The Trials of a T-Mobile Customer

C

Charlotte =]

New member
Well my story begins about a month ago when I went to a T-Mobile store to purchase a Shadow. I know I know....first mistake. Well I checked out the Shadow and decided that I really liked and wanted to give it a try. I sent my fiancee to buy the Shadow. I called the man that I spoke to at the store and told him that she was coming by to get it for my and confirmed the partial discount. Basically this means that I got $100 off of the Shadow.

After two days of having the Shadow, I decided to look at my receipt and see how the charges broke down. Well I see that I only received a $50 discount on the phone and then the Shadow kit, which consisted of a leather case and car charger, that I was getting a deal on actually cost me $40. That is ten more than the normal price and twenty more than the price that I was quoted.

Needless to say, I decided to take the Shadow back and have a conversation with the man that sold the phone and the store manager. Upon returning the phone, I received a full refund.

Fast forward to this evening. I decided to go to a different T-Mobile store, and mind you these are all corporate stores, to see about getting another Curve. I had called customer care earlier in the day to talk to them about getting my partial discount because it was not showing up online. They said that they can see where I had the Shadow and returned it and my discount will apply even though it was not showing up online. They tell me to just go to a corp store and they will be able to see when I had returned it. Well I get to the store and the woman there is unable to see that I should have the discount. So she called and asked customer care about it. This time customer care is unable to see that I had returned the Shadow, but they are able to see when I had stopped using it. They asked if I had the receipt from returning it and of course I dont have it where I can get to it right now or even tonight.

So the manager of the store suggests that I call the other store and have them fax over the receipt because they would have it. I call and the person that I spoke to said that they do not keep the records in the store. He said that they are in a different location because they do not have room to keep them all. I asked if they were kept in a secure location because it kind of worries me about my personal confidentiality. He tells me, "You will have to talk to a lawyer about that." I said well that works out well because I am actually a law clerk. He said he did not know what to tell me because he could not get into the records anytime this week. I asked him what I was supposed to do then. He raised his voice and said look man you need to relax there is no reason for you to be threatening me with a law suit. I said to him that I never said anything about a law suit. After that he cussed at me and hung up.

Here is the main idea...what am I supposed to do? I cannot find my receipt and I cannot get anyone at the store to cooperate as I went to the store a little later. Does anyone have any idea about how I can prove that I returned this phone?
 
Just call customer care alot and complain and complain and complain but make sure you are not naggy nor whiny and always stay calm and do not exessively raise your voice. Increase volume to emphasize but not as if you are shouting. I have dealt with them many times over stupid things. They tried to bill me for two curves at Tmobiles full retail value on top of my new activation price which i had already paid. Make sure you have all documentations and make sure reps on the phone document with notes your complaints. when they see how many times you call they will begin to wonder, also try to speak with a manager with the phone reps! Persistence is key!
-------
On another note you should not have to do this but honestly seems like the Tmobile way! I have known many others who have had to deal with this. But to be honest it seems just to be more like the cellular way cause everyone seems to have a problem like this with any carrier!
 
I upgraded my line on my phone to a T-Mobile Wing 6months ago. The person who sold it to me at the Corporate store told me that if I return the phone within the next 14 days, I would get a full refund, but if I wanted to change phones, I could do so right then, if I waited (come in another day), they couldn't give me a discount because it wouldn't show up on the system. The only way to get a new phone would be buy calling 611, talking to customer care, and they would order me the phone. The phone would be shipped to me.

Anyway, if you returned a phone, if I were you, I would call customer care, and ask them about your upgrade discount, and let them know that you returned the phone. You don't need to go to a store to get a new phone, they can get it for you and have it shipped to your house.


Letting you know thou, I never returned the phone, the phone wasn't for me but for my finance but the Sales person really made a point about if I return it...best way to still get the discount is by calling 611.
Also did you actually go to a corporate store or an authorized retailer? A corporate store doesn't seem like they operate that way....
 
i would leave t-mobile asap just off principal besides they suck you have 3 other carriers to choose from and/or talk to the manager in person im quite sure the conversation will go a diffrent way
 
I went to corporate stores both times. I also found out that the man at the second store was the manager (the man that was really rude to me). Seems like maybe the manager is not the best way to handle this. I dont know. I am not sure if I have any other options than calling customer care, which I really dont have time for.

Thanks stackers for reading all of this and helping me out.
 
What I would have you do is call up tmobile again and have them check the status. Make them NOTE on the account that you returned the phone so that any corporate store you go to see's this in there notes. I had to do this once when I had returned my Shadow to the store but the discount wasn't being seen a few weeks later when I wanted to use my partial upgrade again. Let me know if this works !
 
hey just a quick question if you payed with some sort of visa card for it your company will be able to provide a receipt or even visa usually pretty good about getting receipts for you on any purchase that you do. Call tmobile customer service man and they will take care of you, I know usually upfront people are not the best to deal with even though the company maybe a good sometimes your run into rude people like that.. so i would call your visa./creditcard co. and they would have a copy of that receipt..
 
i remember awhile back someone had a pretty serious problem with t-mo. they emailed the president, and the presidents secretary intercepted the email, and took care of the whole situation the next day via a phone call. t-mobile has the best customer service around, sometimes it just takes time and maybe a few different calls to get the right person to help u. call the store u had a problem with and ask for the name of their district manager and how to get a hold of that person. i bet they change their tune.
 
I agree. I'd try to stay with it until you get someone with a little experience and reliability or start asking for upper management. You'll know when you do. T-mo DOES have great customer service but they also have inexperienced people and, sometime, one with not much patience. Good luck - we're pulling for you.
 
Well as of now, I have talked to the district manager of the area. He was apologetic about the whole situation. He said that he has sent the store manager to the storage facility to get the receipt for me. He said that once he has the receipt he will be in touch with me.

I did try to use the print out from my online statement and they would not accept that. The official answer is because I could have forged it somehow.

I am wondering if there is some way to file a "formal" complaint of some type. I dont know if it would even be worth my time.

Again thanks to everyone who has offered suggestions. I have to go back into court for the remainder of the afternoon, so I will be out of cuff until at least 5 or so. I will give an update after that and after speaking to the district manager.
 
re: "I am wondering if there is some way to file a "formal" complaint of some type. I dont know if it would even be worth my time."

I'd stay with the path you're on and consider the complaint AFTER you have satisfaction. Looks like you have a good guy helping you now so go with that and, if he "forgets" to call back in a day or so, just a reminder call might keep the ball rolling. It sounds like you might end this transaction with a little complaint with the manager who's helping you now. Good luck.
 
jblackfish has the right idea...stick this out for now and wait until u are satisfied, then u can call customer care and make a complaint against the store, and make sure u add how pleased u were with the DM's help (if they come through)...they don't make it to the rank of district manager by blowing people off. I'd give it a few days and see what he has to say. I've done a little experimenting with other phone companies, and i still end back up with t-mobile because of price and customer service. Some of the other companies are just awful.
 
Absolutely, ajs3898, on "add how pleased u were with the DM's help (if they come through)" - it's easy to complain but people forget to compliment someone on a job well done. It's probably more important than a complaint because (I think) it calls to the attention of the company the need to strive for more of that kind of service.
 
Back
Top