Stolen T-Mobile Phone Nightmare

go to www.trackimei.com and report theft there there are so many
chances to get it back and if thief will try to sale this can catch


Wbr

I've had enough of calling Customer Service. Last time I called couple
of days ago and asked to speak with the Supervisor I was told she was
on another call and will return my call in 30 minutes. Still
waiting...

I wrote a letter to Consumer Relations, faxed and mailed it to them.
Apparently the Fax number on BBB site has been changed or
disconnected. Here's a copy of the letter with new fax number:
June 27, 2008


Consumer Relations
T-Mobile USA Inc.
PO Box 37380
Albuquerque, NM 87176-7380
Fax: 813-353-6545


Dear Consumer Relations,

Last year my son went to middle school and we gave him a phone for
emergencies. Our Family plan does not include any add-on features --
just basic phone service. In fact, in response to my concerns, I was
offered by T-Mobile to add PIN to my account in order to prevent
anyone from adding any additional services or features to any of our
lines.

Earlier this year after I received a few spam text messages I called
T-Mobile again and requested to make sure that there were no text
messaging or other add-ons on this account and to block any possible
incoming solicitations. I was told that T-Mobile could stop any
messages that came from other phones but could not stop the ones send
from the web. They credited my amount to absorb any incoming messages
and said they'd monitor my account. Now I understand that it is
probably a part of T-Mobile customer service training to tell the
customer whatever they want to hear and hope the problem will go away
on its own.

On May 19 we discovered that someone got into my son's bag in school
and stole his phone. Customer representative suggested suspending the
number which we did immediately. On June 17 we received T-Mobile bill.
In just few days someone raked in nearly $400 in charges, ALL in
premium services that were never a part of this phone plan, i.e. $85
in game downloads, almost $80 in music tone downloads and the rest is
phone-to-phone text messaging. I called customer service again and was
told that T-Mobile is not responsible for charges prior to requested
suspension of the service.

I do not expect anyone to replace the hardware if we loose of break
it. I am responsible for the phone calls a crook may make if he/she
gets a hold of my phone. My problem with T-Mobile is that I repeatedly
asked to make sure no add-on can be added to this plan, because all we
need is a basic phone service. Can't the phone company understand this
simple concept?

T-Mobile knowingly misled me as a customer and provided with a false
sense of security by reassuring me that adding a PIN on the account
will guarantee that I will be the only person capable of making any
changes to any line on this account, such as adding or removing
features. As it turns out, they put a lock on the door but left all
windows open.

After I insisted that I've been a customer for over 5 years and
there's a clear record of my usage pattern, I was offered to reduce my
bill by 25%. After I called second time, another person looked at the
notes in my account and after speaking with her supervisor, admitted
their mistake of not informing me about outstanding charges on my
account at the moment when I called to report stolen phone. She
offered to add "Unlimited Texting" to my account and remove 1069 text
messages at the price of $0.15 each. She actually offered to sell me a
service that I have specifically asked to protect my account from?!

We feel we should not be liable for charges incurred by services we
NEVER SELECTED, and in fact explicitly requested to block. The third
time I called I was told that that my son's line can only be suspended
for 30 days and that it was automatically terminated after suspension
elapsed. Because that line is still under the contract I will be
liable for early contract termination. I did not break the contract
you did. This is outrageous! When I asked to speak with the supervisor
and was told I would receive a call back within 30 minutes. Nobody
ever called. That was two days ago. During my last call I found out
that the contract on my son's line was extended along with my line
when I accepted promotional offer in March. Before I did that I
specifically called to make sure that the offer affected ONLY my line
and was told it was so. I understand that you record these calls.
Please research it and you will see how the actions of your company do
not follow its promises.

T-Mobile's dishonest practices are shocking. Every solution I was ever
offered so far would require more money out of my pocket into
T-Mobile's. I am already a victim of theft - stop your racketeering on
top of it. At this point T-Mobile is not any better then a pawn shop
making money off selling stolen property!

