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T-Mobile Custom Wireless ripoff, early termination charge Saint Louis Minnesota
T-Mobile is trying to charge me $546.06 for early termination, activation and monthly charge. I called their customer support when I got this bill and told them that I canceled within my 14 day period. I spoke with a woman named Ashley. She put me on hold for 15 minutes and came back and told me that I did not cancel my phone in time that it was canceled on October 21. I told her that I have the paper work in front of me showing that I canceled on the 9th. She put me on hold again for another 5min and came back and said that I cancel 15 days after activation so I would have to pay early terminiation fees. I told her that I did not have my initial contract and I would call back once found it.
While looking for the contract, since I store all my records I remembered that the people at custom wireless took it back when I returned my phone. So I went and got my credit card statement which showed that I purchased the phone on Sept 25 and then I had my refund from custom wireless showing that I canceled on Oct 9.
I called T-Mobile back and spoke with a woman called Gracie. I explained my situation and told her I have all my paper work in front of me. She told me I would have to fax it over so they could review it and see what is going on. I don't have a fax machine at my house so I told her I will fax it over tomorrow morning.
Today I fax over the documents and called T-Mobile and spoke with Lauren. She told me that they have not recieved the fax yet and the way their fax machine works they may not recieve it till the end of the day. She also told me that since I had my numbers switched with my phone that the termination did not go through until October 21.
I told her that I went in person to cancel the plan. I told her the people at custom wireless told me that I may lose my number and I told them I was fine with that and to cancel the plan. I told her I want to get this matter resolved and do not want to be charged for this bill. She told me that there is nothing that can be done until they recieve the paper work and that she will have someone call me back on Monday.
I went and checked the phone bill the send they are charging me $63.00 for a monthly service charge, I had the plan for 2 weeks, then they are charging me $70.00 activation for two phones when on the initial paper work it shows activation waived, and then $400.00 for termination along with tax.
On my call history it doesn't show any incoming or outgoing calls until Sept 27 and then all incoming and outgoing calls end on Oct. 9. So obviously I was not even using their service anymore and they are trying to charge me for it.
I am not sure how this is going to end but I will fight this charge and complain to everyone from the BBB to consumer report if I have to. I will call them again tonight to see if I can speak to someone who can give me a straight answer. I have been very civil on the phone but I am at the end of my rope.
I will post again once I have more information. My advise to anyone who deals with anyphone company is keep records of everything and have copies made of any paper work that they try to take from you.
Raff
Gloucester, Massachusetts
U.S.A.
12 Updates & Rebuttals
Steven
Youngstown,Ohio,
U.S.A.
No Subject just incase
#13Consumer Comment
Thu, November 10, 2005
Yes I do know math and I'm sure a lot of other people do too. I'm just saying some people dont understand. Also when I say have a rep right down everything that they give you ex: bonus minutes, free month service for signing up, any promos that they might give you make sure that they either A. write it down so you know and you have proof and have them sign it or make sure they write it in the "notes" on their account. Because many people get screwed at Cell Companies because they think they are getting one thing and then when they get the bill its a lot higher than expected because those bonus minutes weren't added or that 1 free month wasnt credited back and then when they call in to complain and the customer service reps dont see it there is nothing they can do to credit it back unless you have proof that were told this...and sometimes Retail reps do forget to put things on the contract believe me i do know this!! I actually had a call yesturday this guy was supposed to get 1 free month using our data packages we offer at cellular one it included unlimited data (going on the internet from your phone) 1500 text messages 75 multimedia messages and 2 free ringtones/graphic downloads per month....well they did not add it onto his account the retail rep didnt even write it in the notes so on his bill he was charged for like 3,587 kb used (.03/kb) he was charged for 1345 text messages 25 multimedia messages and 2 ringtones and he was angry I looked up his contract it was not on there that he was supposed to have the data package for free so i was a bit worried that i was going to have to let this customer down but he said that when he signed on there was a customer check list that went along with his contract saying everything that was pretty much on contract or anything on his account that they both signed too he faxed it in and low and behold there it was 1 free month using the 19.99 data package and boy did i have to put in a big credit request
KB Credit: 115.71
Text Credit: 134.50
MMS Credit : 6.25
Ringtone credit: 2.5
Total Before taxes : 258.96
now if he didnt have this check list he would've been charged all of that...this is why i say make sure there is a checklist or a list that the rep signs and you sign just incase you might get screwed over!
Aloha!
Denny
Honolulu,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
Steven, if you've lived by that thinking, you're surely in for a world of hurt.
#13Consumer Comment
Thu, November 10, 2005
Steve your satement:
"Cell companies to do not tell consumers that their 14 day trial start on the day that they get the phone."
People usually think that the whole 1st day is a whole 24 hours and then the 14th day is the day after it was supposed to be due..."
Steve, you show that you lack common sense with this statement.
If i started my cel phone service on Nov. 11, 2005 then 14 days from that would be Nov. 25th. Not Nov. 26. They go by dates, and 24 hours from 11th is the 12th. 14 days from the 11th is the 25th. This is "math" that was taught to you in the first grade, Steve.
