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t-mobile
T-Mobile C And D's Blog For Using Magenta
Citing trademark infringement concern, T-mobile is demanding that gadget blog site Engadget Mobile stop using magenta in its logo. In a letter posted sent to Engadget, T-Mobile pronounced, "Based on the different character of the goods and services offered by the Deusche Telekom Group and Weblogs, we assume that it is in the best interest of both of our entities to ensure that the particular services can be clearly separated and that consumers are not confused..." And it's not an early April Fool's joke, they say. It's not totally unreasonable, there is precedent for this sort of thing. Like the time T-Mobile sued a small a book-on-demand-publisher for having magenta in its logo.
Deutsche Telekom / T-Mobile demands Engadget Mobile discontinue using the color magenta [Engadget] (Thanks to Tristan!)
early termination fees
Carriers Promised Congress They'd Pro-Rate ETFs; Senator Asks Them, "When?"
In a letter to Sprint, AT&T Mobility, and T-Mobile, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) has asked the companies whether or not they're going to start pro-rating their Early Termination Fee policies as promised, reports RCR Wireless. "Sens. Klobuchar and Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) are co-sponsors of a sweeping wireless consumer protection bill" that carriers are against. In her letter, Klobuchar writes, "It is time for the wireless companies to adhere to the assurances they made to the American consumer and start pro-rating these fees." In response, Sprint said by the end of Q2 2008, T-Mobile said the first half of 2008, and AT&T Mobility said nothing at all. (Verizon already pro-rates their ETF.) More »
trial periods
When Buying A New Cell Phone, Ask About The "Buyer's Remorse" Period
Jason bought a couple of new Sidekick phones, but quickly discovered that he and his wife couldn't live with the abysmal battery life. He called T-Mobile and found out that he had a 14-day window during which he could return the phones for a full refund. Before he sent them back in, however, T-Mobile offered to send him two more batteries via expedited shipping to see if the experience would improve. Jason agreed and tested the new batteries, but still wanted to return the phone. But now he had a problem: he was one day outside his "Buyer's Remorse" period and T-Mobile wouldn't let him. More »
sabotage
T-Mobile CSR Lies About Making Changes To Account, Causes $75 In Overage Fees
Ric L. is having problems with T-Mobile's CSRs—specifically, they don't seem capable of actually making any changes to his account or recording anything about his calls, and when that leads to $75 in extra fees, they say they can't fix it and offer him "free" text messages. Ric says he suspects the CSR he talked to "takes the responsibilities of his job about as seriously as a cat with a ball of yarn," but we all know that's incredibly disrespectful to cats everywhere, who take their various activities quite seriously. Read Ric's email to T-Mobile after the jump. More »
Katie says her Sidekick wasn't connecting to the network for the past day or so, so she "called T-Mobile and there's an outage in NYC affecting all gprs-using devices (sidekicks, blackberries, etc)." They gave her a $5 credit for compensation, so if you're in a similar situation you might want to call T-Mobile to complain.
It was fun (though not cheap) while it lasted—a German court has reversed last month's lower court ruling against T-Mobile, meaning it can once again sell iPhones exclusively locked to its network. [Associated Press]
unlocked
Verizon To Go GSM
Verizon's next generation of devices will run on the GSM network that will be used by AT&T and T-Mobile, meaning that in a few years, customers with unlocked phones will be able to move between the three providers without purchasing new equipment. Verizon currently uses a CDMA network along with Sprint, but last week announced that it would use the GSM-protocol LTE (Long Term Evolution) for their fourth-generation data services. Note, Verizon's LTE phones will not be backwards-compatible with the current GSM networks run by AT&T and T-Mobile. Both are expected to support LTE. And don't expect to see the new phones anytime soon... More »
bargains
How To Get A Great Discount On A Year Of T-Mobile HotSpot Access
We've been covering One Laptop Per Child's "Buy One Get One" deal because it's a cheap way to get a very unique, kid-friendly laptop, and because at the end of the year a lot of people are looking for places to burn off some extra tax-deductible donations. But now that OLPC is rolling in one year of free T-Mobile access, the deal just turned into a true bargain—if you meet a couple of conditions. More »
whoops
T-Mobile Loses Cancellation Letter Twice, Sends Account To Collection Agency
T-Mobile sent reader Ivan's account to collections after he twice cancelled his service. He first cancelled in August, but T-Mobile mysteriously lost the cancellation letter. Ivan faxed over a second cancellation letter while a CSR waited on the phone to confirm receipt. Having switched to Verizon, Ivan didn't care when in September, someone stepped on the T-Mobile phone lying in his car, breaking the screen. T-Mobile is now demanding that Ivan pay a bill that lists only a reinstatement fee. Ivan writes: More »
surveys
Consumers Grow Unhappier With Buying Cellphones
Customer satisfaction with buying cellphones at stores fell this year, reports J.D. Power and Associates in the recently released 2007 Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction StudySM-Volume 2.
Industry scores dropped 12 points on 1,000 point scale. Verizon has the highest ratings at 726. Sprint scored the lowest with 679. The average is 709. According to the survey, the four most important factors driving customer satisfaction are sales staff (51%); store display (17%); store facility (16%); and price/promotion (16%).
The study's authors claim in the press release that the biggest thumb on customer satisfaction scores are employees in big box retail stores who using high-pressure sales tactics and not accurately conveying product and
service information. Gee, I wonder who that could be...
2007 Wireless Retail Sales Satisfaction StudySM-Volume 2 [J.D. Power and Associates]
cellphones
Sprint Will Allow Departing Customers To Unlock Their Phones
Sprint will relinquish unlock codes to departing customers in good standing as part of proposed class action settlement.The class was formed last year by California consumers who argued that the locked phones bound them to Sprint by making it more expensive to switch carriers. Sprint claimed that releasing the codes was unnecessary since the service contract clearly informed consumers that phones would only work on Sprint's network. More »
unsatisfactory resolutions
T-Mobile Demands $1,100 From Defrauded Customer
T-Mobile is demanding that reader Motoko, a victim of fraud, immediately pay $1,100 before she can port her number to rival Sprint. Last month, Motoko discovered erroneous charges on her bill totaling $1,766; T-Mobile readily admitted that the charges were fraudulent, and told the BBB and Consumerist that Motoko would receive an immediate refund. Instead of a refund, T-Mobile sent Motoko's another bill and suspended her service. Now, almost a full month after T-Mobile's PR henchmen at Waggener Edstrom claimed that the company had provided a "satisfactory resolution," Motoko checked in with another update:T-Mobile has only given me a partial amount of the credit they promised me in the BBB response. I've only gotten $454 back out of the $1,766. Their new response on the BBB website states that my October bill will reflect the full reimbursement of my credit. Unfortunately, the October bill is still $1,100+ and it shows that the second fraudulent line is still active.More »
cellphones
Sprint Hires 150 More Customer Service Reps
"Churn" is the measure of how many customers defect to another provider. Of all the major cellphone carriers, Sprint has the highest:
Sprint: 2%
AT&T: 1.6%
T-Mobile: 1.6%
Verizon: 1.1%
Which is why they're hiring 150 additional customer service employees. It won't solve their problems, but it's certainly a great place to start. Maybe they can people from the Sprint Consumerist Hotline to train them. Those guys are awesome!
(Photo: sun dazed)
early termination fees
AT&T Says It Will Begin Prorating Termination Fees
Maybe the T-Mobile lawsuit has scared AT&T a bit, because they've announced that they're changing their early termination policy: they will now prorate termination fees instead of charging a flat fee. They're also removing the policy that required existing customers to extend a current agreement or sign up for a new one when changing their level of service. No word on when these changes will go into effect, but there's nothing on their website yet. More »
cellphones
Does It Make Sense To Get A Text Message Plan?
Here's the current text-message rate plans for the different cellphone providers. Most providers also offer unlimited text message plans: AT&T: $19.99 a month, Sprint: $20 a month, T-Mobile: $14.99 a month, Verizon: Unlimited messaging isn't optional feature, but it is part of the America's Choice Select Plan.
More »
unlocking
Court Allows Lawsuit Against T-Mobile To Proceed
On Wednesday, the California Supreme Court refused to review two earlier findings, which killed T-Mobile's final chance at blocking a lawsuit against its early-termination fees and practice of locking phones. This is the third time T-Mobile has tried to stop the case from proceeding, and both a state trial judge and a state appeals court have already rejected T-Mobile's claims that its customers were required by the terms of their contracts to submit to binding arbitration. More »
updates
T-Mobile's Satisfactory Resolution: Cut The Phone Line, Refuse To Refund $1,766 In Erroneous Charges
Remember Motoko? T-Mobile sent her a $1,169.84 bill littered with charges from an unidentified number. When Motoko called to complain, T-Mobile admitted that the charges were likely fraudulent, but encouraged Motoko to pay the bill anyway. After posting Motoko's story, T-Mobile's PR watchdogs at Waggener Edstrom got in touch and claimed that the situation was satisfactorily resolved. We updated the post accordingly. Well, Motoko sent us a followup email, and here is her version of T-Mobile's satisfactory resolution:T-Mobile ended up cutting my line for nonpayment. They simply refused to investigate the matter or to call me back.More »
