T-mobile and why I have two phones

07Jan11

T-mobile and why I have two phones

I hate seeing that 67.05 monthly recurring charges on my bank statement each month considering how little use I actual get out of my cell phone.   I have, no HAD, a t-mobile  “even more plus plan” $29 voice, $20 data $10 sms  but I found myself hardly ever using the $29 voice portion.  I figured it would be a lot more cost effective for me to get the $20 data and use the prepay service that t-mobile also offers.

I’ve actually been contemplating making this change for some time, but I’ve put it off because each time I call into t-mobile customer support my blood pressure rises due to some mess up on their end.  Would this time be different?,.. I crossed my fingers and called in.

I told the 1^st customer support rep about my usage and that I hardly ever used the voice portion and asked if I could change that portion to pre-pay.  He tinkered around in the computer and said that it would be possible and quoted to me my new plan fees and here are the notes I took from the discussion:

even more plus plan – voice barred for smart phones (which means I pay for voice by the min)  $39 data  / .45 cents a min voice — (unlimited text messages, included in data plan portion he said)

I was concerned when he told me the title of the plan: “voice barred for smart phones” , but when I asked him about this he told me no,  that’s just the name of the plan and I’d still get to use prepay for both incoming and outgoing calls billed at .45 cents a min.

Wow!  Just like that he made the switch for me and no issues at all?!  This is a first, THANK YOU T-MOBILE! No rising blood pressure from this call!  — The next day I found I had absolutely nothing to be thankful about….  someone told me they tried to call me, but my phone said it wouldn’t take incoming calls, and sure enough, when I tried to make outgoing calls I got the same message.

So I called back into T-mobile on someone else’s phone since t-mobile shut mine off.  The 2^nd support rep, Cedrick, gives me a phone number and says he can’t help or transfer the phone to their prepay division.   I had to point out the irony out to the rep… “You mean to tell me that the PHONE company can’t’ transfer a call within their own company?”..      … Now I’ve been involved with this prepay vs paid back and forth mess in the past, so I asked the rep again “Are you sure they can help me” .. “yes, just call this number and they will answer all your questions”.    Now I have to admit, I was a little sarcastic on the phone with my comment above, and there was something about the overly happy tone in his voice that made me uneasy.   I had no other option, so I made the call. (more on this at the end)

The phone rang 15x before I decided to redial.  This time it was an automated operator walking me through setting up my prepaid phone.  It didn’t’ work and no amount of hammering on the zero key got me to customer support; it was completely automated.   What other option do I have… time to call back and speak to customer support rep number 3.

The 3^rd customer support rep said that it’s not possible to have internet on a phone with prepay, and he can’t help me, so he’ll have to transfer me to the prepay division.  Somehow he’s able to do this but the 2^nd rep couldn’t?? He also confesses that the 1^st rep was misinformed and did not set up the account correctly.   T-mobile, you really need to train your reps and/or at least get the story straight.

By the time I spoke with the 4^th rep in the prepay division I had completely wasted my morning  and no amount of explaining to this rep was going to change anything and she actually hung up on me.

For the time being, T-mobile doesn’t cater to a customer with my needs.  So listen up t-mobile, you’re losing customers!  I’m a heavy data user and extremely light phone user and so are a lot of other’s out there based on some internet searches.   I need a phone that has unlimited data and a prepay voice portion for times when I need it. (e.g. emergencies)

Util they offer such a plan, I’ve reverted back to using my old ‘virgin mobile prepay’ phone for voice alongside my 2g iPhone for data. But my pockets are bulging so I’m considering cancelling the phone all together in lieu of some other options I’ll talk about in the following blog post.

T-mobile, if I missed something and there is an option, just give me a call, you have my phone number.   Oh wait you can’t, you disconnected it on me.

** some observations:

*The even more plus plan with data charges an extra $10 for text messages, yet this is somehow included in the data potion of the voice barred data plan.  So why can’t they include it in the even more plus plan’s data option? A: No technical reason, simply because they can. – cha-ching.

UPDATE:

I posted this problem in the t-mobile forums and someone pointed out that the first customer support rep had it slightly wrong when he set me up on the ‘voice barred’ plan.  There’s one that’s similiar,.. well I”ll let “cheekymonkee20” explain.  lol.

There actually is a plan that would work for you. The one the “1st rep” was talking about is a voice barred plan meaning you can’t use it to talk, period. There’s another plan that’s almost the same thing but allows you to use minutes as you go. It is $39.99/month however text messaging is not included. It’s an additional $10/month. Minutes are $0.45/minute. So he did give you partially correct information. Partially.

It’s not a true prepaid plan, so if you do call in to talk to someone, don’t mention prepaid. Let the rep know you want a data plan where minutes are optional and you are charged per minute if you choose to use it.

…

It’s something like “Even More Plus Smartphone with Unlimited Web”. It’s considered a data plan rather than a voice plan.

If you are still under contract, because this is an Even More Plus plan, you may be subject to fees for switching.

It’s a little late for me, I just don’t have the energy to go through that customer support experience again;  I’m done with t-mobile.  But maybe this can help someone else that’s heavy on the data, light on the voice.  When I called to disconnect the phone, the representative said I could have asked for a “Post pay data plan” with “pay as you go minutes”….   just don’t let them transfer you to their ‘prepay’ division.

 

UPDATE UPDATE: I decided to go a different route.

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