Consumerist

cellphones

Man Escapes Verizon Contract Based On Text Message Rate Raises

By consumerist.com 1.16.08

Wayne writes:

I read one of your post last week concerning Verizon Wireless changing the terms of agreement concerning text messaging and my wife and I immediately contacted them to drop a very unneeded contract. It took two days to cancel, but everything in your post was accurate and made our case a slam dunk. To be fair, Verizon may have dragged it out a bit, but they didn’t fight it and their rep, Becky, called us back three times ( as promised ) to finish the request. A big thanks to The Consumerist!

sprint

By Meg Marco 1.14.08

../../../..//2008/01/14/sprint-is-laying-off-several/

Sprint is laying off several thousand employees, says the Wall Street Journal. Yeah, you know, if there’s one word that always springs to mind when we think of Sprint it’s “overstaffed.” [WSJ]

wireless

AT&T May Limit Unlimited Data Plans To 5GB Per Month, Remove Text Messaging

By cwalters 1.14.08

IntoMobile writes that an “agent/employee discussion forum at HowardForums has revealed the possibility of new data plans for AT&T.”

readers

Email Tmobile Executive Customer Service

By consumerist.com 1.12.08

ExecutiveResponse@T-Mobile.com is the email address for Tmobile’s team of high-echelon customer service specialists. One of our readers was able to use this email address to get Tmobile to give her a rebate she felt the cellphone company had unfairly denied.

advertising

How To Get Rid Of Sprint's Text Message Ads

By consumerist.com 1.12.08

Here’s where you can go to opt-out from annoying text message ads sent to you by Sprint. Yes, it’s legit, you get to that page from the opt-out link on this Sprint page. However, they may have trouble saying goodbye. Scott, our tipster, writes, “After I sent my phone number through this page, I received 5 text messages from Sprint, telling me that I won’t receive any more text messages from Sprint…”

readers

Update: Reader Escapes Tmobile Without ETF Because He Has No Service

By consumerist.com 1.11.08

Victory has found the reader reader who couldn’t get any calls on his Tmobile phone, and yet they wouldn’t let him leave service without paying the dreaded Early Termination Fee. First he called the Retentions department number we gave him. They said they would cut the fee in half, but still charge him. “Considering the amount of time I spent on the phone, they should be paying me,” wrote Evan. Then one of Tmobile’s PR people stepped in, waved a magic wand, and now Tmobile is doing what they legally should have done all along, let Evan go without charging an ETF.

sprint

6 Confessions Of A Former RadioShack Employee

By Meg Marco 1.11.08

Note: This is not a rant or venting session. I was laid off after the holidays, and I have no hard feelings about it ( Layoffs happen to everyone these days) . This is simply a guide to shopping at RadioShack ( henceforth known as RS) for any consumer who likes or buys electronics,written by someone who’s sold far too much of them.

wireless

Potential Solution To Rogers Wireless SMS Fee Hike

By cwalters 1.10.08

A reader tells us that on March 4, 2008, Rogers Wireless will increase the price of international text messaging to 25 cents per message, which he thinks might be another “get-out-of-contract-free” opportunity similar to what Verizon opened itself up to when it hiked its fees this month. However, according to the portion of the contract Andrew sent us, and based on what a commenter wrote on a previous post, we think what might happen instead is Rogers Wireless will simply let you continue under the terms of your old contract if you call up and insist. It’s worth a shot—post how it turns out if you try it.

readers

Even Though You Can't Get Service, Tmobile Won't Let You Leave Without Fee

By consumerist.com 1.10.08

Evan sent the following complaint letter to Tmobile’s CEO:

I am a T-Mobile customer from Miami, FL. I am writing you to report the unconscionable treatment I have received from T-Mobile over the past six months. For the past six months I have received no cellular reception in my area. After repeated calls and technical checks, the T-Mobile technical team issued a report stating that there is no coverage in my home and T-Mobile has no intention of upgrading the service in my area. I was initially told that upgrading my equipment to a new phone may resolve my issue. After a contract renewal and significant expense for the new equipment, my service is no better than it was previously.

