Author Topic: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.  (Read 9400 times)

oldtoyota

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Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« on: July 08, 2013, 09:03:24 PM »
Ever since I attempted to move to the new unlimited mobile plan at the Big T (rhymes with noble), my mobile no longer works at home. Big T had me reset my phone twice, do handstands while reciting the alphabet backwards, and shifted me around. Finally, SO sorta kinda got them to admit that, yeah, resetting our phones is not going to work.

We've applied to terminate the contract (they only accept this request via fax, by the way) since they can't keep to their part of it by having coverage in our own house. (Their solution to us no longer having coverage in our house is to use our wifi. Um, then what am I paying for? And also, what if the electricity goes out as it often does, and we have to make a 911 call?)

I am sort of worried the big T will say no to terminating our contract and not let us have our phone numbers or unlock our phones. You know what? Worse things have happened. In the end, I'll be on a $10/mo plan no matter what and be on another network that functions inside my house.

And if you want to revel about how your plan is cheaper, I will help in this regard. We've been paying One Hundred Twenty Dollars Per Month.

I know. Kray kray.

I've been a customer for ten years and all I've gotten is "use your wifi" if you can't get coverage now.






N

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #1 on: July 08, 2013, 09:46:31 PM »
yeah, before MMM, my att cell bill was 120$ for two phones. I did have unlimited data (and we used gobs of it streaming stuff for the kids)

Now our total phone is about 20$/month.
I am on the 10$ airvoice, husband is on pay as you go airvoice and has been using approx 7$/month and my nettalk duo is about 3$/mo.
I use wifi for data and my kids adapted to no streaming.

So happy to have found MMM and the wonderful thread by Mr IP Daley. :)


Frankies Girl

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2013, 11:37:47 PM »
I have AT&Fee, and they don't work very well in my house either. I mentioned it to a coworker, and they told me to get a booster - "cause it's just like $100, and now the cells work really well!" (OMG, that is stupid - pay them MORE money for a doohicky to make the damn phones do what they are supposed to do???!? )

I have to admit that we were paying $145 up until recently for 2 not-so-smart phones... but I called them up and we went over the plans and got them down to $40 each, $80+tax a month. Still stupid, but less so than it was. Now I just have to convince the husband that stepping down to the pay as you go would be a good idea.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2013, 07:23:13 AM »
T-Not-Noble told us we could break the contract by not paying the bill. That sure sounds like a way to invite trouble if you ask me. This is the kind of advice their employees are giving.

Another employee of theirs deleted all of the phone numbers on my phone. This was moments after I asked, "Are you sure I don't need to back up first before you do XYZ?"

Boom. Then, all the names were deleted.

Well, that just kept me from using my phone to make calls. And that just further supported my reasoning that I do not need T-Not-Noble service.

jrhampt

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #4 on: July 09, 2013, 08:10:25 AM »
I have AT&Fee, and they don't work very well in my house either. I mentioned it to a coworker, and they told me to get a booster - "cause it's just like $100, and now the cells work really well!" (OMG, that is stupid - pay them MORE money for a doohicky to make the damn phones do what they are supposed to do???!? )

This is exactly what I told the AT&T service rep when he suggested a booster to me when I complained about my lack of service in the house.  After I laughed at him.  And before I switched carriers.  I believe my complaint did have the effect of getting me a temporary 6 month discount while I researched alternate carriers, so you might try that.

burly

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #5 on: July 09, 2013, 10:25:57 AM »
If you can switch to a $10/mo plan, won't you break even in a few months? It may be worth it to pay the cancellation fee.  It was worth it to me to switch from ATT with the penalty.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2013, 11:40:47 AM »
If you can switch to a $10/mo plan, won't you break even in a few months? It may be worth it to pay the cancellation fee.  It was worth it to me to switch from ATT with the penalty.

Is that a question for me? If so, SO was a little reluctant to switch. I decided we'd go from 120/mo to 80/mo unlimited even though I knew we did not need unlimited. I am throwing a lot on SO at once, so I compromise where needed. Due this recent fiasco, we're now BOTH ready to completely change.

I would rather not pay the fee if I don't have to do so. They are not holding up their end of the "contract" since I do not have service in my house.

And don't you love how the mobile phone company doesn't actually have a contract for me to view? I've evidently being held to a contract that doesn't exist on paper or in a form that can be sent to me. How that is even legal I have no idea.

Daley

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2013, 04:58:36 PM »
If you can switch to a $10/mo plan, won't you break even in a few months? It may be worth it to pay the cancellation fee.  It was worth it to me to switch from ATT with the penalty.

