Fax: 1-813-351-4100
Date: July 17th, 2008
Attention: Robert Dotson, President and Chief Executive Officer
RE: XXX-XXX-XXXX


Mr. Dotson,
I am a customer of T-Mobile and have been since 2001. I have previously brought to your attention some unfortunate issues I had experienced with the Customer Service Department back on February 2008. Your follow up to the issues brought forth to you in that letter was the “impressive” factor about T-Mobile. Although not resolved at the time, the Simple, quick and fast reply from your HQ office, as stated earlier, is the impressive part from the Executive Management Level.
As you know, client satisfaction is very important in our current retail & wholesale industries. In these past couple years, I have had to purchase several cell phones because for one reason or another, T-Mobile has either not been able to resolve the problems or did not have enough knowledge to fix the problem or just simply suggested as a resolution - for me to purchase a new cell phone to resolve the problems.
Listed below is the history (as far as T-Mobile’s records are kept) of all the cell phones I have had to purchase because of previous issues incurred:
Date Purchased Cell Phone Type Amount Paid
May-07 T-Mobile Dash $299.99
May-06 Samsung $149.99
Jan-05 Nokia 3660 $269.99
Dec-04 Nokia 3660 $249.04
Total $969.01


As you may observe, the listed above is quite an expense history just to be able to obtain fluidity of communications and functionality.

This unfortunately, is not what I had envisioned in my signing up with T-Mobile. I signed up for the promise of: quality service, quality of product, easy access to “compatibilities with office networks”, guarantee on products, loyal customers to have a priority in satisfaction of needs, pricing on new phones, offers of new competitive deals (when available) and the fabulous program of 5000 minutes for a monthly charge of $99.

These last couple of months, my experiences has become a nightmare with the problems I have had with either the T-Mobile Dash or the level of knowledge on the product or just simply Customer Service. Listed below are the summary versions of the problems encountered these last couple of months. I am also mentioning the occurrences where positive outcomes have been achieved because I do feel when good work is performed, the individuals should be recognized the time spent by us, clients to file “complaints”; we should recognize and “compliment” good service as well.

Summary of incidents:
Positive: June 18th, 2008: I called T-Mobile because my Dash was having synchronization issues. I initially talked to Loru (ID#7058472) and after attempts at trying to fix it and could not understand how to handle the problem, transferred me to Mike (ID#341622), in Level III IT. He worked on my T-Mobile Dash from 5:38pm through 9:10 pm and in conclusion – fixed the synchronization problem I had at the time. Although, I spent a long time with the tech, I perceived him as to really care and want
June 23rd, 2008. I called T-Mobile 1-800-937-8997 because I was having weird messages popping on my Dash screen – it was unable to synch and was advising me “attention required”. I spoke initially with a Jonathan who in turn, up hearing the issue –explained he would not be able to assist me since he is unfamiliar with that type of error message. He transferred me to Aaron (ID#381389) from Level II Dept. I explained to Aaron my problem and he then proceeded to read verbatim what was on the website as the possible solutions. Why do I know? He told me! I advised him this was a new issue related to my cell and to please read the notes in my file, his response was that it was a hardware problem. It was not an issue T-Mobile would get involved in and I was to contact HTC directly. He also stated the USB cable could not be attached all the time to the laptop and causing frequent synchs with the cell because it would “wear out” the mechanics of the cell. I advised him, I needed to do this because I worked from home and I did almost all my entries on the laptop. He again responded, this was not a T-Mobile issue. He then proceeded to give me the HTC 800 number 1-888-356-2375. I was really upset with him, with T-Mobile yet wrote down the phone number. Also repeated this number back to him so I would be insured I was understanding this correctly and not have to call one more time, T-Mobile. He confirmed the numbers I wrote down. He also repeated one more time that T-Mobile did not follow-up with hardware issues and the 2 year contracts did not include this “type of service”. I then asked him what does the 2 year contract cover: he stated telephone call related issues. I then inquired why then get a 2 year contract if after the 1st year, all cell issues were not addressed nor fixed “as he put it”? He could not answer. Just repeated again, hardware issues were not part of the “contract”. I went to the T-Mobile main web page and filed a complaint via the Cust. Serv. Q&As on Aaron ID#381389.

