OPEN LETTER: Misleading Statements by T-Mobile Employees

[christof]

Hello Deutsche Telekom:

I am writing to inform you of misleading statements that have been told to me and other consumers regarding the rumored acquision of your company: T-Mobile USA.

I have been frequenting the various T-Mobile USA stores and venues where T-Mobile products/services are sold and have been told a few times by sales representatives (wearing T-Mobile shirts) that "T-Mobile is acquiring Cingular." While I know that this (wouldn't make any sense financially and) is probably against employee policy--making statements that refer to the future of the Company--it outraged me today when a sales person told me that T-Mobile had acquired Cingular, this day after Thanksgiving. Not only did I make the representative look like a fool in front of his potential clients by refuting his comments, it upset me that he stood by his story as if it were true--I assume to save face in front of his customers.

As a shareholder of the parent company of T-Mobile USA, I would STRONGLY recommend that you let the necessary officials know of these unsightly practices. While I agree that these are probably tactics of sales people to show potential clients that T-Mobile will survive, it is against the fiduciary duty of your representatives to make false and outrageous claims about the possible mergers/aquisitions that have not been announced and are only rumored.

This is quite upsetting, and I hope that you act upon this swiftly.

I look forward to your resonse regarding this issue and hope that it will be resolved in a timely fashion.

Respectfully yours,

"Christof"

[Freway01]

I can top that, when I went to complain that my reception at my home was poor and I couldn't use the service, I was told T-moble was bidding against Cingular for AT&T.

I guess it's anything to make a sale or keep a customer.

[christof]

Freway01--

Agreed, companies should take the necessary steps in keeping customers; however, while T-Mobile representatives strive to do so by making false claims about their CA/NV network and about the rumored acquisitions/mergers, T-Mobile has the HIGHEST churn rate in the industry.

I think that T-Mobile need to get its act together if they really want to compete in the competitive US market. Start a SPCS-like retention program, improve customer service to the levels that VZW and ATTWS have, but sure as hell don't mess with the consumer and spread information that can dramatically affect the value of the stock price.

It pisses me off that T-Mobile reps have to do this to keep/gain a customer. I look forward to hearing from someone that represents Deutsche Telekom soon; I have already sent this letter to investor relations. I'll be sure to post the respone once I receive it.

[Matt]

T-Mobile's churn is high because they are purposefully pushing people off of prepay if they can. Their contract churn is 2.4% - in line or lower than other carriers. Total churn is about 4%.

That said, there's a lot of misinformation at the end line retail level at every carrier. No representative of any carrier should give out false information if done so knowlingly.

[714tmobile]

Originally posted by: Matt
T-Mobile's churn is high because they are purposefully pushing people off of prepay if they can. Their contract churn is 2.4% - in line or lower than other carriers. Total churn is about 4%.

That said, there's a lot of misinformation at the end line retail level at every carrier. No representative of any carrier should give out false information if done so knowlingly.

I agree... a lot of retail stores and/or kiosks have 18-20yr old kids working at them trying to make a 10-20 spiff off of selling you a phone, and less concerned about the specifics of your contract and/or service.

[JayJay]

lol..this kinda of stuff cracks me up. I personally tell people all the time that all carriers are the same in respects to.....some have coverage where others dont..they all drop calls, and some offer better rates then others....and what the consumer needs to look at is 1) will the phone work when and where i need it to. 2) what other coverage fits my needs 3) price. There is no need for people to lie to keep customers. I also tell people "looks this it how it is...some have better coverage in areas then others, and vice versa, go with what works for you" If they go with someone else..then so be it!

[xiaoka]

i have found cell phone dealers to be one step off from used car dealers and/or those guys that sell vcrs at Circuit city...

lots of quasi-science, lots of bs, and lots yapping trying to get their comission off of you. I think the stand alone stores or kiosks are worse then the big box stores even...


I remember once I was shopping at circuit city and I heard one of the employees quizing a new recruit on vcrs or something, it was hilarious, since it was obvious (to me) that he was just parroting the marketing and training literature on the different formats.... clearly didn't understand anything that he was talking about, just repeating jargon... it probably works on most people though, thats the sad thing...

these are the same people who try to sell you extended warranties too... we shouldn't be surprised that they're willing to flat out lie about mergers, etc.

[ZaphodB]

Bah. I go into such situations expecting 99.44% of what I'm told to be an outright lie. I went into a T-Mobile store and was told they use AT&T's GSM towers in SoCal... that particular one was confirmed by the store's manager who showed me a communication from someone else at T-Mobile. Caused me to make a ridiculous post here, because of course it's untrue.

It's like talking to the 17-year-old kid at Best Buy. He wants you to buy it so he'll tell you anything... and I used to get my kicks asking things like "Does this computer come with integrated LRF support?" (You'd be amazed how many times people would try and sound knowledgeable about that - LRF stands for Little Rubber Feet.)

Consider your source.

Is it a shame? Of course it is. It's also rampant, which means that you, the now-educated consumer, can be a proper skeptic about it.

[christof]

JayJay--

I like what you said. Representatives should be real in selling products and services. I find that their honesty and human-like qualities can put consumers at ease, pushing them to make the purchase sooner. The pushy tactics of reps that are commission paid are annoying.

I find now that I do much of my shopping on the Internet. I do my research using Google (websites and groups), make an informed decision. Then use various price comparison sites (nextag, shopper, dealtime, etc.) to get what I want at the best price.

It's sort'a sad, but it's the only recourse I've found in getting the most for my money; not to mention, it's probably better for the company in the long-run, as they don't have sales people to pay when you're running a website. =P

[Freway01]

One thing I do want to say about T-Mobile is that as far as my dealing with their customer support or sales staff, they were nothing short of being one of the best support groups I’ve ever had to deal with. Everyone I talked with was very friendly and did the best to help me.

Over a period of a month, and after a few attempts to work with customer support and the sales staff to resolve a service issue I was having (couldn’t use my phones at home), the manager suggested that I return my phones for full credit and cancelled my contract without a penalty, I only paid for the time I had their service, and that was prorated.

If I were able to get phone service at my home, even though their maps said I should have excellent service, I would have stayed with T-Mobile. It worked great everyplace else I went to use it.