You know what I think?
T-Mobile may need to look into this site and get a Bail Bondsman. If you look at the website, you’ll notice that bail bonds are for defendants who have committed a federal crime. T-Mobile I feel has done just that.
If you’re a T-Mobile customer, you may already have your opinions about them, but I have been irritated with them for some time and this past week has really set me off. T-Mobile provided their customers with false advertising.
I was all set on leaving T-Mobile when my contract was up this past February, but they came out with this great February promotion; which intrigued me. In short, you can receive one of the latest 4G phones / tablets for free after mail-in-rebate and a 2 year contract. I made my purchase on February 19th, 2012.
Fine. That sounds fair, right? Not so much.
After talking with the customer service agent over the phone, we learned that the Samsung Galaxy SII would not be available to get for free, as advertised. Pretty much, I’d have to lay out the cost of the phone and I’d receive a $280 mail-in-rebate on a debit card. Ultimately, I’d pay $50 for the phone. Even though it wasn’t free, I still thought this was cool and T-Mobile, despite problems I had in the past, had changed my views of them.
This was short lived.
The phone comes in the mail with the mail-in-rebate form specifically for their February promotion. I fill it out and send it in. T-Mobile sends me a text letting me know that the form had been processed.
This past week I learn that I’m not qualified for the rebate.
What the F****?
How do I not qualify? I spoke with the customer service representative for a long time making sure there was no catch when it came to the promotion. He told us that all we had to do was renew for 2 more years with them. We asked multiple times, “is that it?” I honestly don’t know how much more we could push this guy before feeling 100% comfortable with taking the deal.
Well, we did. I recently found out that you needed both unlimited talk and text to qualify. What?! What does that have to do with anything? I have unlimited text and data. That’s not enough? Not to mention, on the promotional card I received in the mail, there was nothing in the fine print which mentioned this “all out unlimited plan.” It only referenced a 2 year contract.
So, what would you do next? Call customer service, right?
I did and get this…there’s a dedicated line for the promotion! Nobody picked up and we didn’t feel like waiting forever for someone to answer. Think about it…there must be some serious issues going on over this promotion for it to have a dedicated line!
You know, I could have missed something on the promotional card they sent in the mail. It’s definitely possible, especially since the “qualification terms” are in a size 2 font. Besides that, when you call customer service to buy a phone and you ask for details about the promotion and inquire about any “hidden details”; aren’t you entitled to know what you’re getting into? I fail to see how I’d be in the wrong and why I’m not entitled to the rebate which they told me I was entitled to.
If I didn’t qualify for the rebate in the first place, why would the form have come with the phone? Explain that one.
In the end, this all leads to false advertising! T-Mobile, you need to get your crap together. I can’t believe I”m stuck with you now, especially since you found a way to trick me into staying.
I hope they look into a bail bondsman because they’re going to need it one of these days when they go under. What a terrible company.
I really want to know if anyone else has had troubles with T-Mobile or any phone carrier for that matter; so when I do switch, I’m going with a trustworthy solution. Let me know what you think in the comments and if I’m wrong to feel the way I do.
Frank Angelone teaches people how to use social media and technology to improve their businesses. He’s also coupled these teachings by interviewing well known entrepreneurs in the field on the STZ Podcast.
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It is impossible to find an Email Addy for Tracfone complaints. When my GF tried to use her TF it said Emergency calls only & she could not make any calls. I tried it & it said the same thing. This happened once before last year. I had to call TF, on a diff fone & jump thru lotsa hoops to get it straitened out. The agent had an accent that I cud hardly understand, even the Supv was hard to understand. I think their Cust Serv STINKS!!!
Woody
Semper Fi
It’s amazing how many phone companies out there are misleading to their customers. I’m starting to wonder if there’s any phone carrier we can trust. We’re paying for a service and to keep us, they find “legal” ways to screw us over and provide abysmal customer service. They try to make it impossible to contact them too when you have a problem. It’s a shame and it’s beyond frustrating.
Your best bet (in my opinion) is to use Virgin Mobile or Boost mobile (subsidiaries of Sprint) and pay up-front for your phone. Buy insurance if it’s available and if you want it. You won’t have a contract to deal with and you won’t be paying for them subsidizing the purchase of your phone. I don’t know why more people don’t do this, but it may be because they’d rather pay more over the time period of their contract and get what they feel is a “free” or low cost phone rather than to pay it all out up-front.
I did this with STI Mobile on a prepaid plan with auto-recharge of my account. That waives the recharge fee of $1.00 and allows me to set the lower limit before I add a certain amount (I chose $10) to the account. For me, it’s great, since I don’t talk much on the phone, so it costs me about $5 per month this way. It’s 9 cents per day to maintain the account and 8.9 cents per minute. (There are other plans for people who talk more.)
I’m thinking of “upgrading” to an Android phone and switching to Boost or Virgin to have the Android OS and connectivity available all the time. I have an Android tablet (Samsung galaxy Tab 2/7″ model) and love it.
That’s not a bad thing to consider. At the end of the day, it seems like a cheaper solution. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’m using Virgin Mobile. When I’ve had issues with them in the past, they were happy to throw more money into my month to month account to shut me up. I pay for what I need up front and nothing else.
That’s probably the best way to go. I’ve just grown tired of arguing with these companies because it’s never worked out in my favor.
Take them to small claims court in your jurisdiction. The aim of the court action? To release you from your contract AND to get you a refund on the phone purchase. Also ask for them to pay for your court costs.
They probably won’t show up, but you’ll get a court order against them. Stop paying them for their service and wait for their letter asking you to send them money for the early termination fee. Send them a copy of your judgment against them and ask them how they want to handle the refund for the phone. If the court costs are in the judgment, ask them to send you reimbursement for that.
You could find a T-mobile office or store and have a sheriff’s deputy begin removing furniture or equipment to sell to pay off the judgment against them. A local fellow did just that with a car dealership and he got his check in about 10 minutes.
You can also file a complaint with your state attorney general. That will cost them some time and money just to answer the complaint to the state office. Also file a complaint with the BBB. The more trouble you cause them, the better you’ll feel. And the more likely it will become public knowledge what they do to customers.
Donald
This is an interesting idea, but I just feel it would probably be more work than it’s worth. I do love the phone I purchased from T-Mobile, just their practices are what tricked me into staying with them.
T-mobile scamed me too.for $500. A few years ago I was working extremely long hours at work and couldn’t take the time to sue them but I bought their phone and service but returned it with5 days but they refused to stop charging me every month! then had the nerve after 4 monthe and $240 they charged me a $300 cancellation fee! BASTARDS! Scumbags! I hate T-Mobile!
I feel your pain. They really are a dishonest company who I still hope gets acquired by AT&T officially. It sucks getting screwed out of money.