Hello. I am a new member and I've been following this thread. I agree with the T-Mobile representatives that their company has to make money and they cannot subsidize their phones forever. I need to replace my phone because I lost it yesterday. It was 10 months old. Any tips on how to get a better deal, since they are quoting me more than they show in their web page as retail price.. The T-Mobile rep told me to wait until month 11. I have an old phone that I could reactivate.
Your help will be appreciated.
Anyone know whether there is any special set t-mobile phone upgrade policy. i.e. will they give me a decent price if I want to upgrade. I would extend my contract, for say a year. Would they give me a phone at the new service contract price. Thanks
Afternoon, I upgrade my phone every 6 months because I like too. I want the relativly newest phone that suits my needs and I have never paid for it, Why you ask. One of the reply's towards the end of this thread sums it up in , well ... rather a long essay but the basis of the reply is sound, the companies are competing for your business and as any sound business they will not ooffer the best possible price they can, they will offer the best possibly price they think they can get away with!
In this instance if they think you will go to another service provider they will try a few things to keep hold of your revenue. The mojority of these company's have what is called a CUSTOMER RETENTIONS DEPARTMENT, it is very unlikely that you will get passed through to this department without explicitly requesting it.
Once through to this department the rest is down to pure Blagardery, you tell them your colleague got this certain deal, you want the same, they say they can't you say that's not good enough. You will eventually reach some common ground that suits you more so than the company, ( so it's not really that common if you see what I mean)....
Hope that this helps chaps and chapettes !!!!!!!
bwanadave Posts: 2
Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:46 pm
I just got off the phone with a TMobile Customer Service person, asking
her about my choices for a new phone if I sign up for a new 12-month
contract. We are old Voicestream customers who were brought into
TMobile, and are pleased with it for the most part.
I need a tri-band phone because we have a home also in South Africa,
and I want to be able to swap out SIM cards depending on where I am.
My choices are pretty interesting.
The better one is an Ericsson T610, which will cost me only $49 if
I sign up for the new contract. Just to buy it from TMobile, it's $149.
Similarly, the venerable Motorola V-66 is $69.99 just to buy it, but
with a new 12-month contract, it's only $19.99!
bwanadave Posts: 2
Wed Jul 14, 2004 7:47 pm
I just got off the phone with a TMobile Customer Service person, asking
her about my choices for a new phone if I sign up for a new 12-month
contract. We are old Voicestream customers who were brought into
TMobile, and are pleased with it for the most part.
I need a tri-band phone because we have a home also in South Africa,
and I want to be able to swap out SIM cards depending on where I am.
My choices are pretty interesting.
The better one is an Ericsson T610, which will cost me only $49 if
I sign up for the new contract. Just to buy it from TMobile, it's $149.
Similarly, the venerable Motorola V-66 is $69.99 just to buy it, but
with a new 12-month contract, it's only $19.99!
greggen Posts: 1
Phone Model: Treo 180
Service Provider: Tmobile
Fri Jul 30, 2004 1:47 pm
First off, a phone with a $399 retail price does NOT cost the TMobile (or At&T, Verison, ect) $399. The actual price they pay is much less.
Second, the average life of a cellphone is less than 18months. I have had service with 4 different providers, and have gone through 7 phones, with problems with 4 of the phones within 12 months that required replacement.
I know it is frustrating when a customer wants a new phone for free (or cheap) but it is also frustrating to call in for information and get different answers to the same question for each and every call.
Renewing a contract is a value to the company, and should be considered as part of the price that the customer IS PAYING for the phone. Without the phone, there is no way to use the service.
Sure, a phone with more features cost more, but the companies charge more to use the added features.
A happy customer will recommend a good cell phone company, treating the customer honestly and with respect (something the tmobile reps who posted do not have) will allow you to keep your jobs.
orgwizard Posts: 6
Phone Model: T68I
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Sat Jul 31, 2004 1:22 pm
Too late for T-Mobile though, Verizon finally got a nice phone with all the features I want. I'll be switching in August.
surreal Posts: 2
Mon Aug 02, 2004 2:52 am
orgwizard wrote:
In one sentence you talk about beiing loyal to a mobile companies and in the next you talk about switching from Verizon to T-Mobile. I'm sure if I had 30 business cell phone accounts I probably wouldn't have to ask for a discount either. Get a clue. You're defending companies who fought tooth and nail to keep you from being able to keep your number so they'd have a way to keep you from switching. And that's on top of locking your phone so you can't take it with you when you switch providers.....
Wow, I was going to stay out of this but I have to say your post is rather un-informed. T-Mobile never fought to stop WLNP, it was VERIZON who fought with the most voracity and when they saw they couldn't delay it anymore they changed their tune to look better to the public. Also, it was T-Mobile who was the first carrier to ink deals with all 5 of the other major providers regarding WLNP. The phone is locked yes, but T-Mobile will unlock 1 phone, per line every 90 days at no cost to you... looks like they're really trying to "stick it to you" </sarcasm>
I keep reading about how you ONLY get same as new customer pricing. New customers are what the companies try to get so "new customer pricing" isn't exactly full retail... also for the upgrade there is no activation fee. You then say "ATT/Cingular/Verizon has lower prices on phones" and you might even say they waive activations fees. Sure they do, after they lock you in for 24 months give you no discount on new equipment for 18 to 24 months and charge you more for less minutes for 24 months. They get their money like T-Mobile, but they do it by screwing you for 2 years, instead of charging a reasonable price for a phone. Got to Motorola and pay 299.99 for a v300 or get it with "same as new customer pricing" for 149.99 after 50.00 rebate. Yeah, half price from the manufacturer is a HORRIBLE deal I know. Maybe alot of you don't understand that a tower has an effective range of 3-5 miles give good terrain and the average cost of towers gets into the 6 digits range.
