Back in June I had contacted T-Mobile to have my billing due date adjusted from the 13th to the 28th, to better fit my pay schedule, which they were able to do. As expected, my June bill (due in July, still with a due date of the 13th) was for nearly 2 months of service.
On July 13th, I used the automated system to set up a payment arrangement for the full amount of my bill ($260.42) for July 23rd (the only option offered by the system). At the end of that transaction, I was informed that there was a problem setting up the arrangement and transferred to a representative. The representative confirmed that the automated system was unable to set up the payment arrangement and that no payment was scheduled; she then helped me st up a payment for July 19th.
Come July 19th, the payment scheduled by the rep went through as expected. Come July 23rd, so did the payment I was told *WAS NOT* scheduled.
I immediately called T-Mobile customer service for a refund on the extra payment and was told I would need to call back after the banks closed, as the transaction had not fully processed yet, so I did that. When I called back I was told I should expect a refund back to my credit card within 5 business days (T-Mobile's own policy [Refund requests: Billing ] states 1-3 business days for credit card refunds) which meant that my refund should have processed by July 30th.
When it had not yet processed on the 30th, I called customer service (agent name Irish B.)again and was told that *NO REFUND REQUEST HAD BEEN MADE*! The rep then told me that a refund to the credit card was *NOT AN OPTION* (per T-Mobile's refund policy: "For debit, credit card payments, the refund must be sent back to the original account") and insisted I either opt for a paper check (7-10 business days before the check is even mailed) or hand over my checking account info (5-7 business days for a direct deposit refund). Reluctantly, I handed over my account info. This representative also asked me if I had contacted my bank for a refund and advised me to do this, as well.
I called back on July 31st to verify that the refund request had actually been made and am informed that the request made on July 23rd (remember, I was just told that this one had never even been made!) was still pending and that no request had been placed in the system on July 30th. I was again asked if I had contacted my bank and advised to do so. By the end of the call, the agent did, supposedly, find record of the refund request made on July 30th, as well, so I didn't bother trying another one.
On August 5th, I received an automated phone call informing me that my account is not eligible for a refund, so I went in to a T-Mobile store to sort this out. I spoke to representative Bany at the Concord, CA location, who confirmed that both refunds had been declined. Bany then got a manager from the billing department on the phone who once again requested my checking account info and put in a refund request, promising to personally follow up on it and call us with a status update the next day. The manager never called, but the automated system certainly did, to tell me the refund was once again not going to happen. This billing manager also asked if I had contacted my bank and advised me to do so.
On August 5th, after the "you're not getting a refund" call, I tried the online support chat, where Evangeline C insisted that there were no notes on my account regarding double-payment or a refund. She persisted until I gave her the names of the agents who had left notes on the account (I stood there and WATCHED Bany enter notes, and she reviewed notes while I was in the store, so I knew they were there), at which point I asked to speak to a supervisor, as it was clear that this particular agent was flat-out lying to me; she either didn't read the notes at all or was just making stuff up. Even after I requested a supervisor, after being lied to, Evangeline C insisted on continuing to try and get my checking account details until I insisted on speaking to a supervisor a second time. I was handed off to Miriam J, who reviewed the prior conversation. Miriam J asked me to confirm the last 4 digits of my credit card, then informed me that she was starting the process of issuing a refund. Shortly thereafter, I was informed that a refund could not be made to my credit card because it had not yet been 7 business days (it had been 11!!) and that my only options was a paper check.
By this point, the double-payment had already caused my electric bill payment to bounce and I had already had to take out a payday loan to cover the 48-hr disconnect notice THAT caused. I needed the money over a week ago when I was originally promised my refund. NOT ACEPTABLE.
Miriam J also advised me to contact my bank. So, with 4 T-Mobile representatives having told me to contact my bank, and armed with a 4-page online chat printout and a copy of T-Mobile's refund policy, that is exactly what I did on August 7th. My bank told me they would contact T-Mobile about issuing a refund and would give them 7 days to comply before issuing a refund. I was immediately issued a temporary credit by my bank and received a letter 2 days later asking that I call to provide more details. During that call, I was told that T-Mobile had agreed to issue a refund and that they had until the end of the initial 7 day period to comply, at which point a chargeback would be issued through Visa.
Come August 14th, over a full month after my initial contact with T-Mobile to set up the payment arrangement that started all of this, no refund was issued and my bank contacted me to inform me that they had requested a chargeback and the temporary credit they had issued was now permanent; as far as my checking account is concerned, this issue is resolved. Great, I'm done. It's all resolved.
Or so I thought until I received a text message from T-Mobile on August 22nd telling my my bill (due August 28th, remember the billing date adjustment?) was past due and I had been assessed a $15 late fee. I contacted customer service to resolve this and was issued a credit of $15 since the fee was incorrect, as my bill was not due yet. However, this is not a resolution, since the account was still marked as past-due, which reset the clock on getting my sizeable ($170 on two lines) deposit back. As of right now I should be 6 months into the 12 month hold on that deposit; I am now 0 months into that hold.
I decided I would contact the Executive Response Team about this issue on August 22nd. After several emails, I had not heard back by August 30th, at which point I contacted John Legere, T-Mobile's CEO. As of this moment, I have not heard back from either the Executive Response Team or John Legere.
I want to know what will be done to ensure that I *WILL* get my deposit back 12 months from the date I placed that deposit, what has been (or will be) done to ensure that billing issues like this *WILL NOT* occur again in the future, and what compensation T-Mobile is willing to offer me to make right the over 8 hours I have invested in resolving this issue.
At this point, I am ready to pony up the $500 still owed on both phones, get the unlock codes from T-Mobile, and got back to AT&T (who I was with for 13 years prior to switching to T-Mobile -- during which time I only contacted customer service 4 times - once to change rate plans and 3 times for phone upgrades) and this is exactly what I will do if I do not get a response from John Legere about this issue. I think, given that this has now been going on for a month and a half, that this is a reasonable request, since the customer service and billing departments have already shown a willingness to outright lie to me and a refusal to follow up when they promise to.
Ball's in your court, T-Mobile. I didn't want to take this public, but my hand was forced.