T-Mobie has wrecked havoc on my life


    I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 that is stuck on Android version 4.3. I don’t need a new phone, as my S3 serves my needs just fine. The problem is that some of my friends have bought newer devices which have KitKat or Android installed. I know that these people did not really need new phones, they just wanted to have the “latest and greatest” device they could get their hands on. If I only had Lollipop, I could show them that my phone is just as cool as theirs without spending ~$700 on a new phone that I don’t need. But since their interface is different from mine, it makes my phone look old and cheap. By not updating the S3 firmware to Lollipop, T-Mobile has had a negative effect on my social life.


    T-Mobile has also disrupted my finances. I pay half for T-Mobile service than I previously paid for my AT&T service. Consequently, I have this extra money in the bank that I don’t know what to do with. I could buy a more expensive plan or purchases data passes, but I’m not a bandwidth hog (I never come close to my 2.5 GB high speed data allotment). Moreover, I recently traded in an old device. T-Mobile first said they would give me $1 for the device, but when I indicated that the screen was cracked and the device did not power on, they changed the quote to $0. However, when Assurant Solutions received the device, they ended up crediting my $1 (not the $0 that I was quoted). What’s up with that?! I did not include this extra dollar in my monthly budget, so what am I supposed to do with it?


    Thus, I have been made to suffer both socially and financially, and IT’S ALL T-MOBILE’S FAULT. I am absolutely disgusted with T-Mobile!


    Why don’t you charge what the other carriers charge? Why didn’t you give the me $0 you promised me for my old phone? What’s wrong with you people?!

      All replies

      • smplyunprdctble

        Re: T-Mobie has wrecked havoc on my life

        Oh yeah?

        By partnering with Walmart to provide Walmart Family Mobile Powered by T-Mobile, my mother has gone from an expensive pay-by-the-minute Tracfone to unlimited minutes for just under $30 after taxes and fees.  That means she's calling me NIGHTLY and wanting wake-up calls in the morning.

        She takes up at least an hour of my day every day.  And she won't take that hour where I'm stuck in traffic!

          • tmo_ryan

            Re: T-Mobie has wrecked havoc on my life

            Sounds like a great opportunity to talk to your mom. One day you won't be able to do it again and you'll miss those days!


            You're very welcome.


            As my mom often tells me "I had to wipe your rear for years, you owe me".


            Be nice or you might not get that new jet ski you've always wanted off your cut of the estate

          • drnewcomb2

            Re: T-Mobie has wrecked havoc on my life

            You really need to put some on that post. Some people will believe that you're serious. OBTW:

              • tmo_ryan

                Re: T-Mobie has wrecked havoc on my life

                I take his statements very seriously. Probably should have a good sarcasm hashtag though.


                I've been personally accused of ruining lives in the past, here are a couple highlights (I haven't taken calls for over 10 years so these are very dated):


                • Guy dropped a call so he lost out on a contract worth "millions" - He called in to state he was driving on the highway negotiating some multimillion dollar deal. Mind you he was on one of our lower rate plans at the time. Meanwhile I would get calls from truckers who just wanted to let me know that a tower was out in a certain area, they called from their phone from another provider. I've always wondered why million dollar contract guy risked his deals by driving. Also wonder why a "sorry, call dropped" wasn't sufficient. This was early 00s where you still had regional carriers mind you. I imagine it was some sort of version of the "keep your hand on the car" marathon thing so if your call drops you lose out.
                • Guy called in because he had poor service in his smaller Connecticut town - Called in, probably his 4th call about having weak signal in town and wanted to know what I was going to do about it. I looked up his previous service request and it noted that we were in the process of trying to get a tower put up in the local park which would blanket the town with great service, it said it was awaiting approval from the city council. So I told him about this and encouraged him to attend the city council meeting and advocate for it. He educated me that he was ON the city council and there was NO WAY we were going to get that site so I told him that there was no way he'd get better service then. We're talking one of those like 2 stop sign, 1 stop light type of places nestled a couple miles off the highway, population like 5k.


                One of the biggest things I've learned from customer service and I apply many times a month is to always treat the gatekeepers nice since they'll be your largest advocates. Getting angry makes the other person tense/stressed and folks don't often do their best work when they are stressed. If you're taking calls and the person is all mad then you don't only have to deal with the topic at hand you need to spend a lot of your mental resources making sure you are being polite so your personal livelihood isn't impacted (bad calls = bad call metrics/scores = maybe missing goal = lower bonus or none = maybe not being able to put the best food on the table for your kids or buying your daughter gifts for her birthday).


                In my personal life I try to focus on the situation more than the people like last month when I was heading out on vacation. Due to an issue with the intercom they needed to do maintenance which eventually led to the crew timing out which led to the flight being cancelled which led to me losing a full day in my destination (Australia) which was already only 5 days "in country". While some folks were entirely freaking out, I went to the desk and got rebooked then started to find my own hotel. I then started to help other folks as well while I waited around. Here's the thing, the flight the airline gave me was less than ideal...I've had status with this company for 4-5 years now yet they were giving folks with zero loyalty nonstop direct flights and routing me all over the place (I was on an award ticket so they were flying me as cheap as possible...this is the issue not my loyalty). So I tried at the ticket counter with a very logical request "can I get on the nonstop vs. having a 4 hour delay because I need to fly through a different city?" which was asked calmly the next day. She tried but it got denied, so SHE suggested a different approach and specific phrasing I should use if I call in. I did and I got immediately switched to the nonstop flight. Even though I was a day late, I wasn't a day + 4 hours late. I am currently drafting an email with all the details of the trip and suggestions on how they could handle it better. Obviously this experience was less than ideal for everyone but there were many opportunities to make the experience a lot better, I heard a ton of "I'm never flying <blank> again". I probably will, but the minimum I want is that one-way of my award trip refunded