I've been with Tmobile for 6 years now and have had to send a phone back once due to battery issues. Of course I did that when they sent me a new phone and I mailed the old one back. Recently my friend has had many problems with her Pearl, especially with a silent issue that she kept running into when answering phones. She would pick up the phone, the phone would just go dead and she'd need to restart the phone. So she calls Tmobile and asked them to send her a new one. After a LONG conversation with them and tmobile giving her not very smart suggestions such as trying her sim card in a different phone (she's had the sim card for as long as I have and has never had a problem), Tmobile finally agreed to send her a new phone.
While she was doing this, I was also just doing some Tmobile research on forums and saw that Tmobile has charged many of its customers water damage when they send their phones back although they claimed that there was never water damage. Now, I don't know who's lying and I don't care, but after reading this, I felt that it was necessary for my friend to protect herself, just in case something like this happens. So I told her to go into the store before sending the problematic phone back, have a rep or manager look at the phone and sign something that states the phone has no physical or water damage (and to wrap the phone up in front of them in a ziplock and seal the box).
She listened, went to the store yesterday and was refused by two sales rep (which I do understand that they don't want to be liable) and had to ask the manager to come out and check the phone. The manager also refused to sign anything but said that he'd put a note in her account in the system. She asked to see what he's written but he said no. He said she can call customer service to see what he's written.
Now, I've had problems with customer service before writing down the wrong stuff in the computer system, and as far as i know, it happens quite often. Us being customers have no way of protecting ourselves in that regard. For all I know, the manager thought she was annoying as hell and put a note in there saying, unreasonable customer, phone with damage but try to force me to say there isn't, etc. things of that sort. Of course I hope not but how would I or she know. By the time she calls Customer Service it'd be too late.
So I want to ask Tmobile Reps out there, in cases like this, how do we protect ourselves? I think she's done more than she's had to as a customer to protect herself as well as Tmobile in terms of this phone but I don't feel that Tmobile was willing to put in the same amount of effort to make things easy for us. I don't want her to have to fight for charges that she's not responsible for, IF she gets charged that. I've been with Tmobile for so long and I don't plan to switch but I certainly wouldn't want to be in a situation like this. Thanks
While she was doing this, I was also just doing some Tmobile research on forums and saw that Tmobile has charged many of its customers water damage when they send their phones back although they claimed that there was never water damage. Now, I don't know who's lying and I don't care, but after reading this, I felt that it was necessary for my friend to protect herself, just in case something like this happens. So I told her to go into the store before sending the problematic phone back, have a rep or manager look at the phone and sign something that states the phone has no physical or water damage (and to wrap the phone up in front of them in a ziplock and seal the box).
She listened, went to the store yesterday and was refused by two sales rep (which I do understand that they don't want to be liable) and had to ask the manager to come out and check the phone. The manager also refused to sign anything but said that he'd put a note in her account in the system. She asked to see what he's written but he said no. He said she can call customer service to see what he's written.
Now, I've had problems with customer service before writing down the wrong stuff in the computer system, and as far as i know, it happens quite often. Us being customers have no way of protecting ourselves in that regard. For all I know, the manager thought she was annoying as hell and put a note in there saying, unreasonable customer, phone with damage but try to force me to say there isn't, etc. things of that sort. Of course I hope not but how would I or she know. By the time she calls Customer Service it'd be too late.
So I want to ask Tmobile Reps out there, in cases like this, how do we protect ourselves? I think she's done more than she's had to as a customer to protect herself as well as Tmobile in terms of this phone but I don't feel that Tmobile was willing to put in the same amount of effort to make things easy for us. I don't want her to have to fight for charges that she's not responsible for, IF she gets charged that. I've been with Tmobile for so long and I don't plan to switch but I certainly wouldn't want to be in a situation like this. Thanks