I will be terminating every line as soon as each contract expires. I
have filed official complaint with the BBB (CASE#: 2216XXXX) and
posted multiple blogs about this incident. I will continue to do so as
long as T-Mobile continues its deceptive practices.

I may repeat myself in this response.

This post is NOT about:
- whether to give kids phones or not
- whether T-Mobile is responsible for charges before you report your
lost or stolen phone
- not even about all the great pre-paid ideas

This post is about:
- misleading promises and deceptive practices of T-Mobile USA, from
sales to customer service.

I already mentioned that all I ever wanted from my cell was just a
phone service without Internet, texting, games or music downloads.
JUST PHONE. Since when a phone company does not get this?!

YES, I am responsible for my hardware (phone). I paid for it and it's
mine. If I loose or break it, I won't blame anyone.

Now, if I lost it and someone found it and called a cousin 1069 times,
I AM responsible, because as I said, I am responsible for my PHONE and
the CALLS originating from that phone.

In order to ensure that my phone plan remains just that, a phone,
while technology moves forward and new gimmicks are added to a list of
"must-haves" I expressed my concerns to T-Mobile and was blessed with
the perfect solution that would address all my worries -- a PIN
(there's a record on file). Because, as I was told, without this magic
PIN nobody would be able to alter any selection that I have made, on
any line under this plan. Great! Thank you T-Mobile, I can sleep now.

After what had happen, I see that PIN did nothing I was told it would.
It did not stop the crook from downloading anything from games to
music, which I understand are called Premium Tones and are an add-on
premium feature. It did not stop texting, the very service I called
and complained about just weeks earlier. I am still trying to figure
out if this PIN does more then just add and extra question when I try
to reach Customer Service... My guess, the crook won't be able to
talk to the customer service, because I hold the key!

T-Mobile lost nothing! Most of the text messages went to other
T-Mobile phones.

The paradox is: T-MOBILE WILL MAKE MORE MONEY IF MORE PHONES ARE
STOLEN. Why would they bother about fixing this? Responsible customers
are too predictable and boring. Nothing in comparison with the gold
rush they get as a result of the stolen phone's "joy ride".

Do you hear me now?

It appears that many on this board are very quick to point finger at a
teen vs. a corporation that rips you off.

I am not the one to advocate for giving a phone to a teen, however, my
son is going to a magnet school across town. If he misses a bus or
needs to stay after school this is the only way sometime he would be
able to get in touch with his parents. He had this phone since mid
September and all together used perhaps 10-15 minutes. Granted,
knowing now what I do, it is safer to send a kid with a pre-paid
service phone, however when I walked in T-Mobile store and asked what
they would recommend, adding an additional line for $10/mo sounded
like the best deal. The phone was for emergency situations only and
nobody in our family uses texting.

I reside in Texas. When I looked at the contract for the number in
question, it says that any dispute REQUIRES MANDATORY ARBITRATION and
that it the contract REQUIRES MANDATORY WAIVER OF THE RIGHT TO JURY
TRIAL AND WAIVER OF ANY ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION.
T-Mobile certainly has a lot to fear and their sales reps usually
spend about 20 seconds on each contract, mainly pointing out where to
initial and sign.

I have an appointment with an attorney on Friday, who seem to be
confident that these clause won't stop us from getting justice.

In the current situation T-Mobile benefits more when someone steals
your phone and rakes up a huge bill, then a loyal customer just paying
his/her dues.

Today I called T-Mobile again and their rep. was telling me that they
offered me a 25% credit and I refused. Wow, how generous. That means
that T-Mobile will keep a 75% of the money stolen from me by a crook.
Now, let's multiply this by how many customers that get ripped of in
similar situations?

