Complaint Review: T-mobile

I took my phone to walmart to see if it would in fact work on the My Family Mobile service.  My phone is a my touch 3g.  The lady at Walmart said purchase this starter package and lets see, if it doesn't work I will just refund your money right here.  It worked but we didn't think to try the online with it.  I purchased another phone and sim starter package as these were Christmas presents not to be opened or started till Christmas day <day after seeing they weren't online that day>.  

Christmas day came and both phones were online together and that is when we found out the online didn't work with the my touch g3.  I took it for refund to walmart and the rep said to take it home and call the support line and see if they can't get it working.  They couldn't and said there would be no refund on the starter pack because the time has passed for the refund.  I informed them it was purchased as a Christmas gift and the walmart assoc. insured me the refund date was 15 days past Christmas.

I cancelled that phone service on that phone and am stuck with a sim card that does not work in my phone.  Walmart lied to me according to the customer rep at myfamilymobile.com.  Ok so we have the other phone and it's working fine.  I am waiting for the billl for that phone.  It comes in and it's 85 dollars OMGosh wtheck.  I called the support line again and they told me to write an email as they cannot and are not allowed to do anything but take calls.  

So I emailed them, no response in the 5 days they promise a reply.  I emailed again, got an almost immediate response of "sorry we won't be issuing any refunds and will not adjust your bill.  I write again and ask why and explain yet again what happened.  Just today got a reply of sorry to inform  you but we still aren't going to do anything about this.  I told them I am reporting this on ripoff.com.  

This is a scam imo, by t-mobile and unfortunately walmart is gullible enough to buy into it.  I want a refund on my starter kit on the one phone and I want the bill adjusted for when the services were actually ON on the account at all.  They just shut it off and said too bad so sad see ya.

here is a copy of the email I sent and received.

My account # is xxxxx1407my pin# is xxxx

Hi,
My name is Brenda Hxxxxxxk.  I purchased a phone in November for my daughter and two service plans as I had a phone from t-mobile that just needed service.  The lady at Walmart put the sim card into the one phone to see if it worked andit did she said.  I paid for them and wrapped them up for Christmas.  She was aware these were Christmas presents andsaid the billing wouldn't start until then.  All was good at that point.  Come Christmas my daughter and I opened our gifts together and activated her sim card since mine was already activated to see if the phone would work on the service, it wasn't supposed to be billed as it was a Christmas gift and not being used.

I received a bill notice and called Walmart customer service, they said it isn't supposed to be billing me.  I took the sims card back as the phone was not allowing me to go online and some of the features weren't working properly.  The phone is a my-touch g, The lady there said to call you and if you couldn't make it work, then to bring it back and they would refund it.They didn't refund it and I did call you and spoke with an agent named Jessica on January 4th, she said they would fix the bill, because, she could see there was no use on the phones until Christmas day and it wasn't much at all (that's because it didn't work with your service).  She said they would adjust the bill for the month it billed me before Christmas day.  I thought all was well.  Then I get a bill in January for 85 dollars and a disconnected phone service...I was livid..

I phone you guys again and this was on January 30th spoke to Claudia.  She said shewas very sorry they disconnected the service and turned it back on.  Said to ignore the texts about the bill as she would get thisfixed and call me back with the adjusted amount to pay.  She never called back and they again disconnected the service one week later saying 85.00 was due and it was still wrong.  I phoned in again on the 7th of February and talked to a Joni, she said that the others had in fact given me false information and that they could not fix the bill they have no control to do that.  

She told me to write an emailto this address and explain what's been happening and give the names of the agents and what they have said to me.  She told me she also could see no use on the phones until Christmas day and then she see's where I called in and had the one phone turned off because it didn't work properly on your plan.  She said she was sorry for all of this trouble and again turned the phoneback on for one week so I could write this email to you.  The phone was shut off again and is currently off.  Joni did a follow up call and said not to give up it might take a week to get it worked out once you get this email.

I am so very discouraged and disappointed with the service so far and lack of knowledge your agents have, also them making statements that are not true.

The phone service should of started on Christmas day/or the day after, the first bill should of been received January the 25th for one month of service for one phone (minus the phone I had to shut off as it did in fact NOT work on your service plan).  However with all the shut offs, the bill should be adjusted as 2 shut offs lasting 3 and a half weeks would bring us to the January bill and one week of February so far.  I don't mind paying what I owe as long as it is correct.  I paid over 100 dollars for one phone and 50 for the chips witch now they won't take the one chip back as it has been past the return time.  Why?  I was doing what your agents told me to do and now everything is a mess.  

