For the past couple of weeks, Paul and I have had trouble communicating with each other through our Sidekicks. We haven’t been going to out of the ordinary places. In most cases, we’re in the same places when we typically communicate with each other through the Sidekicks.
Yesterday was the last straw. We had a family situation and I couldn’t reach him. If the network had cooperated, it would’ve avoided a very embarrassing situation. Had I been able to reach him, everything would’ve been fine.
So I wrote to T-Mobile customer service to explain the exact situation and the lousy service. I told them my contract was almost up, providing me with the opportunity to switch. Got the usual immediate auto-reply (good, that means my email went through). Within one day (also good), a rep responded saying he forwarded my email to the appropriate department. I appreciated their letting me know they’ve started addressing it. It’s OK if they don’t have a solution yet.
A couple of hours later, another email arrives. I’ve copied the note at the end of this post so you don’t get bored with the standard response. Here’s another post on T-Mobile Customer Service with links to other blog posts.
The email asked for specifics on the location (down to the street level), date, time, etc. Well, the service has been down more than up, but I used the family emergency as the basis for the answers.
Customer Service
Check out this line from T-Mobile’s email, “We strive to provide J.D. Power’s award-winning customer service; we won four times straight.”
Is there a good reason for bragging about your customer service? Do customers care about what awards a company has won? And what kind of customer service the company provides? This information might be more beneficial for businesses who want to know about a company’s process. But business-to-customer types of customers typically don’t want to know such info.
Furthermore, the emails used my name too many times that it felt phony. I’ve heard many stories on how saying people can be positive but can using the name be too much of a good thing?
Customer Retention
T-Mobile did one thing right — quickly followed up and responded. So far, the company hasn’t taken any real action other than replying. We want to upgrade my daughter’s Sidekick as hers is falling apart. With contract almost up, you’d think they’d offer a deal. But so far, all the deals are for new customers. You know this thing called “customer retention?” Offering deals to current customers helps that.
I also wrote the company last week asking about their offering Palm Treo 700p. They replied and I’ve included that below (contents not edited). That one uses my name in almost every paragraph. Only one paragraph provided useful information (the part about manufacturer availability). The rest was blather. Hmm, do companies hire outside writers to write their customer service scripts?
I worked in telecommunications for 10 years and understand the limitations surrounding the and hardware. But they could still take action to gain the customer’s respect and loyalty by offering upgrades, discounts, or credit. Logitech, on the other hand, took action. That’s a post for another day as this one is getting too long.
Spotty Network Service Email
Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile USA. We understand your concern about the lack of Network service in your area and you are thinking of leaving the T-Mobile family for another carrier. We understand your frustration not being able to communicate during your family emergency. We certainly hope everything was all right and we do apologize if it was an issue on our Network that may have prevented you from communicating. We are more than happy to assist you on this issue, since we do not wish to lose our valued customer such as yourself.
Meryl, we did investigate the issue with the billing address you have provided and have found no issues in that area. You have full coverage for residential automobile and Outdoors in your area and no Network or service interruptions. At this point we will have to investigate why you are experiencing and outage when there are no issues in your area. To be able to assist you please reply to the following questions.
1. Exact location with major cross streets
2. When did you notice the problem (time/date)?
3. Is this a recurring problem?
4. Where were you at the time the problem occurred?
5. Have you tried a different T-Mobile SIM Card in this device? You may take it to any T-Mobile store to test it.Did you know you might use T-Mobile.com to search for a T-mobile store closest to you? Simply follow these steps.
1. Use your browser to access www.t-mobile.com.
2. Click on the “Store Locator” in the bottom menu.
3. From here enter in the required information and click “Submit” to perform the store search.We strive to provide J.D. Power’s award winning customer service; we won four times straight.
If you have questions or concerns remaining, please reply to this email with additional information, or contact us while in the USA by phone by dialing 1-800-937-8997. You may also visit our website at www.t-mobile.com for more information on our plans, promotions and upgrades.
