Rip Off? Big Rip Off.

For about 3 years T-Mobile was our cellular phone provider. At the time we signed up for their service, they were the most reasonably priced on the block. Still… The two principals of our company had difficulty using our cell phones at home. We asked T-Mobile about this several times and were assured that more towers were going up in our areas, but this never happened.

Last September (2009) it came time to review our cellular service plan. I tried contacting our T-Mobile sales representative three times to see what they had to offer but – even in this economy – he chose not to return our communication. So we shopped around and found a very reasonably priced plan for our 8 lines and a wider area of coverage from Sprint.

Next calls were to T-Mobile Customer Service to see what the pro-rated charges would be to terminate our T-Mobile service contracts. They provided us with the following chart:

Pro-rated cancellation scale for remaining days in contract
> 180 Days – $200.00
90 – 180 Days – $100.00
30 – 90 Days – $50.00
1 – 30 Days – $30.00
0 Days – no charge

We had one person in the  >180 Days range and four people in the 30-90 Days range. The rest of the contracts had already expired. According to the chart provided to us by a T-Mobile Customer Service Representative, it was going to cost us $400.00 to cancel our service. With this information we did some more shopping and found an even better rate and service from Sprint.

On the day we had planned to switch over from T-Mobile to Sprint – October 29, 2009 – I called T-Mobile Customer Service once more, to verify the pro-rated cancelation information given to me previously. The same information was confirmed by a different T-Mobile Customer Service Representative.

Long story short… the next month we received the final invoice from T-Mobile. They declared that, in addition to the service we used from the beginning of the month until October 29, we owed them an additional $200.00 for each contract which was canceled – over $1,000.00. I called T-Mobile Customer Service immediately and spoke with a representative. This time I was told that our contracts were not eligible for pro-rated cancelation fees and the amount on the invoice was correct. I told her what I had been told by previous customer service representatives and she told me that what I had been told – TWICE – was not the case. I would have to pay what I had been billed.

I asked to speak to a supervisor and again explained the story to her. She repeated what the customer service representative told me, but then added that she would research it further and call me back. She never did.

Over the next month, while waiting for the supervisor to contact me, we received another invoice and overdue statements. I came in one morning to find a message had been left on voice mail to contact a gentleman by the name of Tommy, from the T-Mobile outgoing business department. I have now called Tommy three times. He has not returned my calls. I have since received letters threatening to turn us over to collection agencies which would kill our credit rating. When I called T-Mobile Customer Service after not hearing back from Tommy, I was told that Tommy was our only recourse to adjust the final invoice and that we should try calling him again.

If the original two T-Mobile Customer Service Representatives were wrong, T-Mobile should accept that responsibility. It was, after all their representatives who provided the wrong information. If the original two T-Mobile customer service representatives were correct, why did I receive an invoice for over $1,000.00 in cancellation fees?

What irks me most is not the money – although that ADDs to the frustration – but the shifty way T-Mobile first, told us one thing – TWICE – and now refuses to accept responsibility for providing misinformation – originally or after the fact. I began to wonder, ‘does T-Mobile do this with everyone?’ Are small companies and individuals responsible for the mistakes of a gigantic corporation like T-Mobile?

Other people have experienced bad T-Mobile Customer Service experience as well:

http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=69988

http://www.ripoffreport.com/cellular-phone-companies/t-mobile/t-mobile-gives-bad-service-dr-664z6.htm

http://redcouch.typepad.com/weblog/2006/09/why_customers_s.html

http://forums.mobiledia.com/topic57057.html

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/bad-service-c168408.html

By the way, Sprint is awesome. I even have full service in my basement and all the way through the Midtown Tunnel. We are very happy with Sprint Customer Service as well, who periodically contacts us to make sure everything is working out – even 3 months later. Go Sprint!

Has this happened to you?

What would you do in our situation?