Wednesday, October 06, 2004

T-Mobile customer service

T-Mobile customer service continues to annoy me. Some background info:
  • My monthly service bill is supposed to be $50 voice + $20 data = $70 total.
  • I had enquired via email how much the first bill would be. The shocking answer I got was $170.
  • My billing cycle is up and I hadn't received the bill.
  • I was not able to see the bill online via "My T-Mobile", but I could see that I have a $40 data plan.

Trying to be proactive and avoid late charges, I called T-Mobile's customer service last night and this is what I was told by the support personnel:

  • She can't see the bill as none had been generated.
  • I won't receive my first bill until one month later. T-Mobile sends bills one month after the cycle is over.
  • She agrees that the $40 data rate is wrong.

Guess what, today I received the bill. So I called T-Mobile support yet again and this time got totally different but more correct answers. The $170 include $35 x 2 for line activations, $50 voice, $40 data, and $10 tax. I am supposed to get the activation fees waived, so the only problem is with the $40 data, which I will straighten out separately with the store that signed me up.

Summary? I just encountered one more customer "support" personnel who will happily bull his/her way to have you end the call ASAP. There are too many such cases that I don't even believe what they say anymore. Instead I try to rely on common sense and what I see in writing.