How can I ask for compensation from T-Mobile?

[Deleted User]

Hello,

I have recently written a letter of complaint to T-Mobile but I wanted to ask others if they have any advice on how I can seek compensation for the problems I have suffered. I've outlined them below:

In December 2007 I upgraded my contract to a new phone - a Vario MDA Touch - which is a fairly nifty device (word, excel, office etc...) - I need it for my business as I am self-employed and the ability to receive emails on the go - and use office applications to respond - is critical to my work.

In April/May 2008 the phone started going very badly wrong:

- Screen kept going white
- Screen/software kept freezing
- Phone kept turning off and wouldn't turn back on unless I took the battery out
- Internet kept crashing and losing connectivity

Worse still, the battery life for the phone was noticably low; about 5 hours from full-charge to nothing. In fact, I don't think you could class it as a 'mobile' phone as I couldn't take it out without a charger!

Anyway, I got fed up with the phone so put my SIM into an old non-web compatible sony ericsson as I was away travelling in the summer. When I got back (September/October) I took the phone into T-Mobile (Crawley) to get it repaired.

A month later, I got the phone back and it was still totally broken. It lasted about 4 hours before the same problems appeared; but worse! It kept switching off. Not turning on. Crashing etc.

In November/December, I took it into T-Mobile again (2nd time) to be repaired and this time it was with them for a further month, until Christmas. I collected it just after New Year (family holiday) and it worked fine...for about 3 hours...then lo and behold! BROKEN AGAIN! The same problems, but worse: it didn't even turn on, charge, kept crashing, screen went black, froze etc.

They advised me that perhaps I should buy a new charger to see if that was the problem, so I purchased the charger they recommended (costing £14.99) and in the meantime, took the phone in for a THIRD time to get it repaired.

Two weeks ago, I collect the phone and...YOU GUESSED IT!....it was totally broken, despite them telling me it was fine. It worked the first two or three times, then it crashed, reset and all the rest of it. As you can imagine, I was livid.

So, I took the phone in again and was told my the store manager that all they could do is replace the phone for the same model. However, as that model is discontinued (presumably because it's a heap of junk?) I would have to have a similar model by the same manufacturer. I said that I didn't want this as the brand wasn't reliable and I wanted to seek compensation for the service I'd received. The manager said he had no discretion to offer me any other phone, but that I should try it and see how I got on: and that I should phone customer services to speak to a Director as they have discretion to offer me a new phone.

So, he gave me a Vario MDA Touch 'Plus'. Immediately, I had the same problems:

- Firstly, the charger I'd bought for £14.99 didn't work on the phone
- Secondly, it goes from full-charge to nothing in about 3:15hrs, meaning it is totally useless as a 'mobile' phone
- Thirdly, it takes 3 hours to charge fully
- Fourth, it kept crashing/turning off - and I had to keep taking the battery out to restart it
- Fifth, it took me 23 attempts to get it to turn on once
- Each time it turns on, it crashes

The final straw came this weekend when I turned it on only for it to crash, then not turn on...and then when it finally did turn on it did a factory reset, deleting all my emails (3,400), all my work contacts, diary appointments and all my mobile data. Fortunately I had the essentials backed up, but it is still ridiculous.

So, I phoned T-Mobile customer services and they told me that I had to submit a written complaint, which I did on Monday (10am). I was told that someone would respond by the end of the day, but they have only just responded now (10am on Wednesday).

Today, a lady from Customer Relations called me to say:

- She would need to seek permission from a senior customer service director about exchanging my broken phone for a different make/model (I would quite like a Blackberry as I have used these before and believe them to be very reliable)
- My account records show that I still have the old phone, not the new one
- The store manager was wrong to say he had no discretion to offer me a different make/model and has passed the buck by referring me to customer services
- Because my account is a 'personal' and not a business account, she cannot offer me compensation but is willing to credit my account with £50 as a gesture of goodwill
- She could also credit me 3 months worth of unused web and walk facility.

In summary:

I've had these phones for a combined total of 13 months, but they have only worked correctly for 4 months out of that

I've been paying for Web and Walk throughout, because each time my phone breaks I cancel it only to be told I have to give one month's notice. THEN, before the month is up I get my phone 'repaired' and uncancel the notice...only to find it breaks again meaning I have to give a new month's notice again!

