20 years ago ;-)
Technical problems are just that. Problems. Every problem involves some level of inconvenience by definition alone.
Your complaints and actions go beyond constructive criticism. You were just be obstinate, it seems.
I don't think they hate their jobs, I think they hate the idiots that call in with the preconceived idea that they're above them. You're asking THEM for help. Wouldn't it be reasonable to NOT treat them like shit?
Just sayin'
Some companies aren't quite that helpful, but 75% of the time, if I write directly to corporate headquarters, I'll at least get a gift certificate or something for my trouble. The other 25% send letters that make it obvious they never even read mine, but it's worth a shot.
Also I had issues with American Express. I received their regular credit card. No probs had it for approx two months, when they suspended my transactions to verify my application. I called customer service, basically they wanted to find out what I was making which they should have found out before they issued me a credit card. But decided NAH, we'll give her the card but cut her off middle of the month. I Canceled it right away! Ridiculous.
If the supervisor of first-level support can't escalate a ticket ON HER OWN, the system is completely and utterly screwed.
"How can you be so disempowered?" is the perfect question. It's not a lack of resources - it's a lack of trust. T-Mobile (or whoever they've outsourced to) doesn't trust the people they've hired. They don't trust their HR processes, their own training programs, and they don't trust that people can make good decisions on their own. It's a huge deficit in leadership.
That's why they have these stupid internal firewalls and ridiculous things like support centers that refuse to take calls. Empower people to fix the problem and problems get solved.
If your jpb gives you stress, responsibilities, and metrics to meet, and doesn't give you the resources or discretion to do your job, IT'S TIME TO FIND ANOTHER JOB.
Also I had issues with American Express. I received their regular credit card. No probs had it for approx two months, when they suspended my transactions to verify my application. I called customer service, basically they wanted to find out what I was making which they should have found out before they issued me a credit card. But decided NAH, we'll give her the card but cut her off middle of the month. I Canceled it right away! Ridiculous.
When agents ask for your information over and over again, it indicates that their software isn't working in synch with their automated system. This is often the case with outsourced tech support. They have no idea who you are, how many times you've called in the recent past, or what your issue is unless they can get that small beginning amount of information out of you and use it to pull up your account.
Finally, when it comes down to it, no amount of gnashing of teeth, wailing, or promises does anything to sway a truly jaded Tech Support agent or supe. "I will be deaf to pleading and excuses;/Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses:/Therefore use none." - Romeo & Juliet, Act III
We *all* hate our jobs. Its like working the McDonald's of the IT world most of the time. The pay is bad compared to others in our respective fields, the companies we work for are inane in their myriad of pointless rules designed to micromanage our lives while they cancel training classes that would help us provide better customer service. We take abuse from frustrated customers all day, and some of us even attempt to help you. (Usually the new ones who haven't had their spirits broken yet.) Usually though, if you're as frustrated as you were in this reminiscence, its a problem we can't even begin to address in any helpful realtime manner. Those tickets are about as much help as we can give.
So in short, welcome to the wonderful world of outsourced IT work. The truth is, we *don't* care, we *will* continue to ask for your number and the last 4 digits of your SSN, and no, we *can't* actually help.
If it makes you feel any better, these places - for all their faults - make great stepping stones for those of us smart enough to use them and leave. I am proud to be one of them as of this week, when I move to a new job, under contract, for a "real" IT company. So don't worry, you'll never have to worry about getting me on the phone. ;)
I am unsure about T-moblie, but when the customer put in his number at the automatic prompts, we got all that information when the call came through on our computers. We were still required to verify who it was. People mis-type things... People know some of that information, but it may not be enough to authorize the account for changes. For troubleshooting, it was plenty, though.
I really got burned out quick, because we had to try to keep calls to under 10 minutes. Most of the calls were customers who hated the service and yelled in your ear or new customers who were ranting and raving about their first bill. Proration is a B1+(h... I did my best to help, but getting yelled at for 10 hours a day did not bode well. I also found a lack of support from the supervisors and fellow staff members. I was actually degraded for asking for their support on a couple of issues. I also was asked to get off the workstation I was at and move for someone else who had worked there longer than me.
I decided to quit after two months service after we were required to start "pushing" customers into activating services they did not have on their accounts. I call that unwanted soliciting and even telemarketing. We were actually required to have sold x number of services per month.
It sucks at both ends. Whenever I call in for support on my cell, I am polite, and I tell them how to do things, so I don't have to worry about them donig them for me.
The "Them" in your story are probably the Germans.
Imagine if at work you had people call and yell at you all day because they were inconvienced by your companies buracracy. Obviously your problem was not very common as they cant just give every customer the runnaround. They have very strict protocol written by people who you will never get to by asking for a supervisor and your taking your frustrations out on the poor guy making 10 dollars an hour.
maybe its you. If you are on such a strict schedule you cant take a little time out to argue with the phone company, maybe you spend to much time at work. Maybe you should chill out a bit. You talk like the phone is so important but you can afford to go without your oh so important functions for days. Were you playing hard to get? Were you sad when they stopped calling? After making such a big deal about it, you'd think youd be waiting on their call. They cant call forever. At some point they assume your not calling back and they have to worry about other customers. Were you jealous?
chill out a bit. everyone has a problem with a company they buy service from now and again. Thats life. Dont be pissy with the phone reps. Write a letter or show up a the corporate office and picket or something. Im sure you could find some other people to join you.
the whole "disempowered" argument isn't even relevant. It's not that they don't trust their employees, it's that they, too, have to go through procedure and make sure that the person they're talking to is, indeed, an employee and not a customer pretending to be one. Get over yourself.
Wnat to know why my line was cancelled? My phone was stolen 3 months ago and they told me they'd cancel my line. I bought a new phone on Ebay, I went to the T-Mobile store, and they gave me a new SIM card and reconnected my line. A month later they disconnected it and told me that I told them my phone was stolen. If my phone had been stolen and the line reactivated it would've taken them a month to disconnect again?? It makes me wonder what kind of business they are running. Although customer service people are always happy and always ask me what the weather's like. That is the only thing that I like about them.