Is that a question for me? If so, SO was a little reluctant to switch. I decided we'd go from 120/mo to 80/mo unlimited even though I knew we did not need unlimited. I am throwing a lot on SO at once, so I compromise where needed. Due this recent fiasco, we're now BOTH ready to completely change.

I would rather not pay the fee if I don't have to do so. They are not holding up their end of the "contract" since I do not have service in my house.

And don't you love how the mobile phone company doesn't actually have a contract for me to view? I've evidently being held to a contract that doesn't exist on paper or in a form that can be sent to me. How that is even legal I have no idea.

Bingo. Stick to your guns, Oldtoyota. They're breaking contract, not you. They're both not providing reliable service at the billing address and they can't turn up your contract paperwork. If they refuse to yield to your demands and release you from your contract, document EVERYTHING (especially the terrible reception - videotape a speakerphone conversation with cell signal strength in your home for example, but also document each person you spoke to about turning over a copy of your contract and couldn't - date, time, name, phone records, etc., and record conversations if legal in your jurisdiction) and then port your numbers out, pay the ETF and take them to small claims court for the cost of the ETF and for the cost of carrier unlocking your phones (if applicable due to being purchased before January 2013 and the service is available) or for the total replacement cost of the phones themselves if they cannot be unlocked.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2013, 02:08:13 AM »
A current mobile operator in France runs ads for a monthly contract costing 2 (yes, TWO) euros a month. That gets you 2 hours of nationwide talk and unlimited texting. You can also add 20MB of data for another Euro.

charles_roberts

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2013, 04:58:17 AM »
I've been a customer for ten years and all I've gotten is "use your wifi" if you can't get coverage now.
Mother ffff....
Some companies, eh?

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #10 on: July 15, 2013, 07:54:35 AM »
Update: We have faxed a document asking to be released from our contract. The other day, I was completely unable to make a call from my home. I found that fairly scary since I would not have been able to reach 911 if there had been an emergency.

I am going to look into getting a phone that will work with AirVoice. I need a working phone.

Daley

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #11 on: July 15, 2013, 08:39:42 AM »
I found that fairly scary since I would not have been able to reach 911 if there had been an emergency.

Actually, no matter how terrible/non-existent the regular reception with a carrier, the instant you dial 911 on a cellphone? It connects to the closest tower available, even if it's a competitors.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #12 on: July 15, 2013, 10:58:34 AM »
I found that fairly scary since I would not have been able to reach 911 if there had been an emergency.

Actually, no matter how terrible/non-existent the regular reception with a carrier, the instant you dial 911 on a cellphone? It connects to the closest tower available, even if it's a competitors.

Good to know. Thanks!

I hope they get back to me with a favorable answer soon.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #13 on: July 18, 2013, 11:54:05 AM »
They said no. They will still charge us the mirgration fee and said they would not let us out of the ETF due to a lack of service. They said they have coverage maps and we should have looked at them.

Isn't not providing service at our house going against the contract? The service stopped working.

Daley

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #14 on: July 18, 2013, 12:50:20 PM »
They said no. They will still charge us the mirgration fee and said they would not let us out of the ETF due to a lack of service. They said they have coverage maps and we should have looked at them.

Isn't not providing service at our house going against the contract? The service stopped working.

Have you mentioned that you didn't move locations between plans and the coverage *used* to be okay?

Document everything, pay their pound of flesh, and take 'em to small claims court.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #15 on: July 18, 2013, 06:58:45 PM »
They said no. They will still charge us the mirgration fee and said they would not let us out of the ETF due to a lack of service. They said they have coverage maps and we should have looked at them.

Isn't not providing service at our house going against the contract? The service stopped working.

Have you mentioned that you didn't move locations between plans and the coverage *used* to be okay?

Document everything, pay their pound of flesh, and take 'em to small claims court.

I have taken a photo of my phone bars showing no bars in front of my address on my house. I may also take some videos tomorrow. I also have a copy of their coverage map, which claims I have coverage at my address. I also have many copies of IM "support."

We had to fax a letter, the said. We did not mention we had not moved, but we've been in the same location for 10 years. The tech rep SO spoke to said that the coverage may have just gotten worse. Oddly, it got worse when we changed plans, but they claim the change in plans did not affect coverage.

I guess I'll pay the ETF and then take them to court.

Any know how I go about submitting something to small claims court?

Frankies Girl

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #16 on: July 19, 2013, 02:11:39 PM »
I guess I'll pay the ETF and then take them to court.