I called the number Aaron had provided to me earlier and upon dialing the number, it notified me the number I was calling belonged to “Demus Customer Service”.

Now, I am fuming. I called T-Mobile again, 1-800-937-8997 and asked to speak to a Level III tech. All the reps once again at the various levels asked my account and password information, the nature of my call and then they transferred the call eventually. I have found Level III Techs to know a LOT more than Level II Techs – HANDS DOWN!!! The T-Mobile Dash was purchased on May 2007, I would like to bring to your attention another issue which unfortunately brings negative feedback on the product sold and the follow up services displayed at several levels. I purchased a T-Mobile Dash. I have unfortunately, had nothing but synchronization problems, lack of knowledge of the product at Level III IT in the past 3 months.

July 7th, 2008: I called the 1-800-937-8992. After repetitious confirmations of account numbers, names, and passwords, I was able to reach Level III Techs because the problem could not be resolved. The error messages were:
1. SIM card not valid/functioning
2. The Remote party has ended this connection

Mike, the tech I spoke with and forgot to ask for the ID#, after various “off and on” attempts, we were successful in activating the service back to normal. He suggested we try to replace the SIM card on the phone at the next convenient moment for me. He stated he would add a note within my file so any T-Mobile Retail store would see the SIM replacement card is free. He also looked up the closest location of a store nearest to my home and found the Mil Creek office address. I thanked him and hung up. I immediately went to the store and replaced the SIM card.

July 15th, 20008: I called the 1-800-937-8992. After repetitious entries, was advised my account had been suspended. I hung up and called again since I was cut off by the automated service dialing system. The second time around, I was able to get through to Cust. Serv. Rep., James. James verified my account number, my name, and password, listened to what my problem was: I had now 2 Dash Partnerships. I knew I could only have one, yet was hesitant on WHICH ONE to delete. I needed advice on this question. James explained he was not capable of responding to this question and transferred me to Level III Department with Mike ID#1226. Mike & I reviewed all of the information and determined which partnership “device” needed to be deleted from the Window Mobile Center. We synchronized again to ensure everything was working properly. I then had an additional question about my “history of cell purchases”, so he transferred me back to Cust. Serv. Dept. After confirming my entire name, cell phone, password, summary of my request, Walt, provided me with the information I asked for: my “cell phone purchase history” (listed at the beginning). I hung up the telephone call satisfied I had been taken care of and my issues resolved.

Positive outcome: July 8th 2008: I was having problems again with the T-Mobile Dash. It would not connect and I was not able to dial out from the cell. I called T-Mobile 1-800-9337-8997 and after verification of my name, cell phone number and password, I spoke with AJ from the Level II, PDA&Tech Support. AJ stated since the warranty had expired on May 26th, 2008, there was nothing they, T-Mobile, could do since the phone if it was defective and for me to contact HTC directly. I advised him this was unacceptable and I wanted to speak to a Supervisor. The Supervisor, Derek (ID#3733050), at the PDA Support Department. He listed to what I said and also pointed out the same thing: warranty was expired and there was nothing which could be done. I explained again, I had purchased the cell for $300 at least and I was not satisfied with his answer, ESPECIALLY since I had been addressing problems with this for the last couple months AND Techs, had been working on this and had yet to resolve ANY of the issues. The suggestion to buy a new phone really made me lose my cool! No curse words yet I would not accept the fact that I could not get some type of resolution – another phone. A lot of back and forth went on and then he felt sorry for me I guess and also appreciated the fact that after all of these problems, I was still with T-Mobile. He showed exemplary customer service skills and resolved my issue by issuing a small extension to my warranty and replaced my phone with a new T-Mobile Dash. He also recommended I look at a Blackberry for the future and then proceeded to suggest a couple models.

