Easily Manipulated Customer Care!
Written: Aug 09 '01 (Updated Dec 27 '01)
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Pros: Good Price, Bonus Minutes, Good Overall Plan.
Cons: Dropped Calls, Inconsistent Customer Service, Inaccurate Billing, etc.
The Bottom Line: VoiceStream's service isn't the best, that's a patent remark. VoiceStream's customer care reps are poorly trained and easily manipulated, which I've found is more of a benefit than a drawback
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| JamesK's Full Review: General Reviews of T-Mobile Customer Service |
I signed up with VoiceStream on December 26, 2000 because the car I owned had mechanical problems (see epinion on 1995 Cavalier ”Flaming, literally!”). In the beginning, I had good service with my phone. I purchased the “Get More Plan” which allocated me 600 Weekday Minutes, and 2000 Weekend minutes.
My first problem with my phone is that I could not get a local number. My cell number comes out of a place over 100 miles from where I live, so when anyone from my hometown calls me, it’s long distance. This was sort of a problem, but also stopped any calls that were "just to say hi" and the like.
For some unapparent reason, my phone would not allow me to make calls to other VoiceStream customers, and would (and still does) drop calls for no apparent reason, even when service is at a maximum. To rectify this problem, VoiceStream invoked the “Handset Exchange” policy. Basically, in exchange for my non-working phone, they sent me another non-working phone. Apparently, that is not the way that the Handset Exchange was intended to work.
I called VoiceStream Customer Care and they weren’t very sympathetic, which seems to be a common problem. I had my eye on a new “Super Phone” the Nokia 9000il. I called VoiceStream to make sure that it was compatible with both their service, and my plan, their response was “ABSOLUTELY 100%”. So, I went out and purchased the 9000il. As soon as it came in the mail, I rushed to put my SIM chip in the new phone. I turned it on and voila, it worked! Wow, Customer Care was right for once. I checked all of the functions meticulously to assure my self. I hit the fax button, and uh-oh, as I suspected, they weren’t right, VoiceStream doesn’t support fax service. I contacted them and they said that "we don't have the manual for that phone, so I'm not sure".
It seems that my bill is never right. Whether it’s off by twenty cents or twenty dollars. . .The only consolation for this inconvenience is the “bonus-minutes” which I love. This is the way that it works: I have a problem with my service/phone/bill, I call customer care, they attempt to fix the problem repeatedly, to no avail, and then they give me bonus minutes. Bonus minutes stay on your account for three months from the time of issue, and are used when you go over your normal minutes. The general fee for going over your minutes is twenty-five cents per minute, so when you are given 200 bonus minutes, they have an cash value of fifty dollars. Bonus minutes are well worth flirting with the customer care reps.
The biggest problem with VoiceStream is definitely their Customer Care (not for lack of giving out bonus minutes however). You can call and ask someone a question regarding your bill or service, hang up, call again, ask another representative, and get a completely different answer/solution. VoiceStream really needs to train their reps better.
U P D A T E
While on Vacation on November 24th, I called Customer care because my Nokia 5190 stopped working, whenever I turned it on, it would just vibrate. When the representative answered the phone, I informed her that my former communications device had opted to become a self-pleasuring device, and that I was unhappy. The rep stated that she was very sorry and offered another (duh duh duh) handset exchange. I informed her that I wasn't really up to doing that, she recommended a handset upgrade. For only $19.99 she would give me a brand spankin' new Nokia 3390, I said "SURE!" She puts me on hold. . . ."Sir, I'm sorry but I just found out that that offer is no longer available." I'm pretty upset now. I flirt and threaten to cancel my service. . .needless to say, I upgraded my *Plan* and ended up with 2 free Nokia 3390s. (the plan upgrade and the handset upgrade had nothing to do with each other) Regardless of VoiceStream service, I think that it needs to be said that Customer Care is easily manipulated and that may be one of the primary benefits of this cellular provider.
Give it a try! It's fun!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 49.99
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Epinions.com ID:
JamesK
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Member: James K
Location: Las Cruces, NM, USA
Reviews written: 11
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Young Successful Automotive Professional
Very Opinionated!
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