bimmer88

Just letting everyone know T-mobile will be changing from 1 to 2 yr contracts in March... so if anyone's thinking of getting T-mobile, this month will be best!!

fuckleberry

you mean starting March, it's 2-year contract or nothing for new signup ?

kensteele

last step before going out of business.....

Black CL-S 4-Life

That sux, one of the main reasons i'm with t-mobile is because of the 1yr contract.

Black CL-S 4-Life

Why do you say that? Tmobile is doing just fine in my area.

kensteele

Really? What is their profit margin and how much are their expenses to keep the network up and running? In your area...of course.

kensteele

No, actually I say that because things are consolidating in the market and T-Mobile and Alltel are next in line I've heard.

So when a carrier starts to force 2-yr contracts on its customers, its probably because they are trying to keep them around. While TMobile appears to have some of the best pricing around, there might be other factors involved. They have a really small customer base compared to the other carriers. I can't see them making the hurdle when it comes to upgrading their network to accomodate the newer future technologies. Say hello to Cingular.

bimmer88

The reason T-mobile is doing it is because all the other carriers are already doing it. They are not in financial trouble.. well at least not during the second quarter of 2005... havn't been able to find any more recent reports but here:

http://www.forbes.com/facesinthenews...acescan06.html

mikeymobiles

(verizon wireless) * 1.9 million net customer additions, up 14.6 percent; 49.3 million total customers, up 17.0 percent; churn (customer turnover) of 1.3 percent
* Total quarterly revenues of $8.4 billion, up $1.0 billion, or 14.2 percent -- the 13th consecutive quarter of double-digit year-over-year revenue growth increases
* Continued strong operating income margin of 21.8 percent

(t-mobile)
http://www.t-mobile.com/company/inve...es/2005_Q4.pdf


I could not find sprint/nextels reports for some odd reason...

nahooneyya

noooooOOO!

henry! do u remember when i started my contract through you?!

hopefuly my contract will end before this "2 year contract" crap starts?!

kensteele

Like I said today they are fine right now but they need to try to lock in some customers now because when all the cool technology comes out in the next few years and they can't deal, customers will abandon them if they aren't locked in. I can already see it coming...can't you?

{above posted so when I browse back here in 01/2009 I can say }

bimmer88

they are and will do fine.. 25% increase in customers in a year? yeah, of course verizon has a bigger customer base... why??? verizon's been around for longer... t-mobile not nearly as long but they are growing fast.. they will upgrade as newer technology comes along. they're not going to just sit back and watch. as for locking in customers because they're planning on doing bad??? that's not the reason.. with every single other carrier already doing 2 yr contracts, it was only a matter of time before t-mobile switched too. Anyone could've seen that one coming..

kensteele

i just think t-mobile is going to merge with somebody, it's hard to stay the course alone and bare all the expenses required to stay in business and keep pace with the bigger carriers. small gsm carriers have a distinct history in this country and it's usually been all about consolidation or folding for them. t-mobile might be growing today because they offer service in new places where they haven't been offering services in the past but when you do get stretched thin, you're going to have to still provide. it's not easy to keep an entire nation of little networks afloat with services and good phones.

when i said 2008, i wasn't thinking it will take them that long to do badly and finally go out. i was thinking more of where technology is going over the next few years and what you'll need to do to keep pace. sprint, verizon, cingular all will offer 3g broadband-like services to their customers. tv, high-speed wireless data, advanced messaging, two-way walkie-talkie, etc. and t-mobile promises this year 2006 and maybe into 2007 to "start" to deliver. they will need to work harder to keep up, i think they might need to get a little help from their gsm brethren.

but what do i know, i really haven't been keeping up where t-mobile is actually going; busy concentration on verizon and cingular and their offerings. so i have to take back my previous comments and only say that i wish t-mobile good luck in the future and it would be great for customers if there were more than 3 carriers to choose from in the future.

SakiGT

Meh. Matters not to me...this just means I wont be tempted to buy a new phone once a year.

mikeymobiles

2 year is really to prevent churn...t-mobile has the highest churn in the industry...i have friends who sell t-mobile and flip customers left and right for the new activation..(you do it as well... and it is highly frowned upon in the industry...but "money talks"...)

