T-Mobile "No Longer in Service" Msg damaging

[JonathanJ]

Starting on June 25th, callers to my cell phone reached a recording
stating that my phone was no longer in service. My billing is current
and I could still make outgoing calls, but as a small business guy,
this is not a helpful message. Lost calls means lost business and even
worse, suggesting to my callers that my service has been disconnected
is embarrassing and damaging to the perceptions others have of me.

Despite repeated calls to T-Mobile's customer service department and a
visit to a T-Mobile store where my phone was subjected to various
diagnostics, the problem has persisted -- even though I was told
repeatedly that it was fixed. One of the reps there, however, did let
it slip that hundreds of Angelenos had experienced similar problems
over the past few days. The core of my concern is that outgoing
message saying my service has been terminated. One way to fix that
would be to switch immediately to another carrier -- but T-Mobile
would then charge me a $200 early termination fee. Since that is
probably a lot less than the business I have lost the last couple of
days, I asked T-Mobile to waive that fee. The company refused. I also
asked if they could somehow change the message that callers were
receiving that stated my phone was out of service. I was told this was
not possible. I asked to have my phone replaced and and was told the
problem is probably associated with my network and replacing the phone
may not solve it. The first customer rep I asked about this told me
the problem was too complex to explain but it may be due to faulty
interaction between my SIM card, phone and the network. "So replace
my phone," I pleaded. "Your phone works now," he explained, So we
can't replace it." Of course, the problem was not
fixed. Ultimately another service rep agreed to send me a replacement
phone -- but that will take days and callers continue to get the
message suggesting I can't pay my bill and even then there is no
certainty the problem will be solved.

Damage Done?
Hard to say. I know I missed calls from one organization that was at
least persistent enough to send me an e-mail. I know for certain I
missed an opportunity that would have netted me a few hundred dollars.
I know I did not get a half dozen or so calls I was expecting.
However, the biggest damage is creating the perception that I can't
even afford to pay my bills. I may never know what that has cost me.

T-Mobile offered me a $10.00 credit.

[tmobileman]

Originally Posted by JonathanJ

Starting on June 25th, callers to my cell phone reached a recording
stating that my phone was no longer in service. My billing is current
and I could still make outgoing calls, but as a small business guy,
this is not a helpful message. Lost calls means lost business and even
worse, suggesting to my callers that my service has been disconnected
is embarrassing and damaging to the perceptions others have of me.

Despite repeated calls to T-Mobile's customer service department and a
visit to a T-Mobile store where my phone was subjected to various
diagnostics, the problem has persisted -- even though I was told
repeatedly that it was fixed. One of the reps there, however, did let
it slip that hundreds of Angelenos had experienced similar problems
over the past few days. The core of my concern is that outgoing
message saying my service has been terminated. One way to fix that
would be to switch immediately to another carrier -- but T-Mobile
would then charge me a $200 early termination fee. Since that is
probably a lot less than the business I have lost the last couple of
days, I asked T-Mobile to waive that fee. The company refused. I also
asked if they could somehow change the message that callers were
receiving that stated my phone was out of service. I was told this was
not possible. I asked to have my phone replaced and and was told the
problem is probably associated with my network and replacing the phone
may not solve it. The first customer rep I asked about this told me
the problem was too complex to explain but it may be due to faulty
interaction between my SIM card, phone and the network. "So replace
my phone," I pleaded. "Your phone works now," he explained, So we
can't replace it." Of course, the problem was not
fixed. Ultimately another service rep agreed to send me a replacement
phone -- but that will take days and callers continue to get the
message suggesting I can't pay my bill and even then there is no
certainty the problem will be solved.

Damage Done?
Hard to say. I know I missed calls from one organization that was at
least persistent enough to send me an e-mail. I know for certain I
missed an opportunity that would have netted me a few hundred dollars.
I know I did not get a half dozen or so calls I was expecting.
However, the biggest damage is creating the perception that I can't
even afford to pay my bills. I may never know what that has cost me.

T-Mobile offered me a $10.00 credit.

