Complaint Review: VoiceStream - Albuquerque New Mexico

Respone to faulty equipment I'm Very sorry about the negative feedback from both Customer and Customer service reps. As a consumers we should all understand that when Hundreds of thousands of one product is made by one manufacturer, thier is a risk of some defective products.. This is the case with all products. As a tmobile employee, I have done an exchange for every single phone that we sale. Does this mean every phone is defective? No. I think that you should try the Handset Exchange program, It will probably work, if the defect on your phone is caused by the manufacturer, their will be no charge. The only time you would be charged is if the phone is outside of the 12 month warrenty period, or if thier is physical damage caused by the consumer. In most cases thier are no charge for the replacement. Also thier are other exchange option such as the repair and return, post exchange. If you have concerns about the warrenty and possible charges try post exchange, you mail your phone into the repair center the determine if the phone is under warrenty, and if it is they send you another phone, no worries about a fee. Since thier will be time without you phone, feel free to drop by tmobile retail store, and use loaner phone program until you get your phone back. Thier are no charges for the loaner phone program and you can have the phone for up to 14 days, which should be plenty of time to determine warrenty status of your phone, and get your replacement back (depending on how you ship phone to repair center). I feel that people should understand that we deal with 10's of millions of customer. Unfortunately sometimes thier will be customer who do have some issues with thier service. I wish that more customers would take the time to write about thier positive experiences. As a customer care rep for 3 years, I had many call where In One call I resolved the customers issues, and made them happy. My favorite calls where the ones where I was able to change customers attitude about our service. I also had some calls where I offered the cust the "farm" and they were still not happy. I tried to help them to the best of my ability, following the company guidelines. I was always friendly and polite even when having to tell the customer I would not be able to grant the request they wanted. These customer called me rude and unhelpful, even though I treated them with respect and courtesy. They just did not get what they wanted. It's hard to work with people who do not want to meet in the middle, or want to work with on a resolution toward their issues. I would not tell people to stay away from tmobile, I would say try it, see if it meets your needs, read the service agreement that you sign(if you have question check with customer care). If it does not meet you needs go with carrier who does. I'm no longer an employee of tmobile, but still am confident that most of my former coworkers, strive to make the customer experience a good one. I see some negative responses from customer care reps, and all I can say to them, is if you are unhappy with t-mobile, or think they are cheating the cust, why would you stay and represent them? I left tmobile because I did not agree with they way the treated there employees, and maybe this reflects on some of the rudeness customer receive. I hope however that if your unhappy with your employer, rather then stay and be negative about your job, you leave. I do not feel that they are trying to swindle the customer in reguards to equipment, billing, etc, and know that they strive to be number one in customer care. This is a young company and eventually they will get it all right, and when the do they will be the best employer and service provider in the nation. Right now their growing and learning.

Well, I sure did not know what I was getting into reading this "complaint" and "rebuttal" this evening. I know that customers and reps alike have frustrations-no doubt about that. It was clear in the communications here. I don't think that there is a way to make both parties 100 percent happy. I know what it's like to have a defective phone..I got one that was defective w/in 2 days (How is that for frustrating? Defective phones do not discriminate) Most customers do not know they have other options and perhaps reps need to be more educating...option 1-handset exchange, A replacement model for model..which, sadly, can be problematic depending on the phone 2-return the phone to us and we will repair it..the only drawback to this option is the time without a phone..but most stores now have loaner programs to help ease this...and 3-(and the option that i used) I sent my phone back to the manufacturer..after all they manufactured it defective...why shouldn't they fix it? yes, It was frustrating, Yes, it cost me some money for shipping..but it was worth it to me..i had paid good money for my phone..i wanted the same one back, by golly! I was without my phone for about 10 days and 2 of those days were a Sunday..not really too big of a pill to swallow. As consumers I think we need to ask what ALL of our options are...and as reps I think we should be more educating..I think we get in a rut or get "trained" by customers as to what majority want to do and just go with it. PS: Just an observation as a rep..those who say they have spent xx number of hours on the call with customer care are the ones who seem to not let the rep get a word in edgewise...again, just an observation.

Thank you all for you insight on these matters. I typed in T-mobil on the internet to see what their rates are. I am with cingular and heard that t-mobil had better rates. Otherwise I love cingular. This sight came up and I started to go over it. I have decided to not buy a t-mobil phone. I am not so much shocked at the problems themselves as I am the comments from the former employees. They just confirm that t-mobil does have bad customer service. Only a hand full offered a constructive suggestion and most of them just BASHED the customers. I guess it just demonstrates the t-mobil terror stories. I had a billing problem with cingular and not only did they fix it the same day but the superviser got on the phone and gave me a $50 credit for the hassel. I faxed my proof and it was over. No two month review period. All solved in one phone call. T-mobil seems to want you to "prove" your every step. WHat ever happened to honesty? Why can't these problems be solved in one day? Well thank you all for your comments. I'll be sure to forward this when sight to all the people in my company.

