Okay, so it’s happening again. I have a Sidekick 2, and last month I had to suffer (really!) through a two-week network outage. When I called T-Mobile back then, they said it was a “network issue” and that they had no idea of when it would be back up. I asked for a credit and was given $5.00, which is equivalent to five days worth of service.
On Saturday, I got my bill and saw that the credit hadn’t been applied, so I decided to call on Monday (today) to check on this. Guess what? As I write this, my pager is down, again, this time for more than 24 hours and counting. A fellow Sidekick user called T-Mobile this morning and was told that it was a “global issue.” Even more reason to call T-Mobile, right?
Right. So I called T-Mobile today. I was snootily told that because there was no record of my having called last month, they would be unable to issue me credit for the two-week outage. What? They do admit to having the outage, right? So why can’t they just, in good faith, issue me the credit because they did have the outage? Nope. No record of my having requested it, so no go. “Although we’d be happy to issue you a $5.00 credit for the current outage,” customer service representative Erica said.
As I was talking with Erica, I looked through the envelope that my bill came in, and found a colorful, glossy flyer-type newsletter. On the newsletter, T-Mobile proudly announces, “It’s all because of you! T-Mobile recently won the J.D. Power and Associates award for ‘Highest Ranked Wireless Customer Service Performance.’ Thank you for your support!” Oh, goodness.
We all know how much we rely upon pagers, especially in times of emergencies. God forbid we become stranded in a car accident, natural disaster, or at the airport because a pager that we pay at least $29.99 a month for isn’t working reliably. I live in a rural area of Minnesota, and depend heavily upon this pager to keep in touch with people; the nearest hospital is 12 miles away. Besides I rely on my pager for work – with it, I’m able to receive work e-mail and be an efficient businesswoman.
What if our electricity or television went out for two weeks? I doubt we’d have to call and beg for credit, because the company would probably grant us an apology/explanation letter, along with credit. So why do I have to do this with T-Mobile when they freely admit they’re having a network outage – again?
I decided to ask Adrian, Erica’s supervisor, where I could complain about the service. After some hesitation, and saying that there was only a fax number (funny, I found a mailing address on the T-Mobile website), he gave me the fax number for customer relations at (813) 353-6545. Let’s see if they care or do anything about the letter I faxed in. Maybe other Sidekick users, too, can fax them their frustrations. The fax number, again, is (813) 353-6545. Or if you’d like to mail a letter, the address is at:
T-Mobile Customer Relations
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380
It’s only fair that we receive the quality service that we pay for.
UPDATE!
I got a response from T-Mobile in the form of a letter. What surprised me was the comment, “We would like to remind you that per the T-Mobile terms and conditions we do not guarantee coverage.” Yikes. Then what am I paying for? Hmm.
I personally think this was a snotty response. But hey, they gave everyone a $20 credit for the trouble. I checked my billing statement on T-Mobile’s website, and after originally being told that the “billing feature” was unavailable. But guess what? It appears I have a balance of $10.00 credit – meaning I owe nothing for this month. We’ll see if the final bill says the same. I have zero trust in T-Mobile.
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