We are not responsible for loss occurred due to network issues, your phone is not a business acct, it sounds like you have a consumer acct and are CHOOSING to use the phone for business, and the 10.00 credit was to compensate your for a network issue, it is reasonable what percentage of your monthly access fee is ten dollars? Sorry if it's not fixed yet, somebody exchanged your phone for a network related issue, this is probably because you persisted, do you understand how the service works? If it is network related than a new phone won't help you. The message can't be changed it is called a switch message, and they are standard depending on the issue, if it is affecting a lot of people it should be resolved as soon as possible. Why do people in L.A. think that they should get special rules, or if the service is down for five minutes you should be able to cancel with no etf? Maybe I am stereotyping, but I find that L.A. customers seem to feel like the rules never apply to them.

Sorry started ranting, back to your issues, usually switch messages are due to a provisioning outage or an internal error between you acct and the network, what should normally happen is you should call be transferred to Tech Support they reprovision your acct, unless there is a known outage that is being worked on, and usually your up and going again, so try calling back just to make sure the rep did their job correctly.

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by tmobileman

We are not responsible for loss occurred due to network issues, your phone is not a business acct, it sounds like you have a consumer acct and are CHOOSING to use the phone for business, and the 10.00 credit was to compensate your for a network issue, it is reasonable what percentage of your monthly access fee is ten dollars? Sorry if it's not fixed yet, somebody exchanged your phone for a network related issue, this is probably because you persisted, do you understand how the service works? If it is network related than a new phone won't help you. The message can't be changed it is called a switch message, and they are standard depending on the issue, if it is affecting a lot of people it should be resolved as soon as possible. Why do people in L.A. think that they should get special rules, or if the service is down for five minutes you should be able to cancel with no etf? Maybe I am stereotyping, but I find that L.A. customers seem to feel like the rules never apply to them.

Sorry started ranting, back to your issues, usually switch messages are due to a provisioning outage or an internal error between you acct and the network, what should normally happen is you should call be transferred to Tech Support they reprovision your acct, unless there is a known outage that is being worked on, and usually your up and going again, so try calling back just to make sure the rep did their job correctly.

Not all of us in Los Angeles are like that. So careful not to characterize EVERY Angeleno as being this way.

[Eric47]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

Not all of us in Los Angeles are like that. So careful not to characterize EVERY Angeleno as being this way.

i dont live in LA and i Find it offensive!

it is very important for people to stay in contact and many business and consumers need to be in contact at all times and could lose money or an important call if networks are not up to par.

I will say that i have never had a problem like this with ATT thankfully but no service is perfect. i agree also that no one should think its a TOS breakage but i ccan see where people would be highly upset.

personally if i was the OP if i had missed something important enough i would consider just paying the ETF and getting something that works better in my area.

[JonathanJ]

Five minutes? It was 2 and a half days -- and it persisted after T-Mobile told me the problem was fixed. It was closer to 3,000 minutes NOT FIVE. Why do these T-Mobile reps think that is a negligible problem? Maybe Angelenos complain so much because they are angry with the shoddy service.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

woul the whole Cingular/T-Mobile hndover have anything to do with this???

[JonathanJ]

If a changeover were the cause and if a service rep had suggested that, it might have been easier to swallow. All I got, however, was insistence that the problem had been solved when it was not and total indifference to to the problems it caused me. Even when I complained to T-Mobile corporate, all I got was some guy on the phone who was reading from a script, telling me I had signed a contract that clearly stated T-Mobile was not responsible for occasional disruptions in service. My complaint was never that this was just some brief disruption, but two and a half days of callers getting the message that "this number was no longer in service." I guess I'm just another whiney Angeleno as far as T-Mobile is concerned. It's no surprise the supreme corporate authority is so eager to unload their shoddy network.

[Mobile Mike]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

woul the whole Cingular/T-Mobile hndover have anything to do with this???

No. The unwind has been done for some time. This is a different kind of T-Mobile network issue.

[JonathanJ]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

[tmobileman]

Originally Posted by Mobile Mike

Not all of us in Los Angeles are like that. So careful not to characterize EVERY Angeleno as being this way.

you're right Mike, I am wrong to say what I said, just been a rough couple of days and to the OP sorry if I didn't empathize with you enough, you are the customer and it is not your fault the issue is happening. Just to let you know when you call customer service you are more than likely talking to a kid who is geting paid hourly to handle your call, most reps aren't savvy enough to know what technical issues are and how they are caused or how to resolve them except by what tmobile says will resolve specific issues, so I am sorry, hopefully this gets better soon for you good luck

[n9upc]

T-Mobile seems to be having this issue with a fair amount of people lately.