Customer rep also said that they did not monitor my phone usage. I
disagree again. If I have 1000 minutes in my plan and I use 1001, will
they miss this? Noup. It is a lot more convenient for them to miss
1069 text messages going back and forth in 3 days from and to a phone
that does not even have that add-on service. Please try to convince me
otherwise.

He also pitched an idea of purchasing a new SIM card. When I asked how
much it would cost, he said "$20 bucks". "So", I said, "T-Mobile is
not willing to absorb $20 to make a life of a 5 year customer easier?"
He said he had no such powers (how convenient). I asked is his
supervisor could help. After a minute of being placed on hold he came
back and said that the supervisor was on a phone with another
customer, and will call me back within 30 minutes. That conversation
was 6 hours ago. I am not surprised that BBB rating for T-Mobile USA
is UNSATISFACTORY
(http://alaskaoregonwesternwashington.bbb.org/WWWRoot/Report.aspx?site
=114&bbb=1296&firm=27026359)

Your son is the one you should be angry at for not keeping track of
the phone, not T-Mobile.

But that horse has already left the barn. You can buy a new SIM on
ebay for around $5, and any GSM phone that supports 850/1900 MHz will
work with T-Mobile service. Buy a used unlocked phone and a new SIM on
ebay. If the kid complains, tell him he brought it on himself and to
earn the money for a new phone.

With T-Mobile, every non-prepaid account gets basic data access and
per use SMS. These features don't cost anything unless you use them.
As for you asking to remove text messaging and data, if you called up
and said something like, "I'm not paying anything extra for text
messaging or data, am I?" then they would have told you truthfully
that you were not.

Apparently, you have not read your terms and agreements that you
signed. You are responsible for all charges on your account until it
is reported. You cannot start a class action suit against any
cellular company, you can only Arbitrate. This is all outlined in
your contract.

Also, a middle schooler should not have a cell phone that has a
contract. Give them a prepaid phone that has a set number of minutes.
You could put $25.00 on it and if it gets stolen then you are only
out $25.00. With a contracted phone the sky is the limit.

First of all you son was not very responsible to leave his bookbag
unattended with a cell phone in it.
And second why did it take you so long to realize he did not have it?
I bet he never missed it or he was afraid to tell you about it
missing.
So those first three days this thief put all those charges on that
phone and because your son did not tell you immediately that his phone
was missing its your responsiblity. I mean you can tell them any date
that it was missing...the day you call to report it missing is the day
they will stop service to that number.

I have T-Mobile family plan. My son has the additional line and has
texting on his line ONLY! He pays an additional monthly fee for
unlimited texting so I have no problem with that. But if he does not
give me the money that month for it I will cancel it and then remove
the texting. And only I can make any upgrades or do anything on this
account because I am the primary holder of the account.

And how was their system weak by any means. Your son was irresponsible
so that makes it T-Mobiles problem evidently.

T-Mobile is one of the better companies I have ever been with.
As a matter of fact they just comped me 1/2 month service because I
have texting blocked from my phone and somehow a few companies got
through with their ads. I remained calm, asked what we could do about
this and they were very nice in suggesting the comp.

Next time you get a cell phone provider ask about the protection
policy...they are generally all the same.
But that does not mean your son will learn how to be more responsible.
Things happen...thats a given, but leaving the bookbag unattended is
not T-Mobile's fault. Nor is the time that it went undetected as
missing.

As the others say, you should be developing the argument that you
asked for certain features to be disabled and you should not now be
expected to pay for the use of those features. Do you have a copy of
a letter you sent T-Mobile about that? Do you have the day and time
of a call you made to them? Do you have the name of the rep you
talked to? I'd suggest that you rewrite this letter and use the whole
thing for this argument, because it's the only shot you've got.

As far as the rest of it is concerned: these are terms you agreed to
in the first place. Kids today may think it is impossible to survive
without a cell phone, but you and I are old enough to know better.

My 7 yr old also has his own cell phone with my plan. He has had it
for a year now, and is very responsible with it. I do not have
anything blocked. He knows what he can do and what he cannot do. If he
wants to break the rules, thats up to him, but he cant say he didnt
know them. I have had no problems with him.

I,on the other hand, have lost 3 phones and broken two. Thank goodness
for the insurance I got on the phone.

This is not just T-Mobile, this is all carriers. Here is a quote from
the Verizon Wireless contract:

"Until you notify us, you're still responsible for all fees and
charges"

All wireless companies have this same policy: you're responsible for
all charges until you call to cancel. It's not the same as a credit
card.

However, if you specifically asked for a lock on the phone/account for
features such as text and downloads, then they need to abide by that.
My guess is that they have no record of you ever asking, right?

"As you can see T-Mobile could not care less about the customer
because all the options you are given are designed to squeeze more
money out of you."

No, they want you to fulfill your contract. Unless the phone was
insured, why would you think that YOU wouldn't be responsible for
paying for a new one? Is there anyone that will give you a free
replacement when something is stolen?

"I was trying to point out to the rep. that T-Mobile offers NO
consumer protection what so ever..."

They do. It's called buying insurance.

"if there's a lawyer (or firm) out there willing to give ti a shot,
feel free to give me a howler. After all big tobacco companies also
thought they were invincible at some time."

There are plenty of things about wireless companies that may end up
coming back to bite them. Not giving you a free replacement or
releasing you from your contract isn't one of them.

If, on the other hand, you can show that you asked to have these
services disabled on the phone and they didn't do it... then you have
a case. However, it's going to cost you more than what you owe to
fight.

One last thing: if you want a phone for you kid for emergencies, go
with a phone and service designed for this. There are several that
charge a very low monthly fee, charge $100 or so for the phone (if
even), and offer none of these frill services. Some, in fact, allow
the phone ONLY to call 911 and a small number of numbers (e.g., mom's
cell, dad's cell, and home). This'll end up being cheaper and avoids
getting a big bill when the phone is stolen.

Hello SS,
I am very sorry to hear the state of afairs that have happened for
you. Sadly this is something that happens very frequently anymore. I
have read from alot of people in this case. To a degree you should be
happy its only 400 one was taken by verizon for over 1400 in the
matter of only two days. Sadly for cell phone service, unlike a credit
card there really is no way of tell who is using the phone unlike
signatures put down for credit card use. As even stated on all the
cell contracts for every carrier you are liable for any charges on the
account untill the phone is reported lost/stolen. And even with the
change in usage, I agree that should have a red flag of some nature
somewhere but people change usage habits all the time with these
things. I text about 2000 out alone each month and am even typing this
up on my phone now.
So sorry to say as much as it stinks, t-mobile is right, you are
liable for those charges as stated in your contract and can be found
online under terms and agreements. But what I would try and do is
contact thier customer relations department. There cust care reps have
their hands tied by policy and can't make exceptions to them at all.
No matter how long you been with them they can't do anything to help
at all. You can call cust service for the customer relations fax
number (sadly can't call them directly) dont talk to them for anything
else just tell them you want that fax number. That passes to the
executive team who can help. They will contact you in 72 hours to help
out possibly. I have heard before sometimes they might atleast be able
to go halfzies with you on it atleast.
But on a different thing that I think on cell phone users should do as
a rule to protect themselves. And that is simply to setup the serurity
on your phones. Make a password that you would need to use to gain
access to the device so that without it can't even see phone book and
when powered on will ask for it.
Also setup a pin number for the sim card too. Only will be asked for
when phone is first turned on. Or restarting the phone. That way, even
if your sim is moved to a different phone will be asked for that
before they can call or do anything. With those two simple steps (sure
minor inconvine to enter all the time) you will protect yourself and
not even make this type of scenario even possible. P.S. Not T-Mobile
or etc cell carriers responsibilty to tell you these things but a
little research will go along way.
Hopefully this was a little helpfull
Calvin~