T-Mobile Europe never was a great carrier: we have had multiple horror stories in the past, and I furthermore have ex-insiders claiming that there is more rotting than what meets the eye. T-Mobile USA managed to stay clear of the flak so far…until they introduced the “always-on” G1.
A T-Mobile USA customer took his G1 outside of the USA after calling the T-Mobile helpline and asking them for information on how to disable roaming – only to come back and find a 102$ bill for data. A quick call to T-Mobile revbealed the following according to Gizmodo:
…he called T-Mobile customer service to discuss his bill. After a lengthy series of conversations, a supervisor revealed that the G1 always accesses the internet whether you are sending text messages or calls—even when the data roaming features are off. In the end, his advice was that “the phone should have been left in the USA to avoid these charges.”
…
This is simply outrageous – nothing to add here. T-Mobile’s help desk clearly caused this situation, and the carrier IMHO must take the blame and should cover the bill lest the problem causes even more bad PR.
If anyone of you has a G1, be careful when traveling abroad!
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That’s nothing compared to the people with iPhones who have been charged thousands of dollars for the same thing.
Tam, I’ve heard a couple horror stories of huge roaming charges with G1. As one of the many veterans of dealing with large cell bills, I have some advice for anyone who has been a victim of similar questionable charges or feels that they’re paying too much for their wireless service: Check out the website http://www.fixmycellbill.com by a company called Validas where you can find out for free if you’re one of the eight in ten wireless customers paying more than you need to.
I was able to save around $230 annually off my cell bill using Validas which impressed me so much that I joined the company when the opportunity arose after I graduated from college. Validas is rapidly becoming considered a top advocate for the wireless customer. Check out a feature about Validas on The Big Idea with CNBC’s Donny Deutsch at http://www.cnbc.com/id/22782456/.
To give a brief rundown of how it works, Validas analyzes your uploaded online cell bill to determine how much money you could be saving. Up to this point everything is free. If you choose, Validas provides a highly detailed and personalized cell bill adjustment report that, for five bucks, is emailed to your wireless provider in industry specific format so you can actually implement these cash saving changes to your plan. If Validas can save you more than $5 on your bill (the average customer currently saves $487 annually through Validas), this obviously provides a cost effective remedy for reducing cellular expenses.
Good luck to everyone on minimizing their roaming charges.
Dylan