Matt writes that although he has been a loyal T-Mobile customer for a long time, the company is no longer interested in keeping his business. At least, that’s what it looks like.

I have been a loyal T-Mobile customer for going on 7 years. I have also worked as a Network Engineer for T-Mobile in the bay area, where I live. In that time I have had several devices including several Blackberries, Android phones, even the Dash. I have always had a good experience with T-Mobile, both on a network service level and a customer service level. Unfortunately this has recently changed.

Over the past few months, both my wife and I (she’s also a TMO customer) have noticed that the coverage at our home has degraded from a strong 3G signal to a strong EDGE signal with 3G never appearing. I have opened 3 service requests with T-Mobile, all of which were answered the same way: “There are no alarms in the equipment, and no future service is planned in your area”. After reviewing the maps of my area (which say I should have a strong 3G signal), I decided to email T-Mobile executive customer service as a last resort to get this fixed.

Late last night (1/19/10), I noticed that my signal on my Nexus One went from 5 bars of EDGE to 5 bars of 3G. I was elated. My wife’s myTouch also had full signal on 3G. It had been months since we had seen any 3G at home. This morning, however, the signal went back to the previously seen EDGE with no 3G signal. I figured they were working on the issue until I got a call from T-Mobile executive customer service this afternoon. They explained the results of all 3 of my tickets again (see above), and said that there was nothing more they could do for me.

I explained that I was a network engineer with a good grasp of the problem as well as potential solutions.
I explained that I used to have 3G until it one day disappeared.
I explained that last night for an hour or so, the problem was fixed.
I explained that my wife is on a different device, but is experiencing the same issue.
I explained that the maps that T-Mobile use to depict their coverage in my area show that I should have a strong 3G signal.

Nothing.

The representative completely refused to budge: “You’re not currently under any contract with T-Mobile, and if you feel we’re not meeting your needs, you’re welcome to leave”. No compensation, no apology, nothing. Needless to say, this is very disappointing. As a former T-Mobile network engineer and longtime customer, I wanted to let other potential T-Mobile customers know about this. I even went to the trouble to create a twitter account to tweet about the issues (@TMobile_USA), but I was ignored. Even if you are able to specifically outline the problem and potential solutions, T-Mobile won’t listen. This is the final straw for me.

Has anyone else run into this type of issue? Am I the only one “getting less” from the “Get More” provider?

Buyer beware.

Matt has exhausted the entire Consumerist arsenal and T-Mobile has made it clear that keeping his business is not a priority to them. Disappointing as it may be, it’s time to look for a new carrier.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.