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Frustrated with T-Mobile

5280Man

5280Man

Well-Known Member
The title of this thread does NOT reflect exactly how I feel. I wanted to describe how I really feel but I'm afraid it would get taken down. T-Mobile is the worst service I have ever been on! And I came from Cricket! I decided, last August, to leave Cricket and go with T-Mobile for a Tier 1 service. I can honestly attest that the service is sadly lacking compared to Cricket. I was expecting a better service, or an equal service at least. Well, I have been very disappointed. I live in Denver and the T-Mobile service is horrible! Horrible!!! So, I decided to stop in to a T-Mobile store to find out why. I asked the sales associate what kind of internet speeds I should get with T-Mobile he instantly says 18-20 mbps. So, I show him what I'm getting. He brings in a manager and they fiddle with my phone for 10 minutes. They then begin telling me that the area they are in is not that good. So, I ask about where I live. Before they could answer I show them my Speedtest.com results for that area. They then say that that area is not good either. They said that they're working on upgrading the service. Really? The area we're talking about is over 30% of the entire Denver metro area. So, I inquire where they believe is a good area for internet for T-Mobile. The manager, confidently, says downtown. So, I pull out my phone again and show him my speeds from the previous weekend. They were abysmal. He then starts throwing out more excuses. Really? Now we're talking over 50% of a major metropolitan area.

In addition to the internet there's the dropped calls. They happen ALL the time! More than Cricket. Then there's the time it takes for a call to connect, if they connect. Not all take a while to connect but enough to think there's a problem with the service. It can take up to 20-30 seconds quite often. In addition there are times when they error out and never connect. Beyond that there's the constant text messages that error out and never send! Or they say they sent and they are never received. I constantly get the X alert saying my text didn't send. I have one today, 3 yesterday and I remember Saturday it was over 8. Frustrating.

Today I decided to pay my bill. So, I go to their website and go to refill my account. I click into the page to make the payment and it just goes to a blank page. It's broken. Just like the rest of their service. So, I decided to do it via the automated system on the phone. Even then I have to be transferred to an agent. He can't get it to work. He puts me on hold to figure it out and he hangs up on me. Either that or the system just hung up on us. The service does that very very often. I'm on a call and boom it ends the call.

I can honestly say I hate my t-mobile service!! I will be leaving and I caution anyone else thinking of t-mobile that the service is sadly lacking in Colorado. I will be switching service within the next month. Heck, I'd prefer my Cricket service back. I had nothing against t-mobile and no bone to pick with them when I switched to them. I was hoping for a descent service. I am very very very frustrated with them and their service. Horrible service, horrible customer service and horrible managers at their stores. Sorry, but it's my observation through experience.

Good by t-mobile you have lost my business!!! If you want better service consider another service, even Cricket!! Go figure!!

End of Rant!!
 
It does sound rough. I've had issue with one tower out where my parents live personally. At my normal home, I have great signal with full HSPA+21, but at my parents, the signal is so inconsistent where I could have full bars (~-90 dBm) of EDGE, then next second absolutely nothing at all. I've called TS and complained, but they don't seem inclined to fix it. I figure it's not worth leaving over since the bulk of my time I spend in good areas and I can use Google Voice over wifi if I need to where that tower doesn't want to work.

Overall, different carriers will be strong or weak in different locations. I've also heard of many people complain that Verizon has problems in the Denver area and they're widely regarded as best. I hope you find a carrier that gives you the service you're looking for because it really does suck having bad service.
 