readers

Jon And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Sprint Service

By consumerist.com 1.9.08

Sprint has told Jon that he owes over $2,500 in broken phones that he says he returned but they don’t seem to have a record of. His tale is long and twisted, and seems to be the first reported failure of the Sprint executive customer service line we’ve received. In fact, his account sounds so messed up that probably the best thing to do is shut it down and switch providers. Just another drop in the churn bucket. Jon writes:

cellphones

Cancel Verizon Without Termination Fee Based On New Text Message Rate Increases

By consumerist.com 1.9.08

Verizon customers can escape their contract without paying an early termination fee, thanks to a recent text message rate increase. The cost for people without a bundled message plan went from 15 to 20 cents, and this constitutes what is known as a “materially adverse” change to contract. That means they’re giving you a new contract and you have a new opportunity to say yes or no to it as they want you to pay more than you agreed to in the first place. This post on SlickDeals gives you the play by play you need to cancel without paying termination fee. Print out their post and keep it in front of you when you call. The poster on the forum says that using his techniques, he’s already canceled five people’s accounts for them.

cellphones

Reach Verizon Wireless Executive Customer Service

By consumerist.com 1.8.08

910-794-6232 – Lisa Bennett, Executive Customer Relations

cellphones

Silence Unwanted Callers Who Keep Calling Your Cellphone

By consumerist.com 1.7.08

Baby Toolkit has a great method for silencing people who keep calling your cellphone and can never seem to get it into their head that there is no “Maria” at this number and there never will be. Create a contact called “Wrong Number” and change its ring settings so the ringer is silenced. Whenever a wrong number calls, add it to the contact. Boom, saves you cellphone minutes, aggravation, and the time it takes to dig through everything to find the phone only to find out it’s for Maria, again.

sprint

Sprint: Please Keep Paying Your Dead Father's Cellphone Bill

By consumeristcarey 1.5.08

Sprint wants Tracey Stewart to keep paying her dead father’s cellphone bill. Sprint is not completely heartless: they offered to cut his monthly rate to $10 until the contract expires in September.

readers

Sprint Solves Krystyl's $14,062.27 Phone Bill Mystery

By consumerist.com 1.4.08

Krystl and Sprint tell us that the cellphone provider has seen the error of its ways and decided that Krystl no longer owes them over fourteen thousand dollars:“They dropped all the charges and had told me that the person who had initially signed me up for sprint was supposed to put me on the new EVDO technology system at which they didn’t.”

cellphones

By consumerist.com 1.3.08

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A roundup of the best, basic, no-frills, low-cost cellphones. [Cnet]

sprint

Sprint's Special Low Price For One Month Of Mobile Broadband: $14,062.27

By consumeristcarey 12.30.07

Krystyl signed up for Sprint’s $59.99 unlimited Mobile Broadband plan and isn’t sure why she just received a bill for $14,062.27.

etf

After Twitter Snafu, T-Mobile Reminds Customers Who's Boss

By cwalters 12.21.07

Last weekend, T-Mobile users who sent SMS updates to their Twitter feeds found that their messages were being blocked. Naturally, tempers flared. Many customers contacted T-Mobile to complain about the problem, but T-Mobile had no answer for the sudden blockage. (It turns out it was a technical glitch on Twitter’s end.) What’s interesting is that T-Mobile’s Executive Customer Relations rep responded to one user’s complaints with a hardcore reminder that when it comes to customer rights, his pretty much begin and end with being required to pay his bill on time. Nice PR work there, T-Mobile.

My name is Marianne Maestas and I am with the Executive Customer Relations department of T-Mobile. I am contacting you on behalf of Mr. Robert Dotson in regards to the email that you sent him yesterday evening.

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