Does AT&T really charge a $25 “activation fee” when you move your SIM card to a GoPhone? A father had to replace his child’s broken cellphone over the weekend, and the rep at the AT&T store told him the only way to avoid an ETF or plan extension was to buy a GoPhone and pay an activation fee, even though the SIM card was the same. Online, you can buy a new GoPhone and have the activation fee waved. Way to treat your current customers, AT&T.
cellphones
AT&T Says They'll Charge $25 "Activation Fee" To Move SIM From A Broken Phone To A GoPhone
By 3.13.08
AT&T To Start Charging You For Paying Them Money
By 3.12.08
An AT&T insider tells us that starting March 11th AT&T has begun charging customers in the Southeast an extra $5 if they call in to make their payment over the phone by speaking to a customer service rep. He says this is set to be rolled out nationally starting in May. Please only speak to our robots, otherwise you will be punished, thanks.
Don't Lose Your Cellphone Number When Porting
By 3.12.08
Impatient consumers can shoot themselves in the foot when trying to port their number from their old cellphone provider to their new one, reports the NYT. Instead, make sure you follow these basic steps:
By 3.7.08
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In response to yesterday’s post, another AT&T employee writes, “Just to clear up some confusion, AT&T may charge an administrative fee when paying your wireless bill with a representative. There is no charge to use the automated payment systems. The source for this is the tagline on my bill.”
Reach 5 High-Up Verizon Wireless People
By 3.7.08
Some cellphone problems are like a nagging itch in the middle of your back you can’t reach, if and Tier-1 customer service can’t either, some of the five Verizon Wireless muckety-mucks after the jump might be able to help you scratch it if you call or email them.
By 3.7.08
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A Nextel customer service rep says that earlier this week around 25,000 customers erroneously received a text message saying they would be billed $5.3 million in overages. That’s each, as in $5.3 million per person. “Suffice it to say it was a busy day at the call center,” says our insider. Anyone get one of these messages and can send in a picture of it?
Someone Stole Your Tmobile Phone Now You Have To Pay $1500
By 3.7.08
Tricia asks:
Tmobile is not budging regarding $1500 dollars worth of charges on a SIM card that was stolen from my lost phone and put into another device. Its so obvious the phone was stolen, my bill is typically $40 a month, the person took someone out of my “Fave 5” and put in someone named Mostofo. I called Mostofo who said he wants to help “find the criminal” but Tmobile says they don’t really care about the fact that it was stolen, that I owe the total amount regardless. Super annoying! Anything I can do? I get that Tmobile says, until I officially report it stolen I’m responsible for the charges, I just think that’s ridiculous when its SO obvious the charges aren’t mine.
Verizon Cancels Returning Marines' Cellphones, Gives Their Number Away, Charges Them $500
By 3.6.08
Two Marines, a husband and wife, found Verizon had an unpleasant welcome-home gift waiting for them when they got back from serving in Iraq: canceled cellphones, a $500 bill, and their phone numbers were given to other people. Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, when a soldier goes off to war, they’re able to send their deployment letters to their service companies and get their service put on hold. Apparently in the case of Haley Katz and her husband, that letter wasn’t good enough. When they complained a reached a manager, the manager told them it was their fault they owed the money, and then hung up on them. Read their letter as published in Stars and Stripes, inside…
AT&T To Charge $5 For Payments Over The Phone In May
By 3.6.08
An anonymous AT&T employee who says to call him “Vernon” wrote in to tell us that starting next Tuesday, March 11th, some customers in the Southeast who call in to make a payment will be charged $5, with the fee going nationwide by May. He writes, “I feel this is taking advantage of our customers’ trust, because even when we put it on all of their bills, and let people know, there will be tons of reps that won’t let the customer know they’re being charged for taking their payment.”
EECB Scores Direct Hit On T-Mobile
By 3.5.08
Reader Rob got some bad information from a T-Mobile sales rep and it resulted in a huge text messaging bill. He launched an EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) and got a very pleasant response:
AT&T Mobility Agrees To Refund Money To Florida Customers & Pay $2.5 Million To State's CyberFraud Task Force
By 3.4.08
Florida’s Attorney General scored a victory for consumers last week, when AT&T Mobility agreed to refund fees that third-party vendors snuck onto thousands of accounts under the guise of “free” ringtones, wallpapers, and text content. They also agreed to hand over $2.5 million to help fund the state’s recently-created CyberFraud Task Force, to spend $500,000 for “consumer education on safe Internet use,” and to start policing third-party vendors better and make sure all billed items are clearly described.
Sprint Loses $29.5 Billion Dollars In A Single Quarter
By 2.29.08
Sprint has announced a fourth quarter loss of $29.5 billion, says the Chicago Tribune. Most of the loss is due to a one-time $29.5 billion writedown of its purchase of Nextel. The wireless carrier says it expects 1.2 million additional customers to leave this quarter, citing dropped calls and poor customer service as their reason for seeking less frustrating pastures.
Chief Executive Dan Hesse, who took over in December, said business is worse than he expected and is deteriorating.
Sprint Unveils National Unilimited Everything Plan
By 2.28.08
Starting tomorrow, Sprint will offer an unlimited everything plan for $100. That’s unlimited unlimited voice, data, text, e-mail, Web-surfing, TV, music, GPS navigation, Direct Connect and Group Connect. The move comes after all the other carriers announced unlimited voice plans for $100, which itself was a reaction to Sprint’s limited deployment of an unlimited plan for $100. What comes next? We’re guessing family plan deals that are better than simply $200 for two lines, $300 for three lines, etc, and perhaps even price drops.
Dear Sprint: "Die In A Fire"
By 2.25.08
Sprint. Hilary’s boyfriend wanted one phone. You signed him up for, like, a bazillon and took all of his money, plus an extra $400 from his bank account.
You Can't Discount The Past, Apple
By 2.23.08
A reader noticed that Apple is selling refurbished 8gb iPhones for $349, and they’re listing the original price as $599. “Save 42% off the original price,” says the Apple Store. Gosh, that’s a huge savings! Wait… well sure, the original original price was $599, but we all know that Apple knocked that down fairly quickly, and now a brand new 8 gb model sells for $399—which means actually you’re only saving 12.5% off the Real World Price Right Now of a brand new iPhone, if you went and bought it today.
By 2.23.08
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Not to be outdone by the national players, regional cellphone company U.S. Cellular has announced a $99 unlimited calling plan “for a limited time.” $15 more adds unlimited text messaging, and $10 more adds unlimited data usage. [IntoMobile]
T-Mobile CSR Lies About Making Changes To Account, Causes $75 In Overage Fees
By 2.22.08
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.
Inside The Sprint Customer Service Meltdown
By 2.22.08
BusinessWeek has a truly excellent article about the customer service meltdown that lead to Sprint’s current notorious reputation for poor customer service. The article sums up what we’ve been reporting over the past year: After the Sprint/Nextel merger, “customer service” was essentially destroyed as a concept at the new company. The CSRs were rigidly timed and judged only on how short their calls were and how many contract extensions they were able to bring in. Even bathroom breaks were monitored, one ex-Sprint CSR told BusinessWeek.
