I have been a customer with T-Mobile since 2002 despite very poor service coverage in my area and particularly at my home.  To use my cell phone at home I have to go outside and stand on the sidewalk.  At work there is a dead zone for their service for a city block near one of the main buildings that I frequent.  Since I changed my cell number back to a 504 area code in early 2006, I have been receiving unauthorized charges for "premium content" (ringtones, Flycell wallpaper, etc.) that my phone does not accept.  Each month I have had to call to have the charges reversed.  Yesterday I received a call from a T-Mobile representative stating that I was past due on charges to the total of $54+.  Apparently there was $6.98 that was 30+ days late and then $47.99 due from early this month.  I checked my email account and found that I had not received a bill from T-Mobile.  I indicated that I would pay the total due in less than 48 hours via online banking.

I then called T-Mobile customer service (800-TMOBILE) and was connected with a customer service representative who insisted that I could not receive unauthorized premium content to my telephone.  When I asked to speak to her supervisor, she put me on indefinite hold.  I called back and spoke with Judy in customer service who (supposedly) reversed the $6.98 and made further efforts to block further charges.  I then asked Judy to check to see if I was still supposed to receive bills via email and she indicated that this was the case.  After the call was over, I checked T-Mobile.com and found that I was still correctly signed up for email billing.

Resolution

(6/20/2006)  This issue remains unresolved at this time .  T-Mobile apparently allows unauthorized charges and they do not provide billing reminders reliably.  I could pay my contract fee each month on a scheduled basis, but if unauthorized charges still accrue, I would continue to get harassing phone calls.  This is a no-win situation.  I am strongly considering changing to Cingular.

(6/23/2006)  I have been in contact with 3-5 representatives of T-Mobile over the past several days.  Each one gives a variation on this story.  The latest representative claims that I am responsible for the $6.98 charge even though it was not authorized by me.  I have asked for clarification.

(6/24/2006)  According to an email I received from Mr. Art Duncan, I am not responsible for the unauthorized charges.

(6/27/2006)  I got a text message that I may be disconnected for outstanding charges.

(6/28/2006)  I spoke to supervisor Darryl who researched the issue again and confirmed that my account was up to date and somehow he put a lock on the account so that I would not be disconnected.

(7/28/2006)  My new T-Mobile statement lists $5.73 as "past due."  Obviously whatever I am doing is not getting anything accomplished with these "people."  I spoke with a representative who is very nice today (#09556979) but she was unable to help me during the call.  She is supposed to call me back at my home landline number (T-Mobile does not penetrate my neighborhood.)

(7/29/2006)  The representative above did NOT call me back.  Therefore, this morning I called Customer Service again.  I spoke to Yolanda (1049181).  She told me that it was cheaper for T-Mobile to credit me than for me to call each month and spend time with Customer Service.  We didn't even discuss the fact that that equation did not take into account MY time.  She stated that she had been authorized to reverse the $5.73 unauthorized charges by her supervisor Jaime and that it would appear in 48-72 hours.  I asked her why Mr. Art Duncan had not reversed the charges as he stated in his email of 6/24/2006.  She did not know.  I asked her why the Customer Service representative from yesterday (#09556979) had not called me back.  She did not know.