TMobile Fails in Customer Care

[Domek]

There will be several threads in my rant

1- In order to reach Customer Care for T-Mobile it takes between 25 and 55 minutes. This occurs whether I call late at night or in the morning a weekend or weekday.

2- If the initial CC person does not know how to proceed they will have you hold another 10-15 minutes while they attempt to check on the answer. If they tell you that they will have a supervisor call you back that does not happen.

3- Customer Care representatives both lower level and escalated only function according to their script. Thus when I call about a continuing billing problem concerning international roaming charges they consistently refuse to look at anything 'over 90 days old'. However, when the foreign billing appears on my bill with a (minimum) 60 day delay it means that if I am abroad when the charge appears the CC individuals will not even look at the prior bill in order to see if there is a pattern, because it is over 90 days, not even for informational purposes.

4- As I travel frequently I have a local country cell phone. Therefore I do not expect or receive any international calls on my T-Mobile although I do use it for SMS. However, there are occasions when someone who does not know I am abroad may try to call me. I never answer these calls.

5- For over a year T-Mobile has not only billed me for these calls (some are 0 seconds) but each and every call that they bill me for then shows that I have called into my Voicemail at the very same minute. Thus an incoming call is shown at 9:23AM and I am shown as making a call to voicemail at exactly the same minute. Sometimes it shows that I have made 2 calls to voicemail at the same time that I received the incoming call. T-Mobile insists that I have answered these calls even for 1 second and that I have called into voicemail... at the same time.

6- There is one anomaly in that the charge does not always appear although the billing may show a 0 second incoming call. Yet, T-Mobile persists in saying that the foreign service provider will bill even if I do not answer, which is not true.

6- In order to be very sure that I did not press a button by mistake on my last 2 trips I had my keyboard locked to keep from inadvertently pressing a button and made a point of not touching the phone when it was ringing. I was still billed.

6- I have called in repeatedly over the course of a year but they refuse to review any earlier items. The total charges are now well over $60 and despite the fact that I have one of the more expensive plans and that in 7 years I have not questioned bills I cannot get any satisfaction.

Any similar experiences regarding international roaming? or Customer Care?
How can they have such a high ranking on JD Powers?

[Matt]

Domek,

I'm sorry to hear of your problems with TM customer care. Most people (including myself) don't have the bad experiences you are having, but I do know they occur.

Regarding your general customer care comments, I don't find the wait times long at all. Granted, I call care infrequently, but I don't wait more than a minute or two. I have waited while a rep talks to a supervisor. I have better luck (Shorter wait times) calling in the morning, east coast time.

I don't travel inernationally, but I have read on various forums issues similar to yours when with billing and voicemail. As I understand it, this is how it may work (I'm not sure this is exactly what you are seeing).

You are in Europe. Someone calls your US number. Your phone does not have to be on, but at some time it registered overseas, so T-Mobile thinks your phone is over there. TM forwards your call overseas to try and deliver it to you. For whatever reason (your phone is off, you don't answer, etc.) your incoming call gets forwarded to your voicemail, which is back in the US. Even though you haven't answered the call, the call has made a trip from the US to Europe and back to the US. One or both of these may incur a roaming charge, even though you never answered the phone.

That's how I understand it. The best thing to do is to call T-Mobile before you leave and cancel all call forwarding on your account, and turn it back on when you return. I don't think changing those settings on your phone will help.

Good luck.

[Domek]

Thanks for your response.

Re reaching customer care, I do not call frequently (in this case I have tried to communicate with them 5 or so times in the past 12 months) however I have tried early AM east coast time and other times.. no difference minimum 20 minutes.

Re your explanation of the call bouncing back and forth...
1- if that is correct why does the description of the charge read retrieval of voice mail?? It does not say voicemail left it says retrieved.
2- If that is correct however, does this not mean that even if my voice mail is turned off I will still be charged for an incoming call?
3- if I have checked with my callers and they say they never even tried to leave a voice mail or even reached voice mail... why is there a voice mail charge?
4- If that is correct (returning to the issue of customer care) why don't the 'supervisors' at customer care know about this issue? This brings us back to the point I made about them simply reading a script and never engaging their brains into the process. One could simply be speaking to an 'intelligent voice operated computer' which would pick up on specific phrases in my sentences and 'read off' responses which are coded to specific phrases.

Again I thank you for your comments, however it is frustating that
a- I will have to spend another hour before each trip to ensure that my voice mail is turned off and another to turn it back on
b- that it is through a circle of 'amateurs' that I have to seek out a response and not through my service provider.

