Complaint Review: T Mobile Phone Company

International Roaming (which is what your daughter's boyfriend was doing in Mexico, T-Mobile has no presence there but they DEFINITELY have jacked-up rates) is mostly a convenience to business travelers. It should be treated like the phone built into the back of the airplane seat or the phone in a Las Vegas hotel room - it's very expensive.

On the surface it's really neat, you fly a couple thousand miles and turn your phone on. Your phone will probably display the name of the service provider - in Mexico probably Telcel.

First and best option: if you're going to be in the foreign country for awhile just budget for buying a local prepaid phone. All they will want is your passport number and if you're in Latin America there are models of phones that will work just fine with the local service that might be as cheap as $60.00. You then have prepaid service and you buy additional time wherever its sold. The phone has a local number and then the person in the USA has to figure out whats the cheapest way of calling a cellular phone in that country. The phone is going to be configured in the local language - get them to help you change the menus to English, it's in there.

Option 2 if you really want to try to use your original phone you're used to...
Before traveling, call them and inquire about the international service - the main focus of your question should be, will *my specific phone* work in country xxxx? It might not!

This suggestion is only applicable to "GSM" phones - if they are serviced by T-Mobile or Cingular/AT&T, you have GSM. You have to pre-plan this and jump through some hoops but in the end you'll have mobile service in the foreign country without huge per-minute charges.

Generally US GSM phones can be made to work in Latin America and some caribbean islands but not in Europe or the rest of the world - different radio channels are used. If you have an expensive phone that says "quad band" in the specs then it will work anywhere except Korea or Japan (those two exceptions are a whole other story)

When they offer to turn on the international roaming service, decline - "I need to ask my husband/wife/girlfriend/mom...." because there's a fee per month just to have it. In T-Mobile's case its like five bucks. End the call with that CSR as if that's that.

That five dollar feature configures your service to have it automagically work a thousand miles away but using it is not cheap.

Now if you've had T-mobile service for 90 days and the account is in good standing, call them back in a minute (we need some information) and tell them that you want the "unlock code" for that specific phone. T-mobile sells their phones "locked" to their service (all the cellphone carriers do - that big discount or rebate on the initial price of phones comes with strings attached and locking is one of them). However T-mobile is pretty reasonable about providing unlock codes. They will provide one unlock code per phone on the account every 90 days. Be ready with some information. They will want to know the make and model of the phone and the IMEI number. You can get that number by taking the back off the phone and removing the battery. The IMEI number will be clearly identified (albeit very very small) on the label inside the phone. Also, take note of that plastic thing with the T-mobile logo that looks like its in some kind of holder. It'll have the logo and some very small numbers on it. You don't need to take note of those numbers, just the IMEI. That plastic thing is called a SIM card.

Your phone's manual should have a 1-page instruction about installing the SIM. The holder could be a plastic clip, could have two thin metal holders the chip will slide out of. Practice (once is enough) removing and reinstalling the chip.

Put your phone back together and call T-mobile customer service. Tell them you want the unlock code for your phone. They will ask for the IMEI. Be very certain that you wrote it down correctly and that the rep reads it back to you correctly. They will want an email address where they can send the unlock code.

Print the email and put it with important things like the photocopy of your passport before you go.

When you arrive in the foreign country go to a cellphone shop and tell them you want a prepaid SIM. (Yes, there might be a language barrier...) They are going to want to see your phone. They may tell you it won't work with their service - locate another cellphone shop selling a different service and try again. You'll be successful eventually - you want to save potentially $3000, right???

Be prepared to pay a nominal fee like the equivalent of $20 or less. The SIM will fit into your phone just like the T-mobile one. When you first turn on your phone after putting the foreign chip into it there will be some message on the screen that essentially says "locked, enter code." Follow the instructions in your email to enter the code.

That only has to be done once, ever, for that phone. It can then be used on other service providers.

Once your phone has unlocked and has registered with the local network you bought a chip for, you have a local number. Don't casually throw away the T-mobile chip - #1, it's your service when you get back to the USA. #2, even though you didn't buy the roaming feature it still might accidentally work - and someone who finds it may well run up a couple thousand dollars in charges for you. Store that chip someplace safe that will be accessible soon after your plane lands in the USA.