"I want a free phone, waive my activation fee, pay reps to talke to me 5 times per month when I call in to get credit because I dropped 2 calls, build 4,000 more towers each year, build more call centers and make sure they're staffed 24 hours per day by over 10,000 customer care reps, give me another free phone after 12 months (thats TWO free phones for one line in a 12 month period)"
Why don't you just say "File for bankruptcy". Do you complain to your LEC when your paying 50.00 per month for local phone service (price based on having caller ID, call waiting, call forwarding etc)???
You should call and say "Thank you for giving me a phone that I can take with me. Thank you for the free long distance, unlimited night time calling, unlimited weekend calling, unlimited mobile2mobile calling (for some), free nationwide digital roaming, great international roaming rates to 140 countries around the world, thank you for being available 24hours per day 365 days per year, thank you for giving me 600 nationwide whenever minutes, unl nights/weekends for ONLY 39.99 per month"
Thanks will get you alot further then calling up and yelling at someone who is trying to help you. And asking for retention is NOT the way to go, it makes it look like you're trying to scam. You're best bet is to wait until you have a legitimate issue, call up in a nice tone and explain it. Anytime you get bad service its usually because you called up and took attitude with the representative on the other end - it does reflect back on to you.[list=][/list]
emsfiregrrl Posts: 6
Thu Aug 12, 2004 10:05 pm
I just got a T-mobile prepay phone(I don't use the phone all that much to need 1000 whenever minutes).It's a Nokia 3595.I activated it and set it up.First thing I did after that?I "SIM unlocked" the phone(Don't ask how to or for codes,the internet is full of places to go for that.Not here).We should be free to choose.I placed in the T-mobile card in the phone and use it in various places around where I live here in Ohio.Works great if you are near a major city or interstate.Rural area?Not!They need more towers and soon. This is not to razz on T-mobile,but also their website says"My T-mobile...free to ALL customers".Support E-mail I get says,"not offered to prepay".Seems to me that Verizon and Virgin Mobile(and maybe others) let me look at my account online.Why can't TM?In a nutshell,If you want to upgrade to a better phone face it,you'll need to either pay a price or extend the contract.If you have been a loyal customer,you should get a break.But it should be pro rated based on length of being there.IMO,ALL of these companies have their troubles.Just have to find the lesser of the evils.I also was just told by my mother that my father says he cannot figure out his cell phone(he is 76)and he is no longer going to use it.She is stuck for another year and a half with a second account.Said if I would help her pay it,she would let me use his number.So,with a SIM unlocked GSM phone,I am going to use my prepay minutes and then use the T-mobile phone with the Cingular account.I have discovered that Cingular will give me better coverage in the places I am going to use the phone(T Mobile doesn't have towers there yet,so I am out).Have a great day and just remember to really research things before you sign up for that 2 years.You need to make sure that you will be happy with what you have or get.Because it is hades to get out after you are in.Kinda like the mafia. LOL
lifanus Posts: 4
Phone Model: Nokia 6800 / Nokia 6010
Service Provider: AT&T / T-Mobile
Fri Aug 13, 2004 6:13 pm
What I always do is carry my number to a new wireless provider, like from t-mobile to at&t and then from at&t to t-mobile, that way I get all the special rebate online at some website like letstalk.com plus I can carry my number to new service, basically you get a new phone for under $100 compared to extend your contract
BEN47807 Posts: 1
Phone Model: LG L1200
Service Provider: T-MOBILE
Wed Aug 18, 2004 2:43 am
I have only been a T-Mobile customer for only a few months. I have found thier customer service reps to be more professional than any other company that I've ever been with. My last service provider was sprint and talking to thier customer service dept. about anything was a nightmare. Sprint put $37.00 dollars on my bill and could not explain it and refused to take it off. Even after explaining thier was no reason for it to a supervisor she stated "I looked at your bill it is correct and she hung up on me. I called back and Talk to a differant rep and she said I see the error and I can credit $15.00 dollars to your account that will show up in two to three billing cycles. I informed her that the mistake was for $37.00 and was on this bill not three bills from now and she didn't seem to care and stated I did what I could and shouldn't have gave you any credit on your account. Anyway now I'm with t-mo.
For those of you lookng to upgrade you can get good deals at yard sales and E-bay. I have a LG L1200 (not the best, but better than nokia 3595) for $50.00 Put in t mobile card and information works great. I can download from t mobile but I can from other sites.
I also have a question for you t mobile reps. Sprint, Cingular. as well as, Verizon offer discounts to public service men and women in my area. When I called T mobile about such a discount they stated they don't have that information that I would have to goto a T Mobile store. Here in Terre Haute Indiana we don't have a t mobile store. The closest is in Indianapolis and that is about 75 miles away and I suspect they wouldn't have any Terre Haute Information either. How would I find out?
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