@jhawkkw: I understand that carriers are stronger in certain areas. That is why I specifically said the Denver Metro area and not all of their areas. This was purely from my experience and really, that large of an area without good service or internet? They will put stores in those areas, they will sell phones to people in those areas, they will advertise that they have full 4G coverage in those areas and they will take my money but they won't give good service? Not good business in my honest opinion. I'm sorry but their service here is HORRIBLE!! And that's coming from someone who came from Cricket. I am sooooo frustrated with the t-mobile service that it prompted me to post up this thread. Even people who call or text me want to smash my phone because they're frustrated that they can't get a hold of me. Verizon is excellent here, and I mean excellent. I know this because many many people I know who have it have excellent internet standing right next to me when I can't even get an email to open because my internet is lacking. Purely experience, not opinion. I just paid my service for another month. Once the S4 launches on Verizon I will be porting my number over to them.

Just doing my part to help spread the word for what's good and what's not good. If you're in the Denver metro area or the front range or even in Colorado I suggest you steer clear of using t-mobile. It will be nothing but frustration for you. In fact, a few other friends lately have expressed their frustration with their t-mobile service lately and will be switching as well.

Avoid t-mobile at ALL COSTS!!!!!
 
Sprint is the same way here in Salt Lake City. They advertise in full wimax coverage but I've had three different sprint phones and never once had a decent wimax signal in any area of this city. Usually had no wimax reception at all and when I did it was terrible and my speed tests were always under 1Mbps. It seems like if a carrier has one good tower in a city they have no problem advertising and selling in that city. Sucks. But T-Mobile happens to be good here so I'm with them. And my sprint experience, as well as cricket who uses sprint, has been terrible. Go figure.
 
I am in the Colorado front range and have been using Solavei (T-Mobile MVNO) since January. I've had very good service and no dropped calls. I've been on the north and south side of Denver - and driven Denver to Steamboat.
 
I question if there is an issue with your phone? I know I've heard from others in the Denver area on T-Mobile (much like runtmms on Solavei) who have had no issues with service (either data speeds or dropped calls).

You might also consider trying a different T-Mobile store (particularly one located where you are having problems) and, if they try to use the cop out of "bad areas", ask them to show you what kind of speeds one of their test phones that is similar to yours is getting. If you aren't getting speeds similar to the test phone, it would definitely indicate a phone issue. My personal guess is that the workers at the other store, for whatever reason, didn't want to get involved with actually trying to troubleshoot the phone issue and so, instead, offered lame excuses.
 
There is no way T-Mobile can be this bad. It had to be your device that was giving problems. If it wasn't your phone then I'm not sure.
 
Not to sound condescending, but did you do any research into TMO coverage & service in your area before you got their service?
 
Try carrier coverage, it gathers data from other users in the area and compiles the best rated carrier based upon that info (signal strength info not personal feelings towards service info).
 
I'm in the Denver area too. I live in Aurora, work in Centennial, and go to school in Denver. All the areas I get "4G" aka HSPA+ for the most part. Occasionally it will drop down to 3G or Edge but most of the time I'm on 4G. They're currently upgrading to real 4G and an LTE network which I'm hoping is soon. It's very rare I have signal problems for phone/texts though.

The only places I have problems with signal are in the mountains. When snowboarding I get good data and reception at the base and mid area of mountains. At the top of the peaks above 11,000 FT is when I get zero anything. I also get shotty reception at Blackhawk where reception is hit or miss, but that's in the middle of nowhere in the mountains as well. Other than those two areas, I get reception almost everywhere else.

The data is lack luster, but I'm hoping once LTE is up it will change. I get ~5MBs down on "4G" in Aurora and ~10MBs down in downtown Denver. I guess my standards aren't that high for phone internet, but those speeds are acceptable in my eyes. I can see how those are too slow for some people though.

Overall, I'm happy with T-Mobile. But my friend hates T-Mobile too. But he also uses pretty bad phones. I'm also curious what phone you're using. My mom has reception problems but she uses a cheap Gravity while the rest of my family has smart phones and have no problems in my parent's house.

When I had a myTouch 3G I had problems with connecting like you did and with reception/speed but once I switched to the Galaxy phones those almost never happen. There will be the occasion where my phone can't connect with full bars, but it's very rare.
 
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