Your Statement:
they need to have a date and write it down fur consumers so they know that they need to return it by a certain day to get out of contract.
Im sure the CEL Phone companies would GLADLY hope that their customers has the BASIC ability to add 2 numbers together, STeve. First grade math. You know 2+2=4. 3+3=6 11+14=25.
Your statement:
I see this all too much at my call center. For further advice when you go into a retail store and you buy a phone and they tell you that you get 14 days to try it out make sure they are writing this down and signing it on a seperate piece of paper.
Steve its on the contract. IT states the DAY you start your service. and that if they offer "14 days of trial". Im sure you can add 14 days to the day you started service, cant you? 11th of november, 14 days from that is the 25th.
Raffaele
Gloucester,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
I Think it is RESOLVED
#13Author of original report
Wed, November 09, 2005
Just wanted to write back in and say that I believe that I got this issue resolved today. From the last time I posted I have spoken to another 5 t-mobile reps. I have not heard back from Sandy, and called trying to get in contact with her many times. The reps told me they have no way of getting in contact with her and will send her an e-mail telling her to call me. I spoke to three reps about this the other day an Sandy never called. I called again and the rep told me that I had to give their fax system 48 hr before the person would recieve it.
This brings me to today. I had not heard back from Sandy so I called T-Mobile again. I spoke with a woman named Dana. I explained my situation and she told me that I should fax her the information. At this point I told her that I had already faxed the information on to two seperate people and neither has contacted me, I told her that I did not see the reason in faxing her since she would not recieve my fax for 48 hrs anyway and then I probably would not hear back from her. Dana then told me that all she would have to do is get up and pick it up at the fax machine. I was a bit shocked at this point, seeing how every other person I spoke to said that it didn't work that way. I told her that I would fax it to her right now and she promised to call me before 1:00. She not only called my within 30min of faxing her my info, but she also credited my account for the full amount. I thanked her over and over again and told her she was the only rep out of the many that I had spoken to that had actually done anything for me.
So now I will go to custom wireless to verify that I do not owe anything on the account, if I do not write back it is because everything has worked out. I just goes to show you that if you keep all of your documents and you get a good rep everything will work out. I took me almost a week to get this resolved but I believe that this problem is finally resolved.
Steven
Youngstown,Ohio,
U.S.A.
How are the People supposed to know?!
#13Consumer Comment
Tue, November 08, 2005
Cell companies to do not tell consumers that their 14 day trial start on the day that they get the phone. People usually think that the whole 1st day is a whole 24 hours and then the 14th day is the day after it was supposed to be due...they need to have a date and write it down fur consumers so they know that they need to return it by a certain day to get out of contract.
I see this all too much at my call center. For further advice when you go into a retail store and you buy a phone and they tell you that you get 14 days to try it out make sure they are writing this down and signing it on a seperate piece of paper. Make sure that they are writing down all the features you get all the promo's you get EVERYTHING!! Because Retail reps will leave out anything that might sound bad that might not want you to sign up so they get their money...and customer care is usually the ones that have to get everything straight again...
Denny
Honolulu,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
No, a day starts at 12:00 AM not when you decide it starts
#13Consumer Comment
Mon, November 07, 2005
Sorry Ra
your statement:
"Michael, when counting the days you have to do it on a 24 hr period. I bought the phone on sunday 25 at 4:00pm so you figure 14 days is oct 9th before 4:00 pm which I was. Even if I have to pay for activation and for the whole month the bill should only be 133 + tax. "
It starts exactly at 12:00 am and ends 11:59 pm that day. So what if you "started" your plan at 4 pm. Your plan started on THAT DAY. THEY do not go by the hour.
You cancled on the 15th day, and are subjected to the TERMS you agreed to.
Denny
Honolulu,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
No, a day starts at 12:00 AM not when you decide it starts
#13Consumer Comment
Mon, November 07, 2005
Sorry Ra
your statement:
"Michael, when counting the days you have to do it on a 24 hr period. I bought the phone on sunday 25 at 4:00pm so you figure 14 days is oct 9th before 4:00 pm which I was. Even if I have to pay for activation and for the whole month the bill should only be 133 + tax. "
It starts exactly at 12:00 am and ends 11:59 pm that day. So what if you "started" your plan at 4 pm. Your plan started on THAT DAY. THEY do not go by the hour.
You cancled on the 15th day, and are subjected to the TERMS you agreed to.
Denny
Honolulu,Hawaii,
U.S.A.
No, a day starts at 12:00 AM not when you decide it starts
#13Consumer Comment
Mon, November 07, 2005
Sorry Ra
your statement:
"Michael, when counting the days you have to do it on a 24 hr period. I bought the phone on sunday 25 at 4:00pm so you figure 14 days is oct 9th before 4:00 pm which I was. Even if I have to pay for activation and for the whole month the bill should only be 133 + tax. "
It starts exactly at 12:00 am and ends 11:59 pm that day. So what if you "started" your plan at 4 pm. Your plan started on THAT DAY. THEY do not go by the hour.
