Keeping a cell phone account alive

That's insane! Although I'm not surprised. I tried to cancel my internet plan once (because frankly it never worked/always crashed) within the trial period, and was told I had to pay hundreds of dollars in cancellation fees (although later they backed down when I proved that it was the trial film - but still it was a hassle

@uptowngirl Whaaaat? You mean they would actually penalize you for being their customer? You know what I would do? I would call up those T-mobile mo-fo's and ask them where they get off. I would also tell them that I have no intention of paying in order to NOT use their service, and if they want, they can track me down in Nigeria/Taiwan/the ends of the universe and try to get me to pay their ridiculous termination charge!

I've just made a mental note not to have anything to do with T-mobile.

@Uraniumfish Word. @uptowngirl Isn't there a way to strike a deal with the company? Explain the situation and see if the offer anything. I would think they'd be motivated to try to keep you as a customer with a reasonable fee, since otherwise you would leave the country and take your business with you?

I terminated an extra phone line with AT&T and it was about $300 for the termination fee. I know a lot of people suspend their contracts if they go abroad, though if she's never coming back this probably won't do her any good.

@DBlack We will certainly try to work out a deal with T-mobile after all we have been loyal customers for over 10 years! One way to do so I think is to convert our current numbers into pay as you go accounts which can be kept alive quite easily at $10 a month or so I believe..I think we will move back after three years and then will deal with the hassle of converting back the numbers again.

Telecommunications is one area where the US is definitely behind the times , I have sim cards of various countries as I tend to travel around quite a bit. My UK sim card stays active with just one phone call which is to made every six months and my India sim card has to be topped up with $4 every six months to keep it alive as it is a lifetime number . My Hong Kong and Singapore sim cards also have similar requirements ... all my friends make fun of my various numbers and sim cards but I dont like paying roaming charges and prefer to have individual sim cards for all the countries that I tend to visit annually,

@uptowngirl Since you travel so much, your system makes a lot of sense, actually. US telecommunications companies really make my blood boil, but it's nothing compared to the bureaucracy and sheer incompetence I saw in Germany. Only in the last year have they imported the notion of "customer service" as the govt privatized the major phone carriers and opened them up to competition.

@Uptowngirl: Up to now, I never had to cancel any plan. So i wouldn't know about cancellation fees, and I hope I don't have to.

@Uraniumfish Aha that explains T-mobile's current terrible customer service. They used to be very good but suddenly I think cost cutting seems to have taken over for when you dial the help line,you are sent to an automated service which often doesn't have the answer that you are looking for. This happened to me yesterday and so I trotted off to a Tmobile store where the clerk was v.busy but tried to help anyway by putting me in touch with a live person. Anyway it didnt do much good as the Live help was a call center in the Philippines and they couldnt really understand my problem. I was most frustrated but when I got home I went onto the website of T-mobile and registered my pay as you go number which I want to keep alive and lo and behold , the strategy was right there. For as little as $10 , I can keep my number 'live' for an entire year so I will have a phone when I come back to NYC on holiday and will not have to shell out for a new sim card.

There was no real reason for me to call/ visit the store. Could have done it all online. Lesson learned as companies are eliminating services to cut costs they seem to be providing more solutions and services online. So it would make sense to check their websites first before attempting a human connection.

@uptowngirl Good luck dealing with T-Mobile. Why is it that all phone companies are sort of like the devil?

@Neversleeps maybe because they know that nowadays we are held captive by our phones and can't seem to function without them. Can't remember how we ever functioned without them. I actually bought my first cell phone in NYC in 2001.I was spending the summer in NYC with a cousin who lived on South End Avenue in Battery Park City and he didn't have a land line. I was then compelled to buy a clunky Nokia phone from the Voice Stream store which used to be on Broadway in the Financial district( I think it was destroyed in the 9/11 attacks) and thus began my cell phone saga.

But they hold us captive with contracts for sure. Otherwise we would all be free to switch service whenever we felt like it. And in the US, you need a phone that is specific to a carrier whereas in other countries you can just pop any SIM into a phone and - viola! - service.

I bought my first cell phone in 1998. It was a T-Mobile. I eventually got to hate it after awhile. I loved the reception, especially in the tunnels and subways, but the rates were way overboard. That is why I switched to AT&T.

@Uptowngirl - Actually.. call T-Mobile and tell them that you are moving to a location where you will no longer receive service. They HAVE to wave the termination fee in that instance. Just figured you would like to know that!

-Chris

@Basic Wow, is it really that simple?

@Basic thanks for the information, but my husband just informed me that he has decided to maintain our cell phones by working out a deal with Tmobile..I think he just wants to keep our coveted 212 cell phone numbers which we have had for ages.. :)

@Uraniumfish $40 a month will actually buy you great cell phone service in many parts of the world..its sad that the US lags behind in telecommunications compared to other countries. Why when I first moved her in 2003, I used to text message a lot but people in NYC were very unfamiliar with the whole sms thing and used to wonder why I didnt pick up the phone and make a call instead.. duh that's the purpose of text messaging in the first place , you really dont want to talk to the person but still want to communicate

@Uptowngirl: Texting costs more, if you have that kind of plan. I hate texting myself. Why text when I can talk. That is just my preference.

@hhusted I think I pay $5 a month for 500 text messages on my plan .. I feel its totally worth it.:) because I sometimes dont really want to talk to people.