I have been with T-mobile for almost 10 years. In January 2011, I moved about an hour away to Eatonton, GA 31024 because of my job and contacted T-mobile because my phone did not work anywhere near my new house or office. Their representative said that if it came down to canceling service because the phone did not work in my new area, then the cancellation fee would be waved, which had been the policy since I began with them 9 years ago. I spoke with customer service several times, trying things like resetting the phone. Finally, a representative checked the coverage area of my zip code and said that it was not covered by t-mobile service. I, with no other choice canceled my t-mobile service on Feb 24, 2011. I paid the months bill and waited on a final bill. This month I received my final bill and it was $422.89. I called and was told that $218.80 was a cancellation fee, including taxes on the cancellation fee, plus late fees. I asked why I was charged it, and they said that on January 20, 2011, their policy changed, and they no longer waived the cancellation fee for moving to an area they don't provide service. I was not told that the policy was changing when I first called in January, and was not told there was a change in policy when I actually canceled. Customer service said there was nothing they could do, as did the supervisor. They also said they are now showing they offer service in the area, which seems a bit too convenient. To have been a customer almost 10 years, having spent thousands upon thousands of dollars, and then being charged a cancellation fee because of a policy change I wasn't told about that wasn't put in place until a couple weeks before I actually canceled is unbelievable to me. If I'd had known the policy was going to change, I would have canceled the first week in January when I first found out service didn't work at my new address, instead of spending several weeks trying to get it to work. I submitted a complaint to the BBB.
Thanks!
CareyWb

After getting a response from t-mobile about my complaint, below is my reply to the BBB.

When I spoke to Judy at T-mobile, I explained that I first contacted them about moving, and the poor quality service I was experiencing in my new area the first week in January, 2011.They said they wanted to have me try a few things, such as resetting the phone, and trying from different areas of the office. They also said that if coverage couldn't be provided, the termination fee would be waved, which had been the case since I began with T-mobile 9 years ago. By the time I gave up on trying to get service to work, it was about the 2nd or 3rd week in February. Judy says that they changed the policy regarding waving the termination fee January 16, 2011 (which is after I first contacted them). She said the reason they were able to charge me the termination fee, and not mention the change when I first contacted them in early January, was that it was technically a policy change, and not a change in terms and conditions. The average customer does not know what the difference is, and shouldn't be held accountable to a technicality. She also said that even though I contacted them before the change took place, that the representative did not have a responsibility to tell me. So in the time I wasted jumping through hoops to try to get their service to work, they changed their policy without telling me and just sent me a bill. They also charged me $18 on the cancellation fee, which is ridiculous. How can a cancellation fee be taxed? It seems like very shady business practices what they've done. Judy did not apologize for the inconvenience, thank me for my 9 years of service, or anything accept calmly explain exactly how they were going to charge me more money. If I contacted them the first week in January about service not working, and the "policy" didn't change until January 16, and I didn't cancel until February because they were seeing if they could get service to work, then I should not have to pay a fee for a policy change that happened after I first contacted them about the problem. Again, I've spent 9 years and over $10, 000 in service with T-mobile, and would have gladly spent another 9 years and $10, 000 when I move back to their service area or they provide service in my area, but definitely not not. I think it's crazy that they are spending so much time and money to charge a cancellation fee to such a loyal customer on a technicality. I will spend as much time and money as necessary to fight this fee since I know it is not right.
To conclude, I will gladly pay the balance on the account for SERVICE CHARGES, but not until the termination fee and attached taxes are removed. It they are not removed, nothing will be paid, ever.

My Blackberry broke. Customer relations sent me a new Blackberry to replace the broken Blackberry. I sent the broken Blackberry back or else I’d get charged. I sent the phone back with the T-Mobile-provided pre-paid UPS label and box. I dropped the box off at the UPS self service drop box located at 3200 Lone Tree Way, Antioch, CA 94509. Later I received phone calls from T-Mobile stating that the broken phone had not been received. I call T-Mobile to take care of the problem. The nice young lady with T-Mobile decides to call UPS and open a three-way teleconference. The T-Mobile representative gives the UPS representative the UPS tracking number off the T-Mobile pre-paid label and the UPS representative states that the box had not been picked up yet and that there was no way UPS could open an investigation on the missing package because of the type of pre-paid label that T-Mobile printed and sent to me to send the broken phone back.

So now I’m being charged a restocking fee with tax in excess of $394 based on a shipment that UPS cannot open an investigation on BECAUSE of the specific nature of the shipping label that T-Mobile printed and gave to me to send the broken phone back.

THIS IS THE WAY T-MOBILE TREATS IT'S CUSTOMERS WHEN UPS LOSES THE PHONE IN ITS SYSTEM. WATCH OUT! BEWARE! DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH A COMPANY THAT BLAMES YOU.

I upgraded to one of T-Mobiles new 4-G android phones. However, I had problems with the touch screen, which was verified by an employee in one of their stores. So they sent me a new one, and I returned mine. A month or so later, I found out they were billing me for the phone, claiming that the screen had been damaged, which was not the case when I sent it back. After arguing with them for a long time, I finally said that if they want to bill me for the phone, then they should return it to me to prove that it was indeed damaged. I was then told that they didn't keep the damaged phones. I would like to know if anyone else has had this experience. If so, please email me at [email protected]

In late January I received a replace phone and, within 2 days sent back the defective phone in the box and with the label T-Mobile provided. When I noticed an unauthorized charge of $187.00 on my account a few months later, I called to inquire and was told that the phone was never received!! They then "ran" a search (of course they did) and told me it was no where to be found. How convenient!!! I can't prove I returned it because I didn't take it to a UPS store and give it to a person personally - - - I deposited it into a UPS box in my office building. I have asked for the charge to be removed stating that once I turn it over to their carrier of choice (UPS), it is then out of my hands as my return address did not appear on the package. Since both the To and From addresses were T-Mobile's, I know they have this phone, but they refuse to remove the $187.00 charge. I am going to report them to the BBB and California Consumer Protection and write certified letters to the CEO & Pres. Philipp Humm, the COO Jim Alling and Chief Legal Officer Dave Miller at 12920 S. E. 38th Street, Bellevue, WA 98006-1350. If you've been screwed like this, TAKE ACTION. The only recourse I have is to take my 4-phone account to someone else next spring when the contracts expire - - - but by then they will be AT&T and because of this they don't give a damn. I'm not even going to go into the intolerably horrible customer service - which isn't service but customer abuse!!

At the request of my wife, I switched from a good company that gave me excellent service, to a well known company (T-Mobile), that their only service is on the internet, and never solves the problems. Everyday, and several times a day, the phone has no dial tone. When I call, Technical Support tells me to disconnect the power cord, wait for 30 seconds, then connect it again, and in a few minutes, I get service again. Imagine doing this several times a day, after you try to use the phone and find out not only that you did not have a dial tone for some unknown time, but also the fact that other people could not get in touch with us. If they leave a voice mail, this is delivered several hours later. Imagine also that your computer and internet connection is upstairs, and you are almost 78 years old, and have to do this forced 'exercise' several times a day. They already taught me to solve the problem temporarily, disconnecting and connecting the power cord, but they refuse to send a technician to solve the problem temporarily. I have two alternatives: 1) to embarrass them publicly until they solve the problem; 2) start a civil lawsuit in small claims court to have the judge to force them to release me of the contract, which still has one and a half year to go; 3) Pay them $200 to get released of the contract, which is what they want.