P.S. Dont go to Verizon, they are just as horrible. I had a worse experience with them than T-mobile.
Josh
I now work in retail (for the second time) in a store that's constantly understaffed due to the store not selling enough (gee, maybe cause customers can never find someone to help them and when they do the person is lazy and takes 30 minutes to find anything or ask a manager). Customer service is HUGE. Without it, you WILL eventually lose all your customers. And with no customers, you go belly up.
I've never encountered this problem. First off, you're using their DASH Mobile Phone. You ask for DASH support, not just general support or technical support.
Hell, T-Mobile has even taught me how to do this crap on my blackberry when network connections fail
Simple : Battery pull (With phoen on), leave it out 30 seconds, go into your internet settings and re-register it onto the network.
It's not difficult.
The phone number and Social thing? Yeah that's because in departmental transfers, they're not all linked together.
Seriously, this is a fucking whinefest. L2CALL TECH SUPPORT.
I'm in ur Tech Support, calling teh wrong dpurtmentz.
Also if you ever have a problem with sprint just ask for the customer retention department and they can help you out pretty nicely if you nice to them (:
I have a prepaid Cingular/AT&T (I don't even know who the fuck they are anymore, too many split-personality switches I don't care anymore) GoPhone. I use my PDA & MacBook to organize myself, and my cell phone for just calling people when I really need to make a call out somewhere. I don't rely on Cingular/AT&T because they are all the same.
Sadly enough also, I know someone who works for Verizon Mobile's Customer Service, and she tells me all the time that she will put people on hold all the time just to catch up on her Reader's Digest. Or sometimes she will just 'accidentally' drop the call.
All of the customer service people do not care about their customers, or their company, they are just working for them to make money for themselves, and not to help you.
Grow up. There are serious issues out there and yours is not one!!!
And I got this from a start-up company selling really cheap TVs.
If anyone from VIZIO sees this,
-Thanks
sean
YES! You brought back many memories of my own 'horror story' with T-Mobile a few years ago. The steps you have to go thru were more or less exactly what I was forced to do repeatedly over and over, to no end / no solution. My issue was also with the data side of their network that was (mostly) unresponsive.
T-Mobile, while they are big in Europe, only have a US presence in order to take their (small) piece of the profit pie to be had in the States. They should be bought out by another US carrier that will provide at least minimal-quality customer service.
My experience with T-Mobile customer support - as with yours - was measured in terms of hours wasted with Customer Service, not minutes. My only solution was to completely drop T-Mobile in favor of a regional carrier that has provided excellent service (never thought a US cell carrier could be 'excellent').
In conclusion, the only solution I could offer is to spend even more time and go a T-Mobile corporate-owned store (NOT a dealer) and politely but firmily tell the kid (they are always kids) that you will not leave the store until he has fixed your problem. Maybe, just maybe, he will have a phone number that allows him to get to the right people to fix what is broken...
http://www.lawny.org/lawny/content/view/101/115/
My disclaimer, this is just a possible route to take, but I am not a lawyer and take no responsibility for the accuracy of the above recommendations and information.
The most prevalent but ignorant arguments I have seen on this page are as follows.
1. Don't take it out on the rep for the culture of the company or the corporate policies.
Rebuttal: Said employee is part of said corporate culture and/or policies, don't like getting griped at then quit and find a more reputable company/position. I'm in IT and I know all too well the frustrations of having customers gripe about things out of my control but that is just part of the job description.
2. The customer is just whining. Really a superset of the responses.
2a. Don't expect the managers to be able to fix your problems you have to go through the process.
2b. Expect to have to repeat the information for a number of reasons.
2c. Expect to have to spend hours on the phone to solve problems with services/equipment now and then.
Only requires one Rebuttal: Companies actively design support systems to make it as hard as possible to get a legitimate problem fixed. Because fixing that problem typically means paying to replace broken equipment. Which means costs to the bottom line. Cases to affirm my point - laptop displays aren't covered under warranty unless they completely die, standalone LCD displays aren't fixed/replaced unless there are more than 5 pixels bad and even then you have to fight to get it fixed. Mobile phones can only be bought from the corresponding network dealers with a service contract but they won't sell you a new phone or take any responsibility for the broken hardware even though they are the ones selling the equipment. Don't want to take responsibility for it don't sell it. I'd be fine buying my equipment from independents or 3rd parties and having it activated but I'm not allowed to do so and therefore can't buy the reliability that I want/need. If a manager has the power to replace the equipment without jumping through hoops more equipment will be replaced instead customers are actively discouraged from getting hardware they paid for that actually works because they have to waste more time than it is often worth. Stress and time costs money regardless of how hard it is to quantify. It costs money to keep my body running and repaired medical costs, food, transportation, energy, heat, mental stimulation, educational costs, stress shortening my life expectancy. Life is a finite commodity and therefore has a cost associated with it, just no company wants to admit that and no one has tested that in court yet.
You go on and on and on about how you "have other responsibilities" . . . well then it really comes down to simple economics, doesn't it? You CHOOSE what course of action gives you the greatest return on your investment of time. Clearly your "other responsibilities" give you the greater return, right? In other words, taking the necessary steps to resolve the issue is NOT AS IMPORTANT as your "other responsibilities".
Maybe if you spent less time whining like a little bitch with a skinned knee about how much T-mobile sucks and more time, I dunno, WORKING WITH THEM TO FIX WHATEVER PROBLEM YOU HAVE, you wouldn't have had such a "traumatic" experience.
You may be, or have been, T-mobile's customer, but as the old saying goes . . . you can't help someone that doesn't want to help themselves.
I tried AMPD hybrid plan, but they couldnt provide a minute balance. Call details were coming sometime in the near to distant future. I switched to a prepaid plan, I was required to add money to an account with a positive balance, added money 2 weeks prior - calls to customer service were dropped from the cell or home. AMPD makes t-mo look like a winner.