Also just becasue we do not have the account listed as a business means we can not use it for business??? WOW

Many people use their personal phone for items related to work! If my ambulance service does a call back for additional help or sick call-outs then by the above logic means that the phone should be under the ambulance services name because they call me on it to conduct business.

For the OP call into T-Mobile, find a non-mental CS rep, and ask to be transfered to technical support. When I had this issue they said they, " had to remove it and re-enter it." That seemed to work for about a month or so and then the problem came back.

Hope it works for you and your issues can get corrected as I was in the same boat as you.

[tmobileman]

Originally Posted by n9upc

T-Mobile seems to be having this issue with a fair amount of people lately.

Also just becasue we do not have the account listed as a business means we can not use it for business??? WOW

Nobody said you couldn't use your phone for business, I was just saying that on a consumer acct, we are not responsible for loss due to network issues should you choose to use your phone for business. That's all, but yes you should call for tech support what N9upc was referring to is that they will cancel your location on the network and then readd you that usually reprovisions your acct on the network. This is not happening for a lot of people but it is happening for a few in some markets.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

Originally Posted by n9upc

T-Mobile seems to be having this issue with a fair amount of people lately.

i was just talking with my friend the other night. She has the Sidekick 3. Her mom has the Motorola RAZR2 with T-Mobile. Her other friend has a Sidekick ID. And most of her other friends have Sidekicks. They've all been complaining lately of network issues and she said she wants to get rid of her Sidekick and even switch because it's just becoming to much of a block. she uses her phone for everything and its the one place where all her contacts com together. IM, Email, Phone, SMS. She does all of it from her Sidekick and it's just been less reliable lately. Is it a Sidekick thing or a T-Mobile thing??

[tmobileman]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

i was just talking with my friend the other night. She has the Sidekick 3. Her mom has the Motorola RAZR2 with T-Mobile. Her other friend has a Sidekick ID. And most of her other friends have Sidekicks. They've all been complaining lately of network issues and she said she wants to get rid of her Sidekick and even switch because it's just becoming to much of a block. she uses her phone for everything and its the one place where all her contacts com together. IM, Email, Phone, SMS. She does all of it from her Sidekick and it's just been less reliable lately. Is it a Sidekick thing or a T-Mobile thing??

more than likely a sidekick thing, the data network for Sidekick is run by Danger through Tmobile and there are issues with it all the time. The sidekick is a fun device but for people who rely on their phone for anything more than occassional web browsing and sms/IM a smartphone is the way to go.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

yeah.......it seems to me that Blackberry can be the same way.......i read the Facebook forums of people who dont get the notifications for the Facebook Mobile on their Blackberry because the BIS just doesnt forward them right......Smartphones are cleaner and open

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

also......could the fact that Microsoft bought Danger recently mean anything for Sidekick users??

[tmobileman]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

also......could the fact that Microsoft bought Danger recently mean anything for Sidekick users??

Not immediately but I am excited to think that Microsoft is putting a lot of money behind the sidekick and hopefully enhancing it to compete with the Iphone, we'll see what happens but I am excited for some revamping of the Sidekicks, I have wanted one for 4 years but I have not been confident enough in the Danger support to invest in one. Maybe by the end of this year, or next year some nice changes will come down for them.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by SmArTeStChIlD421

also......could the fact that Microsoft bought Danger recently mean anything for Sidekick users??

Yes, whether or not you like Microsoft, they have the resources to improve the Sidekick service that Danger doesn't have.

[SmArTeStChIlD421]

its really true......i think i would apprciate Sidekicks more if companies with a bit more of a good reputation would make them.......like Moto and Nokia instead of Sharp and Samsung

[olubolu]

I've been experiencing the same issue, with no resolution. I've finally decided to bite the bullet and switch over. At this point in my life, I've solely been using my tmo to talk with family since they're all on tmobile. My business phone is on verizon and I use that for everything else. I'm actually trying to just get the rest of my family to switch over to verizon...but then that doesn't seem very fair to them when I think about it. I love the gsm network soley because if I unlock the phones, I can use them when I travel internationally. However, now that I've found a great site with cheap pre-paid international sim cards, I'm not worrying about the travel issue so much. I just buy an unlocked phone and use it while I'm abroad...as soon as I hit US soil, I turn my verizon phone back on again. I'll just pay the damn early termination fee and get the hell outta the situation.