Thursday
13Nov2008
Still loving the G1 and now TMobile too
Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 10:25AM
As everyone around me knows, I've become a huge fan of the G1 and the Android OS. I've written about it a few times on the blog and I will continue to. Today's post is more about the service provider behind the product.
In my mind, TMobile never had great coverage. I tested a TMobile Blackberry 8700 about 3 years ago and was getting dropped calls right in Olde City, Philadelphia. That's just not good. Sure the coverage was decent on the highways and even up near my parents house in Quakertown, PA but to have calls drop out in a major city, no way I could use it.
Fast forward about 3 years to today. The G1 is an excellent phone. From design to execution it has been a total pleasure to work with (not that it hasn't come with its kinks).
I called up TMobile yesterday and spoke to a wonderful woman named Luciana. Her rep ID ends in 32880 and she's in the Dallas, TX call center. She was pleasant to talk to, she understood my problem (the hing seemed a little wobbly and I didn't want it to fall apart) and she simply ordered me a new one -- free of charge. I didn't even have to go into a store, they ship it UPS to me.
Many people might think it's crazy that I'm excited about such a simple thing but calling customer service at any cell phone company can be aggravating. I will usually go through 4 or 5 different people before I find the one I need to talk to and then they send me through a whirlwind of questions until they finally come to the conslusion they should, replace it. TMobile didn't make me do this at all.
I will definitely be sticking with TMobile for the time being and I will be trying to give Luciana a call the next time I have any issues. TMobile is lucky to have someone like her on their staff because she just won them a customer that was with AT&T Wireless for 6 years and a blog post dedicated to them. Customer service FTW!
In my mind, TMobile never had great coverage. I tested a TMobile Blackberry 8700 about 3 years ago and was getting dropped calls right in Olde City, Philadelphia. That's just not good. Sure the coverage was decent on the highways and even up near my parents house in Quakertown, PA but to have calls drop out in a major city, no way I could use it.
Fast forward about 3 years to today. The G1 is an excellent phone. From design to execution it has been a total pleasure to work with (not that it hasn't come with its kinks).
I called up TMobile yesterday and spoke to a wonderful woman named Luciana. Her rep ID ends in 32880 and she's in the Dallas, TX call center. She was pleasant to talk to, she understood my problem (the hing seemed a little wobbly and I didn't want it to fall apart) and she simply ordered me a new one -- free of charge. I didn't even have to go into a store, they ship it UPS to me.
Many people might think it's crazy that I'm excited about such a simple thing but calling customer service at any cell phone company can be aggravating. I will usually go through 4 or 5 different people before I find the one I need to talk to and then they send me through a whirlwind of questions until they finally come to the conslusion they should, replace it. TMobile didn't make me do this at all.
I will definitely be sticking with TMobile for the time being and I will be trying to give Luciana a call the next time I have any issues. TMobile is lucky to have someone like her on their staff because she just won them a customer that was with AT&T Wireless for 6 years and a blog post dedicated to them. Customer service FTW!
Reader Comments (19)
Oh and Bwana the Iguana commented on my blog with a neat story about TMobile. Go TMo! http://is.gd/8cf5
I want to sing TMobile's praises and I'll do it from my G1. http://bit.ly/MppJ
All TMobile CSR's are like this. They have the BEST customer service and always go the extra mile for you. I have to say that this is one of the main reasons that I have remained a customer for 5 years. Praise to Luciana and the rest of the TMobile customer service department.
Any great stories about their CSRs that you'd like to share? I contacted their exec customer service team to let them know how I feel. I'd love to pass along more good stories. :)
I don't have any names or such like you but I have had similar issues with my Blackberry Curve. I was on the road heading to Wildwood, NJ for the weekend and my keypad and trackball stopped working. I can't live without my phone and I needed to fix this issue right away so I called at 3:00 AM and spoke with a very nice woman. She first suggested mailing me a phone but I knew that I wouldn't receive this phone until Tuesday the earliest. I expressed my concern to her and she went out of her way to locate a dealer in the Wildwood area that could give me a replacement phone. Needless to say I got a new replacement phone free of charge the day.
They are also pretty trick sometimes but in a good way. When I ordered my G1 I made sure that I ordered it before the cut-off date that would allow me to receive my phone before October 22. I called TMobile for an update and was told that I would not receive my phone until November 10th. This drove me nuts since I pre-ordered just to get the phone the day it was released. The next day I received my phone a day early (on the 21st) and called to thank TMobile for what I called there 'Awesome Trickery'!
