T-Mobile refused to process reader Lucas’ girlfriend’s credit card because she couldn’t verify some of her personal information (she’s moved a lot and doesn’t remember the addresses of old dorm rooms, ect.). After she was rejected she went to another company for her phone… only to find that T-Mobile decided to process her order.

Lucas writes:

Something very irritating happened to us. Today we tried to order a prepaid phone for my girlfriend from T-mobile. After submitting the necessary credit card and address information, we were informed that we had to call them so that her identity can be verified. My girlfriend moved several times last year and is not from the US and was therefore not able to answer the questions about counties and street addresses (sounds weird but I think they asked for the street address of her old dorm which she just didn’t know). Therefore, they told her that they were not able to verify her identity and couldn’t complete the order. Which is fine, right? Companies have to make sure that no fraud is committed, right ?!

Anyway! We accepted, went ahead and just ordered a prepaid phone from a different company. Worked out nicely, the phone is supposed to come in a few days.

So here it comes: A couple of hours later we receive an email (which is attached) which states that the order is accepted. WTF? We call them and tell them that there is a problem. They say they will try to cancel it but cannot guarantee for it. We should just send the package back if/when it arrives. That’s fine, too. However, I ask them not to charge the credit card. After all this is a mistake they made and I know that this should be possible. Although I talk with him for 30 minutes the supervisor in the end claims that this is not possible! Unbelievable!!!

The 70 dollars might not seem much to you but to a student on a tight budget 70 dollars is a week of food! Well, we will survive it but it’s ridiculous that such a big company does not make more effort to satisfy the customer when it makes a mistake.

Another interesting thing about it is also that obviously their identity verification system is screwed up. My girlfriend was only able to answer one out of four questions correctly but now the order is out — very weird!

Damn cell phone companies!!!

Cheers,
Lucas

Our first instinct is to call the credit card company and do a chargeback, but that might be overkill. You would think T-Mobile could cancel the order, seeing as how you just placed it. They’re probably hoping you’ll just keep the phone. Or maybe we’re just being cynical. Either way, T-Mobile “fraud” detection could use some work.

(Photo:crawfishpie)

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