Then it comes down to the same question as above - what's the cheapest way of calling a cellphone in country xxxxx. Typically it's a calling card. Verizon, Qwest, AT&T, etc. are all generally going to have dramatically higher rates than calling cards. You can find them on the internet. You buy a virtual "card" for some value like $10 or $20 and they email you an 800 number to dial and the card number. You can make calls until you use up that value.

Obviously plan your calls to use up the stored value on the local phone number before you leave. That local prepaid chip will not be good for anything in the USA and it will probably not work beyond 90 days or so after you leave - i.e. if you go back in a year you have to get another chip and another local number.

YES, this is a lot to digest. If you want to save the hassle of a huge bill, either do without or know before you go. International roaming is not cheap. I checked voicemail from Mexico and made one 1-minute call and had about $15 in charges on my bill the next month, just from those two short little calls.

So your daughter and boyfriend from Mexico get charged a large bill from TMobile because they wre on the phone too much and you want TMobile to feel c-o-m-p-a-s-s-i-o-n!! TMobile does NEED to show compassion for this crap. How about you use a more appropriate word r-e-s-p-o-n-s-i-b-i-t-y. If they overuse their minutes, then guess who needs to swallow pride and pay the bill? This is a lesson in life. Funny I didn't see anything in your complaint about advising the kids they shouldn't use so many minutes because of the negative consequences. You automatically assume it's TMobiles fault and these kids already learn the top stupid excuse in life, to BLAME someone else because it's sure not my fault. Don't think everyone is suppose to bend over backwards because kids spend too much or use something to excess. Lady, give me a break! This complaint really is disgusting.

So your daughter and boyfriend from Mexico get charged a large bill from TMobile because they wre on the phone too much and you want TMobile to feel c-o-m-p-a-s-s-i-o-n!! TMobile does NEED to show compassion for this crap. How about you use a more appropriate word r-e-s-p-o-n-s-i-b-i-t-y. If they overuse their minutes, then guess who needs to swallow pride and pay the bill? This is a lesson in life. Funny I didn't see anything in your complaint about advising the kids they shouldn't use so many minutes because of the negative consequences. You automatically assume it's TMobiles fault and these kids already learn the top stupid excuse in life, to BLAME someone else because it's sure not my fault. Don't think everyone is suppose to bend over backwards because kids spend too much or use something to excess. Lady, give me a break! This complaint really is disgusting.

So your daughter and boyfriend from Mexico get charged a large bill from TMobile because they wre on the phone too much and you want TMobile to feel c-o-m-p-a-s-s-i-o-n!! TMobile does NEED to show compassion for this crap. How about you use a more appropriate word r-e-s-p-o-n-s-i-b-i-t-y. If they overuse their minutes, then guess who needs to swallow pride and pay the bill? This is a lesson in life. Funny I didn't see anything in your complaint about advising the kids they shouldn't use so many minutes because of the negative consequences. You automatically assume it's TMobiles fault and these kids already learn the top stupid excuse in life, to BLAME someone else because it's sure not my fault. Don't think everyone is suppose to bend over backwards because kids spend too much or use something to excess. Lady, give me a break! This complaint really is disgusting.

It does not seem like your complaint is that TMobile is charging you more than they should. At $0.49 $2000 is just about 68 hours, and that does seem like a lot. However, if he was there any length of time they could easily talk several hours a day, and that adds up quickly. As long as your detailed statement shows the calls being billed at $0.49 it is correct.

It appears your real complaint is that your daughter did not realize how much she was using and T-Mobile does not want to wait to have it paid off. Even at $100 a week it would be 2 years before it is paid off. Any company is going to send you to collections after about 90 days.

As to the company you use, I bet you don't have a problem with them because you don't run up $2000 bills that you don't pay. Beleive me if you did the same thing to them, they would do the exact same thing that T-Mobile did.

PS..They shut off the phones because the bill was unpaid.

i feel that the 600. should be refunded because they were the ones that shut the phones off and didnt like the payments they were getting