I have a ton of good stories and not a bad one that comes to mind. I think that pretty much sums it up for me.
That's fantastic to know! Sometimes you need the device that day, not 7 days out. They actually set it up for you to get it in the store, awesome.
[...] Read the full story [...]
My daughter parked her G1 in the trunk off the car while playing basketball. Too bad the car was moving away from her location at 45 Mph when she remembered to get it. She found the phone smashed, with skid marks and tire tracks on and around it. T-Mobile replaced it at the upgrade price (it was negligence after all) without any problem. I love T-Mobs CSR's and they are the reason I have been with T-Mob for five years.....
Awesome to hear about their CSRs. So far I have been hard pressed to find too many people who have had poor things to say about their CSRs. Billing issues have been another thing but as far as their people are concerned, they are ace.
I love t mobile too! I am a cell phone freak and I have had every provider out there. From Verizon to Cingular/AT&T and I haven't been with them for long but was fortunate to be able to experience their great customer service. That is one thing many businesses lack these days. It's not about the customer, its about profits. If I got treated right everytime I went into a store like I get treated with t mobile...I would shop there a lot more too!
My family has been with TMobile for 10 years, and even though other providers (Verizon and AT&T come to mind) get the better toys to play with, TMo has ALWAYS given stellar CSR experiences. Even if we're late on a bill, I suppose the fact that we're "Valued Customers" lets them know that we won't stiff them for their money, lol..
Daniel,
I couldn't agree with you more. I have had so-so experience with in-store people at TMobile but their telephone CSRs have been great. I hope that at some point they work with their store managers to make life a little bit better for us all.
Good to know (about the bills). Not that I generally pay them late but just in case it happens, it's good to know that I can count on them to come through for me because I'm a "valued customer".
well i personally have been with tmobile for 6 years, but my parents have been with them for like 10 years when it was called voicestream...and they are awesome not only the CSR but the company as a whole...they have really good phones, good plans and just an over-all good company. i haven't had a bad experience with them so far and hope i don't have one either, although i have been tempted to switch to another of the common companies (cingular, verizon, etc.) due to a fun new toy that they came out i can't complain that tmobile has always managed to change my mind and get me to get a phone from them. hopefully i will be getting the new g1 white or the blackberry curve quite a hard decision for me seing as i already had a blackberry and had a bad experience yet, and the new g1 looks intriguing and fun yet sort of big and bulky and that's what's making take longer on my decision...idk could i get some suggestions on these choices from those whose had these phones....?
T-Mobile has been in the US for 6 years as VoiceStream was acquired by Deutsche Telekom in 11/2002
I too have been a T-mobile customer for 6yrs and just renewed my contract. Their CSR's are really friendly and helpful. I was unemployed once for about 3mon. and was not able to pay my bill. I called them and explained my situation and that as soon as I was financially stable I would pay off my balance. They froze my account and when I was back on my feet paid off my balance $200 or so and remained a customer. The only time I can remember being inconvenienced was a few years ago when I lived in Union City, NJ. My reception was horrible at the time but in months got way better.
[...] at Srcasm.com wrote about an experience he had with one of TMobile’s CSRs. As you can see by the comments [...]
I have also been a TMO customer for a long time (about five years now). Before that I was an AT&T and Verizon customer, and I originally switched because my company had a great plan with TMO. What I've found over the past five years echoes what others have been saying--their customer service is absolutely top-notch, their pricing is incredibly competitive, and now that they're getting some of the new innovative phones like the G1, they're rising in the "gadget" rankings as well.
All that said, I was just about to switch to VZW recently because TMO's coverage at my house is poor--I could only use my phone on the second floor of my house. Enter the Blackberry Curve (8320) and UMA. Now I can use my home WiFi connection to carry my call, and my Internet browsing runs at broadband speeds. And UMA is free! TMO saved me as a customer and I couldn't be happier. Kudos to TMO for staying competitive and keeping true to their customer service priorities.
I have been with t-mobile since 2002 and have had great coverage and cs the whole time. Recently my bb curve was stolen and I decided instead of paying full price for a new phone that I would try out the other big 3. After using the iPhone 3g and the bb bold on at&t, the curve on sprint and verizon, the bb storm on verizon, the instinct, I ended up going back to t-mobile because they have the best rates, great coverage, and the g1 is awesome. In my opinion, sprint was the second best with the $99 simply everything plan.