[Chinasaur]

Considering that T-Mobile just came out #1 (again) in the JD Powers CC survey bi-annual survey. And that this is the 3rd time in a row at #1 (1.5 years worth).

Your experience seems to be an isolated one. That doesn't make it any more palatable.

Luck.

[Matt]

I think the wording of the VM in your bill is a matter of semantics. The issue, AFAIK, is a network one. The TM system tries to find your phone, if it is in Europe it forwards the call to that network. If you don't answer, have your phone off, etc., the call gets forwarded back to TM in the US for a dump to voicemail. Your callers don't actually have to hear your VM to pick up for that to happen. The system is designed to do what it is doing, so that callers to your US number can reach you (or leave you a message) while you are traveling. It's not an "issue" in the sense that it is a problem - it is working as TM designed their interaction with other carriers. It works the same as you were roaming in the US - the difference is in the fact that you get billed for roaming internationally. Most people don't roam internationally, so most reps rarely come across the topic. Does that mean you shouldn't be able to find someone at TM to help you? Of course not. Perhaps a request to speak with technical support (as opposed to regular customer care) may help - ask them how to check to make sure this forwarding is disabled when your roam.

I would suggest the T-Mobile forum at http://www.howardforums.com and do a search there. There are numerous international roamers over there who do what you need to do.

[EdwardP]

The most I've waited to speak to someone in Customer Care, was 5 minutes. The longest I've waited for an e-mail response from T-Mobile, one month.

[MOTOhooligan]

Originally Posted by Chinasaur

Your experience seems to be an isolated one. That doesn't make it any more palatable.

Actually, except for the rep who initially activated my service, the reps who answer customer care e-mails and the sales representatives at the local kiosk, I have not been impressed with representatives at T-Mobile customer care or tech support. I've called them, maybe, 12-15 times regarding issues with my phone and/or account and not one of the representatives I spoke with took the time to actually help me. I basically had to figure it out on my own, which is no biggie to me, MOTOhooligan, but for someone not as obsessed with wireless phones, I'm sure it would be frustrating.

I know that I would never treat anyone who called me that way, yet, for some unknown reason, T-Mobile keeps winning the JD Power and Associates awards for customer service. Maybe I'm just talking to the wrong reps?

[Domek]

Re the wording on the bill simply being a matter of 'semantics'... Perhaps I am unusual but I do expect a bill to be prepared in such a way that there is no question of semantics.

Re the issue of roaming being unusual enough that most reps won't be familiar with those issues, then there should be 2 options.. train all reps in that area or let the client be directed immediately to people who are familiar with this issue, ie. specialists in international roaming.

Re the knowledge and ability of reps, since I always have had a tri-band or quadri-band phone (currently the Blackberry 7100) I have heard comments from the techies at T-Mobile that 'Oh your phone is so new' or 'so few people use that phone' that any questions I have had when I get the phone I need to figure out myself...

Regarding the JD Powers awards, I manage and work as a service provider and if I used the attitude and approach that T-Mobile uses with its clients I would be in major hot water. My clients would be registering one complaint after another.

Domek

[Matt]

Domek,

Training reps in any industry is always a challenge because of the turnover. I don't work for TM, so I have no insights on their practices other than those I experience when I call them. You're right though, billing items should be marked as to what is being charged.

[anilo]

I was on the phone with customer service today for 45 minutes about the same issue as above. I was in Belgium for 5 days, and I was charged for roaming for 23 calls I never took - anywhere from $0.99 to $5 each, depending on the length of the message left. The callers had just left a voicemail, and as I was told by customer service as well as her supervisor, you are charged whenever somebody calls if they leave a message, even if you don't listen to the voicemail or take the call.

The problem is that this charge was displayed as Vm Retireval on the statements until this month - that's why I think I had never questioned it so far, I just thought I had called to check my voicemail. On this month's statement it shows as an "International Call" to number 805-637-7249, which is T-Mobile's voicemail number (the agent called this the backdoor to their voicemail), which apparently my phone automatically forwards to, whenever I don't take a call.

I also asked for a source where I can see that this is the pricing policy for international use of voicemail, and customer service said there was no source where they could show that, but "it has always been that way".

Checking T-Mobile's website later, I see that it clearly states:
"If you check voice mail from your phone while roaming, you will be charged for roaming and long distance" It doesn't say if you get a voice mail, it says "if you check".

Why is T-Mobile not clearly explaining on its website how it is charging for voice mail? Why do I have to pay for calls I am not taking and not even listening to the message while abroad?