My phone is CRUCIAL to my business. I am self-employed and I believe I have lost around £4,000 - £6,500 in work as a result of not being able to be contacted. I have missed tenders for work, business partnership enquiries and other work requests because I have been out of the office and unable to receive/respond to emails in time. I've also alienated and damaged relations with many of my customers as a result of them not being able to get hold of me at all!

I've been offered scant compensation for the loss I have suffered and I am not sure what to do. Because I don't have a 'business' account it seems I cannot get compensation, even though it is not in my interest to have a business account (I am self-employed, not a limited company and I use my phone for dual personal/business use).

Any ideas of how to proceed? I said to the Customer Relations lady that I wouldn't accept the offer just yet as I wanted to have until Friday to consider my options.

Can anyone help me?

Thanks,

B.

[Deleted User]

Update: I've just spoken to the Citizen's Advice Bureau (or the London-based consumer direct group which is partnered with them) and they have advised me that:

- My contract is with T-Mobile and so their claim that they have fulfilled their obligations and that the fault lies with the manufacturer is not valid
- I can pursue this via a Small Claims Court

But still, what a stress!

They said to write a letter and give them 14 days to reply, then a further letter with 10 days if that doesn't work and then a final one with 7 days before taking court action...but still, that still means not accepting their offer and being without a phone during this time!

gaz_jones

What have they offered you compensation wise? If it covers the cost of the contract on the months you haven't had the phone then I would accept.

I'm really starting to get annoyed with this compensation bandwagon. People expect to get thousands of pounds out of a company even though they haven't really helped themselves either.

If the phone is that crucial to your business why didn't you get another contract with another company and then take this up with T-mobile. The calls didn't mean that much to you if you didn't get another phone to recieve calls on.

Sorry for ranting its just everyone wants compo nowadays and they're willing to 'bite their nose off to spite their face' just to get some!

fatboy88

I understand the rant but if you have paid for a service why would you want to pay more money on top whilst you are trying to resolve the issue, unless you have money to burn.
The OP has already said he is using his old phone to take calls but its the internet part he requires which is causing the problem. Most large companies will try to fob you off even when they are blatantly in the wrong and you have to fight like mad just to get what it has cost you never mind the compensation on top, why is your time not worth anything. I remember a post on here saying you can charge a certain amount for your time if you take this to court

gaz_jones

I agree if she has paid for a service she should expect that service. But if T-mobile isn't working out for her then surely if the business calls meant that much she would have just given everyone her other number until T-mobile finally managed to get their act together.

My phone is CRUCIAL to my business. I am self-employed and I believe I have lost around £4,000 - £6,500 in work as a result of not being able to be contacted. I have missed tenders for work, business partnership enquiries and other work requests because I have been out of the office and unable to receive/respond to emails in time. I've also alienated and damaged relations with many of my customers as a result of them not being able to get hold of me at all!

If she didn't want to go to the trouble of getting another contract over the sake of £4-6.5k then it appears she is the one with money to burn.

Fair enough T-mobile should refund you for any time you haven't been able to use your phone. They also offered you £50 as a gesture of good will. But in the mean time to save you up to £6500 I would have just got a cheap contract.

fatboy88

But when you in the process you probably dont expect to lose that much money. It's building up as you are going along. Hindsight is a great thing

gaz_jones

That is a good point but I'm still sticknig by....If I had a mobile phone that had stopped working and I knew I would be loosing money not having a phone, I would use an old one, or buy a payg in the mean time.

The first time you sent it back it took a month, this is when I would have got another phone as I would anticipate lost earnings by not having one.

The second time you send it off for another month, surely you should have known without that phone you would be loosing money? Especially after the first time you sent it away.

princessjessica08

I think you should take up the offer for the £50 gwg and the WnW back for 3 months. £72.50 (if the web n walk is seprate from your plan that is). They wont refund you any loss in business, as they said, you are not registered as a business customer, and it does state this in the Ts & Cs. Just depends if you've got time and effort to take them to small claims court or not.

Jess

[Deleted User]

Thanks for the replies.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but as someone said: at the time my phone was 'being repaired' and I was being advised that it would only be 2 weeks before it was fixed. So I had no reason to get another phone - until each time I picked up the old one to find out it was broken.

As for the compensation bandwagon: I'm not 'jumping on it' - I believe I deserve it in law! This is exactly what the Citizens Advice Bureau advisor suggested too. If T-Mobile's poor customer service and constant lies about how they've fixed my phone - when in fact they have not - causes me to suffer a financial loss, why shouldn't I reclaim the loss from them? I'm standing up to them, which is a prudent financial strategy.

Regarding their T&Cs: it is also a fundamental principle of the law of tort that you can't 'T&C' your way out of negligence or malpractice. You can sign a contract with me in which I state that I'm not liable if I prang your car by driving like a looney, but if I DO actually prang your car while driving like a looney I think you'll find the law will laugh at the agreement. You can't contract out of negligence.

I'm actually quite surprised by the responses on here. I've been careful throughout: I've backed up my essential data and have restricted myself to leaving the office only when essential (so I can have access to email). I've informed my key suppliers and customers. But it's the lost trade I haven't been able to mitigate. How could I have been expected to email the whole world to inform them I don't have a phone, just in case one of them wants to contact me with a work enquiry?

This is exactly what the loss was that I suffered. I received an offer of work for a project valued at £5,200 in the morning that required an urgent response. I didn't pick it up until the evening when I returned home, by which time it had been offered elsewhere.

Finally, I wasn't 'losing money' by not having the phone. I just wasn't 'gaining money', which is a critical difference. My business has only been trading for 3 months and is going from strength to strength, but still doesn't have the huge cashflow to justify me abandoning my existing T-Mobile contract and getting a different contract.

sporedude

Deleted_User wrote: »

Thanks for the replies.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but as someone said: at the time my phone was 'being repaired' and I was being advised that it would only be 2 weeks before it was fixed. So I had no reason to get another phone - until each time I picked up the old one to find out it was broken.

As for the compensation bandwagon: I'm not 'jumping on it' - I believe I deserve it in law! This is exactly what the Citizens Advice Bureau advisor suggested too. If T-Mobile's poor customer service and constant lies about how they've fixed my phone - when in fact they have not - causes me to suffer a financial loss, why shouldn't I reclaim the loss from them? I'm standing up to them, which is a prudent financial strategy.

Regarding their T&Cs: it is also a fundamental principle of the law of tort that you can't 'T&C' your way out of negligence or malpractice. You can sign a contract with me in which I state that I'm not liable if I prang your car by driving like a looney, but if I DO actually prang your car while driving like a looney I think you'll find the law will laugh at the agreement. You can't contract out of negligence.

I'm actually quite surprised by the responses on here. I've been careful throughout: I've backed up my essential data and have restricted myself to leaving the office only when essential (so I can have access to email). I've informed my key suppliers and customers. But it's the lost trade I haven't been able to mitigate. How could I have been expected to email the whole world to inform them I don't have a phone, just in case one of them wants to contact me with a work enquiry?

This is exactly what the loss was that I suffered. I received an offer of work for a project valued at £5,200 in the morning that required an urgent response. I didn't pick it up until the evening when I returned home, by which time it had been offered elsewhere.

Finally, I wasn't 'losing money' by not having the phone. I just wasn't 'gaining money', which is a critical difference. My business has only been trading for 3 months and is going from strength to strength, but still doesn't have the huge cashflow to justify me abandoning my existing T-Mobile contract and getting a different contract.

The chances of T-Mobile giving that much compensation is very, very, very small....

[Deleted User]

Two PSs:

p.s.1. I'm a bloke, not a woman as some other posters have incorrectly guessed!

p.s.2. The 'compensation' offer was £50 credited to my account, 3 month's refund of Web'n'Walk (£45 approx: again, this is credited to future WnWs) with the option to exchange the handset, possibly (but unlikely) to a better model.

My 'loss' in this is:

- A contract for work (£5,200) was passed to someone else because I did not receive the email promptly enough
- Important customers have expressed frustration at their inability to reach me at times, which has damaged their faith in me
- Personally, my girlfriend and family have been pretty upset on a couple of occasions when they couldn't reach me (I was cycling from home to my parent's home at the weekend, punctured and took longer than expected, so they thought I'd had an accident!)
- In addition, I've been tardy in responding to emails during the day.

I should probably point out that I also work in web design and social media, so my ability to access the internet (facebook, twitter etc) on the move is crucial to how my credibility is perceived. My line of work involves managing and moderating social-networking profiles for a variety of public figures and so not being able to do this on the go has resulted in dubious and 'dodgy' comments being posted onto these, harming my client's image and my business as a result.

Anyway, I'm surprised by the lack of support here actually. For once I'm standing up the big guy and I thought others would be in support of this. If T-Mobile wants a fight, bring it on.