PLEASE call me at my home,  xxx-xxx-xxxx when you can.
My bill needs to be wiped out and started over as far as i'm concerned because all of this run around it's very aggravating and un-necessary.  
My account # is xxxxx1407 my pin# is xxxx Please help.
Brenda Hxxxxxxk.

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REPLY from them.

> Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:14:53 -0800 
> From: CreditRequest@myfamilymobile.com 
> To: brendaxxxxxxx@hotmail.com 
> Subject: Re: Bill is wrong (KMM19308370I15977L0KM) 
> 
> February 25, 2013 
> 
> RE: Family Mobile Account Number xxxxx1407 
> 
> Dear Ms. Hxxxxxxk: 
> 
> Walmart Family Mobile Powered by T-Mobile (?Family Mobile?) is in receipt of your correspondence regarding the disputed balance. 
> 
> Please be advised that each customer is given a Buyer?s Remorse period in which they are allowed up to 14 days to return the equipment for a full refund. The Buyer?s Remorse period is not a free trial. You are responsible for all charges that were incurred on the account for the time the service is activated until the time the subscriber is cancelled. Our records indicated the line ending in 2535 was activated on November 27, 2012 and cancelled January 13, 2013. Based on our review we have found that all the billed charges are accurate and no adjustments will be issued. We understand that this type of situation can be frustrating and regret any confusion or inconvenience this has caused. 
> 
> Your account balance is $114.94, of which $85.21is past due from the January 14, 2013 billing statement. Please submit payment as soon as possible to ensure your suspended account returns to good. You may submit payment without incurring an additional charge by visiting us on the internet at www.MyFamilyMobile.com and logging in with your phone number and password. You may also submit payment through our automated system at the phone number listed below. 
> 
> If you have any further questions please feel free to contact us at: 
> Family Mobile Customer Relations, PO Box 3220, Albuquerque, NM, 87190.

> Our Customer Service department is also available to assist you from 6am - 9pm PST at 877-760-8760. 
> 
> Sincerely, 
> Family Mobile 
> Michelle Kingston 
> Customer Relations 

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Second email sent to them

Hi, I am not going to pay the bill that you billed me from November until December 25th. That is not fair and I did NOT know it was even activated for petes sake. Had I known <the service was on> I would of found out the phone was NOT in fact compatible and returned the sim card in the time granted. 

I will be reporting this to the better business bureau and also making a report on www.ripoff.com so other consumers know about this problem and the lack of customer service quality that you portray in the store. It is obviously a hook to get people to buy your services and then stick them with shotty product.

I have made EVERY effort to try and get help with this from the day it was brought to my attention and all I have gotten is a run around and ripped off with the price of the phones and sim cards because of the mistake made by your associate at the walmart store.

I spoke with a supervisor last night on the phone before this email came in and he was VERY rude to me and said he cannot help me because the customer service department isn't allowed to make changes or handle this type of thing. They are only authorized to answer the phone and give an email to the customer with a complaint or problem. Not good policy.

Ty for your time,
Brenda Hxxxxxxk.

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FINAL RESPONSE FROM THEM TODAY.

March 4, 2013
RE: Family Mobile Account Number XXXXXX1407

Dear Ms. Harmatuk:

Walmart Family Mobile Powered by T-Mobile (?Family Mobile?) is in receipt of your correspondence regarding your Customer Service experience and requesting additional review of your rebuttal specific to compensation.

It is always our goal to provide exceptional customer care on every contact. We appreciate your feedback regarding your interaction with Customer Service. Customer Relations has forwarded your letter and it will be received and reviewed by the appropriate persons to ensure future customers have a better experience.

It is our position that your 2535 line had usage during the disputed timeframe and no credits will be issued for this situation. Please note that your 8083 line was not activated until December 25, 2012. We regret the issues you have experienced but please be advised this is Family Mobile?s final response in regards to compensation. 

Your account balance remains $114.94, of which $85.21 is past due. You may submit payment by visiting us on the internet at www.MyFamilyMobile.com and logging in with your phone number and password. You may also submit payment through our automated system at the phone number listed below. 

If you have any further questions separate from the one mentioned above, please feel free to contact us at: Family Mobile Customer Relations, PO Box 3220, Albuquerque, NM, 87190. Our Customer Service department is also available to assist you from 6am - 9pm PST at 877-760-8760. 

Sincerely,
Family Mobile
Josh Ryan
Customer Relations

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And there you have it.  They ripped me off by putting the sim card into my phone to be sure it worked on the service and even though it was taken out and wrapped as a Christmas present, they still want money.  Regardless of what the Walmart rep for them said they still won't honor it.

Please do not use this service they are just T-mobile in disguise and still a bad company to deal with.

Brenda.