We bought our daughter a T-Mobile Razr for Christmas. When we were activating it, T-Mobile said we were too far away from the zone where we lived, so they activated the phone with a town about 50 miles from our using area. So, now we are charged with roaming. We are using "pay as you go". We thought we would be charged the $.10 a minute, since it says those in the 850 MHz won't be charged more. Looks like on the account we are being charged $.31 per minute. When we looked on the T-Mobile map, it shows we are in the 850 MHz roaming coverage. When we activated, they didn't tell us we were going to be in the roaming area. Seems they wouldn't have even activated us since they don't like users roaming much. We are roaming all the time. Are there any suggestions on what we can do? Could we really not activate our phone in our calling area even though it was in the 850 MHz range? We paid $100 for the phone, so we hate to just stop using it. Can the phone be used with a different carrier?
Thanks.
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mpapple10 Posts: 1132
Phone Model: T-Mobile Shadow/HTC Juno
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Thu Jan 22, 2009 8:16 am
if you get the phone unlocked you can use it with any gsm carrier.
t-mobile should have never activated you. where did you get the phone at and did they ever ask for an address?
cj63 Posts: 4
Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:02 am
We live in a rural area and we bought the phone at a Walmart store about 50 miles from here which is the closet place with cell phones. But since the map showed 850 MHz in our zip code, and since it say's on the website that there is no extra charge for the area, we bought the phone. When we called to activate the phone, they asked our zip code and said they had to use the zip code that was 50 miles from us. They didn't tell us we would be roaming and had to pay more than the $.10 a minute like we thought with the "pay as you go". I can't believe they didn't tell us we would be roaming and can't believe they activated it. So, now, at least until T-Mobile figures out we are roaming all the time and decides to dump us, we have to tell our daughter to limit her calls. She can't call her friends much like she thought she could. She's really bummed. Too bad we paid $100 for the phone. Otherwise we wouldn't feel bad about getting another with another carrier. We may have to anyway. Not very happy with T-Mobile! I wonder if we can get our money back at Walmart for the phone? We've had it less than a month.
mpapple10 Posts: 1132
Phone Model: T-Mobile Shadow/HTC Juno
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Fri Jan 23, 2009 9:05 am
the map on t-mobiles website clearly explains that 850 is roaming and there are additional charges associated with roaming. While they shouldn't have activated you with a zip code so far away, you should have realized that its not a home network area since t-mobile has street level coverage maps.
idk the return policy for wal mart and phones but your best bet is ebay.
cj63 Posts: 4
Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:48 am
Then T-Mobile shouldn't state this on their website:
"Does it cost more to use my phone in the expanded coverage area?
Absolutely not! With T-Mobile, you will always Get More from our service. Calls placed or received while roaming in the US on the 850MHz band will be billed as a normal part of your monthly rate plan."
To us, it sounds like you don't pay extra for roaming in the 850 MHz area. They shouldn't say it does not cost more to use the phone in that area. They need to make things more clear or don't lead people to believe something that is not true. Since they did activate us in an 850MHz and didn't tell us we would be charged for roaming, they shouldn't charge roaming. They won't have us as customers for too long. Especially since they will probably drop us anyway since we are roaming all the time.
So, read the website better, it says there are NO extra charges for the 850 MHz areas.
you found that on the coverage map for post paid accounts. what does the prepaid map say?
T Mobile Swings back---
cj63 Posts: 4
Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:13 pm
He must work for T-Mobile. Not a good company to defend. It shouldn't matter what account you have, the 850 MHz map is the same. I'm not going to keep coming back here to read reply's from immature people looking always to be right.
Swing, Homerun!
Bye!
mpapple10 Posts: 1132
Phone Model: T-Mobile Shadow/HTC Juno
Service Provider: T-Mobile
Mon Jan 26, 2009 9:01 am
cj63 wrote:
He must work for T-Mobile. Not a good company to defend. It shouldn't matter what account you have, the 850 MHz map is the same. I'm not going to keep coming back here to read reply's from immature people looking always to be right.
Swing, Homerun!
Bye!
actually im a student. and im not always looking to be right. im just amazed by the number of people who don't take the time to research what they are getting into. every forum here on a mobile carrier is filled with the same thing, people complaining about something that went wrong with their service and them wanting the company to magically fix it because they didn't know better even though anything they needed was outlined on the carriers website and their contract. and that goes for all carriers not just t-mobile.
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