And you are correct as well as Ken is....

All the companys pretty much copy each other from upgrade fees that some companies started to charge and others have been charging to other stupid things they started putting in place because the competitors can get away with...

and Ken you are correct...every company wants to lock in as many people as possible...there is no reason not too!!!

zamo

If t-mobile was in bad shape, they might encourage keeping 1-year contracts to get new customers

mikeymobiles

i am 99.9% sure they will still offer 1 year contracts like all companys they just will charge more for phones, or give u less mintues and pay resellers less of a commision..

NiteQwill

I talked to a CS rep and they said 1-year contracts will always still be available through them, you just have to call.

infamouz trunkz

but then u wont get a good deal on a phone when u activate directly by them

Raheel

T-Mobile might not be the cream of the crop, but they offer things other companies simply cannot, Great Customer Service, Great Rates, Great Return Policies, They are slowly progressing towards technology, but I heard when they do it will be a big blast, They have WiFi Phones coming out next month, the T809 Was a exclusive phone for them, they have THE SDA OUT, and MDA Soon, They are in no way going downhill.

Raheel

Far as I know, All us dealers can do now is do 2 Year Contracts for Customers and get paid the same commission, on Sprint its different, You make the Same Commission on One or Two Year Contract, But the Customer Pays $50 more for the phone (LESS INSTANT REBATE)

Teh Jatt

who wants their phones...

mikeymobiles

I guess its diffrent markets...because my buddy was just telling me they arent doing anything to stop him from 1 year contracts except dropping commision so they push 2 years..

but in ny metro...anything is possible..

Fossil_TL

As Far as I am concerned, T-Mobile has by far the worst customer service. I've been with Tmobile eversince they were still called voice stream, and I got a new phone in January 2005, and then I got my 2nd phone for a family plan in October 2005, then in January 2006, my old phone is already one year old and when I went to the dealer to ask for a new phone they simply refused me and said I can only get a new service discount in october. But obviously every year or term of contract you should get either a free phone or another phone at discount price.
Also I kindly ask the service rep at the dealer about whether T-mobile is moving to higher capacity networks such as verizon and cingular, and one girl service rep had no idea what GSM or CDMA was, and they cocky guys next to her told me GSM is far superior is data transmissing than others. I simply laughed and left the store.

bimmer88

How do they have the worst customer service? they have MUCH shorter hold times than any other carrier when you call. They're the only company that doesn't pro-rate their minutes when you change your plan. They were ranked #1 by JD power and associates for customer service. What do you mean higher capacity network? Cingular shares networks with T-mobile. Don't judge a company as a whole cuz of what 1 store said....

cM3go

I can't remember the last time I had to wait at all with T-mobile. I think I usually get a CSR right away. T-mobile is good in my book.

zamo

I trust JD Power, as they usually match my experiences.

You are right bimmer, at least in the southeast

http://consumercenter.jdpower.com/cc...p?v1=Southeast

2001AudiS4

I just switched service from Tmobile tonight after I wrote a letter to their complaint department demanding to be let out of my contract. In the almost 1 year I had their service, I had the WORST coverage I have ever had with a cell company. Their maps or whatever they use show I am in a high coverage area, yet I would get dropped calls or no service at all in almost every area, even though coworkers with other carriers had full coverage. All they would do is send me a replacement phone (only the same model) which did not solve the coverage issues. The model I have had MANY issues as well, yet they refused to replace it UNLESS I signed a NEW 2 year contract. I was in the middle of my current contract and they wouldn't do anything to help unless I extended my contract even further. I was on hold for no less then 1 HOUR when I called several times to customer service. I was hung up on 3 times. When I spoke to a supervisor, they had to transfer me to the tech department to try and solve the issues I was having, at which point I was hung up. When I called back and asked for that supervisor, I was told there is no such person. And finally, when i DID get another supervisor, she read from a script and would not do anything to help. I told her to get me her superior, cause she is obviously unable to help. She told me she doesn't answer to anyway. I let her know I was unaware I was on the phone with Tmobile's CEO. She said there is no one else that could help me. As she was talking I hung up on her, looked up T-mobile's corporate info on the net, and called corporate. I ended up sending the letter to the complaint department, spelled out ALL my issues, including the incredibly crappy customer service department, and demaded to be let out of my contract or I would contact the BBB and state attorney general. I will NEVER recommend them to anyone, and I feel that anyone that defend's tmobile is only fooling themselves. The price is cheaper for a reason.

zamo

^^ which phone and model do u have?

