T-Mobile

Zero stars if I could. They are nothing but crooks. I took my GS5 phone in that I had been having issues with for the past couple of weeks with constant video steaming problems to see if there was anything they could do. I was simply told that a lot of people bring in the same phone with similar issues. Well, before then, I had never had an issue and assumed it was something on T-Mobile’s end. Keep in mind my wife also has the same exact phone on a shared account with me and had also been having similar problems. He said it was an internal issue in my phone and that if I wanted, I could buy a new 500 dollar phone. Oh, but it was free up front. How convenient. No thanks. I later found out that the issue had nothing to do with my phone and that was due to a new feature that T-​Mobile had recently added called Data Binge that helps to save data by limiting your HD video streaming to only 480p if that’s something that you can use and have a limited data supply which I don’t. All you have to do switch off the option on your online account. Really? Seriously? That’s all this was? Good thing I know a little bit more about stuff like this. Someone else might have been more easily fooled. He didn’t even bother looking into something of this manner under my account when I’m sure he clearly knows about it. All this guy cared about was selling me a new phone for 500 dollars. What a rip-​off. Don’t go to these people. Stick to calling T-​Mobile customer service themselves if you have phone issues, they won’t actually rip you off like these people would.

I am happy now that everything has been resolved. Follow up is a big thing to me in terms of customer service. Thank you Brian for going the extra step and getting it done.

I must preface this with… I am a nice person, I believe in karma, and I try my absolutely best to stay calm and polite when faced with a customer service issue. However, I’m convinced there is a special place in hell for most cell phone sales people… this place is no exception. I have no idea why karma has decided to bite me in the ass via my phone in the past week, but it has. Here is my tale of woe…
On Wednesday (1÷21÷2015), my Galaxy SIII that has been my noble sidekick for 2+ years decided turning on was no longer an option. Seeing as I operate a small business and do not have a house phone, I needed a replacement ASAP. I went to this store because it was near the salon I had a hair appointment at that afternoon, this location is by far not the closest to my house. I know little about current phone technology, and wanted to stick with Samsung because that’s what I know. The display of phones was not really working (they claimed there was a power outage earlier), so I ended up picking the only Samsung that was in working order (a Note 4). I was promptly told that I would get «$ 100 in free accessories» by Brian and Lawrence, the sales people. I was skeptical, but he rushed me into picking a case, SD card, and screen protector because «it’s free» and I should «pick whatever» I wanted. Brian proceeds to do normal phone activating stuff, and isn’t particularly friendly. He was annoyed that I had 2-​step authorization set up on my Gmail account, saying that was «stupid» and «caused a lot of problems» for activating phones. Whatever, I like to be as secure as possible. He tells me how much the phone will be per month (since they apparently work like cars now), and I say okay. Then I’m on my merry way, glad I’m done with Captain Unfriendly (Brian).
Fast forward to the next day, my fiancé checks our account online, and charges are showing for the «free» accessories in the amount of almost $ 5/​month. Uhm…$ 5 per month isn’t free. It’s $ 5 per month for insanely overpriced accessories, of which I can get the exact same shit on Amazon or Monoprice for MUCH less. Also at this point, I’ve tried using the camera on the phone multiple times, and it will not focus to take a picture. Enter much frustration, between getting deceived out of $ 100 by Brian, and spending $ 750 on a device that doesn’t work properly. We didn’t have time to address the issue until Sunday.
Sunday rolls around, we go to the store, and luckily Brian wasn’t working… because if he was, I probably wouldn’t have been able to keep my cool. Many moons ago, I worked retail, and saw numerous people get fired for using similar unethical sales techniques. Being taken advantage of just gets me fired up. An unfriendly woman helped me this time. She was able to return the accessories (with the exception of the $ 35 screen protector). However, her attitude toward the whole situation was that it was my fault for agreeing to pay the monthly amount, therefore I deserved to be charged for accessories. It wasn’t Brian’s fault that he said the $ 100 in accessories would be FREE, and then LIED about it. I REPEAT: ADDING SOMETHING TO A MONTHLY BILL IS NOT FREE. *ahem* Sorry… anyway. As far as my defective phone went, she factory reset it and the (motherf***ing) camera immediately started working again. I am skeptical, but she isn’t willing to exchange the phone since it was working. We leave, and drive the 40 minutes home.
Sure enough, I get home, and the camera starts acting up again with the same exact problem. Here I am, days later, trying to deal with another T-​Mobile store (the one in Waterford, spoiler alert: they’re owned by the same umbrella of assholes as the Berkley store) just to return or exchange my stupid phone. THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE.