Goodbye T-Mobile

I activated my first cell phone back in 1999. It was one of those Nokia handsets that everybody had-- I got a red faceplate for it. Looked cool. Called it my "bat-phone." Set the ringtone to Beethoven's 9th, a piece of music I like so much I often missed my chance to answer the phone because I was busy listening to it ring.
I was a happy happy AT&T wireless customer.

Then the day came when AT&T um-- merged?-- with Cingular. Such a silly thing to do. At the time, we had our choice of AT&T, Verizon (which may actually have still been GE, or GTE, or whatever it used to be,) Sprint, and Cingular-- and it was generally accepted around these parts that Cingular was the worst of the lot.

But suddenly, there I was along with what? Millions? of other formerly happy AT&T wireless customers who found themselves the hapless slaves to a new carrier that none of us had chosen of our own free will.
The switch was a mess.

Suddenly I lost signal where it had been strong in the past. Dropped calls in areas where my phone showed that I had excellent signal strength.

Customer service at the hands of Cingular was a nightmare. No one could help with the problems, and no one I talked with seemed to give a crap about me or my puny problems. The only solution offered was that I needed to switch to Cingular service on a Cingular phone with a brand new Cingular contract.

Ummmm... perhaps you don't understand the concept of taking over another company's customers?

Nevermind that migrating my AT&T service also meant going through a whole new application process, credit check, activation fee, and starting a new contract-- with a carrier that I DIDN'T CHOOSE TO BEGIN WITH.

And I was not the only unhappy one, my complaints were small compared to many of my friends who were much heavier cell users.

I never did migrate my service to Cingular. I stood quite steadfast and stubborn with my AT&T phone, my AT&T phone number and my AT&T attitude, waiting for my contract to expire so I could run like hell-- seeing as how Cingular insisted I was stuck with that contract.

And then I went to Denver.

Before embarking on my trip, I contacted Cingular to see where my new "home" calling area started and stopped so to be sure I wouldn't incur unintentional roaming fees. The customer service rep sweetly assured me that my "home" area extended well into the area I'd be touring and that my phone would say "roaming" on it pretty much as soon as I left my area code, but not to worry, it didn't really mean it.

Ok. I checked, right? I did my due diligence.

So imagine my delight when I received my $400+ bill at the end of the month. And imagine Cingular's delight when I finally stood my ground and told them to take my account and shove it.

Some argument ensued regarding early contract termination fees, the roaming fees, and my credit report. I think my argument back included my position that I hardly understood how they could hold me to a contract that I did not enter with them. I don't hardly bloody care if they "bought" my contract from my former carrier or not, Cingular was a viable option as a carrier at the last time I renewed my contract with AT&T, if I'd wanted Cingular service, I could easily have switched at that time. I did not. 'Nuff said. Chase me down if you want, and go ahead and keep my number if it means that much to you.

And so it was that I went to the local Target, bought a T-Mobile pay-as-you-go phone, activated it and proceeded to go through the rather painful process of making sure everyone knew I had a new phone number.

That was in 2005. I have been unspeakably thrilled with my T-Mobile account. My phone "bill" averages $25 a month-- when I started texting, it went up to $30-35 a month. I really hate being on the phone. T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go plan doesn't charge for roaming, which is why I chose T-Mobile.

No. I don't have the same coverage as Verizon-- or AT&T, which is back to AT&T now if you've noticed-- but I have plenty fine coverage in all the areas I would normally expect to be able to access a telephone.

I don't need to call ANYone from the middle of the John Muir Trail at 11,000 feet above sea level. And neither do you. And if either of us do need to call someone from there, then we're both in much bigger trouble than a simple call to Mom is going to fix. And if that's a probability, stay off the trail-- or carry something more reliable than a cell phone to begin with. 'Nuf said.

Point is: I have not contacted T-Mobile customer service since activating my phone back in 2005.

Recently, as a result of some other technically-related issues in my life, it came to my attention that Virgin Mobile offers a monthly plan that includes more voice minutes than I ever use with unlimited text and data-- for about what I've been paying for the T-Mobile phone.

And so, I decided to give it a whirl.

And this time, I'm keeping my phone number.

Oh my.

So I called the customer service number at Virgin Mobile to port my old number over. I gave them my phone number, all my information, including my "password" to my T-Mobile account.

And proceeded to wait the 72 hours that it could take.

Nothing.

So I called back. The kind folks at Virgin politely explained that I seem to have given them the incorrect "password." So I scrunched up my forehead and thought about it, and gave them the only other set of numbers that I associate with my T-Mobile account... and proceeded to wait another 24 hours.

Hmmmmm. Apparently I am missing something here.

So I got online with a rep from T-Mobile, and explained that I was trying to have my number ported over to a new carrier but apparently didn't know my own password.

It's probably a good thing I contacted them via live chat-- they were probably howling with laughter at what a dumbass I am. But, after a phone call from my T-Mobile phone, and answering a slew of questions designed to assure my identity, I was given my password.

What the hell does that spell? Apparently this sequence of numbers meant something to me 5 years ago when I activated my account-- and I've never needed them since!

So, the very patient folks at Virgin Mobile are pretty sure everything will be fine now that I have finally provided my actual password. And in 24 to 72 hours, I should get a text message from Virgin Mobile saying my account is active.

I hope that A. I will contact Virgin Mobile's customer service as often as I have needed T-Mobile's and B. That I remember my Virgin Mobile password.

I just have to say-- I have loved my T-Mobile account. The rates have been reasonable. The payment system convenient. My service hasn't been any worse or unreliable than any other carrier seems to be.

I will miss you T-Mobile; and the ONLY reason I'm moving on is because you absolutely do not have a comparable plan. I appreciate that your no-contract unlimited plans are still more reasonably priced than any of the other major carriers, but it would still have more than doubled my monthly average-- just for the dubious "convenience" of being tethered to the internet 24/7.

I don't need to be online all the time, I sure as hell aren't going to pay extra for it. But you can't get a "smart" phone from anyone without paying for the data plan to go with it.

I realize I'm a throwback-- but why can't I just get a phone with wifi and only connect to the internet using wifi? And if I have to pay for the data plan no matter what, why would I bother connecting via wifi anyway?
Well, I know I'm a minority. In my search to replace my beloved Palm Pilot, I've heard a lot of people telling me to "get with the times" and to "suck it up" and "get used to it" because "that's the way it is."

Ok. So go find my high school counselor, deans, and vice principal, and ask any one of them how "that's the way it is" EVER went with me.

But that maunders off to at least two other stories I could post at a later date. For now, I just wanted to bid my fond farewell to a cell service that did right by me.