OT: T Mobile?

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Watch out guys! Just got my bill today from T-Mobile.

 

They say that they are going to charge me a 'nominal'$1.50 a month charge to send the paper bill, starting Sept 12.

 

Now, let us for a minute skip the bullshit about the environment and recognize this for what it is... another scheme to make money.

 

I already pay all my bills via my banks electronic bill paying service. I'm NOT giving my bank info to ANY outside company, they get data-jacked too regularly for any but the most foolhardy to do that.

 

My solution will be to cancel the contract. as per section 5:

Section 5 of the Terms & Conditions states: If we (T-Mobile) materially modify these T&Cs in a way that is materially adverse to you (me, the consumer), or if a change increases your set monthly recurring charge(s), we will provide you with at least 30 days notice and you may terminate your service without an early termination fee by notifying us within 30 days after reception of said notice.

 

With all the cell phone companies available out there....

 

and besides, when they sold me the original phone service, I went with them because of the JD Power award that they had just received and because their coverage map seemed to match everyone elses. But in practice I find their coverage to be so bad that I cannot get service in half of the theaters that I work, or in places in my own house. So, for service that does not match the competition, I'm paying about the same that I did to have service with the competition. And now that cost will rise.

 

Goodbye, T-Mobile. You ARE the weakest link.

[Larryz]

I use the Tmobile throwaway plan and just charge $25 whenever I need to renew every 3 months as I'm not a big cell phone user and mostly carry it for emergencies or short conversations when needed. (no contract and can cancel anytime) I agree the coverage doesn't work well in the out-back, but it seems to do OK in and around the town and freeway areas...thus they don't send a bill and can't add the $1.50...I can always buy more minutes if I need more than $25 bucks worth, at any time...so maybe you could change to a prepaid plan and keep your same number? or as you say 'goodbye TM'

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

"so maybe you could change to a prepaid plan .."

 

That is certainly an option. I haven't really explored any options yet, I just know that I'm not paying to be billed. If you can't afford to send me a bill, you need to re-examine your house, not pile another bill onto mine.

As far as the number goes, I don't really care. I let my cool business number go when I left the studio, and I've never even committed this number to memory.

 

Bill

[Gifthorse]

T mobil dicked me too. I was a loyal customer for a year, I was late like 1 time or something on my bill payment.

 

Then I was on vacation. It was the last month of my contract, I was like a week late paying my bill.

 

They sent me a bill for $260. They said I breached my contract. I called and negotiated, and they wouldn't budge. I told them I was willing to pay my last months bill, I even sent it in the mail. They wouldn't accept it.

 

SO I didn't bother paying the $260, which I thought was a crap way to treat a loyal customer.

 

But At&T is another one. I had them for a year, then I switched to Cingular--then they bought Cingular. I actually liked Cingular the best. They were friendly, and the coverage was great.

 

But this is what AT&T was doing.

 

See unless you pay extra for your plan (at least then), your text messages cost you like .10 cents per message. BUt that isn't just for sending them, thats also recieving.

 

So I noticed I was getting spammed everyday at work. I would get a few messages. At the end of the month like $2.50 would be tacked on to my bill. I called up and complained, and they promptly took the charge off of my bill.

 

But to me it seemed fishy. Imagine how many people DON'T call up and complain, or have it taken off. Also I started thinking, what if At&T was actually indirectly behind the spam?

 

I wouldn't put it past them thats for sure.

 

God my phone bills were enormous with them. When I get back stateside, I may opt to use something cheaper like Metro PCS.

 

My buddy has them and it is only $40 a month unlimited calling.

 

Also I have this thing for my PC called Magic Jack. It is $20 a year unlimited calling in North America. It is over the PC, you just plug your phone into the USB jack that comes with it. I can use it here in Taiwan to call home for free--or basically for free.

 

It assigns you your own phone number, and you can also recieve voicemail if your PC is off. Very useful, and CHEAP. The sound quality is great too..

 

Of course you do need high speed internet for it to work well.

[Strategery]

I've been with T-Mobile and the previous owners for 12+ years and have never had a problem.

In fact, I am now on the unlimited plan in which THEY contacted ME to see if I would approve the change to get off the $69+ per month for only 1500 minutes, after they started the plan.

 

I am now paying only in the $40's per month for unlimited minutes and have found that the reception is fantastic and I have the least problems out of T-mobile than the other cell providers.

 

I also get a free phone every 2 years or so when I need one as I use them heavily in my outside sales job.

 

For me...no problems.

Of course...I DO pay my bills on time so that creates no problems.

I WILL of course start watching my T-Mobile bill for extra charges.

Thanks for the heads up on that!!