On July 15th, after receiving a replacement T-Mobile Dash – I noticed the battery was running low too quickly. Talked to a T-Mobile Cust. Serv. Rep. and was advised it was the battery and to simply walk into any T-Mobile store and pick one up. I physically drove to your T-Mobile store located in Bothell, WA (MillCreek (Store #8360) 20804 Bothell Everett HWY, Bothell, WA 98021).
I was attended by a very nice gentleman, receding hair line, blond, around 32 yrs. Old – (unfortunately I did not catch the name). Upon my requesting a replacement battery for my T-Mobile Dash, the gentleman looked at the cell and then looked online. He informed me that T-Mobile no longer carries them in the stores and they no longer sell them online. His suggestion was for me to contact H.T.C. com and order one directly from them. Mr. Dotson, as you may visualize, I was a little upset, yet did not create a scene and walked out quite discontent with T-Mobile. Upon arriving home, I logged onto my account with T-Mobile, and low and behold, the battery was being sold and I ordered one directly from T-Mobile online!!

This print screen (listed below) has been taken directly from the T-Mobile (general access) website.



July 16th, 7: 15 am. I called T-Mobile for some issues related to my Dash. I initially spoke with Trisha, whom confirmed my cell number account and my password. I explained the problems I was encountering and she said she would have to transfer me to another department. I agreed with her. She transferred me to Level II. I spoke to a Brian at the Level II Department. He asked me for my cell number and then proceeded to ask me for my password. I advised him the password I was using. He then proceeded to tell me the password was incorrect. He could not assist me because stated my password: “XXX” was incorrect. I then stated this was impossible since I had just been transferred from a Trisha in Cust. Service who had confirmed and verified all of the information I was providing was correct! He again insisted my account password is incorrect and could not look in the notes for this account nor provide any service related to this account since that was T-Mobile policy.

I hit the roof!! I hung up and called again the 1-800-937-8997. The computerized system which starts the entire process for delegation of calls according to what we, clients, have entered at the beginning, once more advised me my account had been suspended so could not help me. This now has happened twice – yesterday as well. My account is set up for automatic billing on my Master Card.

Now, it is 7:30 am! I hung up again and called the 1-800-937-8997 again. This time, after my entering of my cell number and getting the same message of “account suspended”, I pressed the 0 button continuously until I get a Cust. Serv. Rep. In speaking to Brittany (in Cust. Serv. Dept.). She confirms my account was not suspended and my password was correct. I summarize this to her what my problem was and requested she transfer me directly to a Level III Department. I asked her not to take offense in this yet I knew and needed these problems to be addressed and resolved by a Level III Department. She proceeds to transfer me to a Level II Department.

Level II Tech, Bruce, ID#10251390 after confirming my account, name and password and the nature of the call. Was unfamiliar with the error messages listed below. He states he has not encountered these and wants to write them down in the notes in the file. I repeat them again so he can write them up within the notes of my file.

Problems with new T-Mobile Dash phone after 2 days of usage:
Error messages are:
1. Automatic response from: “The SIM cards missing or is not valid you can still make emergency calls if your service provider supports it. SIM failure.” SIM was changed earlier last week.
2. “The following errors occurred while sending and receiving messages: Cannot connect. Be certain that your connection settings are correct then try again.” T-Mobile Dash phone (physically) replaced just 2 days ago.

He could not figure out either. However, suggested we do a Master Reset. This would clear all information in my cell currently and back up information from the laptop to the cell. So we cleared & reset the Dash. Upon my asking if all of my email accounts would transfer over to my Dash, he replied, “of course! They are all backed up on the Mobile Center and would download upon our synchronization set up.” I had stressed this since I had spent 1 hour setting the emails up and had to work with MSFT, GMAIL, and windows mobile for the other 3 accounts.

