T-Mobile Donk Down Nationwide, FML

http://mashable.com/2009/11/03/t-mobile-down-nationwide/




T-Mobile Down Nationwide



T-Mobile customers across the United States are experiencing network outages that are preventing them from making calls. The outage, according to T-Mobile representatives, is nationwide and could last for several hours.

A quick Twitter search (tweetzi Twitter Search) and a few phone calls from T-Mobile phones confirms that there is a problem. While customers may have signal bars, calls from their phones usually result in a busy signal or a disconnection.

Internet works, I can place calls but people calling me get a busy signal, and I can't send or receive texts.

Also can't get through to bitch at the 611 number.

SFO i had texted you no less than 7 nude pictures earlier and you probably won't ever get them now.

Alex Jones predicted this.



edit: but I think he said it was going to be Amp Mobile.

Wow. I've never heard of a nationwide outage like that. A bunch of engineers will be working on their resumes tonight.

This comes just a few weeks after every Sidekick owner lost all of their contacts for most of a week. That technically wasn't T-Mobile's fault, but it still pissed off a whole lot of customers.

Finally got through to T-Mobile, they basically said to keep turning your phone off and on and eventually you'll get a signal. I got about 15 text messages when my phone came back on.




























Zero nudez.

My phone still isn't working..

FML

I can call people, but can't get calls in.

SF GAY

and can't text/receive

thats weird mine works fine fools i got the google G1 does that matter?

Tmobile sucks.

Worst customer service by far.

Finally I can agree with Druff on something. T-mobile is the absolute worst.

Up until today, I have had zero problems with T-Mobile since 2003. I have always been happy with the customer service reps. I've heard a ton of horror stories about how much they suck, but have never found anything in my personal experiences with them that backs up what I've heard. Who knows, maybe I'm just running good.

Today sucks though.

Same here. I LOVED T-Mobile in Minnesota. I've had a shitload of providers over the years and they were my favorite. I used to hate Sprint, but I'm back with them and I've had zero problems since re-signing.

I agree with Wrench. They've always treated me well on the phone. The biggest problem I had out of them was when I was staying in San Diego. I couldn't get a signal in the house so I called and complained and they made it a hassle, but in the end they sent a tech out to the closest tower and turned up the power. Never had a problem with a signal after that.

T-Mobile customer service use to hook me up all the time. I had a plan for 1000 anytime minutes for $39.99 a month. Whenever I'd go over my minutes which was pretty often all I had to do was call into customer service and ask them to backdate and upgrade my plan for that month by $10 to cover the overages, rather than pay the per minute over rate. As soon as they did that they would downgrade me for the current month back to my original $39.99 a month. It was great, but I was also no longer under contract which is probably why they did that. Once I get out of contract with a provider I never resign even if that means not getting a great deal through them on a new phone, because then customer service will suck your dick if they're afraid you'll change providers.

t-mobile is just terrible in coverage range if that matters to you

This never happened

I am not going to go into the whole mess I got into with their customer service, but suffice to say that I spoke to a number of reps (including two supervisors), and all had a nasty, condescending attitude when it came to replacing my phone when it died (through no fault of my own) early into the warranty period.

They suck.

They also have a corporate culture of little accountability, so they can basically get nasty and tell you to fuck off, and are unlikely to get in much trouble for it.

This is the opposite of Verizon (best customer service, worst prices), which constantly aims to please and kisses your ass.

If you want a good deal, I'd suggest AT&T, which has semi-shitty customer service (but better than T-Mobile) and good prices.

Did they claim water damage?

You know they are markers inside the phones that turn red when exposed to liquid.

Now here's where I don't get it. I've had 2 Blackberrys (different models). Both phones have been subject to rigorous use and abuse by me at work. My hands are often dirty when I use it and the dirt gets into all sorts of places it shouldn't and eventually keys and/or the track ball stop working. I had my first blackberry (pearl) replaced three times, and my current (Curve 8900) replaced once. Each time the customer service was as friendly as all hell. Never condescending and never blaming.

They always ask how I'm doing and every single time I call them, there is usually about a 1-5 minute "banter period" where they start off asking how I'm doing, and we always engage in some type of chit chat regarding weather, work, my city, etc. One time, on hearing that I was a mechanic, I actually talked to a rep for over 10 minutes regarding a problem she was having with her car, before we ever got to my problem.

They are always polite, gracious and never fail to thank me for being a member of "the T-Mobile family." Sometimes more than once. They always ask if they may call me by my first name, and until given permission, call me Mr. (last name).

Maybe they've changed how they do business, I'm not sure. I'm here to tell you I've never had an incident with their customer service that comes anywhere close to negative. And it's not just my area either, I always ask what city they're working in when we "chit-chat" and it's been in multiple places all over the country.

I really wasn't in the mood to post another "Dan Druff versus Customer Service" story, but I guess since a few of you are curious, I'll do it anyway.

Here's what happened between me and T-Mobile:

I had their service for several years. I had a very good deal going with them, and the customer service, while not great, was satisfactory. I was happy enough to continue with them for the foreseeable future.

My contract ran out, and I wanted a new phone. I bought one of their more expensive phones and renewed my contract. I did get a discount on the phone because of renewing the contract, but I still spent decent money on it, and could have gotten a lesser phone for free.

The phone had a 1-year warranty.

6 weeks into owning the phone, it suddenly lost the ability to properly receive a signal. Areas that previously had 4 or 5 bars now had 1 or 2, and areas that had less than 4 bars gave me no reception whatsoever. Just to make sure nothing had changed service-wise, I asked a friend from the same area (with the same phone) if things had changed for him. Everything was the same. My phone just went to crap.

I called T-Mobile. They were very gracious-sounding at first, telling me that they would ship a replacement phone to me right away. Then came the kicker which set off all of the trouble:

"I just have to inform you, sir, that your replacement phone might be refurbished."

Say what?

This was totally unacceptable. I bought and paid for a new phone, and it was only 6 weeks old. It developed problems through no fault of my own. And now they wanted to give me a refurbished phone in its place?

I kept trying to explain that this isn't what a "warranty" is. A warranty means that, if your merchandise breaks down, it will be repaired or replaced for free. It does not mean you will receive someone else's refurbished product in its place.

I insisted, "I paid for a new phone, I want a new phone in its place."

The rep not only refused, but acted like I was crazy to be asking for this. He absolutely did not see my point -- or at least he pretended not to. He got more obnoxious and more arrogant as the conversation progressed.

Keep in mind that I had been with T-Mobile for like 3-4 years by this point, and had always been a good customer. I always paid on time, and I never had any argument with customer service in the past. All I wanted was the new phone that I paid for, and now I was getting a refurbished one at the new-phone price.

I finally asked for a supervisor. The supervisor also treated me like I was crazy to be asking for a new phone. The supervisor kept insisting that there was "no way" they could do this. They also would not let me out of my contract and let me simply return the phone. However, he told me to give the replacement system a try. He told me that "the phone MIGHT be refurbished, but it also might be new", and that the refurbished phones are so reliable that "you won't be able to tell the difference anyway".

I was very unhappy, but I was stuck. I very reluctantly agreed to try the replacement phone, as I really had no other choice (aside from a lawsuit, which I wasn't going to get into).

The refurbished phone arrived. Sure enough, it was crap. Its screen would intermittently blank out, and cycling the phone power wouldn't fix it. For 30-40% of the time, I would simply have no screen on my phone. Obviously this was unacceptable.

I called up T-Mobile and again demanded a new phone. I went directly to a supervisor for this one. I got some very uppity woman who got progressively nastier as the conversation continued. As far as she was concerned, T-Mobile was again willing to replace my phone with another refurbished one, and I should simply be happy with that. After, again, a huge argument, it was clear she wouldn't budge. I had them send me another replacement.

The replacement of the replacement was also crap. The "5" button did not work. I called T-Mobile again. This time I got yet another supervisor, and he was the worst one of all. I told him how frustrated I was that BOTH refurbished phones did not work. I demanded a new phone this time. He refused, with no logic or reason behind it. He could not explain why this was fair to me. As we argued back at forth, he finally made some sarcastic statement mocking me. I then asked him, "Is it T-Mobile's company policy to mock your unhappy customers?" He responded back, "If we can't get our point through to them, then yes, we mock them." Unbelievable. I demanded his supervisor, and he said there wasn't one. He gave me some address in another state to write to. Yeah, right.

Exhausted from all of this, I hung up on him and called just to order yet ANOTHER replacement phone from a regular rep. She processed it and was reasonably friendly. Then she said, "Wait.. what's this? I see some note on your account that you are always requesting free things, and not to give you any credits or anything free for any reason."

I was floored. I had never once asked for anything free from T-Mobile. This was my one and only issue with customer service ever.

She removed the note, and sent me the 3rd replacement. This replacement worked the best of the three, but STILL had an issue. It would sometimes power off out of nowhere. I dealt with this inconvenience and decided I was simply done with T-Mobile when my contract was up.

When the contract did end, I called the retention department. I just wanted them to know why I was leaving. I told the guy everything. He seemed very disinterested. I got a very robotic-sounding, "I'm sorry you had this trouble, and sorry you are leaving T-Mobile", but that was it. He offered some really weak discount for me to stay -- something like $30 off the first month if I sign a new contract. I asked if he was interested in looking into the mistreatment given to me by the reps, especially that one guy who mocked me. He said that they would "look into it" and call me for more details. Obviously nobody ever called me. It was clear from the guy's tone that he didn't give a shit. He also told me that he couldn't understand my point as to why I deserved a new phone instead of a refurbished phone -- even though my new phone was only 6 weeks old when it broke, and even with 3 refurbished replacements not working. It was also clear from everyone's attitude there that T-Mobile had a corporate culture of generally treating customers like shit.

I switched to another company, and that was that. I will never go back to T-Mobile.