Was T-Mobile Wrong or Right?

[zombie187]

So I recently ended my service contract with T-Mobile and had to pay a $200 Early Termination Fee. However, before I sucked it up and paid it, I tried arguing with the rep over the phone saying I shouldn't have to pay the ETF because I was canceling due to being overall unsatisfied with the service. At my college I'd get great reception outside but when I'd walk into certain buildings my reception would drop to SOS status or X status. The T-Mobile rep then continued to say that they do not guarantee the reception of your phone anywhere else except for the address of my home. I tried reasoning with him on a person to person basis not on a person to customer representative basis. I remember talking to a representative earlier in the month saying that if I walked 10ft. into the building in front of me that my reception would drop and so would the call. They kept referring to their coverage map which does in fact show 4+ bar coverage at my school but I kept telling the rep that once I enter a building such as the Student Union or certain halls, my reception would drop. Did I get suckered into paying the ETF fee or was I right with my argument of not having to pay it?

[savioAMG]

Sorry but I don't think you are right, or at least you used the wrong argument. Of course the signal would drop when going into buildings. It may not be all, but most do have this problem. You should've complained how you have horrible service around your school and house.

[m11stephen]

T-Mobile generally sucks inside buildings. I get no bars where ATT and Verizon users get five. I've heard that the MHZ frequency T-Mobile uses doesn't penetrate walls well... Once I get 3G coverage in my area I'm considering getting a 3G phone in the hopes that I will get better reception inside. EDGE is fine as far as data speeds goes but the bad reception is really pissing me off.

Hotspot at home would resolve this problem but not every building I go into has open WIFI. Hotspot at home is basically T-Mobiles way of saying "not our problem" lol but I think its a great solution. T-Mobile is considerably cheaper so you really do get what you pay for.

[zombie187]

Originally Posted by savioAMG

Sorry but I don't think you are right, or at least you used the wrong argument. Of course the signal would drop when going into buildings. It may not be all, but most do have this problem. You should've complained how you have horrible service around your school and house.

I did use that argument, and they still insisted I would have to pay the fee. I told the rep that even at my house my phone would drop service and in places I normally do get service it would drop.

Also, the first Cust. Service Rep I spoke to told me to try turning on the Wi-Fi feature on my phone so I could place calls over the Wi-Fi network at my school and nothing happened.

[ok4a56]

I don't think any of the cell phone carriers guarantee service inside a building. I think T-Mobile was in the right on this one.

[c0rinne]

Try going to school at Cornell U. It was the first time I ever experience drop calls on Tmo, and my 4 years ended up being tough. The only company that was mostly ok was Verizon, all the others sucked.

But I stayed because my mother pays the bill for our family plan.

It was annoying because for 4 years I called and complained, and Tmo always pointed me to their service maps or said they would plan to build a new tower, but never did anything.


You just have to suck it up or move.

[KasiCatastrophe]

I don't have problems inside of buildings. The only time I've had a service issue inside was when I went into my sister's school for one of her concerts. They had a cell scrambler or something like that to prevent students from using cell phones inside of the building during the day. As soon as I walked 20 feet away from the building, I had service again.

But what they said is true. They only guarantee service at the billing address you provide them with. But I thought that all ETF's are suppose to now be pro-rated..? (I could be wrong)

[xTemptati0n]

In order for T-Mobile to waive an ETF is if you continually experience problems at your home address. If their coverage map shows less than two bar coverage, they do have the potential to terminate your service upon showing a utility bill to a corporate location, proving that you do in fact live at the location. If the account is notated and it can be proven that you have that poor service at your HOME location, it CAN be waived. It won't always be waived, but it's possible.

Technically, it sounds like the monthly bill doesn't go to your dorm or off campus living space. Even if this is the case, the coverage map shows more than two bars, which isn't enough to waive the termination. Not to mention, if the bill isn't sent to a dorm or such, it isn't deemed your home location. T-Mobile doesn't want to see unhappy customers and this is why we hold the power to waive ETF's, but those specific guidelines have to be met in order for it to actually happen.

[jdans431]

I used the arguement with them that I wanted to cancel because I could never get reception in my house or office and they sent me the 8320 with Wifi for free as a retention issue.

[RPNOSU]

You should have done the following:

-- Right before canceling service, cancel the credit Card on your account.
-- They send you a bill, don't pay it
-- It goes to collections litigation firm (maybe)
-- Get a lawyer
-- tell the lawyer to have it go to court
-- TMO will more than likely say its not cost effective to file suit over $200
-- If it goes to court, fight it and make TMO spend more time and energy and $200 becomes thousands for them.

I am obviously kidding here... and you have to be careful with that, cause some companies will sue over $200... I know its ridiculous but it happens.

I AM NOT A LAWYER SO DON'T TAKE THIS AS LEGAL ADVISE, IT WAS JUST A JOKE!!!!!

[BluCheze]

Originally Posted by RPNOSU

You should have done the following:

-- Right before canceling service, cancel the credit Card on your account.
-- They send you a bill, don't pay it
-- It goes to collections litigation firm (maybe)
-- Get a lawyer
-- tell the lawyer to have it go to court
-- TMO will more than likely say its not cost effective to file suit over $200
-- If it goes to court, fight it and make TMO spend more time and energy and $200 becomes thousands for them.

I am obviously kidding here... and you have to be careful with that, cause some companies will sue over $200... I know its ridiculous but it happens.

I AM NOT A LAWYER SO DON'T TAKE THIS AS LEGAL ADVISE, IT WAS JUST A JOKE!!!!!

haha i was thnking of doing what you said until i read the last lines

[Hankster]

Originally Posted by RPNOSU

You should have done the following:

-- Right before canceling service, cancel the credit Card on your account.
-- They send you a bill, don't pay it
-- It goes to collections litigation firm (maybe)
-- Get a lawyer
-- tell the lawyer to have it go to court
-- TMO will more than likely say its not cost effective to file suit over $200
-- If it goes to court, fight it and make TMO spend more time and energy and $200 becomes thousands for them.

I am obviously kidding here... and you have to be careful with that, cause some companies will sue over $200... I know its ridiculous but it happens.

I AM NOT A LAWYER SO DON'T TAKE THIS AS LEGAL ADVISE, IT WAS JUST A JOKE!!!!!

Dude, wtf...I was already on step four before seeing your last line... Now I have to pay for calling this lawyer.

[clitrenta]

Unfortunately that's kind of how it goes. That why they have a trial period...so you can figure that out. T-Mobile isn't all that bad actually. Just depends on where you live I guess. In my area, getting service in Walmart is the REAL test. My 8220 Flip does fairly decent. Sometimes it has as much to do with the phone as it does with the service.

[Cixdk]

Iget 1-2 bars at home, sometimes I lose sevice all together. That's a big reason I got a blackberry with wifi. However my g/f's peal 8100 doesn't have wifi and I feel bad for her because she gets dropped calls. Wonder if tmobile would let her get a 8120 for no charge.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[curtisl]

This is why I feel pretty strongly against year contracts. It gives you the upper hand and if need be can switch each year. It doesn't come to this but the phones are usually only 50-100 cheaper for 1 year upgrades as opposed to 2. Pretty insignificant when you are talking $80/month or just under $1000 a year.

I actually prefer the wifi to the cell signals anyway. I invested $100 in the apple airport router, and can take this with me anywhere and its much faster then 3G.