[Matt]

I'm certainly not defending T-Mobile's policy, but it has been this way for as long as I can remember, and I've been a customer for 7 years. I think their position is that since they have to forward the call overseas, they charge you a minute roaming just to send the call overseas and back to voicemail even if you don't answer or the phone is off. I think you can have them shut off all forwarding so that doesn't happen, but it's only a temporary solution and I think T-Mobile's systems will turn it back on eventually.

[hf1khal]

Same here and it is the same with Cingular too as well as VZW and the rest. Any way here is the link for the T mo info: http://www.t-mobile.com/templates/fa...toexpectinbill and here is the text for that particular issue (which is part of the Q&A):

What should I expect in my T-Mobile bill?
T-Mobile is committed to providing all the features you depend on, whether you’re traveling overseas or making calls to family and colleagues abroad. International long distance calls made from the US are billed at per-minute rates depending on the country you’re calling; see the rate menu on the International Long Distance Overview page.
Please note these important points about international roaming:

Unless you switch your device off or activate Unconditional Call Forwarding on your device, you will be billed for calls delivered to your voice mail box while you are roaming internationally.
Operator-assisted calls to "0" are billed at the international roaming rate for the country you are in. Calls made from outside the US are covered under roaming rates.
Checking your e-mail or voice mail while roaming incurs charges just as calling does.
Customer Care calls are free from your T-Mobile device, but they incur applicable long distance fees from any other phone.
When you’re roaming, your friends and family can dial you as they normally would and it does not cost them extra to call you. However, Mobile to Mobile minutes are only available on the T-Mobile USA network.
With GPRS-enabled devices, data transmissions, including e-mail and Internet surfing, are billed by volume: $0.01 per KB / $10.24 per MB in Canada, $0.015 per KB / $15.36 per MB in other countries.
E-mails range widely in size; attachments such as photos and documents can be very large, even over 2 MB each. Check the file properties for size before you send the file.
Outgoing text messages are billed at $0.35 per message; incoming messages pull from your feature bucket or are billed at $0.10 each.
If you activated international roaming on your account before November 5, 2001, and do not have WorldClass International Service, you may be on a variable rate plan. Please see the international roaming page for more information.

[Hickory Shampoo]

<<N00b Alert>>

I've been nothing but impressed with their CS. I get an answer within a couple of minutes every time I call and I always get a satisfactory answer or resolution. Thus far, they haven't farmed-out their CS where I have to struggle to understand (or be understood by) the rep.

Most notably, the last guy who answered my call regarding my contract status and smartphone comparison was one of the best CS reps I've dealt with in any field.

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by Domek

... why don't the 'supervisors' at customer care know about this issue? This brings us back to the point I made about them simply reading a script and never engaging their brains into the process. One could simply be speaking to an 'intelligent voice operated computer' which would pick up on specific phrases in my sentences and 'read off' responses which are coded to specific phrases.

Originally Posted by Domek

Again I thank you for your comments, however it is frustating that
a- I will have to spend another hour before each trip to ensure that my voice mail is turned off and another to turn it back on
b- that it is through a circle of 'amateurs' that I have to seek out a response and not through my service provider.

Ah, but our goal is to reduce frustration. I have encountered this issue while traveling internationally but I never really understood it until I read Matt's explanation. As you have found, the 'amateurs' on this board (some of whom are telecom professionals ) are polite, have a desire to help and are smarter than the average bear. It's not surprising at all that a mod on this board can understand and explain an issue better than an average provider CSR.

Originally Posted by Matt

I think the wording of the VM in your bill is a matter of semantics. The issue, AFAIK, is a network one. The TM system tries to find your phone, if it is in Europe it forwards the call to that network. If you don't answer, have your phone off, etc., the call gets forwarded back to TM in the US for a dump to voicemail. Your callers don't actually have to hear your VM to pick up for that to happen. The system is designed to do what it is doing, so that callers to your US number can reach you (or leave you a message) while you are traveling. It's not an "issue" in the sense that it is a problem - it is working as TM designed their interaction with other carriers. It works the same as you were roaming in the US - the difference is in the fact that you get billed for roaming internationally. Most people don't roam internationally, so most reps rarely come across the topic. Does that mean you shouldn't be able to find someone at TM to help you? Of course not.

Originally Posted by Domek

Re the wording on the bill simply being a matter of 'semantics'... Perhaps I am unusual but I do expect a bill to be prepared in such a way that there is no question of semantics.