Meryl, thank you for being a valued T-Mobile customer since December 09, 2004, we appreciate your business.
Asking about Adding the Treo 700p to Product Line
Thank you for taking the time to contact T-Mobile customer care. My name is Matthew and I will be happy to help you out today.
I understand from your email that you would like to know if we will offer the Treo700p in the future as you would like to use a Treo device with T-Mobile service. I know how exciting state of the art equipment can be Meryl and I can definitely look into this for you today.
Unfortunately Meryl, at this time we do not have access to pre launch products including the availability of the Treo700p. The selection process of our products and launch dates are dependant on manufacturer availability and the contribution of information our customers give.
Final pricing and launch dates for further great new T-Mobile products are announced as they become accessible and you can bookmark the following T-Mobile product site and refer to it for information as it becomes available: http://www.t-mobile.com/products/.
I trust that this information will be useful to you, but if you have any other questions Meryl, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
In addition Meryl, I would like to personally thank you for being a T-Mobile customer since 2004! If there is anything that we can do to improve your experience with us please let us know right away so that we can ensure you are satisfied with your service.Once again Meryl, thank you for taking the time to write to us. I hope that I have addressed your issues today to your satisfaction, but if you have any more questions, comments or concerns, please feel free to either reply to this email, call our toll free number (1-800-937-8997 or 611 and SEND from your handset), or visit any T-Mobile Store. We always appreciate hearing from you.
Thank you for choosing T-Mobile Meryl; it has been my pleasure assisting you today. We truly appreciate your business.
Boy, those “personalized” emails were personalized to the point of being irritating. While I appreciate them using my name if they know it instead of something tacky like “Dear valued customer”, once, maybe twice in a single communication is plenty.
These are evidently form-fill letters that insert specifics that you reported in your communications with them. You would think such communications would be proof-read to ensure that they at least make sense.
Your point about customer retention is a very good one. When I was a subscriber to SBC’s DSL service I was irritated when they would reduce their rates and not apply them to their existing customers unless you specifically called them and requested the lower rate. This type of gouging shows a lack of concern for those who have shown loyalty to your company in the past. Customer service in general is pretty poor, and I always make a point of congratulating companies and individuals when they get it right. It’s sad that my occasions to do so are so infrequent.
Excellent customer service, even when there is nothing the company can do to resolve the problem, generates great loyalty. When I feel cared about and valued I don’t go shopping elsewhere, even when I could get a lower price. I look at the whole experience. Customer loyalty translates to $$$ on the balance sheet and should not be ignored or its value underestimated.
Got two more follow up emails today. First one was to let me know it has been forwarded to the right group (a lot of blather once again for what could be a much shorter email).
The tech support group responded and I need to give them more details. They also said I can get the Sidekick III for 249.99 if I extend the contract for two years, so that’s a similar offer they give to new customers. But I am holding off because I may make a change so I can use the Treo 700p.
Two more emails again. One was a “forward to the right group,” but it was horrid as it offered no useful info in the 6 paragraph email. The other one says they’re going to check my area coverage. Well, that’s action — but how about credit for the very bad network service? Here’s the email I speak of:
I’m valued? They haven’t shown this other than quickly responding to my emails with a lot of yadda yadda.
From an e-mail:
I live in the Riverside, California area and have never had great T-Mobile signals. I have had dropped calls, but few – until about a week ago. Now my cell phone requires recharging frequently and my cell phone either says “No Service” or every single phone call I get or make is dropped. I seem to get a better signal in my work area and there haven’t been any dropped calls. Has there been a problem in my area or do I need another service company that provides a better signal in my area? I need some help soon or I will have to change services – no choice – my cell phone is crutial to my business!
T-Mobile has outsourced their email customer care to a company named NCO. NCO’s center in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada has been where ALL your emails have been coming from for a long time.
Now they have sent all the emails to the PHILIPPINES! Get ready for your email and webchat customer care to be coming from Filipino people! HAHA. I thought T-Mobile would never go offshore? They do through NCO. You thought your customer care was bad before?!