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Forced to enter additional digits after dialing an international call

  • 23 August 2017
  • 34 replies
  • 6812 views
M

Recently we added the Unlimited Stateside International calling plan to all of our business lines. Then, starting last week whenever we make an international call we get a recording that says "to complete your call please dial XX" where XX is some random two digit number.  I looked this up and found on this page: Make an international call which says, "

Things you should know

When calling some countries, you may hear an automated message prompting you to enter a random digit between 0 and 9 in order to complete the call. T-Mobile added this extra step to help prevent fraud, and it's only needed when calling certain international locations."

Of course we were not advised of this when we added the Stateside International Calling feature and to make matters worse it's not just to "certain international locations"- its on EVERY international call.

Over 90% of our international calls are to the UK and the UK is hardly a high fraud calling destination

This is causing a lot of distress for our users. And TMobile should take the same approach other carriers take- use surveillance software to detect fraud and unusual calling patters and put the recording on those accounts and not just on every international call from every phone.

We need to get this removed ASAP from all of our lines or at the minimum for calls to the UK ad EU. These are not high fraud destinations.

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Best answer by tmo_amanda 26 August 2017, 18:40

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34 replies

J

The first post in this thread is 6 years old, and it is still impossible for users to turn this feature off. This is insane. Good job, T-Mobile! You show how much you care about customer feedback. 🤡

N
Badge

This issue has been going for years now. It looks like developers at T-Mobile are quicker to implement unnecessary features than to remove them. This is so frustrating. How many customer’s complaints do you need to take this seriously?

G

Thank you all for posting this. I am running into the exact same issue as the OP on a number I call frequently in France (my father), and it has been driving me crazy. I too have been getting the exact same idiotic responses from Tmobile “support”. It’s nice to hear that I am not alone, and sad to confirm that nobody at Tmobile has the slightest idea about this “feature” or how to turn it off. I have given up on Tmobile because of so many issues with service, and will likely be transitioning to another carrier. I hate to lose their “stateside international” calling feature, but at this point it is probably worth it. 

M
Badge

This “feature” is back.  Support has no idea that it’s even there.  This is annoying enough to switch my account to someone else if they can’t fix it.

 

C

i am trying to turn this feature off… i have been on the phone for 45 minutes with a rep who has no idea what it is..

M
Userlevel 2

I agree! Since you have unlimited calling to the UK, it's not like someone could run up your bill if they grabbed your phone and called UK numbers.

A

I pay for a package to have unlimited free calls to UK landlines and mobiles and reduced rates to a host of other countries. I don't see  why I should go through the hassle of using Google Voice. When for 7 years I have had no issues.

M
Userlevel 2

Are you on a special "free calling to intl. numbers plan?  If so, what do you pay?  If you route your call via Google Voice, it would cost about 2 cents/min.   Other methods can be free.

A

I started having this issue a few months ago. All of a sudden T-Mobile have decided that the numbers I call every day, namely my mother in the UK, I suddenly need fraud protection from. I have been calling since Customer Service  for months and some haven't even heard of the problem. A supervisor by the name of Rachel went as far as telling me that it is not a T-mobile issue as she has never heard of it and it must be the carrier of the person I am calling. After calling several times and a front line agent told her about it she promised to call me back, I am still waiting! That was in July, we are now in October!

I spoke to another supervisor Brian, I still have to dial.

Today I  spoke to the rudest supervisor Omar who couldn't  be bothered to help and said he would have a manager call me back within 4 hours. That was almost 12 hours ago and I am still waiting!

I am constantly told that there is nothing that can be done to remove this. So after more  than 7 years of calling the UK every day T-mobile have decided it is not safe!

If they have put this ridiculously stupid and incredibly inconvenient feature on surely they can take it off. Especially as now it is illegal to operate a phone while driving as I can't enter the 2 digits using the car hands free.

T-Mobile obviously can't value their clients by putting processes in place that make absolutely no sense and benefit no one.

A resolution to this would be appreciated and helpful. I am seriously considering taking all 5 of my lines and tablet line to another carrier.

M

Well, I took the effort to call T-Mobile and ask them to remove this "feature".  Needless to say the front line reps had no idea what I was talking about.  Their supervisor had been thoroughly confused as well and claimed they don't have this feature or it must be new.  They offered to reset my phone settings on their network to see if that would help (didn't), but were nice enough to call back and follow up.  The result is an escalated ticket to their "engineers" (second tier tech support, I presume), and someone should get back to me within three days.

On a side note, I'm sure phone fraud is a billion$ problem for phone companies, but I'm still scratching my head about what does this two-digit pin security feature prevents.  Calls that potential malware could make without me knowing? Possibly.

M

T-mobile does not care, users have been complaining about this since they implemented it. Same standard response - its for your security and explanation hoe it makes you safer.

It would be better if the could find a way to get the robocalls to input two digits before connecting. Oh but no - let's inconvenience the genuine Customer

Sent from my BlackBerry - the most secure mobile device

M

Hi Amanda,

any update on when T-Mobile finally revokes this questionable "security feature" or at least allows customers to disable it on frequently called numbers?

I regularly call my mom overseas and have to enter the two digits every time.  Why does T-Mobile think there is any "security" value in always forcing me to enter the two extra digits is beyond me.  Perhaps it's time for you to review this policy seriously and adjust its implementation.

M

I requested removal over a year ago. This had not happened. Time is ticking on my support for t-mobile. You are very unhelpful

M

Hi,

All of your customer service reps that I've spoken stateside and the Philippines wasted an 1 1/2 of my time and couldn't even tell me what the problem was and I'm being charged extra for this connection process. T-Mobile is looking very bad in terms of its misinformation and charging customers for this process (it's not even free). What is T-Mobile going to do about it?

M

I am having the same problem since the end of October 2018 and it is costing me extra. Please see details of my issue below---

Hi, I've been having a problem dialing international numbers in the Caribbean (in Miami). Since the end of October, whenever I dial a number in the Caribbean, I get a message that comes on saying "to complete this call, please dial 34" (for example). It's always the same message with the two numbers at the end changing with each new call. The problem is that it blocks me from making a direct call (though I am dialing properly) and still charges me for the time it takes to the play the message and ring the number BEFORE the number has even connected. At other times it just drops the call after playing the message and you dial the two numbers as directed. Can someone help? I've been given the run-around from the T-Mobile tech office in the Philippines being given answers from dial 011 (how you dial the UK and not the Caribbean) and it's a collect call (which makes absolutely no sense) as answers. I also spent an 1 1/2 on phone with no resolution. Completely fed-up and this point and needing help.

O

Yes, I have an international calling package. And no, I should not have to use Google voice to make international calls with T-mobile.

M
Userlevel 2

As I mentioned several months ago in this thread - couldn't you use Google voice to route international calls?    Or, do you have an international calling package? In any case, TM should not be doing this.

O

This is not only annoying, it presents a safety issue, when being prompted to enter 2 digits while driving and trying to make international calls in handsfree mode.

I'm a new T-mobile customer and make frequent international calls while driving to/from work. This has been a frustrating and sometimes dangerous "feature", and has no bearing on fraud prevention. I was with AT&T for 10+ years before switching recently, and never had this issue.

M

Business

M
Userlevel 2

I'd like to know HOW the bad guys can route a call over someone else's phone line.   Do they show up on the legitimate user's bill?

M

I can only share users level of frustration at this measure being added without any notice - even your stores and customer care staff had no idea about it - it's not a matter of the added time it is completely ridiculous and if the UK is such a fraud hot spot (I am a Brit living in the US !!!) then why is it not added to main line UK based numbers?? Completely ridiculous. I have been a very happy customer for 6+ years but failure to remove this feature SOON will have me and my family looking for another provider

tmo_amanda
Rank
Userlevel 3

I hear you guys. An extra minute adds up! I want to be transparent that I'm not certain if this is an actionable request, because typically measures taken for "security" are reasoned over long and hard before they're implemented. That said, your feedback is super valuable and we will pass it on. We always appreciate knowing how our customers feel about things, and like to avoid eye-pokes wherever possible, so thanks for chiming in!

M
Userlevel 2

I agree that TM should allow, w.o. restrictions, the ability to make intl. calls.

BTW, we used Google Voice before LTE came into existence for intl. voice calls.

J

That's great when you're on wifi or have five bars of LTE but when I'm driving or traveling without wifi I need to be able to place calls.  We use WhatsApp but all those apps need fast data.

M
Userlevel 2

You can set most (all?) phones to automatically route intl. calls via Google Voice.  I don't know, but wouldn't this be cheaper?  

  Obviously, TM shouldn't make you do this.

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