Forum Discussion
Misleading sales reps
About six months ago I changed from AT&T to tmobile. Aside from the occasional no service...I've had a good time using them for my mobile provider, however if something sounds to good to be true, it probably is. I was told by a salesmen in the store that the jump program would allow me to upgrade free of charge once the price of my phone was paid half way off. Now that's only partially true. There may not be any additional activation to your new device but you are responsible for another hefty down payment. I recently attempted to upgrade to a new Samsung phone and was told my down payment would be 399 since I have less then great credit and I haven't been a customer for 12 months. When I originally signed up I notified them the phone I would be purchasing that day was a transitional device until the Samsung g7 edge came out and that I wasn't going to want any additional cost when I upgraded. They assured me there would be no issue. When I attempted to JUMP over the phone they told me the exact opposite. So now I'm stuck with a stylo2 I never wanted and is only worth the 89 dollars I still owe on it. I also informed them my current device has a very low battery life and they suggested I swap it out for a new stylo2. When I informed them that I'm currently searching for a better offer a representative of tmobile wished me "good luck" and told me to have a pleasant day... Future upgraders beware, lots of smoke and mirrors in the tmoblie arsenal.
What have I said has led you to believe I don't understand what a down payment is? I realize a down payment is not an imaginary amount of money tmobile comes up with, I pay, and then it magically disappears. Whatever you are to tmoblie means very little to me at this point, I've accomplished what I set out to do via private message with a "tmobile" representative and I'm growing tired of you passive aggressively questioning my intelligence. I'm done with this conversation its exhausting repeating my point to someone who neither gets it nor is helpful in anyway. Thank you tmobile for acknowledging my concerns. For the time being I will remain a tmobile customer.
- biggdawg64Roaming Rookie
You misunderstand my intentions, I'm not arguing policy. If that's what is required to upgrade I fully understand. My goal was to convey to old and new customers of tmobile that upgrading isn't as easy on the wallet as your store representatives will lead them to believe. That's one issue with paying employees based off commission. I manage a successful restaurant and tipped employees will tend to make a deal seem sweeter then it may be to insure a greater tip. In these cases we as superior chock it up to human nature, honor the deal that may have been made, inform the customer its not our policy, and then deal with said employee accordingly. Just like athletes reflect their coaches or paramedics reflect doctors, they reflect upon us and it is our responsibility, in some cases, to follow the code that the customer is always right. I'm not trying to get anything for free just what I was offered but since that did not happen I have made it a goal of mine to let others know what they may be getting as opposed to what they are told by the evident "used car salesman" you have working at some of your stores. I say that loosely and am not making a generalization about tmobile employees as a whole. Still it remains true, I was misinformed and nothing was done to correct the issue. I understand people make mistakes this one just happened to be at my 400 dollar expense.
- biggdawg64Roaming Rookie
I apologize for thinking that someone so adamant about defending the tmobile way was an employee. I mean it would be impossible for an employee of tmobile to come into a "community" thread and try to combat complaints about the company. And truthfully and respectfully your interpretation of that scripted response is irrelevant. Ill humor it for one second however, an agreement between you and us it says. But who is us and why are representative of tmobile excluded from that. Frankly it's contradictory. I also don't agree that you've been the gleaming example of objectivity you claim to be. Regardless there is no reason for you to continue to defend them as I said I'm not trying to get anything from this. On the shear off chance you don't work for tmobile you've actually educated anyone reading this much more then tmobile paid employees did for me.
- tmo_amandaBandwidth Buff
Hey @biggdawg64!
I'm sorry you weren't given the full picture when you signed up for JUMP! You're right, our store employees need to be 110% transparent especially when it comes to a service that you're not familiar with. @snn_555 is super helpful around our Support Community and is correct about the JUMP! policy. I know that's not exactly what you're looking for at this point. I want to make sure the feedback is provided so this doesn't happen again. Do you happen to remember which store you visited?
With regard to making up for the wrong information being provided, I don't know what options are available because we do not have account access to make any of that happen. I really wish that we could be more help, but as I mentioned, I would love to pass your situation along to the appropriate store to make sure the correct information is provided in the future.
- snn_555LTE Learner
A down payment based on credit is sometimes necessary whenever you begin payments on a new device, be it from JUMP or standard EIP. The only difference is that on JUMP you are paying half the cost for half the time in use. Also, subject to upgrade fee over the phone or in store, or shipping costs if online. (WTFee?)
- snn_555LTE Learner
āT-Mobile has something like upgrade equality where after 12 months of on time payments your credit is more positive and down payments are less but even with perfect credit there is a down payment on some devices.
- biggdawg64Roaming Rookie
Again not arguing policy and do you represent tmobile? Some of these responses are very cookie cutout to say the least. Or maybe these are just computer generated responses to key words. I'm not sure either way and to be honest couldn't care less. My biggest concern is with the training of tmobile staff and the regard for customer satisfaction. See obviously members of the tmobile team are either improperly trained on how they should convey tmobile policy, or they are just lying. In most cases the best answer is the simplest. Now if one of tmobile's employees is lying to customers or theyre just poorly trained it's damaging to the relationship between the two. I just happen to be an unsatisfied one. Neverless, I was misinformed of the rules, I never once argued. I'm simply trying to spread awareness to what people should expect from SOME tmobile employees. Again not policy and I'm proving my point now if you do in fact work for tmobile. Nothing about misinformation has been addressed by sn_555, only what seem to be scripted responses to something I'm not even debating. In the most layman way I can put it...I understand a down payment is needed to upgrade, I understand how jump works, and most of all I get that tmobile can't just give the house away, but when an employee makes a mistake the company should try to at least meet in the middle. No such offers were given and not even an apology was offered...that's just poor customer service.
- snn_555LTE Learner
As a fellow customer and not a company rep (this is a community forum) I have to say I wish T-Mobile would have less scripted answers and more human replies such as I have sent previously. Thanks! I was conveying the idea of objectivity and giving examples of how the process works and why.
But, here is a scripted response you might expect. It's from the 3rd to last paragraph on the ToS Customer Agreement form you signed.
The Agreement is the entire agreement between you and us regarding the rights you have with respect to your Service, except as provided by law, and you cannot rely on any other documents or statements by any sales or service representatives or other agents.
That statement leads me to believe that, no matter what a rep might tell you, T-Mobile will not honor any agreement you might have entered into with a company rep, if that agreement and its conditions are not already a part of the agreement the company has already agreed upon with you, in writing, and proof of complicity is proven and shown by your legal signature. (This is an agreement entered into with any new service or service change, to include devices.)
- snn_555LTE Learner
You're welcome. š
(T-Mobile reps have a "Tmo_Name" format. Also, they are required to disclose that they are an employee.)
- biggdawg64Roaming Rookie
I originally signed up for tmobile at the West Tusc location in Canton, Oh. Honestly it would have been great for someone to have given me a resolution to my 400 dollar dilemma. However I'm happy to have been a driving force for future tmobile customers to more informed. Its not the best case scenario for me personally but if it sparked future adjustments within the tmobile family, I can live with that. Side bar although informed customers helping with technical support may be helpful, customers that are upset about monetary issues don't want to be talked to by, for lack of a better phrase, an inside man.
- tmo_chrisSpectrum Specialist
Thanks for the info biggdawg64ā. I will be sending you a private message as well to gather some more specific information about the store so we can ensure the proper feedback is given.
I also want to make sure that there is no confusion here in regards to how our community operates. This community is primarily driven by its users and T-Mobile employees such as myself or others with Tmo_ in front of their names don't step into a conversation unless it is absolutely needed. When posting in our support community, you can expect that the majority of the replies you get will be from other T-Mobile customers. We as "Community Managers" see everything that is posted and will step in if there is any misinformation given.
Related Content
- 5 months ago
- 7 years ago
- 2 years ago