Re the issue of roaming being unusual enough that most reps won't be familiar with those issues, then there should be 2 options.. train all reps in that area or let the client be directed immediately to people who are familiar with this issue, ie. specialists in international roaming.

Re the knowledge and ability of reps, since I always have had a tri-band or quadri-band phone (currently the Blackberry 7100) I have heard comments from the techies at T-Mobile that 'Oh your phone is so new' or 'so few people use that phone' that any questions I have had when I get the phone I need to figure out myself...

Regarding the JD Powers awards, I manage and work as a service provider and if I used the attitude and approach that T-Mobile uses with its clients I would be in major hot water. My clients would be registering one complaint after another.

Yes. Different industries have different standards of customer service. You may remember the old Lilly Tomlin line from the (original) AT&T days. Not as true as it was, but still...

"Next time you complain about your phone service, why don't you try using two Dixie cups with a string. We don't care. We don't have to. (snort) We're the Phone Company!"

In various rants on this board I have complained about the same sort of robotic behavior and lack of knowledge you have encountered (not with TMo, as it happens). It all comes down to:

money - for what these reps are being paid, it's rare that you will get the intelligence and attention to detail that you expect in your employees.

rules - they have very little flexibility. If they just read off a script it's because they don't have the authority to do more.

training and turnover - as Matt said

company attitude - Some companies see service as a differentiator, some don't. They put a certain amount of effort and resources into customer service, but only if it benefits them. Obviously if they paid their people more, gave them more training and authority, you would be happier. But there is a diminishing cost/benefit (if they double the money they spend, they won't have twice as many happy customers and they will be less profitable). Each company responds to this tradeoff in its own way.

Unfortunately. just because T-Mobile wins awards in comparison to its competition, doesn't mean it will live up to your standards of customer service.

Of course, you should eventually be able to speak to someone who both thinks and who has authority. One tactic that has worked for me is to keep repeating "I'm sorry you have not solved my problem because ..(insert reason here). I need to speak to someone who can." They will keep switching you up the ladder.

The reps are measured on whether (and how quickly) they resolve an issue - not whether you are satisfied. If they give you the answer that's in their script - even if you don't like it - they can mark it as resolved. However, if you say the problem is not resolved and have a reason, they can't just hang up on you. They have to put you through to the next level of support. Just don't expect the kind of thoughtful service you get here.



SW

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

i have never waited for a rep!!!!!

I LOVE T-MOBILE!!!!!!! THEY ARE MY ONE TRUE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

i have never waited for a rep!!!!!

I LOVE T-MOBILE!!!!!!! THEY ARE MY ONE TRUE LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love TMobile also, but I would like to see them improve their coverage a little more in PA. As far as their customer service goes, I think they already have an A+ in that department.

[Mobile Mike]

It really is a crap-shoot as to whether someone will experience problems with CS or not. I have never had any issues with Verizon, T-Mobile, or even Nextel CS, but Cingular has been another story. Yet there are plenty of Cingular customers on this board who've never had any problems with their CS.

No company will be perfect, after all, humans are involved, and wherever you have humans, you have problems...

In the occasional calls I have made to T-Mobile, I've always gotten very friendly, knowledgeable people. If they didn't know the answer, they would either place me on hold to find out or send my to a higher tier-level rep.

Sorry for the problems you've had.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

Originally Posted by MobilePrincess

I love TMobile also, but I would like to see them improve their coverage a little more in PA. As far as their customer service goes, I think they already have an A+ in that department.

yeah coverage can be a problem but its good to know that their are people who genuinely care........or act like they care at the bare minimum.......

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

It really is a crap-shoot as to whether someone will experience problems with CS or not. I have never had any issues with Verizon, T-Mobile, or even Nextel CS, but Cingular has been another story. Yet there are plenty of Cingular customers on this board who've never had any problems with their CS.

No company will be perfect, after all, humans are involved, and wherever you have humans, you have problems...

In the occasional calls I have made to T-Mobile, I've always gotten very friendly, knowledgeable people. If they didn't know the answer, they would either place me on hold to find out or send my to a higher tier-level rep.

Sorry for the problems you've had.

yeah........Boost CS sucked like you have n idea......T-Mobile CS was incredible.........Sprint CS........well........they are just really blah and neutral.......and with the few dealings i have had with VZW CS.............it was very good

[Fire14]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

No company will be perfect, after all, humans are involved, and wherever you have humans, you have problems...

And this is the main point that needs to be remembered by people, yes the CSR's need to be trained on what to do & have the tools available to do their jobs, but as humans we all have bad days, issues, ect... that can effect the call to any one of us at any time.