from	Jay Aristide jay@daede.com via gmail.com
to	glenn.zaccara@t-mobile.com,
corporate.responsibility@t-mobile.net,
Mercedes.Avelar@t-mobile.com,
John.Clelland@t-mobile.com
date	Sat, Jul 30, 2011 at 11:48 PM
subject	US Account 614#######
mailed-by	gmail.com


(I'm sending this to every T-Mobile official e-mail address I can find, to make sure someone gets it who can do something about it)

Hi,

  I'm writing to inform you that Monday morning, I will be contacting an attorney to initiate a class-action lawsuit against T-Mobile for lying to customers and potential customers about the high-speed data cap and what happens after you hit it.

Before I ordered my phone from T-Mobile, I walked into the Eakin Rd. Store in Columbus, Ohio and spoke to a gentleman named Angelo. I specifically asked Angelo about the high-speed data cap, and how it would affect me once I reached it. Angelo told me that I would be limited to speeds "comparable to 3G", and those speeds would be "between 1mbps and 3mbps".



Either when I called to activate my phone or my data plan (I forget which), I asked again, and the CSR told me my throttled speeds would be "comparable to 3G speeds".



A few days ago, when I was near my 5GB soft-cap, I called T-Mobile just to make sure I wouldn't encounter any problems. I was told, again, that my speeds would be capped "comparable to 3G speeds". I asked for a specific number, and the CSR told me that the cap would be set at 2.5mbps. T-Mobile has a record of this conversation.



This morning, I hit my 5GB cap, and much to my surprise, I found myself limited to 65kbps, which is slower than even the worst Edge (2G) networks.



I started an online chat session with a T-Mobile representative, and asked what was going on, and the following is an excerpt from that conversation:



    _Tanya K: Unfortunately, data speeds is not something that we are able to troubleshoot or change once it has been reduced. What I can do is create a service request to have our engineering team investigate the site for possible service issues.

    Jay Aristide: What is it showing I *should* have on your end?

    Jay Aristide: and what do you mean by investigate the site?

    _Tanya K: The average is normally that 2.5 mbps. however we aren't really able to guarantee because of many impacting factors that can vary the connection speeds.

    _Tanya K: I mean they will take a look at the towers in your area to see what's going on.

    _Tanya K: Why it is so much slower than it should be.



I started digging online, and found that *everyone* is limited to 65kbps after they hit their high-speed cap, so I called in to ask T-Mobile why I was lied to and what they planned to do about it.



Three people at T-Mobile told me during that call that the cap is between 50kbps and 100kbps (considerably slower than Edge/2G), that there was nothing they could do to raise my cap, and that if I tried to break my contract they would pursue legal action against me.



After a couple of lower level CSRs, I was connected to a manager who admitted on the phone that I was lied to by T-Mobile, and told me that if I write Customer Relations with the information that I have, they would release me from my contract without a termination fee. He also confirmed that there was nothing he or anyone at T-Mobile could do to raise my cap or bandwidth limit for the remainder of the month so I wouldn't have a crippled phone for 19 days.

At any time during this process, had ANYONE told me the *truth*, I would have simply not used the phone to stream video. I would have limited my streaming to audio, as I did last month. The fact is, however, that three people at T-Mobile did lie to me, and now I have a phone that is next to useless. Webpages take 3-5 minutes to load, Facebook takes 3-10 minutes to update, nothing will stream, and I can't change my data plan to compensate the issue because I'm on FlexPay.

Here's where I stand:

I'm certain T-Mobile has lied to hundreds, if not thousands, of customers who have asked this question, and bait and switch contracting is illegal in the United States. This is grounds for a class-action lawsuit, which I plan to file Monday morning if I am not adequately compensated for my inconvenience in the following manner:


1) Either raise my data for this month to 10GB - at no cost to me - or raise my limited speeds to the 2.5mbps I was promised by 3 different T-Mobile representatives **OR** credit my account the total of my next bill to compensate me for the inconvenience of less-than-edge speeds for 19 days.

2) Issue a memorandum to *all* T-Mobile representatives who speak to (potential)customers stating that they are not to lie about the high-speed data cap, anymore. When someone asks them what their speeds will be limited to once they reach the high-speed cap for their account, they are to be told "between 50kbps and 100kbps for the remainder of your cycle", because that is the truth.

3) Issue a communication to all T-Mobile customers with data plans, either via text message, e-mail, or conventional mail informing them of what actually happens once they reach their highs-peed limit, emphasizing that their speed will be reduced to below-edge speeds.


I understand that two of these will not be able to be completed by Monday morning, but I will accept an e-mail promising this action as a commitment to follow-through with it.


If, however, I am still experiencing 60kbps speeds come Monday morning and/or have not received a non-automated reply to this e-mail, my first order of business will be to call an attorney, set up an appointment, gather my evidence, and initiate a class-action lawsuit against you.


Just to clarify, in requirement 1 above, if you decide to change me to 10gb for the remainder of the month, I do not want it left there. In the future, I will refrain from excessive streaming and make sure not to hit my 5gb cap. Like I said, I'm not angry about the cap. I'm angry that THREE PEOPLE at T-Mobile lied to me about what would happen once I hit said cap.


Check with your legal department. Once a T-Mobile representative gave me an exact number (in this case, 2.5mbps), the speeds I have been reduced to no longer qualify as "comparable to 3G", and you are directly and legally liable for not delivering a product that you promised. This not only nullifies any obligation *I* have to our contract, it puts you in an extremely actionable position.


It is in your best interest to get back to me before I get off work, Monday morning,

-Jason F. Aristide

jay@daede.com