 

Randy

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

I've been with T-Mobile and the previous owners for 12+ years and have never had a problem.

In fact, I am now on the unlimited plan in which THEY contacted ME to see if I would approve the change to get off the $69+ per month for only 1500 minutes, after they started the plan.

 

I am now paying only in the $40's per month ...

 

I also get a free phone every 2 years or so when I need one as I use them heavily in my outside sales job.

 

 

Randy

Randy,

 

"I have the least problems out of T-mobile than the other cell providers."

 

I had great hopes for T-Mobile because of the JD Power Award. Hasn't worked out quite so well for me.

 

And yes, I pay my bills on time. The R'N'R GirlFriend complains because I pay bills on the day that I get them. Old habit from being on the road.

 

I pay $39 for 1500 minutes, plus all that free nights and weekends stuff... I caught some great promo plan. The total per month is in the high $40 range.

 

The "free" phone extends your service plan for another two years.

 

 

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

 

Also I started thinking, what if At&T was actually indirectly behind the spam?

 

... Metro PCS.

 

Also I have this thing for my PC called Magic Jack.

Of course you do need high speed internet for it to work well.

"SO I didn't bother paying the $260, which I thought was a crap way to treat a loyal customer."

 

I had a similar situation with Sprint. Broke my phone. Wanted a new one. They wanted to charge me list price. No way. I'd been a loyal long-term customer. If they can sell a phone to a new customer for under $100, why should I pay hundreds more? Upshot was that I did not have a phone for two weeks. I tried to negotiate a deal with them, found a better deal with Cingular. Cancelled my Sprint contract. "Prepare a final bill for me. How long will it take?" 3 days. Showed up at their offices 3 days later, paid the 'final bill'; three weeks later got another bill for $20. Wrote them a letter. "If I owe this I'll pay it, but please show me how I owe it?" No answer. They just kept sending me bills. I haven't paid them, and I don't intend to until they show me how I ran up additional charges when I didn't have a phone, and I had paid the 'final bill'.

 

I had AT&T remove text messaging and the web from my capabilities. Yeah, I got AT&T generated spam.

 

Metro doesn't serve this area, but Cricket does.

 

Magic Jack advertises here. I looked into it but we get our phone service from Verizon for the DSL. No savings to be had there, we don't have cable TV.

 

[Strategery]

Bill, you are right...but the PLAN itself has no stipulations on it.

I accept the free phone because I have to have one anyway and it beats buying one. :-)

 

I'm sorry you're having problems with them, it's so unusual.

 

I think if I ever changed it would be to Verizon.

I hope that will never have to happen though.

 

Randy

[J. Dan]

I have AT&T through work. Get great coverage, but I have no idea what it costs or anything.

 

I got Verizon for my wife and mom. She has unlimited internet access and text messages, but it ain't cheap. I want to say it's over $100 per month for both lines. But I haven't had any problems and they've been great to work with. Before I switched her to unlimited texts, I even had a situation where it was set up on automatic bill pay. I didn't realize she was getting some charges for texts that were carrying over month to month since I was paying the same and not looking at the statements (my fault). Once they racked up to a certain point, they called. I saw what was going on, paid the extra balance, switched her to unlimited, and that was that.

[BillWelcome Home Studios]

Verizon scares me first because they are seriously expensive and second because they dumb down their phones, then charge you to provide services that are native to the phone, before they dumbed it down. If you check into any of their phones for the last year or so and do a comparison of that phones features among service providers, you'll see what I mean.

 

In the case of my current phone, which runs a flavor of Linux or Unix (I forget..) on Verizon the same phone runs a different OS.

[J. Dan]

I got my wife a Windows Mobile phone that is exactly the same as the one I had through work with AT&T before they made us switch to blackberries. I could't tell any difference - you pay for internet access on it and everything works as it should.

[anderz]

T-Mobile. Sucks.

 

I have a tmobile phone, only pay $100 a year. A YEAR.

 

The only good thing is I save money.

[d halfnote]

FWIW, I never bothered w/ a cell unit til I had to get one last year.

It's very simple Motorola/ATT bar & only cost $10 new but provides all that I need it for, plus has some auto features that are free.

Basically it's just a phone & text tool.

I can't imagine trying to do anything Net-based on a tiny screen nor clicking through the steps to develop a schedule log when a pocket notebook's easier.

 

ATT coverage, as mentioned above, is basically universal (compared to say, Cricket, which charges roaming fees & depends on other carriers when in most rural areas) but their customer service is often very poor, an area where they all trade off according to Consumer Reports.

 

Personally I think all the carriers are gonna find a way to skin you, just as they do on your landlines.