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  • Report:  #1029893

Complaint Review: VoiceStream Nationwide - Nationwide, NM, WA

Reported By:
- Tempe, Arizona,
Submitted:
Updated:

VoiceStream Nationwide
Nationwide, NM, WA, U.S.A.
Web:
N/A
Tell us has your experience with this business or person been good? What's this?
VoiceStream Wireless, HeartLess, UseLess, Ridiculous and just plain bunch of idiots.

VoiceStream Nationwide, NM WA

To whom it may concern:

This bill is incorrect, again. The billing department needs to look into the continuing problem.

I have enclosed my normal monthly payment of $48.62 as agreed upon, while your company researches AGAIN the ongoing problem. I question whether this is a problem or a corporate decision to screw the consumer, hoping most of your customers will not catch the error? This must be adding up to billions of dollars monthly for your company!

I came across other similar complaints on VoiceStream when I put into a search engine the words "VoiceStream rip-off." There you were on the badbusinessbureau.com web site www.RipoffREPORT.com. I was not surprised to find others in my situation.

In the past I have been overcharged for local and long-distance and on weekends. You have charged for Customer Service which takes more than 15 to 20 minutes waiting time off the life of my battery. According to my plan, that is a FREE call. Then, when I finally get a VoiceStream representative, I am greeted with a rude customer service representative. My bill is ritteled with calls that do not belong to my phone.

First incoming minute is free. .. That's a bunch of bull! I have a business associate that specifically called on a certain day I have noted on my calendar. I was given some quick information which only took 15 or 20 seconds. The business associate specifically said, you got the info, you don't want to run your minutes up, plus, he suggested for me to take note of these calls by him to me to see if I was being charged for the calls the following month. Sure enough, he was correct!

Last month a message came up on my phone screen, Happy New Year or it was Merry X-Mas, "2000 free minutes" for existing customers. I did not even use up my regular minutes, and I'm being charged hundreds of dollars more than I should!

Again, I did not even use my regular airtime for $49.95.

Service in my calling area has been spratic at best. Where is my credit for that? I can't tell you how many times I had to pull off the road to use a pay phone.

I have spent valuable time with this nonsense causing me to miss several business appointments with clients and other business opportunities while on the phone with VoiceStream causing me loss of income and stress.

Then there were the months of calling to get back my security deposit, that was a 4 month ordeal. There was an extra 4 months of interest for VoiceStream on my money and I had to pay for it. I was charged for every call to your customer service!

I have been lied to, verbally insulted, put on hold for long periods of time even after the initial wait time to get a Customer Care Representative. That should be called "customer NO Care representative."

It seems the only thing that got me my deposit back was calls from the badbusinessbureau.com.

I demand that VoiceStream give me an apology, let me know this will not happen again, give me a phone number to call direct to a supervisor to handle any future problems, and compensation for my time, lost income and stress they have put me under. If not, I will be getting assistance from www.RipoffREVENGE.com.

Sincerely,

Sherry Curtis

Click here to read other Rip-off Reports on Voicestream


3 Updates & Rebuttals

Jaime Lee

WhereJamieLives,
Other,
..Customer Service placed in a position that forces them to care about their own jobs rather than a customer's

#2UPDATE EX-employee responds

Tue, May 28, 2002

I was a customer care representative for VoiceStream for a short period of time before I became a Customer Care/Activations Supervisor.

I must say that VoiceStream does not empower its employees in a way that allows them to solve your problems. Our "training" consisted of one week of an ambiguous run-through of basic VoiceStream concepts, combined with childish games to entertain us. Once on the phones, I worked hard to study out "real" solutions for the customer's concern, rather than the standard "Let me go ahead and offer you bonus minutes for that..." (to which the reply was often: "If my phone is not working, why would I possibly want more bonus minutes...").

When I became a supervisor, my job depended upon keeping my 15 agents' stats in check. We were given a 5 minute CRT or Call Resolution Time. This included greeting the customer, listening to the concern, repeating back the concern, resolving the concern, offering additional assistance, ending the call by thanking the customer, and leaving notes in the account. All of this in 5 minutes. Needless to say, many customers are hung up on in order to keep within their alloted call time, despite our best efforts to monitor. I personally fired two employees for this very situation.

As you can see, customer care representitives are placed in a position that forces them to care about their own jobs rather than a customer's concern.

Here are some pieces of advice I have to offer:

In analyzing bills for hours at a time, I found that a lot of calls were charged twice for the same minute. Look closely for this. It looks something like this:

Call (Began) 12:45pm
Duration: 10 minutes
Next Call (Began) 12:51 pm

Now one may argue that another call was received in the middle of the first call, but VoiceStream has a code indicating call waiting, which was often missing.

Remember also that "Mobile-to-Mobile" minutes are charged for both incoming and outgoing calls. Therefore, if you are on a "Shared Plan" and promised 1000 MTM minutes, you really only have 500. Why? Because if you are sharing the minutes with, say, your husband, then when you make a call, you are using minutes. When he receives the call, he is using minutes. It's a subtle way of giving you half of what you think you have.

When a customer calls in and asks for a Supervisor, it is called a 'Sup'call. While we, as supervisors, had slightly more ability to credit an account, we essentially had as much power as the customer care representitive. I have had to speak with angry lawyers, been insulted personally, threatened, and sworn at.

As a supervisor, I always tried to resolve the situation, rather than "throw a bone" to the customer. I did not always follow through, simply because VoiceStream would not permit me. For that, I would like to apologize.

(I didn't understand it then, and I don't understand it now: What's with Jaime Lee Curtis as a spokesperson?)


CHRISTIE

SALEM,
Oregon,
READ YOUR CONTRACT ...EDitor' notice, ..employee drivel below

#3UPDATE Employee

Thu, May 23, 2002

First incoming minute is free. .. That's a bunch of bull!

SORRY GUY, WE DO NOT OFFER THE FIRST INCOMING MINUTE FREE ANYMORE, THAT PLAN IS GRANDFATHERED. WE ARE NOT HERE TO GIVE AWAY THE FARM.

Last month a message came up on my phone screen, Happy New Year or it was Merry X-Mas, "2000 free minutes" for existing customers.

IMPOSSIBLE! SOMEBODY MUST HAVE BEEN PULLING YOUR LEG WITH THEIR TEXT MESSAGING, IT IS POSSIBLE.
loss of stress.

WELL THAT'S GREAT.
I have been lied to READ YOUR CONTRACT, WE DON'T GAURANTEE SERVICE ANYWHERE.
Then there were the months of calling to get back my security deposit, that was a 4 month ordeal.
READ YOUR CONTRACT. YOU OBVIOUSLY HAD BAD CREDIT, SO YOU SHOULD BE THANKING US THAT WE WOULD HAVE GIVEN YOU A CHANCE.

I demand that VoiceStream give me an apology.
FORGET IT, WHY DON'T YOU APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARDS VOICESTREAM REPS. WE WORK TO EARN A PAYCHECK JUST LIKE YOU NOT TO BE ABUSED.

P.S. AND PLEASE EVERYBODY JUST DO SOME BASIC THINGS.
1. READ YOUR CONTRACT.
2. POWERCYCLE YOUR PHONE (THAT MEANS TURN IT OFF AND TURN IT BACK ON) DO YOU KNOW HOW IGNORANT YOU LOOK WHEN YOU CALL AFTER YOU HAVE HAD NO SERVICE FOR TWELVE HOURS. MOST PEOPLE WITH COMMON SENSE WOULD PUSH BUTTONS ON THEIR PHONE AND TURN IT OFF BEFORE CALLING US.
3. WE ARE NOT IN THE HANDSET BUSINESS, WE PROVIDE SERVICE JUST LIKE THE CABLE COMPANY, IF YOUR T.V. BREAKS THEY ARE NOT GOING TO REPLACE IT.


The expense on a wasted service is on your shoulders... not ours.

#40

Mon, December 31, 2001

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report:

Their email: [email protected]
Their name: Customer Care Rep

Their relationship to the company: Advocate

Rebuttal:
I have recently read the complaints against Voicestream. Although I do understand that some of these complaints are legitimate, there are a few things that I would like to comment on. First of all, I find it insulting that Voicestream customer care has been presented as a non-service department. I speak with approximately 120 people daily and although there are some issues that need resolution that I cannot provide, the majority
of the customers I speak with end the phone call satisfied. I am sure that all of you "business people" who call wanting large amounts of credit for "dropped calls" (it is a MOBILE phone, not a home line) will understand that not everyone with whom you do business is satisfied. Second of all, the most important thing to understand in any contractual venture is that before signing, one should READ said contract...For all of you who exceed
your minutes or lose coverage in a cave in the Rocky Mountains, maybe the problem lies with your inability to comprehend Voicestream reading material, where it will CLEARLY explain your plan and Voicestream coverage. In addition, reading the manual that comes with the phone, will teach you how to use it, saving a call to customer care. Further problems with the phone should be addressed to the PHONE MANUFACTURER, such as Motorola or Nokia not the service provider. For all of you who do have
legitimate complaints, I apologize and do try to help with your issues. I address this letter not to those who have had, have, and appreciate the quality of Voicestream service, but to those who failed to read the contract and, dissatisfied with the service, complain because they did not quit when they had the chance. (We do provide a THREE DAY trial period on every contract--if you read it.) I would like to remind those
dissatisfied customers that, had they called to complain initially, we would have cancelled service--without penalty--and refunded not only the price of the phone, but the cost of service to that point as well. The expense on a wasted service is on your shoulders... not ours.

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