Any know how I go about submitting something to small claims court?

It's pretty easy. The details you'll have to check into for your area, but overall, it's mostly fill out forms, go to the local courthouse to file and pay the fee for a officer/sheriff to serve them papers and the fee for filing itself, and then wait for the court date.

I filed against a brake service company dog's years ago. I had to go round and round with the courthouse regarding the actual physical address and name of the business owner (it was spelled incorrectly, and the guy refused to accept the papers since "it wasn't him" ha) but once we got that stuff cleared up, it was laughably easy. They first got lawyers to send me a notice that they requested a jury trial - maybe to be sort of intimidating? In any case, I wrote them back and said "bring it, jerk" since what their employee did was break something that could have been fixed easily, but instead put DUCT TAPE on it and sent me off. I was 19, alone, and driving cross country when the whole car started shuddering like it was going to fall apart. I got home and the mechanic that looked at the car there said that the guy that did that must have been insane or an idiot and took pictures "in situ" of the mess, and wrote out his professional opinion... and that it could have caused a serious accident through their negligence.  Meaning that a jury trial would have made the original company look like complete assholes and won me more money than what I was asking for.

They settled for the full amount I requested + filing fees. :)

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #17 on: July 23, 2013, 04:44:43 PM »
Anyone know where I should get a non-Tmobile sim card? This is all sorta new to me.

Do I want to get the SIM card from AirVoice or can I buy any SIM card?

I need it in order to unlock the phone now that I've paid the outrageous T-mobile fees.

N

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #18 on: July 23, 2013, 04:57:18 PM »
are you getting airvoice? then yes, I think you need an airvoice sim. you can get them from their site, but Ive also heard recs of getting one on ebay or CList. I bought mine from their site. I think it was 5$, though I had to cut it down to fit into my iphone.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #19 on: July 23, 2013, 07:36:12 PM »
are you getting airvoice? then yes, I think you need an airvoice sim. you can get them from their site, but Ive also heard recs of getting one on ebay or CList. I bought mine from their site. I think it was 5$, though I had to cut it down to fit into my iphone.

Thank you. I purchased one from AirVoice. I'm a bit annoyed at T-Mobile for yet another reason. I did not know I would need a non-T-Mobile SIM card in order to unlock my phone. They, of course, did not mention this or else I would have ordered one earlier. Now, I'm scarily close to not having a working cell phone as I drive 10 hours across the country. Oh, well. Such is life.


Daley

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #20 on: July 23, 2013, 07:50:32 PM »
Anyone know where I should get a non-Tmobile sim card? This is all sorta new to me.

Do I want to get the SIM card from AirVoice or can I buy any SIM card?

I need it in order to unlock the phone now that I've paid the outrageous T-mobile fees.

Do you still have service with T-Mobile, or did you just buy out the remainder of the contract and terminate? I only ask because if you don't, you've lost your phone numbers (if you were planning to keep them). If you've paid and still have service, make them carrier unlock the phones before you leave instead of paying another outfit.

IANAL, but doing it in the order you have may complicate proving damages and collecting, as you've gone from leaving because they broke contract and being unjustly charged because they wouldn't rightfully release you to buying out a contract that you considered was still in force before leaving. (It's why I mentioned the order I had here.) Hopefully it won't impact anything, but just make sure the evidence, call records, and everything is bulletproof.

are you getting airvoice? then yes, I think you need an airvoice sim. you can get them from their site, but Ive also heard recs of getting one on ebay or CList. I bought mine from their site. I think it was 5$, though I had to cut it down to fit into my iphone.

Thank you. I purchased one from AirVoice. I'm a bit annoyed at T-Mobile for yet another reason. I did not know I would need a non-T-Mobile SIM card in order to unlock my phone. They, of course, did not mention this or else I would have ordered one earlier. Now, I'm scarily close to not having a working cell phone as I drive 10 hours across the country. Oh, well. Such is life.

I've never heard of this before, and I've never needed a third party SIM card to carrier unlock a GSM phone in the past. I've needed to remove the SIM card first on some models, but never needed to provide one from another network. If I recall correctly, Samsung's service code for carrier unlocking should be #7465625*638*# and then you should be prompted for the eight digit unlock code. More info here.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2013, 07:53:51 PM by I.P. Daley »

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #21 on: July 23, 2013, 08:59:57 PM »
Anyone know where I should get a non-Tmobile sim card? This is all sorta new to me.

Do I want to get the SIM card from AirVoice or can I buy any SIM card?

I need it in order to unlock the phone now that I've paid the outrageous T-mobile fees.