I am now with virgin mobile, while their customer service isnt great it is a step up form the other guys. I can do just about everything from their website. Most importantly i can have a new phone whenever i want at a reasonable price - not the best handsets but they are affordable. no contract with virgin!!!
there are limits to what good customer service and tech support can teach some people. Now go buy your candybar phone.
If it turns out it was mean, you bet, I will happily mea culpa...but, again, my complaint never was that I had a technical support problem, it was how it was handled.
You weren't handled unlike any other customer. The problem was that you didn't want to cooperate. Getting mad at how their system works makes no sense when you're calling them asking for help. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Customer service has gone down. It is universal. Not customer service in general retail, but c.s. for big companies who generally do not deal with the public. Dell, all the phone companies, cable companies (although mine is great) anyone with a general arms length distance from the customer. You start with phone tag hell to "get you to the right person" and then it continues on from there.
I switched phone companies because if customer service was online when I needed them it took 5 min to navigate the punch # prompts (actually talk them). My new company offers a total of 3 numbers to punch to get to service. The old one actually took more than 5 minutes (timed) I now get my phone and cable modem through one company. If i want phone support I type 1, 1, 1 and internet 2, 2, 2. Pretty simple. And 24/7 there is real person support. And, it is not in India, it is in my home town. I had one support person tell me that I could just come down to the office and talk to them if I had more problems.
Here is a GREAT post by uber blogger Giga Om:
http://gigaom.com/2007/02/18/troubling-signs-fo...
Not to Om's points, but here's a thought of mine that I just can't get past: if a venture provides little or no value - is it really relevant how inexpensive it is to operate? I did a consulting gig at a BIG Global Financial company and the outsourcing elements were unbelievable. Employee turnaround overseas was worse than anything I saw in the US during the Dot Com days and IT actions were affected cluelessly regardless of myriad processes that were put in place.
I see this happening in CS. If there is literally no point for a customer to call CS as you will only waste your time - why bother HAVING CS, regardless if it can be run inexpensively overseas???
I am NOT anti globalization and I think it is a good thing to see capitalism provide opportunities. But some things will always be true:
the customer is always right
if I don't please the customer, somebody else will
I hope we as a society can figure this whole globalization thing out in a way that helps that maximum number of people. An honest assessment of things tells me we have a long, long way to go and it may be a very rocky road.
Chuck
And OMG, if you get "annoyed" by their automated system, then you're a fucking loser anyway. It takes less than a minute to get through their automated system, and it always connects you who you wanna be connected to. I've had tmobile for 5 years and have NEVER had a problem with the customer service. You call this "Hell?" Go back to your WoW and masterbate to a Night Elf.
On the other hand, you shouldn't have missed the ticket window and that was your fault. Start over and you'll get a ticket with advanced and they'll either fix the phone or swap it with another or fix the tower.
You feel your T-Mobile Dash vibrating and rapidly heating up in your pocket one day at work.. Pull it out.. Blank white screen.. Pull the battery out, and it's fine.
About 2 weeks later.. Same thing.. Vibrating and getting very hot rapidly.. You take it out of your pocket this time.. AND IT EXPLODES. Literally. Plastic breaks, phone smokes and all.
So, after work, you bring it to the T-Mobile store, where they can't give you a new one because it's a smartphone, so they call customer service and connect you to the correct department. You talk to the lady they hook you up with and tell her what happened. She said they'll replace the phone for me, and then begins to read the fine print. "If the screen is cracked, you will be charged a $110 fee".. You say, wait.. I told you my phone blew up. It's broken. The screen is cracked. They say it's fine and they'll take the phone back anyway.
Then, your next bill is $220.
*EXPLETIVE DELETED* T-Mobile.
I gladly paid the $200 early termination fee after that one.
I am now with Sprint using their SERO (employee referral program), where I got a Palm Treo 700wx for $200 and pay $30 a month for 500 minutes with unlimited data, email, texting, picture messagine, etc. The works. Nights (7pm-7am) and weekends. I'll send you an email with my AIM screen name, I'll set you up with an account just like mine if you'd like.
I work for AT&T Wireless in Receiveables Management, and I try to make every call and one-call resolution. Again, I'm not discounting your experience either, only sharing my own.
grow up pussy,
Three months later they claimed "We never got the fax." I pulled the confirmation out of my files and quoted who I sent it to, what number, and that I had the confirmation. His tone immediately changed to "I'm sorry we'll refund the difference."
They never refunded what I paid after the fax, but they did at least stop sending bills. It was OBVIOUSLY a scam to get me to keep paying them money - they wait to see how many people don't keep the fax confirmations.
Back to my original topic, my past experience with the windows mobile support group at t-mobile has been exceptional. I'm sorry yours hasn't been so grand. I'm very happy with my Dash, and I have noticed the internet connection go out over EDGE/GPRS and WIFI, I've found there isn't much I can do to resolve the matter except for a simple reboot.
finally, you should be ashamed that you think the customer support representative wasn't sticking with their "company." It sounds to be like she was empathizing with you that she couldn't resolve your problem after you had been through so much. Her boss probably read a description from your cell phone profile: was given adequate help, needed to be called back, was not available, is still irate and wants "special attention." What else did you want her to say? PLEASE SEÑOR MICROSOFT, WE BOW DOWN TO YOU, HOW CAN WE SERVE YOU BETTER? FORGIVE US FOR ANGERING YOU
seriously man, get off of that superiority complex.
"Had yesterday’s call solved my problem, I would have never said a word about this…" Well, way to crap on a few years of satisfactory service as a result of a bad day and a non-working phone.
"I’m confident (I hope) that someone at a senior level at T-Mobile will take some action." Yea, because you were treated so 'unfairly' and 'shamefully' someone, a senior-level someone no less, has to grovel and beg for your forgiveness. if it was up to me, i'd tell you to keep the phone and not charge you a termination fee.
