T-Mobile Cellular Phone Service

Telephone customer service department physical location unknown.

Several months ago I called T-Mobile to inquire about increasing my monthly call plan. I was given information on several options and decided to go with a specific plan which offered me 1500 minutes. Since I was at the end of my current minute allotment the day of the call, I asked the agent whether the plan could be implemented retroactively so that I could continue using my phone during that month. The agent advised me that it would be no problem to do that. I then asked whether the overage would be pro-rated at a higher level, a trick that Verizon Wireless pulled on me previously when I was a customer of theirs, and I was assured that T-Mobile does not do that.

I changed my service during that phone call and shortly thereafter went into a T-Mobile store to purchase a cable modem to use my phone for internet access. The store clerk was extremely helpful and when he checked my account, at my request to ensure that the service change had been posted, he also told me to call again in about two weeks because the rate plan for my 1500 minute package would be going down $20 per month at that time. I was very impressed with the fact that I was given that information and made a notation in my PDA to call as he suggested.

My fond feelings for T-Mobile fell by the wayside quickly when I received a $400+ phone bill at the end of that billing cycle. Obviously they had made a mistake and so I called customer service to explain that I had called to change my service, gave them specific information on who I spoke to and the date of my call and was informed that they had a record of my call but no record of my having asked to have my service changed retroactively. I was informed matter of factly that the billing was justified and that I would have to pay the bill.

I then asked for a supervisor and was connected to one. He told me that he had already conferred with the agent I had spoken to and could tell me nothing different since there was no record that I had requested the retroactive service change. This supervisor suggested that I put my complaint in writing to another department that would be able to reverse the charges for me, which I did.

To add insult to injury, even though I requested that the consumer relations department call me when they received my investigation request, I never heard from them and my phone was disconnected for failure to pay the erroneous charges during the dispute period.

To say I was livid was an understatement. I called T-Mobile again since my 611 function was still operating and was connected immediately to the credit and collections department. An agent there offered to assist me by taking a phone payment. I explained to her that I had already spoken to too many low level employees, that I was not planning to make a payment but was merely trying to solve my problem and that I wouldn't speak to anybody lower than a level 3 supervisor because I was tired of repeating the story over and over. She explained that she couldn't transfer me without my telling her what the problem was and so I explained the situation to her, thinking that I should possibly tape record it for future use!

She looked at my account and, low and behold, scrolled down to the notes that the original agent had placed in my file related to my original order. There in black and white was the notation that the order was to be backdated to the beginning of my previous calling period. All the other agents, including the call center supervisor and the customer relations department didn't even bother to read their own computer record. It was so much easier for them to tell me that the charges were valid and that I needed to pay for them!

I returned to the T-Mobile store and filed a complaint about what had happened to me. Did I ever get an apology letter or phone call? You've got to be kidding!

Therese Jimanowicz

AZ T-Mobile customer