Upon clearing and resetting, the information from the “laptop” was downloaded into the cell. Unfortunately, none of the emails passed on to the cell. They needed to be “re entered” into the cell.
Now, I asked him if he knew what he was talking about and he then proceeded to give me instructions on “going to Tools, and then looking….” I stopped him right there. I advised him that I had only Window Mobile Device Center as an option on my screen. He insisted for me to look for a “Tools” field button. After my getting frustrated and repeating several times this was not an option on the Windows Mobile Device Center – he then admitted he had no idea about Mobile Center nor had any idea on how to resolve problems with Vista and the Dash!

I thanked him for his honesty but pointed out this should have been his 1st answer, 1 hour ago vs. messing with my cell and erasing, etc. I requested for him to transfer me to Level III.

Positive part: I was transferred to a Level III tech, James ID#341643. Who confirmed my account verification and cell number to be correct? We summarized all of the problems and he advised me the errors I had received earlier in the day are not normal. We synched again and received 2 emails onto Outlook and not the rest. He confirmed that I would have to create another email with my main carrier Verizon to get the other emails. He waited while I created the Verizon email “partnership” and I received all emails on the cell. We also synchronized again putting a “dummy entry” just to make sure everything was okay. Fortunately, it was.

He also assured me that he had placed within the notes for all reps to see, a special note to transfer me directly with a Level III Department Tech, when I was addressing problems with my T-Mobile Dash. He sympathized with my frustrations and stated this note should alleviate some of my headaches on being bounced from different levels to ultimately always end up in the Level III Department. Level III techs are trained and know Vista and are very familiar with T-Mobile Dash.

It is now 10:30 am of the same day and I am creating my partnerships emails all over again. Some work and others do not. I will have to work with the entities to get the correct set up.

REMAINING PROBLEM:
An existing problem which is pending and has Level III Techs, stumped on how to resolve.
• On 2 occasions, Level III Techs, have created a “backup.pst files” and another ““̃̃backup.file”. Theses have both been created as to back up my existing “outlook data” before attempting to erase and reboot the cell phone or erase the existing data contained in the Windows Mobile Center.
• Should any of these 2 be deleted, it disables the functionality of synchronization from my Laptop with the T-Mobile Dash via USB Cables.
• Should an attempt be made to “rename” any one of these 2 files, the action may not be performed because “access” is denied.
• SIM card error”The SIM cars is missing or is not valid you can still make emergency calls if your service provider supports it. SIM Failure.”. WHAT I DO NOW, dismantle the phone: take out SIM CARD, BATTERY, reassemble and restart the cell phone. Yesterday afternoon it happened, today, July 17th, 2008, at 7:30am during one of my calls, it happened….

As you may well be aware, just the hassle of T-Mobile verifications of name, account number, password, summary of problem and transfers from 2 to 3 departments with the same questions are asked, IS enough to drive anyone nuts!!!

The majority of the techs at the Level III, or any other departments, cannot figure out or come to a resolution to fix this problem the “backup.pst files”. After spending so much time with T-Mobile, you may imagine my hesitancy on deleting or adding any further files to my laptop.

Mr. Dotson, all of these problems are not “encounters” which customers should encounter. What would you really do if you were in my shoes? I really am trying to maintain my account with T-Mobile yet unfortunately, after continuous phone calls, hours spent with techs on issues related to service or telephone, endless transfers from Department to Departments, lengthy conversations with different techs, suggestions to replacements of phones, purchases of new phones due to resolution not found, …..it is now very, very hard to believe in delivery of resolutions.

In short, once again, I am seeking your advice and suggestions on what our next step should be. I am really, really trying to still remain loyal with T-Mobile yet the process I have had to endure, to put it frankly, “is a nightmare!

Sincerely,

Lourdes Tsukada
CC:
Cole Brodman (Chief Technology and Innovation Officer); Brian Kirkpatrick(Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer); Dave Miller (Senior Vice President and General Counsel); Susan Nokes (Chief Customer and Operations Officer); Neville Ray (Senior Vice President, Engineering Operations); Manuel Sousa (Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer); Rob Strickland (Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer)