Phone Collector
Has anyone called customer service and had issues understanding the representative? I called about a request to change a hotspot rate plan and receive a totally different more expensive plan that was originally quoted. When the rate plan was quoted, I verified back with the representative the quoted plan and he said yes. Well looking at the account today, the plan is $30.00 more WTF.
Tried to call today and and again language barrier. They did not understand . I don’t know what to do. Not being rude, but I thought one of the Un-Carrier promotions was local support team. What happened with this?
Super Moderator
Sadly, many companies send most of their customer support overseas on the weekend and after normal business hours. Try again on Monday during normal business hours. You can also request your call to be transferred to another rep at any time, although your current rep might try to make an excuse to avoid doing so. This is the reality of modern customer service. Sucks, doesn't it ?
Last edited by Serial Port; 03-19-2023 at 03:49 PM.
Just another day in paradise.....
Post Machine
I don't think that I've hit a US based rep in the past year. I suspect that much of this has been slowly occurring since the official deal of Sprint has closed. CS and technical support that I reach are in the Philippines (they admit as such), while I used to get Colorado Springs, Idaho and New Mexico in the past. TBH, I have a work At&t account, and it is US based and is typically less technical, but does actually appear to understand what I'm saying. TMobile reps may sound more sympathetic and cheery with their 'personal guarantees ' but typically end up being just scripted.
Sent from my SM-G991U using HoFo mobile app
AT&T... your world, throttled.
I've climbed a cellphone tower
My favourite is when I can hear in the background a baby crying, Lola doing dishes or even the backyard chickens.
Genuinely love it, I try to find out exactly where they are in the world, discuss some personal info about our lives (not in a creepy way of course)
Most of my life has been spent living with subsistence farmers in "third-world"(later-developing) countries
and boy do I miss it.
Post Machine
I do my best to use online chat customer service with any company that offers it, including with T-Mobile. To me, there are less chances for miscommunication in writing in a chat than verbal on a phone call, especially when accents are involved.
My screen is bigger than yours
Anyone else think the issue isn't the language barrier but shady CS reps? I called to cancel an account and kept getting passed around. At first I blamed the language barrier but it eventually became obvious to me that none of the reps wanted to be the one to process the cancelation. The excuses I got were more and more ridiculous each time I was passed along.
In the OP case I have a feeling the reps are being told to upsell plans whenever possible, maybe even have quotas to meet.
Super Moderator
As a former CS rep, let me clarify. We were the first line reps and we made an attempt to save the account. If the customer decided they still wanted to cancel, the call had to be transferred to a specialty "save team" rep who would take over the call. We couldn't cancel accounts under any circumstance.Originally Posted by Endlessknight
There was nothing "shady" about it, there was a chain of command that had to be followed as that team had special offers that the first line reps did not have access to. The first line reps made basic attempts to retain customers but there were no special offers that they had to offer. When I was in CS, there were no accounts cancelled through first line CS or online chat for any reason, it had to be done with a rep over the phone.
I've climbed a cellphone tower
IOW shady management, designs shady processes and shady systems.
Don't blame the low-paid exploited staffers forced to follow those
I've climbed a cellphone tower
Yes, it's a shady practice to make customers jump through hoops to discontinue a service which they could start with a simple click of the mouse. That's why the FTC has made this proposed rule change. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news...ncel-recurring
My screen is bigger than yours
The hoops I was made to jump through far exceeded what you are describing and the lies I was told were beyond believable. At one point I was even told I was not an authorized user on the account despite being the only person ever on the account. Nor does your explanation cover the OP's issue.
Post Machine
If you 'really' want to get out , I'd recommend a 'simple' filing of a BBB complaint. T-Mobile's "Executive Response Team" (used to be Office of Executive Management) will contact you and they are US based.
Typically when I file complaints , they are more willing to jump through hoops, including pay off all devices than to fix poor coverage issues. As a note: What they say on the phone will not match what they write to the BBB.
My screen is bigger than yours
That is my next step if this last call didn't fix the issue. I've been told the account is now closed but I've been told that before.
Phone Collector
I been calling between 08:00 and 17:00 trying to get a representative I can understand on what is going on with my account. The last person I spoke with claimed to be Amber but had difficulty understanding her. I just told her never mind.
What is the secret to speak with someone who I can understand and tell me what is going on with the account.
Are the other providers offshore their customer service? If T-Mobile has a retention department, are they US based?
Am I the only one having this difficulty?
Post Machine
I'd recommend hitting up through media (T-Mobile app 'chat' option, or social media (FB/Twitter).
Note: Many of them are also based in the Philippines. There is often a loss in translation, as you have experienced.
If you can't get what you're looking for, file a BBB complaint that the support team through calls are having a language issue, and T-Mobile 'ERT' will contact you from the US (Albuquerque or Washington for me typically).
Be aware that at times if you ask a 'specific' question, you may get a generic 'non-response'.
I.e. When asked from an existing ticket (told it would be completed March 31) on B41 LTE being enabled, the response was 'The engineers have verified that all supported bands have been deployed and enabled'.
Read between the lines: This site doesn't have B41 LTE, only n41. Similarly when a 5G site (150' away, with SINR 30 and RSRP -60dBm) has throughput of <1Mbps on any band as well as regardless of 2G/3G/4G/5G.... the response comes back as 'Network is operating as expected', and 'Network congestion' for a town of 400.
The question becomes 'what does it mean exactly, as 'operating as expected'.
The response (written after CPUC complaint) comes back as "The network is running as expected on the T1 circuit, and is experiencing some congestion".
If its customer service (i.e. billing, device or similar), they will most likely be able to assist.
I've got more phones than fingers
I do too. I sometimes ask where in the world they are from, out of honest curiosity.
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks