T-Mobile warranty charges

I called T-Mobile customer service to find out how to submit an insurance claim because the display on my Nokia was going out. It had a rainbow effect that started in one corner of the LCD and eventually covered the entire screen. The phone worked fine, only the LCD screen was affected.

The T-Mobile customer service representative had me describe the problem, and then she had me check a moisture indicator under the battery to make sure it wasn't damaged by water. I pay $3.99 a month for insurance but the customer rep said not to worry that "this was a known problem for this Nokia and this would be covered under the warranty." A replacement phone would be sent out immediately. I was instructed to return the old phone in the box the replacement came in. At this point ,I was actually impressed with the level of service I had received. Everything went smoothly, the new phone arrived promptly and I returned the old phone within seven days as required.
The problem arose three months later when T-Mobile billed me $100 for an out of warranty charge. I called and they said the tech report stated the phone had physical damage and that the LCD screen was cracked, which was not true. I tried to argue, reminding them that they are the one who instructed me to send the phone in under a warranty claim. Remember, the customer service rep. stated that the LCD issue was a known problem.

I contested the charge and elevated it to a manger who eventually said there was nothing I could do about it and because I had already raised the issue to the manager level that was it and have a nice day.

I plan to write to Nokia letting then know that T-Mobile is not a good business partner and as a Nokia stockholder I am not happy about it.
I don't know what else I can do. I will not renew my contract when it expires and I personally think I was scammed. I don't know if anyone else has had this experience, but I think T-Mobile is running a scam when it comes to the warranty on their phones. In hindsight I should have insisted that an insurance claim be processed.

I've never had a problem with an exhange with tmobile. Even if the lcd had a known issue, something as small as a drop could have caused it to crack, thus causing physical damage. Was the $100 an insurance deductable or a charge from tmobile? Did you exchange thru tmobile cs or the insurance program?

listen the rep only knows waht yu told them if you describe a known issue and are wrong that falls on you what you my call an lcd problem is usually physical damage

ya, if the rep goes through a troubleshooting flow and what you tell them describes a known issue, then they can replace it under NOKIAs warranty. tmo has no warranty on the phones. they all come from the manufacturer. so if you complain to the manufacturer about the warranty, then you are talking the correct person. it is not tmobiles fault that you sent your phone in which had physical damage and got a replacement. and actually if you bought a new one it would cost you more than 100 dollars. if you wanted to upgrade, then you could but you would have to get another ocntract. but at least it wouldnt cost you a lot of money. the rep always asks if anything could have happened to it like a drop or water damage. there is a water damage indicator in the phone as well. also the rep will be able to tell you exactly what the warehouse found that was wrong with the device and why they charged you an out of warranty fee.

Hi,

Am in the middle of the exact same experience. This is a scam. They encourage you to exchange the phone and then they look hard to find something wrong with it so that they can charge you the out-of-warranty fee. I was also told my LCD was cracked, which it was not. Then I was told it was physical damage (how do I know they didn't cause the physical damage themselves), and that physical damage could be assessed if they opened up the phone and determined that the damage to the LCD was physical damage.

Obviously, the incentive for them to lie to some of the customers is huge, given that the cost of cancelling a contract is higher than the cost of the phone.

Unfortunate. I've always had decent experiences with their customer service until now, but on this issue, not only were they unhelpful, they were downright nasty.

I too fell victim to the $100 Out of Warranty fee after being told to send my phone in for only the $9.95 shipping fee. When I called to see what happened, they told me that someone had supposedly discovered water damage on the phone. This was despite the fact that there were absolutely no obvious signs of water damage and the dot was the proper color to indicate no water damage. The phone has never been exposed to water in any way.

I spoke to one manager this afternoon, who may have actually been in customer retention. She cut the fee in half, but would do no more. She actually said I may have left the phone in a steamy shower room too long, causing only damage inside the phone. Yeah right. After getting more ticked off that I was still getting charged this phantom fee, I called back tonight and got a manager. This person was downright mean and couldn't have cared less. She gave me chapter and verse on company policy, what the CEO has directed her to do, etc. This person must be a real treat to come home to every night.

I asked for more specifics on what was wrong with the phone and asked to see a copy of the report. She would have none of it. All impossible, she said. The bill is the bill. Tough luck. She told me I got lucky with the supervisor who cut my fee in half, that she never would have done it. The poster above who said they can tell you very specifically what the report said is wrong. They won't tell you diddly squat, only that you agreed to their one-sided view of the world when you sent in your phone and verbally signed off on some legal mumbo jumbo on the phone.

What's more, these two supervisors gave me entirely different versions of the phone review process, as I questioned the details of the process and the motivation of the person looking who can ding me for the $100 fee. The first one told me that T-Mobile and Motorola hire a third-party evaluator to look at all the phones, so they have no financial incentive to charge customers, that I could have complete faith in the integrity of the process. The second supervisor told me flat out that it's T-Mobile technicians in LaGrange, Ga., who look at the phones, that it's not a third party. Of course they have all the motivation in the world to assess $100 fines to their customers . . . to increase revenue.

The bottom line is that T-Mobile is going to lose a customer when my contract is up. We have four phones. Their customer acquisition cost in Q1 was over $300 per customer, and they are going to lose a guy with four phones who has been with them for over three years over their refusal to waive the final 50 bucks off a totally bogus fee. In fact, we were on the borderline of plans, and I even went down to the next lowest price tier on the phone. I'll make up the $50 in five months just by lowering my bill and making sure we stay under the minutes.

I used to work for T Mobile in customer care and tech support. Never had a job I hated so much. As to someone being a joy to come home to; think of spending your day listening to people bitch all day over things you have no control over. The rep, supervisor and manager are limited by what tmob says they can do. If they are monitored on a call going outside of company policy they can and will lose their job. (by the way, I went outside of company policy all the time on anything I could. I wanted customers treated the way I would want to be treated, probably not a profitable way to operate)

I never agreed with tmob or any of the other cell companies troubleshooting the phones. If a customer has a problem I can see where the cell phone companies systems need to be checked; although rarely was it a system issue, then the call should go directly to the manufacturer.

It was my understanding that the phones went to the warehouse in LaGrange to be checked out by techs and then they were returned to the various manufacturers. The manufacturers would assess tmob charges if they returned phones that they (manufacturer) considered out of warranty. That charge was then passed along to the customer and we were not under any circumstances allowed to give a credit on those charges.

On a personal note I hated this job because there was so little that I could do but yet I personally was blamed for so much. TMob as all the cell companies have call centers all over the U S and Canada. There was no way to get to the top brass to effect change. I tried to pass along customer's concerns but found that the form I was filling out went nowhere. I did customer care for a manufacturing firm. If I had a problem there I could go out on the floor and find the missing part, etc. The president of the company's office was just behind mine. The cell companies are just too big, too many customers, too many employees. I don't know what the answer is but I can tell you all that I have Verizon and see the same stupid things with them.

T-Mobile warranty charges

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