You cancled on the 15th day, and are subjected to the TERMS you agreed to.
Dave
Jacksonville,Florida,
U.S.A.
File a complaint with the Attorney General
#13Consumer Suggestion
Mon, November 07, 2005
I was just fed up with T-Mobile. I had no service on my property, nor within a 1/2 mile of my house. I called T-mobile, and they said said tough, that the towers are working fine and there is nothing that can be done.
I filed a complaint with the AG's office, and low-and-behold, T-Mobile let me out of my contract. It is now a month-to-month. I still have it, because after all the lying that the reps did, it turned out that once a new tower was built in my area, my service is perfect. But, I am still month-to-month and I like it that way.
Don't deal with the reps, you will get nowhere. Email all the stuff you have to the AG's office in your area and let them take care of it.
Raffaele
Gloucester,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
Still Waiting
#13Author of original report
Mon, November 07, 2005
Thank you everyone for your responses. Steven, good luck as well with your fight against them, seems like you're in a tough situation yourself. Michael, when counting the days you have to do it on a 24 hr period. I bought the phone on sunday 25 at 4:00pm so you figure 14 days is oct 9th before 4:00 pm which I was. Even if I have to pay for activation and for the whole month the bill should only be 133 + tax.
Anyway I called T-Mobile again today and spoke with a Sandy. I told her that someone was supposed to call me back today and had not. She checked her notes and said that they had not recieved my fax, which I had faxed last friday. She told me that since they had not recieved my fax that they canceled their call back. No surprise there. So she told me that I should fax my information to her and she provided me with her information. She told me that she will call me back Tuesday no matter what, I guess we will see. So this issue gets pushed back again. Come tomorrow I plan to have this issue resolved one way or another, the people at T-Mobile are civil enough, but they just keep giving me the run around.
Steven
Youngstown,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Forget them
#13Consumer Comment
Mon, November 07, 2005
I am just going to say to the person who posted this rip off that I feel bad for you...$546 in Early term fees?? How long was your contract for? Because I know that I had a 1 year contract I canceled/was written off 5 months into my contract and I still had to pay $400 I think the ETF's for this company is like $450 - $50 a month per month remaining in your contract or they might have a policy where even if you cancel and you have 1 more month remaining you still have to pay the $400 or so. I saw you lived in Minnesota I'm pretty sure Cellular One is a carrier all throughout Minnesota and you should just get cell service through us. If you were to cancel its $20/month in one lump sum but you wouldn't have to cancel with us we are the best :) and we strive to make our customers happy. I know I get a lot of calls a day with customers that arent happy with some charges on their bill and even though they might have gone over their minutes or turned their equipment in a day later I still give them credits because the customer is always right :)
I hope you get this situated :)
Michael
Salem,Oregon,
U.S.A.
Check the number of days.
#13UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, November 07, 2005
"So I went and got my credit card statement which showed that I purchased the phone on Sept 25 and then I had my refund from custom wireless showing that I canceled on Oct 9."
Please check the number of days that you have the phone and you will see that you had the phone for 15 days. Sept 25 - Oct 9th is a total of 15 days. 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. There are 15 numbers there. Therefore the ETFs are correct.
"On my call history it doesn't show any incoming or outgoing calls until Sept 27 and then all incoming and outgoing calls end on Oct. 9."
Even if you do not use the service you would still be charged for it. If you didn't watch Cable TV for two days, would you expect the company to refund those days?
"...they are charging me $70.00 activation for two phones when on the initial paper work it shows activation waived..."
T-Mobile did not have a free activation offer at the time of your activation. The only company that would have offered to waive the AF would have been an authorized dealer (a dealer not owned nor operated by T-Mobile). On a T-Mobile printed contract it will show that there will be a one-time charge of $35.00/line acticated. Only if someone wrote on the contract that the contract would be waived, would it show this information. If it does show this then the sales office at which the line was activated would have to put a credit of $35/line on the acct. But in my experience an authorized dealer won't do this.
Steven
Youngstown,Ohio,
U.S.A.
T-mobile does suck!
#13Consumer Comment
Fri, November 04, 2005
I used to have t-mobile and their customer service is very rude! If I were you i would definitely dispute this even if you have to go down to the local retail store and show them proof and talk to the person that took back your equipment and told you it would be canceled that day. Dont do it through the customer service they will not check their faxes and it could take longer to issue a credit through them then just going to the retail store (experience at a cellphone call center) Get this taken care of and even if you have to take it to court! T-mobile is trying to make me pay a $1,650 the bill is my fault but their security for having other customers calling in and frauduently being the customer is very non-existent...they dont care who they are talking to as long as they get their money which happened in my case (my ex gf's bf cld in and pretended to be me and had 4 very nice phones sent to his apt and there is nothing i can do about it since it was under my name) i refused to pay the bill and now im at collections but oh buddy am i still fighting it
Good luck with the T-mobile issue