When I think of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, I can't help but think about technology and connectivity. After all, isn't it a place for Internet and gadget geeks like me?
While the place itself didn't disappoint – how can I not love the cable cars, the wharf, the Golden Gate bridge, the steep roads that make you feel like you're on a permanent roller-coaster ride, and everything else that make it all so gorgeous – I have to say that encountering a major tech issue isn't something that I'd expect here.
You see, one of the things that is on my list of things to do while I am on a business trip is to make sure that I have the ability to stay connected – both via mobile phone and the Internet.
Thankfully, in a place like this, Internet connections are relatively easy to come by. Not that connection are everywhere, and certainly no free wi-fi everywhere. But, it's still reasonably wired. So, even though I brought one of my favorite travel gadgets of all time – my pocket wifi - I didn't bother to load it up with a local SIM for broadband use. Besides, even the hotel's paid wi-fi service is not too expensive.
Mobile phones, however, are a different matter.
Even though I can access global roaming on my device, I avoid using it as it racks up the bill pretty quickly. That's why I decided to bring a second mobile phone to use with a local SIM.
I figured that the best thing to do when I arrive in the US from Australia is to buy a prepaid local SIM card to use with an unlocked mobile phone. This way, it will be easier to organize meetings and
call new contacts in the country.
So, on Day 1, my colleague and I went to a T-Mobile store in San Francisco to purchase SIM cards. The store attendant provided me with the SIM and he promised that he would activate the card for me
in-store. I was assured that it should all work within 20 minutes. Seeing as I was still waiting for my unlock code from Australia at the time, I let that be.
Now when I finally received my unlock code – guess what? I find that my new mobile phone number wasn't activated by T-Mobile after all!
So, when I used my phone, I kept getting re-directed to their customer service department. And as we may all have experienced at one point or another with these sort of things, I got the run-around (you know what I mean).
"Sorry, we really want to help, but this is the wrong department. Let me connect you to the right one."
Then, some cheesy music or announcement came on, including the assurance that I was meant to be dealing with the country's best customer service team or something. Right.
Another person spoke up and I had to explain the issue once more. Then again, I got the standard, "Oh, this is not the right place. Let me find you the specialist for that issue."
On and on it went. Until I got cut off. I had to call all over again.
Then, in the case of T-Mobile, I even got shut down in the middle of the issue, and was told via an automated message that customer service hours was now over and I will have to call again the next day.
Livid was the first word that came to mind to describe how I felt by then.
In-between then and the next opportunity for me to try and clarify the situation, I had to use the hotel phone and my global roaming service, just so I can make and/or receive phone calls.
To make matters worse, I did the same thing all over again the next day on their customer service help line: Called, explained, passed on, called, explained, passed on... Again, and again. All throughout being patronized by the service representatives.
So yes, no prizes for guessing the outcome.
Their final word of so-called help: "Just go back to the store where you bought your SIM card from because there's nothing we can do for you on the phone."
Humph.
Well, I'm afraid that when someone's traveling on business, that's just not good enough.
Especially since by that time, I have already left San Francisco. I'm supposed to be in Santa Clara for the remainder of my time in this trip. And yes, it's the time when I actually need my US mobile phone number.
So, needless to say, I was completely unimpressed.
As a first-time customer of T-Mobile, I am appalled at how this situation was handled by everyone I dealt with on their customer service helpline. The systems in place are obviously flawed. And, there was no attempt at all to make up for the whole debacle. No offers of a code to use in another T-Mobile so I can get a free or discounted new SIM card, nor to mail a new activated SIM card. No way of getting a new activation code, even though I provided them with all the necessary information to prove my purchase.
That's why even though I am not a fan of "rant posts" about companies and services, I make exceptions like this one as it serves as my official complaint about the situation with T-Mobile.
So even though I am coming back to the US in a few weeks' time in order to present at and to attend a nonprofit technology conference in Washngton DC, I will be avoiding the use of T-Mobile. This is definitely one customer who's not going to make that mistake again.