Can you please read the following timeline and offer me some suggestions? (I know it’s long, I apologize):
7/17 called to move 3-lines service from Verizon, and upgrade 2 of our iphones (an iphone8-256mb to trade in for an iphone13-she hadn’t decided on size, and an iphone11ProMax-256mb to trade in for an iphone13ProMax). We were asking about the trade in promotion offering $400 for the 8 and $800 for the 11.
Spoke to Jude (ID#6287348.
The two points of potential issue was that a. my mom would be keeping her Iphone8, but wanted to port her existing number, and b. although my mom and I live at the same residence, my sister lives about 500 miles away from us. We called using conference call so all of us were on the line when we were doing this. My mother and I were each taking copius notes so we all had the information after the face.
Jude was very kind and friendly, and seemed helpful. He told us we did qualify for the trade in promotion, and also seemed VERY excited about all of the offers he could help us with. During the call there were a couple questions I asked repeatedly: a. How much would the bill be each month, b. if we could pay off the remainder of our new phones instead of doing so monthly, and c. if I could use my government employee discount (15%).
Jude told us that the monthly cost would be $140, before the government discount, and that I was eligible for one, but I would have to call after the account was set up to apply that.
He discussed phone options with my sister regarding her iPhone8 trade in, and gave her dimensions of the iPhone10Mini as 6”x3” (as it turns out these were the approximate dimensions of the iPhone13 regular…we’ll get back to this), so she chose the Mini.
He also told us the amount of the phones, the amount after the trade in rebates, and the monthly AND PAYOFF amounts as follows:
iPhone13Mini: $800 – iPhone8 trade in of $400 = $400
iPhone13ProMax: $1100 – iPhone11ProMax trade in of $800 = $300
He said the monthly prices to pay these new phones off would be $12.50 for the iPhone13ProMax, and $16.00 for the iPhone13Mini.
I asked him on at least 3 separate occasions if we could pay off the balances of the phones after the trade ins, and he confirmed at least 3 times that we could, but we would have to call back and do that later.
We asked about shipping the phones, and if we could have my phone shipped to my address, and my sisters phone shipped to hers, and he said he could not do that. He offered us overnight shipping, and again after we asked multiple times of the overnight would guarantee delivery buy 7/18, he confirmed, so we opted for the additional charge so I could quickly in turn send my sister’s phone to her.
He never mentioned anything about shipping a sim card for my Mother’s existing iPhone8, and honestly I didn’t know to ask about it.
We told him to go ahead with the purchase, and while he was wrapping everything up, he seemed to be a bit confused about what trade in was going to what phone, but we seemed to get that sorted. He then exclaimed “Oh, you will also get a $200 visa gift card for each line!” He didn’t mention why, or any promotion name. He also added two screen protectors with screen insurance, both of which we didn’t ask for, and didn’t necessarily want, but I assumed it had to do with the visa gift cards. Upon wrapping up our order he told us the total for the day would be $274.21.
He walked me through a docusign process, and said he would be emailing me our receipt, shipping information, etc.
After over 1 hour, we hung up.
I received about 3 emails within the next few hours welcoming us to T-Mobile, confirming our order, advertising basically. Nothing regarding a receipt, nor any shipping information (like a tracking number, etc).
7/18: Received shipping information with an estimated delivery date of 7/20.
7/19: Phones received. No instructions or anything in the package. I packed up my sister’s phone, along with what I thought was a return envelope for her phone, and shipped it off to her.
7/20: I called T-Mobile to ask if I could port my number now, or if I needed to wait until we could all port all of our numbers together, which they told me we should wait and do it all together.
7/21: my sister receives her phone, and realizes the envelope that was included wasn’t a return envelope, but was in face the SIM card for my Mom’s iphone 8. So she then had to ship that back to us.
7/25: My mom receives her SIM card, and we call T-Mobile via conference call. We were walked though the process, and the agent was very helpful (I don’t recall their name), but they NEVER asked us for any “Verizon PIN” that we needed to port our numbers from Verizon. They told us that the port may take up to 24 hours. In my previous experience with porting numbers, it’s only taken a couple hours, so I wasn’t too concerned. However, my sister lives in a very rural area, and relies on her mobile phone for ALL communication. My sister also asked the agent about returning her iPhone13mini because she wasn’t happy with the size (she was expecting the dimensions of the iPhone13Regular, as stated above). He told her she had 30 days from the time of purchase to return the phone. This was another hour+ phone call.
7/26: After 24 hours, none of our phones were working. My sister and I were using our old phones, and my mom’s iphone8 had no service at all. I called T-Mobile during the day to ask what the problem may be, and they told me we needed a PIN number from Verizon to port our numbers. I called Verizon and got the PIN. Later that evening we all called T-Mobile again, and the port process began again. This time, there was A LOT of confusion regarding what phones we had, which numbers were porting to where, and there was mention of a Samsung tablet that we had never heard of before.
7/27: My number seemed to port (XXX-XXX-1660), my sister and my mom were still having issues. My sister (XXX-XXX-1254) ended up calling, and being directed to a store to finish her pot. My mom and I called about her number (XXX-XXX-8816) and were able to get her number sorted.
7/29 (or there abouts): My sister called T-Mobile to return her iPhone13Mini. At that time, she was told that we do not have 30 days to decide to stick with T-Mobile, but 20days. She started the process of returning her phone, and getting the iPhone13 Regular. She immediately called me furious, because we have had SO MANY ISSUES, and now only have a handful of days to leave T-Mobile service if we’re unhappy.
8/3: I kept receiving texts and emails about turning in my sister’s iPhone8 for a rebate, but nothing about my iPhone11ProMax. I visited a T-Mobile store, and they told me that there was no trade in offer attributed to my account for my number, so they couldn’t take my trade in and instructed me to call customer service again. I called at 6pm, and again after an hour on the phone thinking everything was good, when I looked at the emailed shipping label and packing slip, I noticed not only was my packing slip wrong, so was my sisters (after calling her to confirm). I called back again, and at this point I was VERY emotional. This processes has literally taken HOURS to deal with. The agent, Sandy, was again very friendly, and seemed to take care of the trade-in confusion, but when I wanted to confirm all of the things that Jude told me on my first call, she basically said that he lied about a lot of what he promised us, and that “this isn’t the first time she’s heard this.” She sent us NEW shipping labels with packing slips (my sister’s is STILL incorrect), and she tells us that we actually CANNOT pay off our phones, that we’re tied to a 24 month contract. I honestly don’t think I’ll leave T-Mobile within 24 months, but I’m really pissed that we can’t even pay off our phones without penalty (she told us this). I let Sandy know my frustrations, and she said she understands, and that if it were her she probably would have gone back to Verizon on the 2nd day of our troubles. She did remind me that we still have 4 days to do that.
I am beside myself.
I don’t know what to do.
Do I return my old phones for rebates? Do I trust that they will get where they’re supposed to get, and that the rebates will be applied to the accounts correctly?
Do I find a different provider because I can’t pay o my phone with T-Mobile?
What do I do?
Sincerely,
Sandie Frakes