The only reason I'm with Tmobile still is my wife and her family love to talk and they are all on Tmobile already, and the unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling features. I've considered buying out all of their contracts and purchasing new phones for them on a better network. =)
I used to take calls in a support center, and I had a few callers that lost their cool, even though I just wanted to help them with their problem. Sometimes tech support calls go like the one you had. Stop being such a baby, grow a pair of balls, and work through the problem with the people that are trying to help you. Your problem will eventually get resolved without you having to throw a fit.
your customer service incident was no different from thousands of others. You just happen to think you are special enough to bitch endlessly about it.
these representatives are required to ask for your name, number and social. if they are required to go through troubleshooting, then they are required to go through troubleshooting. If they are required to say the CEO is their boss, then they are required to say so.
What makes you think your problem is more important than their jobs?
If T-mobile or any other listener wants to keep customers they need a few of these people. The number should not be public but be a secret transfer that all the customer no service supervisors know. That supervisor who was depressed at the end should have been able to go.
"I see you are pissed, I see we have screwed you, I have no power to fix this let me send you to our ombudsman you will tell them your story and they will make it right." And then transfer.
The number of people like the columist above is not that huge. Usually this stuff gets fixed after a phone call or two. Having a dedicated staff member or few staff members to handle this would improve the companies image in a way no amount of marketing dollars would.
sean
At least with cell phones, you can very cheaply switch to a new carrier - heck you even get to keep your phone number. Try switching out a network architecture or a development platform.
I suggest you take your experience, look around in your own sandbox and see what needs to be done to "empower" Microsoft Support at ALL levels - consumer to enterprise. When that works well, you can complain about someone else.
It's your job to help, and if you can't even get that right, well, no wonder you're still working as a CSA.
When the automated voice says "These calls may be monitered for quality assurance." they mean they are all recorded and calls are taken at random and listened to and graded. We have criteria and a point system to determine how the call was handled. We get points taken off if we don't verify information, like name, SSN, and in our case, computer info. If we don't do that, we will get fired.
It sucks to be on the phone talking to someone who doesn't really care about your problem and can only do so much. We are powerless. My "supervisor" can't do anything more than I can as far as fixing an issue goes. Their power is to determine my pay and my schedule. There is a huge amount of red tape we have to go through and it's frustrating for us. Especially when we get a customer who has been through your situation. And believe me, I get those customers multiple times a day. It's really hard to care about fixing your problem when you have just become mine and will not cooperate. We understand being upset that your phone isn't working properly. We understand how frustrated you are and we will really help you if you treat us right.
When I have an irate customer who does nothing more than demand for the issue to be fixed, refusing to go through the troubleshooting steps I have to go through before I can escalate the issue, I really don't care anymore. Someone in a comment mentioned that techs will
"accidentally" hang up on people. This is true. And sometimes while I'm talking to someone, I am browsing Digg or viewing people's blogs or commenting on something like this. In fact, I'm at work right now.
But the point of it all is that you shouldn't get so upset with them. Yes, it sucks. It really does. I would hate to be in your position. But I know that when I am calling tech support and happen to get an American, they probably aren't anywhere near me. They're probably just college students who are working themselves through school with a job that's not at McDonald's.
We really can help you and usually will happily if you're not being an asshole. It's very hard to be nice after something like this, but asking how that tech is doing can go a long way. When most people have been yelling at you for something you have no control over, hearing someone actually ask about your day is very refreshing.
Being that customer who has an awful problem but doesn't take it out on the tech can get you very far. A hell of a lot farther than the jerk who gets a nasty note let in his file saying to watch out for this call.
It is awful that customer service is this way, but it's not going to change anytime soon. Not by a few angry customers. It takes everyone and since lots of people with TMobile have great reviews of CS, I'm guessing it's going to be that way for a long time. The best thing to do in this situation is to figure out how to get the right person to fix your problem.
sean
Drop me a quick e-mail, i'm very interested in this story and i'd like to discuss this further.
Thanks!
One comment about this India-bashing. I have to say that as far as customer service is concerned, the Indian cs reps I've encountered are heads above the domestice American reps as far as coutesy, listening skills and interest in helping (as much as they are allowed to). So don't just mindlessly bash the Indian.
Bottom line, it's the American capitalist/corporate model of squeezing as much blood from a turnip to satisfy the greed of the stock holder that's gotten us where we are. It didn't use to be this way. How did we stray so far from the days when Neiman Marcus, Nordstom, LLBean were not exceptions, but the rule in the American customer service model.
We've gotten what we asked for: "cheap" is what we want and that's what we now have!
I have to admit I suffered through your redundant posting of info, what I have to re-read the whole sentence of how they asked for his phone number, social, etc again for the 4th time(I'm pretty sure every adult in the US has dealt with this) just to see what the point was.
What I took away from the article:
1. I just wasted 30-40 minutes of my day(which should have been spent working or with family).
2. I'm not nearly as busy as you.
3. For someone who was a CS agent you don't understand how the process works.
4. I have no idea how the problem was resolved, just that it "appears" to be, here's to hoping the update describes it and that it's less then 2k words.
sean
Being in the customer service industry, I am probably twice as likely to criticize the service I get from other CSR's.
T-Mobile is not perfect. Not all employees are perfect. BUT you'll find the same is true with each and every company worldwide.
I have a T-Mobile Dash. I've had the phone since it was first released. I use it for everything. Phone calls, Instant mesengers, text messaging, internet browsing, calandar,syncing w/ my PC. I've had one problem in the entire time that I've had it and was able to get it resolved immediately without any hassles.
Other times I've called in for simple things and have had to walk the rep through the steps to complete the simple tasks.
I have customers day in and day out who call in to complain about the simplest of things "Why are you charging me $.15 for a text message?" Come on....the phone call alone costs more than 15 cents. lol. Or "I know I have a 1000 minute plan but why am I being billed 300 minutes of overage? Can you please give me a credit for my VALID overages?"
