Cell phone companies

Anyone that knows me well knows my phone is almost attached to my body.



I have been going back and forth with T-Mobile about stupid things with my phone. It all started in May when my cell phone started freezing. I received a "new refurbished phone". I had that phone for a few days and had to call back since it was worse than the one I just sent back. Out comes another refurbished phone to me. This time the sync function won't work. Out comes the third refurbished phone to me. This phone actually syncs but the problem with it is the "OK" button does not work - try texting or taking pics without the OK button. They send me out a 4th refurbished phone that is where the dilemma really begins.



I received the phone June 19th. I put my SIM card in. Copied the contacts to the phone and tried to sync with my address book off T-Mobile.com. It did not work. I called lovely tech support. I was on the phone for 78 minutes that night and was basically told call back tomorrow - makes you wonder how some of these people get hired. I called back the next day from work. I was on the phone with tech support that day for 90 minutes - got to love call timers. I was told it was a know issue and they would send it on to the next level and the issue should be fixed with 7 days and someone would contact me.



On June 27th, I had to call them back. The response I got from the tech support person was they are working on it and should have it working by morning. This took another 14 minutes of my time.



I try again on the 28th of June. Still not fixed. I call tech support back. This time I am on the phone for 33 minutes. Still no resolution. Hear the same BS line - someone is working on it and will call me back.



I have been really patient since the phone works pretty good - I just don't have half my phone numbers - I could manually enter them but why. I call back on July 5th. I finally get some one who seems to actually care and wants to help me. Shondra stays on the phone with me for 55 minutes. She unfortunately was not able to get any further than anyone else but she did admit that someone dropped the ball. She said she would check with the person on Monday and call me back. I think to myself here we go again but she actually called me back. She did not have good news - they are still working on the issue.



I like to take control of situations - so I had been doing troubleshooting on my own. I went to the local T-Mobile store and compared software versions - they were the same. The store phone would sync but mine would not. When Shondra called me back the second time on July 13, I told her what I had done. She tells me that they do not know how long it is going to take and that they were going to process a warranty exchange. I thought finally it is over. NOT. The section where she needed to process the exchange was down. She said she would call me back on Monday.



I did not hear from her. So I called tech support back. I must have misunderstood what she said because there was a note in the system for a follow up on the 17th. I figure I would wait.



Shondra follows through. I get a call on the 18th to process the warranty exchange. Another problem - they want to send me a phone that I absolutely hate and do not feel it is comparable. Someone had told me if I bitched enough I could get pretty much any phone I wanted. I did not get rude. I told Shondra, that she has been very helpful to me and I will not get rude with her but I did not feel that phone was comparable - one big difference I have a partial QWERTY keyboard and the other phone did not. Maybe that don't matter to some people but to me it does. I told her I wanted the Shadow. She said she could not do that. I said I understand you can't but someone else can. I brought up how long we have been with T-Mobile. She spoke to someone and they wanted me to go to the local T-Mobile store for more trouble shooting. I mention that this issue has been being worked on for a month and I did not think it would make a difference. She said she thought it was strange too so she would call me back.



Less than 2 hours later, she calls. Guess what - I am now getting the Shadow as an upgrade at no charge. The catch I had to extend my contract for one year. So the contact now ends in July 2009 instead of March 2009 - big deal. I still get to keep my other phone - maybe I will sell it on EBay - LOL.



I did tell Shondra she was the only person at 611 that actually followed through with things. I spoke to her supervisor to complement her. The only time a supervisor hears about an employee is when they screw up. I felt Shondra needed to receive recognition for doing her job well.



You don't always have to be a bitch to get what you want. Treating people with respect and kindness does work.