Three a day keeps the complaints away .. the Tmobile textbook response
Customer (Ramesh Raskar) 12/15/2003 04:53 PM You are charging for calls that do not go through. Even expensive calls such as overseas calls, directory assistance or connection for txt messaging from overseas are being charged multiple times. Given you 'wonderful' coverage and connection, many times calls do not go through, i.e. they simply do not connect and we dont hear a ring. We understand that the technology does not always work and calls will be dropped. But, it is plain unfair to charge for the calls that did not go through. I have already been charged in the past for such calls. This time I had to call your customer service (representative Kate, Ref 122267) but they could do nothing more than offer me to repay for charge for calls that did not go through. But I cannot and definitely do not want to call every month to cancel such charges ! The non-connected calls also get counted against the free minutes.
Discussion Thread Response (LT) 12/16/2003 10:01 AM Dear Ramesh Raskar, Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile. We are sorry to hear you are having trouble with your handset. We can try some basic trouble shooting steps to see if we can correct the problem. There is a procedure that you can do may help improve your issue. The procedure is called power cycling. To do this, simply turn your phone off and then back on. What this does is reset your signal within our system to keep you connected to the nearest tower. We suggest that you power cycle your phone once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and once in the evening. If this does not work remove the battery the SIM card. Gently clean the SIM card with a soft cloth, then replace the SIM card and the battery and try to use the phone. If this doesn.t help either, please provide some additional information so we can determine the root cause: When did this problem start? Did this problem happen suddenly, or has this gotten gradually worse over time? Did this problem happen only in a certain area? Did this problem vary with time of day? How much signal strength is on the phone when the problem arises? Have you reseated the SIM card (taken it out and put it back in)? Have you checked the SIM card at a T-Mobile store? Have you reseated the battery? Have you power cycled the phone (turned it off and on again)? How is the voice quality on these calls? Is there any additional information you can provide to help us to more accurately evaluate the problem?Please respond with this information and we can move forward to the best solution. Unfortunately we do not offer credits for dropped calls.
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Thank you for choosing T-Mobile Sincerely, LT Web Services T-Mobile USA Inc
From Ramesh RaskarThe primary issue is 'getting charged for dropped calls' as a policy. (The issue regarding how to make my phone work better is secondary.) By a dropped call I mean one of the the following. (i) From default screen, I dial a number, Phone says 'connecting ..', no ring tone, no tone at all, the display returns to start screen OR (ii) From default screen, I dial a number, Phone says 'connecting..', there is a beep-beep-beep sound and the screen returns to default screen.
The first case is more common. Some of my other friends have complained about the same thing. Again, we understand that technology/systems does not always work and we have to live with dropped calls (I have a degree in Computer Science). The issue is your policy of how to deal with it.
Here are responses on the net From cellular news I was dropped 6 times during my eight mile drive home the other day while using my new T-Mobile .service.. I contacted T-Mobile to complain. The response that came back (attached below) is both illuminating and humorous.. You could say, the advice that came back is priceless. My favorite line is the notion that you have to power off and power on your mobile THREE TIMES A DAY in order to keep it and/or the network working properly!!! Say what? Even when people complain about Bill Gates. operating system, I have never heard of anyone having to reboot THREE TIMES A DAY. This is an eighteen year old technology!!! It is getting better with age?