My wife and I have been loyal customers of T-Mobile for 12 years. My wife purchased a My Touch, T-Mobile phone in mid July 2010 from the T-Mobile store 980 Paradise Road Swampscott, MA 01907. The promotion was for a second to be secured without charge with a subscription contract. Mid-August after being released from the hospital I obtained a BlackBerry (BB) Bold primarily for its ability to receive and transmit E-mails as is an imperative for me, a real estate Broker/Owner. From the second day, calls were constantly being dropped in areas my simple replaced Nokia, without all the bells and whistles of the BB, had not. The salespersons, which were very congenial, were at a loss for the cause. Repeated discussions with various salespersons at the procuring store prompted one of them to enter an inquiry to T-Mobile asking if it was due to their equipment and or the line transmitting to my phone. I never received an answer.

Three weeks of ownership and the BB ceased to operate, whereupon I was told the lithium battery had failed and I would have to purchase a replacement from Amazon.com ($16.00 for the battery $14.00 for delivery). I was informed T-Mobile was not allowed by Research In Motion (RIM) BB's parent Co. to stock/sell the batteries. In the interim I was given a simple Motorola replacement to use and was instructed to charge it fully upon returning home. In doing so I noted the charger was manufactured by BB, which I though odd. It became the catalyst for me to look at the charger that came with my BB phone. To my amazement it was manufactured by Motorola. They were however not interchangeable. I immediately returned to the procuring store informing Nick my salesperson. He was dumfounded, had no explanation and was very apologetic, saying he realized since day one I had experienced nothing but major problems causing me to lose potential business. Nick stated, "I can’t let you leave without getting you the charger which should have accompanied the phone, because you have had so many problems with this phone". Returning from the back stock room he gave me a BB charge which should have come with the phone. In answer to my inquiry as to where he obtained the charge Nick stated, "From another unopened BB cell phone bold box. I asked if the incongruous Motorola charge might have been the cause for a three week old battery to die. He had no positive answer but did say if all BB cell phones failed as mine, the company would not be in business.

Three days hence the ordered replacemnt battery arrived, which I took to the procuring T-Mobile store to have the salesperson install and check the phone out, which he did. The very next morning after charging I attempted to make a call, however was unable to do so due to the phone locking up and again becomeing inoperative. Returning to the T-Mobile store, as I entered a salesperson at the rear store desk recognized me and in a sympathetic booming voice inquired, "What's wrong now"? After twenty minutes of attempting to correct the problem, enlisting the service of two other salespersons to no avail he placed a call to T-Mobile, explained the problems and requested a new replacement. I was witness to a combative conversation between the two. It was explained to the T-Mobile representative that the phone remained within the warranty RIM period and there should be no challenge. I was handed the phone and what appeared to be an angry lady confirmed the mailing address and asked how I wanted it to be sent; regular 5-7 day mail or 3-5 business day mail. I explained the BB phone was used for business and selected due to its ability to accept and send E-mails, which the loaner phone did not, therefore I preferred the latter. Whereupon she stated I was responsible for the charge and the amount would be included in my monthly billing, amen. I was given another loaner this time a simple Samsung. The BB phone arrived four days later. I opened the box, removed the phone to see it missing the back cover and no battery. Reading the enclosed directions I was instructed to remove from my inoperative BB the SIM card, Battery and all other items I had placed in/on to, the failed BB (how would I get it operational to do so) and subsequently install them into and on this phone. I immediately realized it was a refurbished phone; not new as I had anticipated. The phone I received was new, or was it, and only worked properly for a very limited amount of time. The battery, which as told to me by the salesperson, should have lasted a minimum of 24 months and he never witnessed such an occurrence. I had appropriately charged it nightly, nevertheless it died after three weeks. I phoned T-Mobile Customer Care and explained my disapproval. I received no empathetic response or assistance. I phoned later and spoke to another agent who explained it is T-Mobile’s policy, yet acknowledged he would not accept a refurbished replacement after such a minimal amount of time, concurrent with initial and ongoing malfunctions. He said he would phone the T-Mobile store in Swampscott and speak to the manager to inquire if he would assist, with a new replacement, and return my call. I asked if that store where a company or franchised store whereupon she answered in the former. I then asked why she would have to phone him; shouldn’t the decision remain with T-Mobile? She was at a loss to explain and again reiterated her intention to phone the manager and then me. Thirty-five minutes passed when her return call arrived. She stated the manager at the Swampscott store refused. She did say “I phoned the manager at our Peabody, MA store and he has advanced what I believe to be a reasonable solution”. She went on to say he would sell me a NEW BB Bold at discounted retail price and I would then have two, the refurbished and this new one. I was dumbstruck at such a suggestion, and asked what I would do with two cell phones for one line. He retorted “You will have one for back-up in the event the new one fails”. “Oh while I’m awaiting its replacement with another USED REFIRBISHED REPLACEMENT PHONE, I stated.

I now highly suspect that the BB I initially was given was not a Brand New phone. I strongly believe that the two for one offer was misleading and-Mobile is engaging in a deceptive manner of doing business. Therefore, I intend to sue the T-Mobile Swampscott store, T-Mobile Co. and Research In Motion under Massachusetts General Law 93A. This law calls for up to treble damages, can be levied without a lawyer and is heard in Small claims Court. After twelve years our business is held with little regard by T-Mobile and we are moving to AT&T, and encouraging our family, friends and clients to do so as well.

Charles J. Arrigo
1 Paradise Road
Salem, MA 01970