If you don't like the service, then don't use it. all you are doing is bitching to a forum that is nothing but other whiny babies. this is going to accomplish nothing. are you trying to pursuade people to not go to t-mobile? this is not the way. no one that is thinking of purchasing our service is going to come to this web site first as a decision maker, and even if they did, you are all coming off as whiney little bitches and this will not affect anyones decision. stop wasting your time, and do something more productive, like go flogg your dolphin. as for me...i've wasted enough of my time. and by the way, reply all you want in "retaliation" because I am not going to wast another minute of my time coming back here to see what else you have to b***h about.

People who are getting mobile phone services from voicestream, T-mobile need to check on the status of their deposits. They lost my deposit. I had to spent countless hours on the phone,driving to the phone dealer for photo copies to fax, and lots of personal time just to prove that I paid my deposit. Basicly they called me a liar tried to pass the resonsability on to the dealer, and even had the nerve to ask for personal information (which should be looked into)like my bank account transaction information. I got nothing but run around for almost 2 weeks. They would retrun calls at 3:30 a.m. in the morning, I could not talk to a supervisor or an other higher personal. I refuse to tolerate this. No company has a right to manipulate me or anyone else into paralleling with their executive priorities. Voicestream, T-Mobile is self-serving and irresponsible and serve no usefull function to the individual or society. As for my lost $250 deposit, "it's in the mail"......NOT!!!

Higher ups can HAVE their apologies! I know higher ups who harass reps, and sexually molest them and they get away with it because of their status.. they can fire you at ANY time and in ANY way they seem fit to do! Screw the company, screw your apologies.. I'm sorry "John" but unless things change for the better nobody can help that company now. Sue Nokes and her tape was a f**king JOKE! She wants to work for the reps? WORK FOR THE REPS before this is one of the "6 companies that wont survive" Concern yourselves with your reps, f the customers.. we cant help them if we're unhappy, and right now that company has the highest lawsuits and insurance claims against them it's not even funny... Eat your customer service, and your apologies. THEY MEAN NOTHING.

After reading the recent comments made about Voicestream, now T-Mobile, I was saddened to see what was being said, not only by customers, but also by employees, past and present. All I can say is that I apologize on behalf of the company for any mistreatment that you may have recieved from customer care. It is not our goal to upset the customers and it is certainly not our goal to be rude when something does happen. In response to the Nokia issue, all that I can recomend is that you just try the handset exchange program that we do offer. I has had it's problems in the past, however those issues have been resolved and it is an excellent program that should get you a working handset. As for the dropped calls, it is true that T-Mobile does not guarantee service, however, the reason that we do not guarantee service, is because there is absolutely no way to tell if there will be a switch malfunction or if inclimate weather will cause a signal loss. We as a company do not know if you will get a signal because we have not been in your house to see if the wiring or piping is going to cause a loss of signal. It is simply for that reason that we CANNOT guarantee service. Also you will notice that ALL wireless providers have that same provision in their contracts. It is just that nature of the beast. Wireless is a growing industry and it is always changing. T-Mobile is changing for the better and offers a high standard of customer care. While it is true that Voicestream did not build the 69 million customer base, and that it was DT who provided most of the customers, what are not seeing is that DT had no customers in the US. It was voicestream who provided the 9 Million customer base for the united states alone. T-Mobile is now the worlds largest GSM system and Voicestream was the largest GSM provider in the US even Before the merger. I hope that I have cleared some issues up for you and maybe answered some questions as well. If there is something that you need assistance with, please call customer care and try any solutions that we have to offer. While it may seem like what we propose will not be effective, chances are, it will work for you. Again I apologize on behalf of the company for your poor service in the past, and I hope that you will choose to remain a T-Mobile customer.

Please note how defensive the employees of VSW get when trouble hits. This is indicative of the customer service attitude of VSW. I also see that the Verizon employee was the one to give a polite suggestion of how to take care of the situation. If the employees truly cared they would have been the ones to say "Sorry about that. Let me offer a suggestion... Unfortunately customer service is the only person who can help you in this situation. Retail is VERY limited in what it can do. But you should know that the Retail Store Manager does have the power to give you another phone should they see fit. I do know that I saw a few 3390s with the screen lockup but they were very few and far between. But it is a manufacturer problem you should not have to pay for it. If you do ship it to repair SEND IT CERTIFIED! Repair has nasty habits of loosing phones that are sent in without it. Nokia might be a little more responsive than VSW. Try calling them. One of the first questions they will probably ask is why the carrier has not taken care of the situation. If you mention VSW they will probably understand and take care of it for you. You who said call the network for TV repair? Poor example. The customer did not buy the TV from the network. There is not really a good thing to compare it to. No other industry is exactly like cellular. and VSW does not guarantee service? True they do not. It is also important to note that a company that promises nothing is usually very good at delivering it. Also VSW did not build the 69 million-customer base, DT did. Maybe DT will change some of the ways VSW does business. I have eight years of management experience, four of which was in wireless. Thankfully only about one of those was working for VSW. I work for a Regional Bell Operating Company now and can tell you that while we will never be a low price leader, we will always be number one in customer satisfaction. One of the first things that you are told is to ALWAYS AND SINCERELY apologize to the customer no matter whose fault the issue is.

Addressing the problem of the phone, you have to understand that when the SALES rep (and I emphasize sales) told you that there were no issues with your handset, what was meant was no known issues. Any time a new product appears on the shelf, it is assumed that all of the bugs have been worked out. Any mobile phone is going to have some problems regardless of the service provider. If you want to address the issue of dropped calls and frozen screens, you need to take that up with the equipment manufacturer. All that we are allowed to do for you is replace the defective handset with one of the same model. This is because we are not liable for any defect in products offered by other companies. If you have not tried to do a handset exchange then how can you say that this is an unacceptable solution to the problem? To date, there is no known issue of frozen screens and dropped calls associated with the 3390. Also, addressing the issue of low or no signal, how can you be sure that the tower that is "less than a mile from your house" is even a voicestream tower? There are no markings on the towers themselves and it is impossible for you to know what kind of tower it is. Voicestream routinely attaches their towers to the side of tall structures so that they are inconspicuous and rarely have a free standing structure. It is highly likely that the tower you are talking about is simply a radio tower or something of the sort. As for a pending lawsuit against the company because of dropped calls and no signal, this is simply a lie. No lawyer would take a case against voicestream for dropped calls and low signal when it clearly states in the contract that voicestream does not guarantee service and that they are not liable for equipment malfunction. You signed this contract when you activated service and thus it is quite obvious that this is an idle threat against a company who did no real wrong. Recently, Voicestream went global with their SUPERIOR coverage and now offer service in Europe, China, Australia, and many other countries. We recently merged with deutsche telecom in Europe and now have a 69 million person customer base. If Voicestream (now T-Mobile) service is truely a ripoff, then why is it that we have a larger customer base than ANY other mobile telephone company? Next time you are going to complain about something over a public channel, you should make sure that you have a proper grievence. It's a shame that out of so many happy customers, one person could cause so much commotion over something that isn't even worth the argument. Oh, and by the way, it's not giving you the runaround when the customer service rep tells you what they can and can't do. Use a dictionary next time.

Remember, VoiceStream is the service provider, NOT the equipment manufacturer. Think of it this way! If your TV breaks would you call NBC, ABC, or CBS to get it repaired? No, you would call Sony, Aiwa, etc... or an authorized repair center. VoiceStream is offering the exchange as a convenience to the consumer so that the consumer does not have to deal with the manufacturer. At least VoiceStream offers the exchange. If you mailed your phone back to Nokia for repair you would not have a phone for 6-8 weeks. And whether you go to VoiceStream or Nokia for repair if the phone is damaged or otherwise not covered under warranty you are responsible for the repair costs.

They filed the following rebuttal to the above Rip-Off Report: Their email: [email protected] Their name: Brad Their relationship to the company: Advocate Rebuttal: In rebuttal to your comments, i must admit that you were treated totally unfairly. I as an employee for voicestream, can understand your frustration. i work in a retial store where i deal with problems similar to yours all of the time. My suggestion for anyone out there reading this is to first, make sure you purchase your service from an actual retail store, you can tell most of the time if it is a retail store, if it sells only voicestream. otherwise just ask. Secondly, it is usully a lot easier to go and talk to someone face to face, who then can either get you on the phone with the right people, or if needed, contact someone above Customer Care to help resolve the situation. the main reason VoiceStream has its own company owned retail stores is to be able to provide customers with a live person to hear them out and help with their frustrations. I hope this can provide some help for the future. Thanks.