The worst customer service

I sympathize for all of you that have unresolved issues. With so many customers there are going to be mistakes and with so much automated systems, one-off type problems can seemingly go around in circles. I switched to TMobile  about 10 years ago coming over from ATT. My last year of ATT, I literally had to call every month for 6 months to get them to correct my bill, which they always did but with a promise that it won't happen again. On the 6th time I made sure the noted my ultimatum - if I have to call one more time it will be to cancel. The rest is history, but one of the more satisfying calls I've ever made when I canceled and the poor cancellation guy asking the innocent question of "why are you cancelling?".

The switch from ATT to TMobile was not without issues. I can't remember the details from that time, but the numbers weren't adding up on what I was told I would get reimbursed and TMO agreeing with my math. It look 4-5 calls to get it straightened out and back then TMO was fairly generous with "we're sorry" credits and I got something like $400 for all my troubles (on top of all the trade in credits I was due). I think they just credited me a couple months of service.

Having been on TMO for 10+ years, I have on average 2-4 issues per year but those were all triggered by something changing in my account - changing plans, adding lines, various promotions etc.

I have experienced TMO support staff who were not knowledgable and made mistakes to my account before a more senior TMO support person had to correct. There has been just one time as a TMO customer where a phone rep really got me upset and that was a supervisor who I hope has been fired. Yes, the offshore support is a little difficult understand at times but not impossible. I also have seen no correlation of difficult to understand versus how well they could manage issues. I would rather have offshore on off hours rather than no support at all.

Every time I was overcharged, everything got corrected down to the penny. These generally showed up in the next bill. In the last couple years, it seems reps are now limited to $10 discretionary credit if they feel you deserve it for your troubles.

I could stop there, but I have also had a couple instances where the billing errors were in my favor. Although I don't have to, I call anyway to let them know and every time they tell my it's their mistake and don't worry about it.

Overall I would give a B grade where in comparison I would give an A to Amazon (due to the rarity of issues and how issues are instantly resolved via chat 24x7). I probably spend roughly the same per year on both TMO and Amazon.

I would never go back to ATT (promise made promise kept LOL) but if I would consider switching to Verizon, I doubt I would get better customer support and there are no plans that come close to what I'm getting from TMO and the price I'm paying. That's the last thing I'll add is that TMO is the only carrier I know that let's you keep whatever plan you have "for life". I started with just voice and data 10 years ago on a plan that is no longer offered. I only changed plans once and that was when family plan was first offered. However as all these extras were added on new plans (mobile hotspot, Netflix, airplane data, etc), somehow all of those were added to my original family plan at no additional costs. All I had to do was opt in. Staying true to their word, TMO never removed those features and never charged me more. I also started with a corp discount and even if I leave my company it will still be honored.

On a side note, I also signed up for TMO's streaming live TV, TVision. It was great and cheaper than any other competitor. Unfortunately they shut down the service but rather than just say "sorry". They cut a deal with YouTubeTV where all prior TVision customers would get a $10 discount for life. I am in year 2 of that discount.

There are times I wanted to vent on some of the more frustrating problems, but each time I ask myself am I going to stay on TMO, it's a resounding yes purely because the price and features. I can live with so so support. In fact rather than investing in more support capabilities, I would rather TMO give more features for free.