I registered to post this, as I find myself quite disappointed with T-Mobile today.
Specifically, I called to find out about discounts for upgrading my phone from my over-two-years-old 3390 Gold to something better, and was told that no upgrade discounts were available to me.
Now, T-Mobile representatives have mentioned earlier in this thread that people often complain because they don't get upgrade discounts after just a few months -- however, my wife and I have had T-Mobile for more than two years now (two year-long contracts, and an unknown number of months since then), first year with a $60+ family plan, and since then with a $100+ family plan. We have not upgraded our phones at any time -- we're still using the original 3390 Gold phones they provided -- and we've paid for several months of WiFi hotspot access to boot.
I am disappointed primarily because this hurts T-Mobile as well as it does us. Now I'm simply going to transfer our account over to another provider for a year, take advantage of their free phone upgrade deal, then go another 2+ years sending checks to them instead of T-Mobile.
Sigh.
11 months of ACTIVE SERVICE, that means if you have a ladex,suspend for nonpay, lost or stolen etc. Everything except SLB suspend then you wont be eligible after 11 months. If you receive one Voluntary or Involuntary Suspend during a month then that month does not count towards your 11 months. Other then that you need to be on a single line plan that is 39.99$ or more or you need to be on a pooling/family time plan that is 69.99$ or more. Only other reason why a customer may not show as qualifying would be a MSISDN change (phone number change) In which case the customer would still count as completing 11 months of active service but the upgrade would need to be escalated to a supervisor for the order to be completed at the discount pricing.
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Samsung Posts: 3141
Phone Model: Motorola RAZR2 V8
Mon Feb 21, 2005 1:56 am
massadoobie wrote:
I just got off the phone with T-mobile and I have to say I'm extremely confused. I've been a customer since August of 03 with the $39.99 plan (which I believe qualifies me for the discounts I've been reading about). I have a T610 that I'm pretty sure is starting to crap out on me (the static over the last few weeks is unbearable), so I asked him how much I could get a Motorola V600 for (this is while I had the t-mobile and amazon.com sites in front of me on the computer). He told me I qualified for the discount on the v600 and could get it for the "low" price of $319 off of a retail value of $389. Of course, list price on both t-mobile and amazon is $299.99. I asked him about it and he said those are for new agreements only, and I could get another line (what?) and another plan to get those deals. Am I totally missing something? I've only skimmed through this forum, but I have seen things like "11 months at a plan $39.99" and "price-match amazon.com" here (although there's always the chance that I misread some stuff). So what's going on here? Did I just get the dumbest tech op on the planet, or is T-mobile REALLY doing their best to ensure that long-time customers get pissed off and leave because they're being charged hundreds of dollars more for phones that new customers get for dirt cheap?
Pricing for the motorola v600 should be as follows
Non Qualifying Customer
$319.99 - With Contract Renewal
$379.99 - With Out Contract Renewal
Qualifying Cusotmer
$299.99 - Without Contract Renewal
$299.99 ($100 mail in rebate) - With Contract Renewal
Again being with the company for 11 months does NOT constitute 11 months of ACTIVE SERVICE, if there is any confusion look at my previous post.
*All prices subject to change without prior notice obviously
doggiesnot Posts: 2
Wed Feb 23, 2005 4:22 pm
Without reading all the posts... What can be so hard about this?
Once you've reached your contract term (1 or 2 years), you should have the same benefit as a new subscriber.
So, saying "You want a phone for free!" is true, because that's what you're advertising on www.tmobile.com to new users. Well, guess what? I "am" a new subscriber to another carrier. So, what's so wrong with saying "New Subscription or Post-Contract Only"?
Without offering this upgrade option to customers that have met their contract agreement, you're going to lose customers to other carriers, period!
You make the money in the monthly charges, not in the phones themselves -- just like printers and ink cartridges.
Why not take care of your loyal customers instead of risking losing them to another carrier? Carriers are 6 of one, half dozen of the other to most people, with one or two they probably will avoid.
Samsung Posts: 3141
Phone Model: Motorola RAZR2 V8
Thu Feb 24, 2005 1:33 am
Sadly thats not how it works. Prices on the website list for NEW ACTIVATIONS OR EXISTING CUSTOMERS that add a new line of service. Tmobile doesnt get the phones for free lol they need to pay the MANUFACTURERS for them. Let me guess you would want the 500$ phone for free too right?? Hmm lets do the math you are on a plan that costs 39.99$ we will even say that you have a basic text messaging package 2.99$ per month. that means that Tmobile makes $515.76 a year off you (im aware that this is not the case usually). The service providers give you the free 200-300$ phones when you start service hoping that you will build some sort of loyalty to their company. But I guess in a perfect world everyone would get a FREE $200-$500 dollar phone EVERY YEAR.
By the way as long as you have completed your contract you can get a FREE phone or a good discount on a couple hundred dollar phone.
robah55 Posts: 1
Phone Model: e105
Service Provider: t mobile
Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:16 pm
I have been a T mobile customer for a few years , I started out with diferent cell companies but it is always the same thing when you try and upgrade , they want arm and a leg..my first phone was analog. the company said I had to buy a digital phone , so I droped them and went to sprint after the contract of 1 year , sprint was happy to give me a updated phone with a one year contract , after the year was up my phone needed a upgrade as the service became better..Sprint then wanted big bucks for a new phone..sooo I went to T mobile where they are happy to give me the upgraded phone..for a one year contract.. after a year with t mobile I took a family plan and added 1 more phone and at that time upgraded the phones that I had..they do have some free upgrades in phonesnow a year later I see they are giving free camera phones ..but not for upgrades only to new service or add on to a family plan..well I now have 5 phones 4 will soon be off contract...soon I am approved for 9 lines so for me I will just systematicly add a phone get the free camera phone or whatever they are offering as a premium phone pay the 35 dollar activation fee and then drop one of the off contract phiones a week later..in short I will get a great phone for 35 dollars its only 10 dollars a month for each extra line so even if I have them both for 1 a month it will still only cast 45 dollars for the phone as opposed to 199. that they would charge as a upgrade the only down side is you would get a different phone number but that doesn't really matter to me..of course you can play cell phone company roulette like I did in the early years, especialy now that you can keep you same number
cabingirl Posts: 1
Wed Mar 09, 2005 1:29 pm
robah55 wrote:
II will just systematicly add a phone get the free camera phone or whatever they are offering as a premium phone pay the 35 dollar activation fee and then drop one of the off contract phiones a week later..
That's basically what I just did last night. I have a 3 year old Nokia 3390 and kept getting the runaround about upgrade pricing, I think because I've only ever had the basic $19.99 plan. Since I rarely use it I don't care about losing the number, so I signed up for a new line last night, and verified with customer service that I could cancel my old off-contract line whenever I wanted. I would switch carriers, but T-mobile's basic plan is the best one out there if you don't need a ton of minutes and don't want prepaid.
Nannette Posts: 7
Phone Model: Sharp TM150
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:14 pm
It really does all depend on who you talk to. Just keep calling back until you find someone willing to do what you want.
My contract recently expired and they were pulling the same upgrade junk with me. Because I was an existing customer, I didn't qualify for the same deals new customers get.
One guy was willing to upgrade my 3595 to the next Nokia model - Which was still an out-dated phone - and wanted $50 for it.
Next Rep said I had to cancel my plan and wait 90 days before entering into a new contract if I wanted a new phone for free.
Finally, I got hold of someone willing to help. I told the guy what the other reps had said and I added that i felt like I was being punished for being an existing customer. He completely agreed with me.
So, I got a new year contract, got a new Sharp TM150, and got to keep my same number without paying a dime.
It really confuses me though - How one rep can do things another can't. Why can't they all just be on the same page?
Samsung Posts: 3141
Phone Model: Motorola RAZR2 V8
Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:48 pm
Impossible unless you started another line of service. Even the upgrade price (for qualifying customers) is 199.99$ w/ 100$ mail in rebate. Plus a rep would NOT be able to discount the handset for you only a MANAGER can and I can guarentee you they wouldnt give you that amount of a discount.
Texan Posts: 229
Phone Model: Moto
Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:30 am
Samsung
Another thing "some people" seem to forget is there is alot of overhead cost for cell service....Towers are not free!! Along with many other things.
When you pay for cable, the cable company does not give you a "free" big screen tv to use the cable on, landline companies don't hand out "free" phones just because your cordless phone broke.. What do you do, well you go to the store and get a new one, on your own dime!!! Hello!!?!?!?
I dont believe getting long distance calls free (for some people, thousands and thousands of minutes) every month for $39.99 is such a bad deal! Hey maybe I'm just crazy!
Nannette Posts: 7
Phone Model: Sharp TM150
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:49 am
Then maybe they screwed up. I can assure you that everything was completely free. I have the same number and did not experience any down time during the transition, with free shipping. I even got to keep my $9.99 unlimited Text promo.
My uncle also did the same thing, except he had the family plan. He got 5 new Sharp TM150s and kept the same numbers on all 4 existing lines - with no cost to him except plan payment each month.
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