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Archive for the 'T-Mobile' Tag

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T-Mobile says all services restored

November 4th, 2009, 6:21 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

T-Mobile logoUPDATE: T-Mobile says if you continue to experience difficulty making/receiving calls or accessing data services, please power your phone off then back on. This will update your connection to the network and should restore your access to these services.

UDPATE: 7:19 a.m.: I’m still hearing that service is spotty in south Orange County. Anyone out there feeling that too? Please leave a comment and I’ll check it out.

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It was a rough night for many T-Mobile customers Tuesday as the mobile-service provider acknowledged that there was a widespread outage of its data and voice services affecting at least 5 percent of its 33.5 million customers. That’s approximately 1.7 million customers.

Around 10:30 last night, the company said everything was fixed. In a statement, T-Mobile said that service was fully restored and the company is now investigating what happened. Here’s the statement:

“T-Mobile confirms it has fully restored voice and text/picture messaging services for customers affected by intermittent service disruptions on Tuesday. About five percent of our customers across various geographies were affected for much of Tuesday evening, and by late Tuesday PST their service was restored. Our sole focus has been restoring full services for all customers; we are now investigating the root cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.”

The five-hour outage affected not just Orange County, but the whole nation. Readers from Arizona, Minnesota, Dallas, Chicago and other cities left comments saying that their T-Mobile service was out, too.

Other news sites reported that the outage happened just as T-Mobile was trying to fix a data outage that some SideKick users have experienced for nearly one month. T-Mobile said it had restored all services by Halloween.

The Wall Street Journal reported that “Microsoft Corp. accidentally lost personal SideKick data stored in its servers. The company and its SideKick unit, Danger, later restored some of the data, but took a lot of public criticism for the slip-up.”

Are you still experiencing an outage or spotty data/voice service? Comment below and I’ll look into it.

Earlier: T-Mobile says phone service not working

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T-Mobile says phone service not working

November 3rd, 2009, 5:56 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

UPDATE: As of 10:25 p.m., T-Mobile says all voice, data services have been restored:

T-Mobile confirms it has fully restored voice and text/picture messaging services for customers affected by intermittent service disruptions on Tuesday. About five percent of our customers across various geographies were affected for much of Tuesday evening, and by late Tuesday PST their service was restored. Our sole focus has been restoring full services for all customers; we are now investigating the root cause of the incident. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.

Sorry about the blog mess. It’s back now. At 7:23 p.m., no new updates from T-Mobile.

UPDATE 6:20 p.m.: T-Mobile offers a status report, saying only 5% of its customers have been affected by the outage.

“We’re making good progress restoring voice and messaging service to affected customers. At this time, approximately 5% of T-Mobile customers are experiencing service disruptions. Issues began at 5:30 p.m. Eastern time. … We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused our customers.”

Update 5:59 p.m.: T-Mobile obviously out nationwide with blog comments coming from Minnesota, Dallas and elsewhere. Check out the comments below.

Updated 5:38 p.m.: When asked how will T-Mobile update customers get updates on the service problem, the company couldn’t offer a good reply. But it looks like T-Mobile’s Twitter account will be one place. Last update: Around 4:30 p.m.

Updated 5:29 p.m.: Added reports from other news sites.

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T-Mobile logoT-Mobile has just confirmed to me that there is a major outage.

“T-Mobile customers may be experiencing service disruptions impacting voice and data. Our rapid response teams have been mobilized to restore service as quickly as possible. We will provide updates as more information is available,” according to a statement by the company.

Reached by phone, David Henderson, a T-Mobile spokesman, said he could not discuss the outage any further or say whether it extends beyond Orange County. But it sounded like news of the outage was just hitting and he had to leave to get on a conference call to get more details.

When I asked him about this outage Monday after hearing that the service was out in South County, Henderson said no outages had been reported for the Orange County area.

I have heard of a very small number of T-Mobile customers experiencing outages in the past two to three weeks. Typically, their phones cannot find service.

I’m a T-Mobile customer as well and have not had any problems until the past 10 minutes. I’ll report more here as I learn more.

Are you having issues? Please comment below. Thanks!

Update: 5:41 p.m.: AP writes its outage story. Short and few new developments.