Do you still have service with T-Mobile, or did you just buy out the remainder of the contract and terminate? I only ask because if you don't, you've lost your phone numbers (if you were planning to keep them). If you've paid and still have service, make them carrier unlock the phones before you leave instead of paying another outfit.

IANAL, but doing it in the order you have may complicate proving damages and collecting, as you've gone from leaving because they broke contract and being unjustly charged because they wouldn't rightfully release you to buying out a contract that you considered was still in force before leaving. (It's why I mentioned the order I had here.) Hopefully it won't impact anything, but just make sure the evidence, call records, and everything is bulletproof.

are you getting airvoice? then yes, I think you need an airvoice sim. you can get them from their site, but Ive also heard recs of getting one on ebay or CList. I bought mine from their site. I think it was 5$, though I had to cut it down to fit into my iphone.

Thank you. I purchased one from AirVoice. I'm a bit annoyed at T-Mobile for yet another reason. I did not know I would need a non-T-Mobile SIM card in order to unlock my phone. They, of course, did not mention this or else I would have ordered one earlier. Now, I'm scarily close to not having a working cell phone as I drive 10 hours across the country. Oh, well. Such is life.

I've never heard of this before, and I've never needed a third party SIM card to carrier unlock a GSM phone in the past. I've needed to remove the SIM card first on some models, but never needed to provide one from another network. If I recall correctly, Samsung's service code for carrier unlocking should be #7465625*638*# and then you should be prompted for the eight digit unlock code. More info here.

This is what the email says:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile. Below you will see the Instructions for unlocking your Samsung device. Please be advised a non T-Mobile SIM card MUST be used to unlock this device."

Daley

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #22 on: July 23, 2013, 09:02:02 PM »
This is what the email says:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile. Below you will see the Instructions for unlocking your Samsung device. Please be advised a non T-Mobile SIM card MUST be used to unlock this device."

And I reckon that if you were to remove the SIM card, power it up, and enter in #7465625*638*# on the dialpad, the phone should prompt you for your unlock code in that email without needing another carrier's SIM.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #23 on: July 26, 2013, 01:23:20 PM »
This is what the email says:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile. Below you will see the Instructions for unlocking your Samsung device. Please be advised a non T-Mobile SIM card MUST be used to unlock this device."

And I reckon that if you were to remove the SIM card, power it up, and enter in #7465625*638*# on the dialpad, the phone should prompt you for your unlock code in that email without needing another carrier's SIM.

I took your advice to take this to the store to have them do it. They looked completely baffled and had no idea what I was talking about.


Daley

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #24 on: July 26, 2013, 01:30:47 PM »
This is what the email says:

"Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile. Below you will see the Instructions for unlocking your Samsung device. Please be advised a non T-Mobile SIM card MUST be used to unlock this device."

And I reckon that if you were to remove the SIM card, power it up, and enter in #7465625*638*# on the dialpad, the phone should prompt you for your unlock code in that email without needing another carrier's SIM.

I took your advice to take this to the store to have them do it. They looked completely baffled and had no idea what I was talking about.

Oy, some people's kids robots.

You've really provided some stellar customer service there, T-Mobile. Glad to see you picked up a few pointers from AT&T during your merger talks, too. Feh.

Hang in there, OT. The end is nigh.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #25 on: August 05, 2013, 05:19:29 PM »
Wow. The AirVoice SIM card did not show up after my first order, so I lost my phone #. Not the worst thing. The "confirmation email" was not really confirming my order, it turned out. AirVoice said I would have to receive a second email called "confirmation email" *with* an order number for it to "count."

Now, I finally have the SIM card, and I have to watch a YouTube video to see how to cut it. Evidently, I need a template and double-sided sticky tape.

Switching mobile services providers has been a real nightmare. At least I'm still alive!

PS: AirVoice does not give you the $10 plan listed in the activation/order form. They list all of the expensive "unlimited" plans with the price right at the front, so they are easy to identify. They place the "cheap" $10 plan at the bottom BUT they do not say it is the $10 plan. They have it labeled as "250 min OR 500 texts" and that is all it's called.

Sneaky devils, those AirVoice folks.

oldtoyota

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Re: Dear Mobile Company, It's Not Me. It's You.
« Reply #26 on: September 20, 2013, 07:49:17 PM »
Will it ever be over with Tmob? DH still has their service.

They charged $91 for service on his one phone. It used to cost $60 per phone for a total of $120 a month. I left the plan and now they charge $91 instead of $60?

Sheesh. Will I ever be free of them!?


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!