I had a woman once call in complaining about $50 worth of phone calls made in Mexico. I told her I would review the account and in doing so found the calls were made in Mexico. While I was reviewing the account she was speaking to her husband in the background saying in spanish "shh I don't want to say that because then she'll know that the calls WERE made in Mexico." Of course she didn't realize that each and every phone call has what we call a "footprint", meaning we can tell what kind of phone was used, what tower was used (street names), what type of features were used during the call (call fowarding or call waiting).And she also didn't realize that I am hispanic and understood every word she was saying to her husband. Needless to say, she did not receive any sort of credit and her account was noted for future reference.
I had one other customer who was complaining about a blank screen. The rep went through the typical troubleshooting with her. She went through things with her on a step by step basis. "Remove the back of your phone. Remove the battery. Remove the sim card. Replace the sim card and the battery. Replace the back of the phone. Press and hold down the power button for 5 seconds" Nothing. She called her an idiot and said I should be fired for not being able to fix her problem and ask for a supervisor. I get on the phone and the lady is irate and crying and threatening to cancel her service. I apolotized for the situation and asked her if we could review the steps taken and she agreed. "So, Mrs.Customer, you removed the back of the phone and the battery and sim card for a few seconds and then put them back in the phone and the screen is still blank?" Her response, "oh I was supposed to put the battery back in??" Uh huh...yet the previous rep was yelled at and called an idiot because Mrs. Customer somehow thought her phone would work sans battery.
Our reps are pretty well paid. More so then most companies in my town. However, I dont think any amount of money merits being called expletives on a daily basis over these types of situations.
When I was just a rep on the phones everyday we took up to 60-80 calls a day. You're expected to resolve each call in a timely manner.You are on the phones 8 hours a day with 2 15 minute breaks and a 1/2 hour lunch break. So yes, It can be pretty difficult. Especially when you answer a call wanting nothing more than to help your customers and you get people like the ones I mentioned. I've answered calls before and have been called a bitch and whore just for verifying an account. And on the flip side I've taken calls from people who were upset because their accounts weren't verified correctly and they had unuthorized charges. What's the saying..."damned if you do, damned if you dont"?
T-Mobile records every call. Each representative is monitored daily. Calls are pulled and graded for customer service. It's my job to coach the people on my team to make sure they are providing quality service on all of their calls.
As for Sean, I agree with most of the people on here. T-Moble attempted to resolve your issue. They attempted the necessary troubleshooting. They opened up the trouble ticket. They offered you assistance w/ different departments when they were not able to resolve your issue. You did not followup. You did not call back even though T-Mobile called you back numerous times.
CSR's are only human. We cannot read minds to know what you have or have not done. We cannot predict the future to know what your schedule is. We do not have healing powers in our hands to magically touch your device and make it work.
I could go on and on but I'll stop here before I bore you all to death. lol
sean
ALL THESE CELL PHONE COMPANIES ARE GETTING US THE CUSTOMER MORE STRESS THAN SERVICES.
If anyone can help, please contact me at joshuadudley@gmail.com
1)My dad signed our family up for a family plan on t-mobile.
2)some family members didn't like their phones and called t-mobile to trade them in.
3)phones didn't arrive within a week. so we call to complain and are assured the phones are coming. when we say we will cancel the service if phones don't arrive we are assured that we have 30 days to do so and get all our money back.
4) all in all 3 different phones are ordered never arrived. more calls are made. nothing is resolved. frustration sets in.
5) we cancel t-mobile ostensibly within our 30 day startup period from frustration with the customer support.
6) We get a bill 2 weeks later for everything. several calls are made to complain over the next few weeks. issue is never resolved. Eventually what it boils down to is this: we only had 14 days to cancel our service, not 30. Unfortunately, there is no record of any customer service person telling us this. Also there is no record of us ordering new phones from them. Therefore we have no way of proving that they have violated the contract not us.
7) we refuse to pay the 356 dollar bill for the first month plus switching fees and all the 200 dollar per line cancelling charges that are coming.
8) I even got a number for the back sales office who told us something different than the other customer service people. she said she could help. than transferred us to someone who couldn't, who put us one the phone with her supervisor who helped even less.
9) I officially think they have worse service than AOL did a few years ago.
On July 2, 2007 I became a T-Mobile customer. As I sat and waited for my Sidekick to arrive via UPS the excitement grew and on July 5th my Sidekick finally arrived. Since then however, there have been nothing but problems. For the first two weeks that I was a T-Mobile customer I was not able to receive text messages, which was one of the primary reasons I got a Sidekick. Finally, the problem was fixed, after I called every day to get status updates. Two days before the problem was fixed I was told “we don’t have a time frame for that”. I was supposed to also received 4 callbacks regarding this issue and none came. Also, I didn’t even know the problem was fixed until I figured it out on my own using my family’s cell phones to send myself text messages.
But the problems do not end there. On July 23, 2007 my Sidekick battery alerted me that it needed to be charged. That is when a real problem developed. I went to plug my less than one month old Sidekick into the wall and it would not charge. I took the battery out, put the battery in, and plugged it into almost every wall socket in the house, all with no results. So I called Customer Care and I was informed that I should take it into the store and they can test it and figure out what it wrong with it. I took my phone to a T-Mobile store where a man named John helped me. He took my phone, plugged it into the wall and said “Yup, it’s the phone”. He then proceeded to answer the store phone, work on another customer’s phone and try to order me a new phone on the computer. While he was busy multi-tasking he didn’t even ask to verify the correct shipping address and sent it to the wrong address in my account, an address that is 6 hours away. He then spent 20 minutes on the phone trying to fix his mistake only to be told he cannot undo what he did for 24 hours; he then told me that he would fix the problem for me the very next day. The next day I called the store to ask for John to see if he had fixed my problem, there was only one problem with that, John was not working that day, even though he promised me he would fix my problem that day. I asked to speak with the manager and was told he was “out at another store” 3 different times during the day. I proceeded to fix the problem, which John created, myself after spending 30 minutes on the phone and driving 15 minutes to the UPS store to send out my Sidekick.