Update: 5:29 p.m.: C/Net is also reporting T-Mobile’s outage is widespread. The story says that this was part of a T-Mobile effort to update its SideKick users who have been without service for a whole month (!) The CNet reporter also notes that she’s heard about outages from customers in eastern Tennessee, Honolulu, Long Island, N.Y. and Westchester County, N.Y.

Update 5:16 p.m.: Phone service isn’t completely out. I’m still getting calls and can make calls.

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T-Mobile changes contract terms giving customers a way out

September 1st, 2009, 2:57 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Noted: The Consumerist reports that T-Mobile’s new $0.45/minute overage fees went into effect today, giving customers grounds for cancelling their contract before the two years is up. Expect to argue with customer service. Just come prepared with the contract changes, as noted HERE and on the Boy Genius Report.

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Has cellular customer service improved? Survey says yes

August 13th, 2009, 11:57 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

J.D. Power and AssociatesWe may be paying more for cell-phone service then everybody else in the world, but at least customer service is improving, according to a new report from J.D. Power and Associates. 

J.D. Power surveyed 12,000 consumers between January to June 12 who called their wireless provider for help in the past year. They rated overall customer service at 735 on a 1,000 point scale. That’s an improvement of 12 points from the February 2009 report. Specific improvements:

  • Hold times improved to 5.55 minutes, from 6.58 minutes in February
  • 76 percent of the calls were resolved with the first contact, compared to 66 percent previously

J.D. Power rates cell phone carriers' customer service, August 2009.J.D. Power surveyed consumers on automated response systems, store visits and Web interaction. Within each, the survey looked at satisfaction, problem resolution and wait times.

The winners? Alltel, T-Mobile and Verizon, which all tied with scores of 747.

While T-Mobile was the leader six months ago, the carrier slipped from its 755-point perch. Verizon also dropped two points, from last period’s score of 749. Alltel previously scored 744.

J.D. Powers said that each company had its own strengths: Alltel handled store visits well, T-Mobile excels in getting phone customers to a live representative, and Verizon identified customer problems quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

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T-Mobile adds printless coupons via cell phone

June 29th, 2009, 4:31 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

T-Mobile adds phone-based coupons. Pictured: Quiksilver discounts.Cell phone companies have been talking about offering coupons on mobile phones for years but have mostly left it up to third-party providers like Cellfire to offer the service. Today, T-Mobile jumped in, launching its own digital coupon service. 

Called “Green Perks,” T-Mobile’s coupon program is intended to promote the company’s “green” efforts by offering discounts on environmentally conscious products from Method, Jamba Juice, Volcom, Roxy and Quiksilver, according to the press release.

The point of a cell phone coupon is to pull it up on your phone’s screen, show it to the store’s cashier and leave with a discount on your purchase. No printing, no paper necessary — very green, get it?

As a T-Mobile subscriber, I downloaded this myself. Oddly, T-Mobile didn’t create an app for Google Android phones, so G1 users like myself need to go to the phone’s settings and allow “unknown sources” to install non-Android Market applications (scary!).  Full instructions are HERE.

T-Mobile adds phone-based coupons. T-Mobile adds phone-based coupons. Pictured: Free samples from Dogswell. T-Mobile adds coupon feature -- no paper, print-out required. Pictured: 20% off Method products.

Only six coupons showed up for me, including 20 percent off a Volcom V-Co. Logical item at Volcom Brand Stores. That was the only in-store discount. Deals for Roxy, Quiksilver, CatSwell, DogSwell and Method cleaning products were only available through official company Web sites, which defeats the purpose of getting the discount on the phone. No Jamba Juice coupon to be found, by the way. Read the rest of this entry »

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Unlimited international calls for $5/month? MetroPCS says yes!

June 24th, 2009, 1:02 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

MetroPCSMetroPCS, the significantly cheaper mobile-phone service, unveiled a plan today offering unlimited calls to more than 1,000 cities around the world for an extra $5 a month.

The new international plan is only available to subscribers of its $40-or-higher voice plans. Users don’t need to dial an intermediary number first and can call international numbers directly. Receiving international calls is free.

However, not every international city is included, but the biggies like Vietnam and Mexico City are part of the unlimited plan. To see if an international number qualifies, MetroPCS sends customers to this page. Also, the cheap rate doesn’t apply if the user is roaming and with MetroPCS service only available in certain U.S. cities, this extra fee could add up. 

So… the big question is how does MetroPCS do it? Its mobile rivals charge up to a few dollars per minute to call some countries. While the major wireless companies do offer international plans, those all have a monthly charge and a per-minute fee, albeit discounted from the standard international rate. MetroPCS new international plan is a flat-rate service with no extra fees, unless you’re roaming outside of MetroPCS coverage areas. 

I’m waiting to hear back from the company to explain how it can offer such a low rate. UPDATE, 3:57 p.m.: MetroPCS’ responds by avoiding all specifics:   

We don’t disclose pricing or profitability on individual products. However, our company is extremely profitable even with the launching of new markets and we have some of the lowest operating cost in the industry.

Scanning through international plans from other mobile companies, I was surprised to see that it’s not that expensive to call overseas anymore. But none are as cheap as MetroPCS, which offers unlimited U.S. cellular plans for as low as $30 a month. 

For example, Verizon Wireless charges $0.65/minute for calls to Mexico. Its $3.99  monthly value plan drops the per-minute rate to $0.25. Comparably, AT&T’s rates are $0.99/minute for calls to Mexico. On the company’s special $4.99 “Mexico plan,” calls range from $0.09 to $0.25. But if you’re just calling Mexico from a MetroPCS plan, there’s already a $3 plan for unlimited calls to Mexico. 

Here’s a look at mobile international plans:

Mobile Service Monthly Per minute? To United Kingdom No plan fee per minute
AT&T World Connect $3.99 Yes 8-28 cents/minute $1.29
MetroPCS $5 No included  
Sprint $4 Yes 6-39 cents/minute $1.49-$1.82
T-Mobile $5 Yes 6-26 cents/minute $0.69
Verizon Wireless $3.99 Yes 6-26 cents/minute $1.49-$1.67
Source: AT&T, MetroPCS, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless

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T-Mobile says customer data safe after alleged hacker attack

June 9th, 2009, 4:22 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

T-Mobile logoIf you spotted stories over the weekend about hackers stealing data from T-Mobile, it’s just not true, said T-Mobile in a statement today.

“Following a recent online posting that someone allegedly accessed T-Mobile servers, the company is conducting a thorough investigation and at this time has found no evidence that customer information, or other company information, has been compromised,” said a T-Mobile spokesperson in an e-mail.

“Reports to the contrary are inaccurate and should be corrected.  T-Mobile continues to monitor this situation and as a precaution has taken additional measures to further ensure our customers’ information and our systems are protected.  As is our standard practice, customers can be assured if there is any evidence that customer or system information has been compromised, we would inform those affected as quickly as possible.”

ChannelInsider reported Saturday that a mailing list message posted on Insecure.org Saturday claimed to have taken everything — all of T-Mobile’s databases, confidential documents, etc. The information included specific T-Mobile servers. Since none of T-Mobile’s competitors were interested in the data, the person was offering up the details to the highest bidder.

T-Mobile is looking into the matter and spokesman Peter Dobrow told the Associated Press that the company “is looking into the possibility that an internal document was leaked.”  He did not confirm if the blogger had posted accurate information.

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Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services

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T-Mobile advises how to save on phone bill — ask someone else

May 28th, 2009, 12:01 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

T-Mobile offering price makeovers.Saving money is on everyone’s mind these days. Including T-Mobile’s.

But don’t call up T-Mobile’s customer service and ask them for the best offer. The company is now sending Web visitors to BillShrink.com to see if they can save a few more bucks each month. And, I’m assuming, T-Mobile hopes BillShrink won’t suggest going to a competitor. 

“We’re so confident that T-Mobile provides the best overall experience for a majority of Americans, we’re willing to put our value to the test by pointing people to an independent source,” Denny Marie Post, chief marketing officer, T-Mobile USA Inc., said in a statement.BillShrink.com compares cellular plans 

BillShrink is a great starting place for consumers who wonder if they can save a few bucks on their monthly bills. It takes your estimated phone bill and usage, compares it to competing plans, and then offers a handy recommendation, starting with the biggest savings, if available. I wrote about the service last year (see “BillShrink quickly shows how to save on cell bill“). The site will even analyze your own phone bill, if you choose to share such personal information.

