Resolution reached in dispute over cell phone contract
By NANCY PARADIS
Published November 6, 2005
There is very little paper trail to follow in my dispute with the cell phone company T-Mobile. It has never followed up in writing with me after I disputed a $200 bill for not fulfilling a contract that did not exist. I have spoken about this situation to at least 12 to 15 women who only give their first names. Each one seems to have no knowledge of any earlier conversations I had. Each of them was kind and most said they would look into the matter and get back with me. No one ever did. Likewise, my request to be put in touch with someone in management who could resolve this situation never met with any success.
Briefly, the situation is that in March 2004, I signed a 12-month contract with T-Mobile for cell phone service. I received the first bill on March 30, 2004. I kept this service for 15 months, paying my final bill on May 18. My contract was for 600 minutes per month. I never came close to using all 600 minutes.
After my contract had been fulfilled, T-Mobile on more than one occasion offered me $25 or a free month of service to sign a new contract. I never accepted these offers. T-Mobile claims that on Jan. 8, I went to a T-Mobile store, purchased a new phone and extended my contract. I have asked T-Mobile representatives several times at which store this alleged transaction took place and to provide me with signed copies of the receipt and contract. I have never had a response to this request. One T-Mobile representative told me that the transaction really took place over the phone and the contract is a verbal agreement. I said fine, that in that case I would like to listen to the conversation of this verbal agreement that was surely recorded. This is pretty standard, isn't it?
T-Mobile is not trying to collect money I owe it for nonpayment of a bill for services. It is trying to collect for the cancellation of a contract that never existed. I am a 70-year-old, wheelchair-bound, disabled veteran. The day T-Mobile claims I visited its store I was and had been a nonambulatory patient at a nursing home. I am enclosing copies of the bills to Medicare for my stay during this period of time which shows I was at this facility on the day in question. I am at my wits' end trying to get this resolved since T-Mobile refuses to present any proof or evidence of this supposed transaction between it and me.
- Edwin McGee
Marianne Maestas with T-Mobile USA Inc.'s executive customer relations in Albuquerque, N.M., said that the company's records indicate that on Jan. 8 you processed a handset upgrade at a T-Mobile retail location and received a substantial discount on the purchased equipment. As part of the handset upgrade, you were required to enter into a new annual contract with T-Mobile. Therefore, when you canceled your cell phone service on April 29, by transferring your number to another carrier, you were charged the $200 early termination fee. Maestas said the company maintains that the final bill of $200 is therefore valid and owed.
Nevertheless, as a courtesy to you and in an effort to amicably resolve this matter, T-Mobile has agreed to process a credit of $200 to the account for the valid early termination fee, leaving a zero balance. She said she also checked your credit and it remains unaffected by this debt.
Maestas did not send copies of any paperwork you presumably would have signed at the time you exchanged handsets. Given that the cancellation fee has been waived, we will not pursue this unless you advise us otherwise.
Check contract for penalty
I hope you can help me with my dispute with DirecTV. I had ordered its service in August 2003. I am a student at Florida State University in Tallahassee. When I left in May 2004, at the end of the semester, I suspended my account with DirecTV, since I did not know at the time where I would be living in August. I found an apartment in Tallahassee, at a different address from that where I had my original DirecTV service. I called DirecTV to cancel my service since the apartment had cable television and did not allow satellite dishes. I spoke to someone at the toll-free number who took down my information and then transferred me to someone else to verify my cancellation.
This past April, I started receiving calls from a collection agency claiming I owed $245.41 to DirecTV and that I should pay it. When I asked what the charge was for, the agency did not know. I called DirecTV customer service to ask it what was going on and was told that I started service at the first address in December 2004. I advised that I had canceled my service when I moved and had never received any bills or phone calls in regards to this alleged amount due. The customer service department said it could not help me and directed me to write to an address in Glendale, Calif.
I wrote my first letter to that address in April and have followed up with three more as well as a fax. I have never received any type of response from DirecTV. Could you please see if you can assist with this problem? I am a college student and $245.41 is a lot of money for something I did not receive.
-- Anthony Anselmi
We forwarded your complaint along with Action's cover letter to DirecTV in Los Angeles in August and again in September, the latter time by certified mail, return receipt requested. That letter was signed for on Sept. 14. Unfortunately, we have not received a response from DirecTV to date.
You did not send us a copy of your contract, but our suspicion is that the charge you owe could be for having broken the contract. Take a look at the paperwork you signed when you first got the service and see what the provisions for canceling are, and whether there are any penalties if, for example, you cancel early. Given that you established service in August 2003, and suspended it the following May before canceling sometime later, we suspect this could be the problem. If this is not the case, send us a copy of your contract and we will write to the company again and include a copy of this column.
Action solves problems and gets answers for you. If you have a question, or your own attempts to resolve a consumer complaint have failed, write Times Action, P.O. Box 1121, St. Petersburg, FL 33731, e-mail action@sptimes.com or call your Action number, 727 893-8171, or, outside of Pinellas, toll-free 1-800-333-7505, ext. 8171, to leave a recorded request.
We will not be responsible for personal documents, so please send only photocopies. If your complaint concerns merchandise ordered by mail, we need copies of both sides of your canceled check.We may require additional information or prefer to reply by mail; therefore, readers must provide a full mailing address, including ZIP code. Names of letter writers will not be omitted except in unusual circumstances. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.