On July 30, 2007 at approximately 10:30pm (EST) I called your customer service to get some information about my rate plan. When I got upset over the rate plan that I have and was told I could not change it your customer service agent me to “not to get snippy with her” and when I asked for her name and ID# she hung up on me. Now, I don’t know about you, but to me that says or rather screams poor customer service. I have never in my life been hung up on for a customer service call. Upon calling back I did however speak to an excellent customer service agent, Tamillia Ref ID: 7481177, who took all my information and assured me she would take care of the problem, one of the rare occasions that I have been treated fairly by one of your customer service agents.
I'm pretty sure us CS reps are doing something right. If you think T-Mo CS is bad remember so far we've had 6 JD Power awards in a row. The customers have spoken. When speaking with a customer care rep keep in mind, treat that person as you would like to be treated. Don't worry, the rep won't treat you any differently if you're pissed off but you may get that rep to go the extra mile if you're calm. Getting all worked up isn't going to solve a damn thing. If you get all fussy with the person who is trying to help you and don't want to follow instructions that WILL help you then you're going to end up pissed off and without a solution. Listen to the reasons behind the questions and troubleshooting steps you are given and maybe you'll get somewhere. Requesting a supervisor isn't going to change a thing. The answers you are given are company policies that both a representative and supervisor have access to. Why does almost everyone nowadays think a sup request will help them get their VALID charges adjusted? HAHA! Just keep your cool and everything will work out.
As for all the geniuses talking about outsourcers, T-mobile owns and operates all their call centers all which are located within the US. You're pretty damn lucky not to get a so-called "Steve" from India who can't speak English. Whoever said US cust service reps are not as kind as the ones from India must have not had the T-mo experience haha. T-Mobile reps are the kindest people you will ever deal with. Of course there are always the select few who give the rest a bad image. If you don't feel our English speaking reps are kind enough for your taste give our Spanish line a shot. Don't get upset if someone answers in Spanish, that person can also speak English and will be super courteous. There's just something about the Spanish reps.
This is how it goes, 30-ish call of the day. I am tired. I just got chewed out by a previous customer... and my supervisors are constantly on my ass about "AUX" (aka, break time). I am waiting for 30 seconds before I hear "beep beep" and now I am on the line with you. I have no pop ups that appear on my screen when you call, so I have to ask who I am speaking with and your number. I open your account and have to check to see if you have been verified, because if you have not, I could loss my job for not verifying your SS#... Then, I check over the notes made by previous reps... and feel angry that some reps do not leave detailed notes about your problem or troubleshooting they did (other than "Cust's email not working... transfer to tier 2" BAH! So, I have to find out what is wrong.
Then, you tell me and most of the time, I know what to do. But some problems are comlicated... because we have to determine if it is a.) software issue b.) network issue c.) device issue... which is hard enough.
Then, when I are stumped as to what is wrong... I put you on hold so that I can raise my hand amongst the 5 other raised hands... waiting for a "floor walker" (aka - assigned supervisors who walk the floor in a call center to help answer questions of agents) and wait and wait for one to come to me... but somedays I have raised my hand for 10 minutes waiting on someone to help me.
Call centers are STRESSFUL. I have gone home literally crying because the pressure is intense.
Don't think I am sticking up for t-mobile. I happily have AT&T. And I don't like working here, no.
We are trained to empathize and be sensitive. And I am all the time.
We go through a lot on a daily basis.
We only have 30 minutes of a day to take breaks (in an 8 hour shift). We constantly are being bitched out by people who monitor our calls. It is rough.
I understand your frustration. I don't like t-0mobile either. And I work for the bastards.
But, I just wanted you all to know that even when you call in to us at tech support... it's no picnic for us either. We get yelled out, bitched out, treated like scum for t-mobile's shitty ass software problems. It's not our faults. We didn't break your phone.
And I understand you will run across a bitchy rep. File a voice ticket on their ass. Tip: an abusive agent loses their job once a voice ticket is filed with a supervisor.
When you call, we are not sitting a a buiding labeled" T-Mobile"...
I don't really work for "T-Mobile" itself... but Sitel... it's business partner call center.
Yes, the above supervisor is right. We are given procedures to troubleshoot.
I have had customers call in who didn't even want to troubleshoot. They just wanted to outright do an exchange.
WE CAN'T DO THAT.
We have to do at least some form of troubleshooting before we can do that. Otherwise, if the problem could have been fixed with a master reset or application loader or even simple as a cancel location and powercycle... we could get in trouble with the technicians who look at the phone when they receive it at the factory.
I had a customer yesterday who called about email on AT&T's BlackBerry Curve. I could not do that. He had unlocked the phone and everything, but it still had AT&T's settings on it. Of course, I got called a "dumb bitch" and the call escalated to a supervisor. We ended up having to transfer to RIM (manufacturers of the BlackBerry devices) so they could confirm that t-mobile data features would not work with a BB Curve. It is not possible because the service books (settings) will not go to the phone.
This point being that we are not God.
I have been blamed for ruining a business trip... I have been blamed for being "stupid"... I have been blamed for having the worst phone ever. I didn't invent the damn thing. I didn't create t-mobile. I didn't tear up your phone. And no, I don't like it either that you are upset.
You never know who it is you are talking to when you call us or what that particular agent is going through. I remember the day I was told by a customer that her life was so shitty all because her BlackBerry pearl could not access myspace while she was sitting in a resort on a California beach!
There I was, just got out of an abusive relationship... my family is going broke. I don't make enough to support shit. I haven't even gone on vacation... and of course, we can't oblige those kind of details...
But, anyhow, the point being, call centers are rough environments to work in. And no matter how shitty we tech agents feel.. no matter what hell is going on in our lives... we still have to put on our happy face to make you feel more at ease. Just think about the agent you talk to and assume that they are a person like you with their own sets of problems.