BUT what BillShrink doesn’t do is compare monthly phone bills to prepaid plans, which I found are really the cheapest way to get by with a cell phone. It also only compares phone prices from the big four: Sprint, Verizon Wireless, AT&T and T-Mobile. Absent are low-priced providers MetroPCS and Cricket Wireless. Read the rest of this entry »

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Text Mexico, Vietnam, the world for $10/month

March 31st, 2009, 3:22 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Good news for text fiends who happen to be Boost Mobile customers with lots of international friends.

Irvine’s Boost today added International Connect, an unlimited international plan for $10 a month, which can only be added on to its newish $50 monthly unlimited plan. This is a good plan for people texting from the U.S. or Baja California to anywhere in the world.

Without the plan, it’s $0.10 to text internationally and free to receive. That means the deal is only a deal if you send way more than 100 international texts a month. 

As part of the new option, users can also chat via Boost’s Walkie-Talkie service to people in Canada, Baja California, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru. Why only those places? Boost has partnered with Nextel México, Nextel Argentina, Nextel Brasil, Nextel Perú and Nextel Chile.

The $0.10 per international text is a pretty good deal anyway. I did some research and for customers of other cell phone companies, international texting rates are much higher:

AT&T charges $0.25 to send, $0.20 to receive. Multimedia messages are $0.50 to send, $0.30 to receive. Details HERE. A $9.99 monthly plan allows users to send 100 texts internationally. Received texts are counted as regular texts.

Verizon Wireless charges $0.25 to send, $0.20 to receive. If you’re outside the U.S., sending texts cost $0.50 each but $0.05 to receive. Details HERE.

T-Mobile charges around $0.35 to text internationally and $0.20 to receive. Details HERE.

Sprint charges $0.20 to send or receive international texts. Details HERE.

Virgin Mobile USA charges $0.20 to send, $0.10 to receive. Details HERE. 

Helio, now part of Virgin Mobile, charges $0.15 to send or receive an international text message. For multimedia messaging, Helio charges $0.05 per kilobyte plus $0.25 per message sent. But if you’re an “All In” customer who pays $99/month for everything, international texts are free, while multimedia texts are $0.25 each. Details HERE.

Another option for all mobile users: Send2World.com is a pay-as-you-go plan that drops the per-text rate if you send more messages. Rates range between $0.12 per text for up to 50 messages per month to $0.07 for 500 or more. Caveat: Each message still counts against any texting plan you have on your existing cell phone plan.

Are there others I’ve overlooked? Feel free to leave suggestions in the comment area.

Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. Latest mobile-news headlines:

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Are $50 unlimited plans latest trend? T-Mobile follows Boost

February 19th, 2009, 12:29 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Just a month after Irvine’s Boost Mobile launched its $50 unlimited plan, T-Mobile is toying with the same idea. 

The nation’s fourth largest mobile service provider told Reuters that it will test the plan in San Francisco and offer unlimited service for $50 a month. It is unclear whether the service will also include unlimited text and web. Currently, T-Mobile’s unlimited plan is $99.99 per month and includes talk, text, video messaging and Instant Messaging. 

Whether or not consumers use their monthly allotment of minutes, unlimited plans are appealing because you don’t have to worry about overage fees.

Boost Mobile’s plan takes it a step further — the $50 price tag includes almost everything, including taxes. It targets users who don’t want to be stuck in a contract and offers talk, text, walkie-talkie, some Web and taxes for $50. That plan, launched in January (see “Boost Mobile adds ‘tax-free’ $50/month unlimited plan,”) has exceeded expectations, said Matt Carter, Boost’s president. 

“We are very pleased with the performance of Boost Monthly Unlimited.  Currently we are seeing many times more customers porting into Boost than porting out,” Carter said. “… The response has been so great we’ve ordered more handsets and we’ve added call center agents to fill the orders for the first quarter because the demand is there to pay for it.”

Meanwhile, other smaller carriers have offered unlimited plans much longer. MetroPCS, which specializes in budget-minded unlimited plans, priced its most expensive plan at $50 a month. For that price, customers get unlimited talk, text, global text, picture messaging, e-mail access, web access and mapping.

Cricket’s $50/month unlimited plan includes talk, text, picture text, text to Mexico and mobile web. 

Both MetroPCS and Cricket offer service in certain areas of the U.S. so roaming charges apply.

