So, I just got a call from a collections company today about the final bill of my T-Mobile contract. I looked it up in my bank records and I paid it in November of last year. I hung up on the asshole, because I was at work and he wouldn't accept that I paid it, and I didn't remember when exactly I paid it. I've never had to deal with this before. Do I contact t-mobile?
Yes, your first call should be to T-Mobile to get documentation that you don't owe a balance. Then run a free credit report and dispute the neg on your report.
The collections agencies are worthless to actually get resolution. They are below pond scum.
tmobile used to be a great company, i was with them for 10 years. last year my signal at my house and general area of my house got worse and worse, i went from a strong 3g to pretty much nothing. Its pretty clear they are moving away from rural areas and just concentrating on the dense urban areas now.
im with Verizon now and i have 4g goodness pretty much every where i go.
Nope. They definitely try to be nice, but if there's an issue that isn't in their manual, then you'll be bounced around for ages. I have multiple 45 minute calls just checking to see if I'd been issued a refundDefinitely call T-Mobile, their customer service is awesome, I am sure it will be resolved with just one phone call.
Definitely call T-Mobile, their customer service is awesome, I am sure it will be resolved with just one phone call.
Nope. They definitely try to be nice, but if there's an issue that isn't in their manual, then you'll be bounced around for ages. I have multiple 45 minute calls just checking to see if I'd been issued a refund
Roughly a year ago, I returned a phone and called in to check on the status of my refund. The vast majority of them didn't know how to do this, so they bounced me back and forth between two different departments. My calls over the duration of two weeks lasted 27-50 minutes each because of their useless department transfers. I remember the low of 27 minutes very well because my call was dropped and that pissed me off. None of them (except for the last call) resolved my issue either; they just told me I would get a return call back in 2-3 days, and of course I never got it.I had corporate discount, when I changed plans, for two months it was not applied, I realized, called, and within 2 mins it was refunded.
Another time, after change in plan, I was being charged for my texts, it was supposed to be free, again within 2 mins it was resolved.
Another time, I paid off the device, but instead it applied to to bill, only to realize later that it was actually applied to device and bill was overdue, again called them, late fees was removed and everything was resolved within minutes.
So not sure what's happening to you, but I have been their customer for more than 14 years and NEVER had a single issue.
Roughly a year ago, I returned a phone and called in to check on the status of my refund. The vast majority of them didn't know how to do this, so they bounced me back and forth between two different departments. My calls over the duration of two weeks lasted 27-50 minutes each because of their useless department transfers. I remember the low of 27 minutes very well because my call was dropped and that pissed me off. None of them (except for the last call) resolved my issue either; they just told me I would get a return call back in 2-3 days, and of course I never got it.
Some issues they'll handle easily, such as bill adjustments and fees. Others? Good luck.
The funny thing is, there is literally one guy running the entire T-Mobil network.
He is in the process of training another, T-Mobil is scrambling to keep up with the massive increases in their customer base.
Sure there are tons of other T-Mobil employees, but there is one "server" that runs and controls everything...and only one guy actually knows how to use/maintain/program this server. He has to manually load balance and fix every outage, overload, or light fart in the system. If shit goes wrong it can screw the network across the whole country (happened just recently).
I happen to know this one particular wizard. He apologizes to all you customers with crappy and/or reduced service...but he promises T-Mobil is working hard to add new hardware and expand capacity while he tries to keep up on the software. Unfortunately he still needs to eat and drink, crap and sleep...and his home life has been in a rough spot for the past year.
He has developed a disdain for you heavy users though (500+GB/month), and he has a list of all of you. I suggest you let up a bit, before he decides to do something about those names on the list.
Do everything you can to get this resolved clearly; and make sure you send letters to all the credit reporting agencies when it's resolved. Even then it's not guaranteed this won't come back.
Personal experience:
In 2009 I moved out of a house, I had ATT DSL, called, cancelled the account, and paid the balance on the account over the phone ($20)
6 months later receive a notice from a collection agency about an unpaid bill (for $20+70 in fees and interest) to ATT. Call ATT, after discussing with a rep, and faxing a copy of the bank statement for it, he agrees it was paid, and ATT's records were wrong, I give him the collection agency number and account number to call and correct it. I further call the collection agency, give them the name/extension of the rep at ATT, the account number to reference, and they assure me they will clear this when they confirm the error with ATT.
6 months later, a different collection agency sends me a notice for an unpaid bill (originally $20 and now up to $130) Unfortunately this was shortly after my ex left me; I had closed the formerly joint account, and she took(stole) a file drawer full of records including my records on this. So with no means of proving that this was paid, I decide to just pay off the collection agency rather than have it end up on my credit report.
Jan 2014, an account is put on my credit report as delinquent for $130, by yet another collection agency. Calling them reveals that *surprise* this is in regards to an unpaid bill from ATT in 2009. Further, my credit score fell from 730 to 650 on the back of this one account, causing me to be denied for a rental property I applied for at the time. Even now after having the issue cleared up via the older receipt, and sending letters to the credit agencies, this account is still listed as a negative on my credit which has only recovered to 690, and is costing me nearly 1/2% in interest on my new mortgage.
Just an anecdotal warning about how slimy collection agencies are, and how long they will continue to harass people even after the account has been paid.