I'm not saying don't speak your mind when you call. But just understand that we are humans and not little machines that don't understand you. We try. Trust me. Take it from someone who takes 50-60 calls a day on a slow day. It's mentally exhausting.
I just had a two hour conversation with two tmobile representatives trying to refute ludicrous $90 charges on my bill. At some point during the call the rep actually had the audacity to say "maybe you're having personal problems since your payments have always been on time until now". She then went on to ask if I had any further questions and hung up.
There is a fine line between poor customer service and then just flat out hating your job and being a bitch about it.
PS. we, as customers, don't owe you anything so get off your high horse and stop feeding in to this bureaucracy you call a phone company.
James Clark has been a customer with T-Mobil since 2003.
Over sixty days he had connection problems for his phone number 713-922-4024. He brought a new phone, changed his phone number and went through many, many trouble shooting procedures with T-Moble various representatives and engineers. I start having connection problems September 2007. He canceled his contract with T-Mobile due to this improper connection problem. Your Term & Conditions - Limitation of Liability #14 states, The exclusions of limitation of incidental or consequential damage or other limitation to remedies. The exclusion or limitation will not apply to you. James should be excluded from paying the cancellation fees for this account due to consequential damage for his account. Service Availability and Limits states, you are not liable for any service limits failure of alerts. We gave T-Mobile alerts to inproper cell phone reception for over two months. No remedy for the problem was done. T-Mobil agreed to perform the cell phone service in return for payment. James gave T-Mobil reasonable time to correct his connection problem. The appropriate remedies for breaking or breaching this contract was needed because nothing was accomplish to solve his connection problem.
Sincerely,
Mrs. James Clark
What gives.After my contract is up, I will never sign up with them again.
T-Mobile is a Joke
I cannot wait until the contract expires. These people take their customers for granted. Without customers, these people would not be working in their jobs.
To anyone that is not in customer service-
You believe that customer service is doing what you want. That you are always right.
I understand you want your problem fixed. You have a right to have it fixed. Your paying for services, but your phone is a paper weight. But call in when you have time. If you get a call back- you don't call back 2-3 days later thats your damn fault. Im pretty sure if someone you knew called you about something that was IMPORTANT to you, you wouldn't call them back a couple of days later. IDIOT!
But do you understand when you call the TSR/CSRs probably have talked to 20 different people before you and that there were 20 different problems before yours.
Hot damn SEAN 28 million customers I want to see you own a company, create policys, but yet accomodate anyone. I have a handsome Benjamin that says you can't do it! Oh and ALARMS should go off in all the call centers when you call in specifically so you don't have to verify that last 4 of your social and your mobile number.
So today I give KUDOS to you Sean... for being a --------.
1. an email from them telling me "we will unlock your (already ULOCKED... i am not in any contact and it was my phone for years)... phone....?!"
2. they think i dont need a service even if i request it.. that too after a few hours wait time
3. first say u can have it IF you send us back your password via email (wtf)
4. then says u cant have it
5. CC says we dont have roamin agreements outside canada/mexico for flexpay.... but the web site says something else so does the flyers
6. no signal
7. bad voice (my phone is a Nokia high end 3G phone...and it works fine in other countries with their sim cards .. so call quality is not my phones fault)
8. GPRS speed ?!! (or should i say a working GPRS... true its $5..cheap but it doesnt work)
As for constantly having to verify and re-verify your account, try to understand that is a real person you are speaking to. If they don't do that they could lose thier job and they may have kids to feed. So sorry you have to waste a minute or two making sure your account is safe and protecting your information, we're doing it to protect you and us.
Also, do your homework before buying a phone. If you spent half as much time researching phones as you did writing this blog you probably wouldn't have bought a piece of crap like the Dash.
T-Mobile hasn't won 7 J.D power awards because they don't wan to take of thier customers.
Go to another provider and learn the real meaning of frustration. I can guaruntee as you are leaving t-mobile and bitching at them, there are at least two customers bitching at other service providers and leaving them. They just don't have the luxory of talking to someone on the same continent that honestly gives a shit
I love how everyone thinks that fixing a problem can be so simple. like it's all we see every day.
On Saturday, March 22, 2008 at approximately 2:30 P.M. exited
Wal Mart with several packages during extremely heavy rain – tried to call wife to bring the car from the far lot to the front entrance but found my phone would not let me place a call.
I tried to call t-mobiles 611 number and it only repeated the same message “your call cannot be connected, you have exceeded your spending limit”. The phone would not allow any calls to the operator or customer service.
Between 7 pm and 9:30 pm., I placed several calls to the T-Mobile “Award Winning”???? customer service office and was informed they could not talk to me after spending 2 hours on the phone with them because I do not have a unknown secret password. Never knew I was supposed to have a password.
I pleaded with them to just check my phone to determine if it was a technical problem or a billing issue as I knew my bills were up to date.
After talking to three different Customer Service employees and being told they could not talk with me about my account because I do not have this mysterious unknown password. All three absolutely refused to connect me with a supervisor.
I asked them why they would not check my service and at least determine what the problem was. I was told by all three that although I had given them the spelling of my name, my social security number, my cell phone number, the phone plan and number of minutes I had contracted with them, my home address, zip code and my business address – they still refused to discuss or offer any help and absolutely refused to connect me with their supervisor.
As a result, my phone has been in operable for Saturday and now Easter Sunday when we have people traveling from two other cities to meet here for dinner at a restaurant – You guessed it, the only number known to coordinate this event is my trusty T Mobile Cell,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ugh!!
Since I will still not have any service on Monday Morning, I will lose $1050.00 in revenue for a scheduled job where directions will be phoned to “Yep! You got it - my good old trusty T Mobile Cell Phone with that highly advertised “Award winning Customer Service.?????
Well I am now in the process of initiating my next step in locating the addresses of their CEO, CFO and their major shareholders (can be located on-line and via the SEC – maybe they can help me get connected with a supervisor. If not I guess I will just have to pay the $83.00 to file a “Breach of Contract” in small claims court for a $1,500.00 action against their local office in small claims court – who know’s maybe they will show up with a supervisor????
All was good then Saturday or Sunday they shut my phone off again. During this whole ordeal i filed a complaint with the BBB. The following week i was contacted by a tmobile executive who gave me an offer to settle the dispute with the BBB, he told me they would go ahead and forget that they lost my payment and add a 132$ credit to the account, and that i would receive no compensation for the loss of service. I didnt mind it so much but all i wanted was for them to find my payment and get things done properly. The man informed me that if i did not accept his offer he would apply the credit anyway and that any more documentation i sent in would not be reviewed by them(so basically they just want to forget it ever happend). During this whole time of speaking with tmobile i asked them at least 20+ times what documentation i could send in or what can be done, and not one person could help me they all said o thats why we tell you to keep your receipt, well i did keep mine and faxed it in several times. I refused the executives offer because i wanted them to stop telling me i didn't pay them(which they did say several times) and find my payment. He told me he would apply a credit anyway and reply to the BBB saying we came to an impasse cause he didn't want to wait for them to investigate cause it might take more then 10 days and theirs a time limit on the BBB complaint.
Ok so my phones are back on, i was about to reply to the BBB saying everything is fine the phones work what ever. A few days ago i pay my new bill and it shows i have no outstanding balance and everything is good. Then guess what happens the next day!!! My phones are turned off again on March 24th. I called tmobile and spoke to customer service who transfered me to flexpay, who said they couldn't help but would transfer me to customer retention. I had been on the phone for about 30min so far and about 20min of that was on hold. The customer retention rep then tells me oh he cant help me i have to talk to flexpay again. So he transfered me and i had to wait on hold for more then 45min. The flexpay rep then tells me that the credit that was applied to the account had been reversed. After about 20min on the phone she says she is applying a temporary credit to get the phones activated again and they will look into the issue. So i thought cool im good to go now. Till the next night and once again the phones are turned off. I tried contacting customer service but once again their 24 hour customer service was closed. So now here i sit with no phone service and unable to contact customer service about the issue. All i want is for them to fix this damn issue or refund my last payment and terminate service and the contract.
The call got transferred to a supervisor Jaime, who advised me that T-mobile will review the towers from which the calls were made to figure out of there was a problem. We went through the different times that billed calls were made and found a lot of calls that should not have been charged. I work 6-3 Monday and Tuesday and 9-6 Wednesday and Thursday and 7-4pm on Fridays. Jaime figured out that I was over billed, and in order to make sure that this did not happen again; he said that would transfer my problem to technical support to figure out what happened. Jaime did not call back at the pre-arranged time but instead called during my work hours and left a message. He did not leave an extension and just left the Sales phone #.
I called back and spoke to another customer service representative and supervisor that advised me that based on their conclusion the calls were valid. I asked what conclusion and was advised that technical had a note that calls were valid. The representative advised that technical department was a no contact department. I was advised that T-mobile was not able to assist anymore in the matter because they have concluded that the calls were all valid.
I went to a T-mobile store in chandler, explained my situation to a representative who again got on the phone and convinced customer care to look at the problem. Customer service representative put in a ticket into technical support. The customer service representative said that she will call me back May 14, 2008 with a resolution. I requested a detailed bill be mailed to my house and said that I would pay the additional fee to get a detailed bill. I never received that bill. The representative in the T-mobile store suggested that I check online for the bill details.
I never received a call May 14, 2008. So I called back on May 15, 2008, I spoke to a customer care representative who again advised that all calls were valid. I spoke to a supervisor, advised him that after I went into the store I looked online, printed out my bill and during February and March I had a period of over three weeks where no hot spot calls registered to my computer. He said that well we may never know why that happened but since you did not go over your minutes that month has nothing to do with this month. I advised him that I am not even able to see my bill online and advised that another ticket will be placed for that.
I am requesting that someone explain to me why am not able to see my bill online and why no hotspot calls registered on my bill Feb-March. I am not sure if this is a phone or router issue but no one seems to be able to listen. Every time I call in, I am speaking with I different representative. Can T-mobile review my calls and correct my bill? I have changed plans and I am disappointed that I purchased this phone for the Hot-Spot at home; I never received a rebate as promised and now in this big night mare… I live in Queen Creek and the area is rural and sometimes I don’t even have service in my house. I need to have my bill corrected as this is very frustrating to get a run away.
> (Uh, no, I just called to share my mobile # and
> social 4 more times!)
Ha!
If you people are so "business saavy" then you should know that pissing on someone who is about to help you is not the best way to get good service. In fact, I am only 21 and I know that for f@cks sake.
I am in no way standing up for tmobile because I personally hate working for those corporate fat-cats who beat us reps into submission with their "guidelines" and factious working conditions.... but damn, you got beef with tmobile, leave it with tmobile and not innocent reps like me who had nothing to do with your stupid phone messing up because personally I am tired of the immature whining...
Oh, and another thing: Don't call in bitching because your dumbass bought a 400 dollar PDA for your 10 year old son who broke it within a week. 10 year old kids are KIDS... getta a f@cking jitterbug retards.
Cheapest contract today is 600 minutes per month for that price. I am asking $25 for this conversion that would include a Samsung (T-mobile) mobile phone that is capable of internet access, instant messages, camera and much more.
The phone is a Samsung slider model 690. It is very similar to the phone pictured in this link. http://www.samsungmobileusa.com/SCH-r610.aspx
Call Pete at 502 245-3218 or
peteandbetty@hotmail.com
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.
-
Got this from this link:
http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/0-9/4...
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.
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?
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
Don't bother talking to the morons hired to answer the phones ask directly for customer complaiint.
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.
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.
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.
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!!!!
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 24x7 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.
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.
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.
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?