T-Mobile’s service would be offered to existing customers who have been with the company for at least 22 months. New customers could qualify for a $135 credit if they switch from a competitor, according to Reuters. 

One analyst cited by Reuters believes T-Mobile will roll out the unlimited service nationwide, “in coming weeks,” said UBS analyst John Hodulik.

UPDATE: T-Mobile doesn’t officially comment on products and services in test markets but a call to a San Francisco T-Mobile store confirmed the $50 unlimited service is on the way. However, customers must go to a store to get more information. I guess they’ve been notified not to tell anyone about it over the phone.

More cell-phone news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. Latest mobile-news headlines:

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Verizon copies T-Mobile, adds own ‘Fave 5′

February 12th, 2009, 5:46 pm by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Jealous of T-Mobile’s Fave 5? Now, Verizon Wireless has its own version of the favorite-friends calling plan, called Friends & Family, an uninspired moniker that the company has trademarked.  Verizon users can pick any five numbers — including non-Verizon friends and landlines — and call those same 5 numbers anytime without using up monthly minutes. Family plans get 10 numbers.

To qualify, customers need either an individual Verizon plan with at least 900 minutes or be on a family plan with at least 1,400 minutes. Users can add the plan for free at any time and the numbers can be changed at any time without penalty. New numbers will go into effect the next day.

The phone numbers must be regular 10-digit U.S. numbers and can’t be directory assistance, 900 numbers or customer’s own wireless or voice mail access number. 

The Friends & Family plan, which is available beginning this Sunday, is definitely not as catchy as T-Mobile’s ‘Fave 5′ name, which has inspired some entertaining commercials. But Verizon’s is more flexible. T-Mobile’s Fave 5 lets you change each of your “friends” just once per month.

Hmm … is Verizon becoming a me-too company? Today’s friend plan comes a day after Verizon began offering unlimited plans for its prepaid users, a feature smaller players like Boost Mobile and Cricket Communications already offer. What’s next? Verizon rollover minutes? Let’s hope!

More cell-phone news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services. Latest mobile-news headlines:

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T-Mobile: Best customer service?

February 4th, 2009, 9:49 am by Tamara Chuang, a.k.a. The Gadgetress

Customer-service gurus at JD Power and Associates released their rankings today for wireless phone services. T-Mobile outshone the competition for “overall customer care performance.”

For those following the JD Powers studies, this shouldn’t be too surprising. T-Mobile has been the highest ranked wireless company in seven of the past eight studies (Verizon Wireless won top honors last year). Responses were based on 13,423 wireless customers between July and December 2008.

Companies were ranked by consumers based on in-store help, on-the-phone service and online support. Higher ratings were given to companies that seamlessly transferred customers from an automated system to a live person, and didn’t make customers wait on hold for too long.

JD Power praised T-Mobile for having the lowest average hold times (less than 2 minutes), and performing well with consumers in stores. 

While T-Mobile topped the charts, others were not far behind. Out of 1,000 points, T-Mobile scored 755, with Verizon Wireless at 749 and Alltel at 744. 

My own bit of analysis: T-Mobile is the smallest of the big four (Verizon, AT&T and Sprint). Also, the company didn’t start rolling out its 3G Internet data service until the fall, giving consumers one less thing to complain about. The other three have offered 3G service for more than a year. One other note: How is it that all the companies except for the lower-rated Sprint landed around the 720 to 750 range? Wouldn’t this be considered a “C” grade in school?

According to the study, 64 percent of customers used a telephone to get help. Other factoids about wireless customers discovered by JD Powers:

  • Customers who visited the store for service waited an average of seven minutes before getting helped and spent 25 minutes in the store.
  • 53 percent contacted customer service in the past year, up 6 percentage points from the prior study.
  • Of those who needed help, 40 percent had a service or equipment question, 39 percent had a billing issue.

More cell-phone news: Check out the Gadgetress Guide to local cell phone services.

Talk is Cheap? Finding a cheaper cell phone plan: (Pub. Dec. 2008)
Part I: Cheapest family plan for texters
Part II: Cheapest family plan
Part III: Are prepaid plans for you?
Part IV: MetroPCS’ cheap, unlimited service

Latest mobile-news headlines:

Posted in: Cell phones • • • • • • • • | 13 Comments »

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