Newplay1

I think the coverage and support all depends on the area just like your DSL/Cable.

zamo

Not only that, I have experienced really shitty reception with some phones. For instance an old Motorola T720 had no bars, while the V400 had 4.

The same thing with the RAZR, I get 4 bars whereas the LG1400 gets 1.

All tested on the same place for many months.

Black CL-S 4-Life

To each's own. I've been with T-mobile since they where Aerial and have had nothing but excellent customer service.

2001AudiS4

It's a Motorolla C650 and it's a complete piece of shit.

2001AudiS4

I let them know that my friend cleared up his signal issues with a RAZR. They offered to sell me one as long as I extended my contract by two years. They basically refused to fix ANYTHING unless I extended my contract by two years. All they said is if you do not wish to extend the contract and get a new phone then you can just ride out your contract. What kind of service is that?

zamo

Unfortunately sometimes customer service is uncapable of providing a different phone. That same situation happened to a coworker but with Cingular.

He had a Moto V180, and he swears it has been the worst POS phone he have ever owned. He got pissed off after the replacement phone he got was not turning on and left the company. He got a RAZR with T-Mobile and now he is happy with the outstanding reception. Anyways, he got stuck with $150 in termination fees.

If I was in the same situation, I would have called customer service to just send me a replacement phone as many times as needed to just get my service right. They eventually will need to replace the phone with a new one when they see they have already sent 5 of them with no correction to the original problem.

2001AudiS4

I have already received over 5 replacement phones. With each phone, I have the same problems, and usually, new problems as well. With each replacement phone, they now charge you $15 shipping, on a DEFECTIVE phone. So everytime they cannot fix my issues, they want to charge me to send me a phone that might fix the problem. Again, if I want a new phone, I have to purchase the new phone and extend my contract by two years. Unacceptable.

FastAcura

I've had T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint, and T-Mobile is by far the best of the three. I even paid $525 to cancel my family plan with verizon because their service sucked and I would have to call them EVERY month to correct my bill. T-Mobile > *

JDBoogie

I am currently waiting on my new T-Mobile phone to arrive.. I am with Cingular (not by choice) and Cingular has been nothing but a royal pain in the ass. All of us former AT&T customers are having cingulars crappy plans and over priced phones shoved down our throats.. I figure that if T-Mobile and Cingular are sharing networks i should get the same reception as i get now.

I have heard mixed reviews about T-mobile and decided to give them a shot. The thing that really anoyed me about t-mobile is the little dummy phones in their stores. WTF is this crap.. i dont want to buy a phone that i cant play around with.. Luckily the dork in the store had the t809 as his personnal phone and i got to try it..

Verizon used to have great customer service but had since gone in the shitter (my co worker has verizon). I never had a problem with them until my contract ended and they sent me a crazy bill.

I'll let everyone know how it works out for me with T-Mobile in the Austin Tx area.

Peace!

Slooo97CL

iTrader: (1)

Yeah prices might seem high, but cingular mirrors verizon. Tmobile can give you more because they have limited coverage compared to the other major carriers. They make up for bad service with good plans. Cingular and Tmobile have some roaming agreements, but defiantely dont share networks. As a matter of fact Tmobile only uses one frequency band in the US, 1900mhz. Cingular uses a dual band gsm 850/1900. That is all.

2001AudiS4

I got my Cingular phone last night. There was a error in the billing so I called up customer support, and they picked up in 30 seconds. Second time I have called (first was to order service) and both time they picked up immediately. With T-mobile I think they picked up in under 30 minutes only once. The woman was very nice, helpful, and helped me remedy the problem. Something t-mobile NEVER did. I was in areas today that my t-mobile phone would never work, and I had a coverage and it was crystal clear. It's only been one day and so far I can honestly say it's night and day. Tmobile offers plans with huge amounts of minutes, like the 3000 minute plan I had for $50. Only problem was it never worked. I am much happier now.