I have been twisted around like a piece of clay and I am amazed by how poorly treated I have been by T-Mobile's incompetence.
I just came back to the States during this past February after six months abroad, and my number was deactivated. Prior to leaving the States in July 2013, I had called T-Mobile to ask what I needed to do in order to keep my number (I was running a prepaid service at the time). My rep at the time informed me that all I needed was to load $10 on my account and my number would be maintained in my name for a whole year. Apparently, they had given me the wrong information, because my account had expired and deactivated after just three months, but I was unaware of this as I was still abroad.
After receiving my new phone and phone number (which I will refer to as Number #1 for reference purposes), I called T-Mobile onMarch 7 to request a number change. The main reasons I'm really attached to my old number is because I had it for a year and a half before leaving abroad. Before coming back to the States, I was already applying for jobs using this number as my contact info, unaware that it was no longer active. The representative I spoke to said changing Number # 1 back to my original number shouldn't be a problem, and that it was still listed as available. He said wait up to 72 hours and I should receive a text message notifying me of the change.
The 72 hours passes and I call back T-Mobile customer service on March 10 because my number hasn't changed. The representative I speak to this time says that an error occurred with my first request, and she says we must start the process all over again to change my number. She assures me that everything should work out OK this time around, but again, I must wait another 72 hours before my number changes.
The 72 hours passes, and still no change. I call T-Mobile back on March 13. The representative I speak with appears to not know why the last request didn't go through, but he says he will "expedite" my request this time around, so that Number #1 will change to my originally requested number, as he can see through my records that I've had a heck of a time already getting this number changed. This time, he says that I should be notified within 24-48 hours.
Do you see where this is going? By March 16 (the day I'm writing this), STILL no change. I call customer service again. The representative looks up my information and it appears she has the ability change my number right there. She says that once the number changes, we will disconnect. We both confirm the new number to be changed to. As she says, we disconnect.
After I restart my phone, I check my phone settings to see if my number has changed, and it has. BUT IT HAS NOT CHANGED TO THE NUMBER I'VE BEEN REQUESTING FOR A WEEK. It is a completely new number that I never asked for.
I call customer service one last time after this. I give the representative the original number I wanted to change to. She breaks the news to me that the number I've been requesting for the past week has already been given to a new customer and I can't have it.
At this point, I want to break down and cry, but I know that will get me nowhere. The only resolution now is that I might as well change this new number BACK to Number #1, as I've at least been telling a couple potential employers that this was meant to be a temporary number.
So now this representative has put in a request to change my new unwanted number back to Number #1, which I jumped through hoops to change for a week, but now I must accept the fact that I'm stuck with it.
I am so emotionally distressed and that I cannot put my frustration into words. Why were there so many errors in changing my number? Why was I not informed earlier that the number was taken? Was the number issued to another customer during my ridiculous one week of waiting and being pulled around? Why must I be put through this headache when I've been a loyal customer to T-Mobile for so long?
I understand that whatever remedy or assurance I get, I cannot get my original number back. However, I want reassurance from someone in management somewhere that no issues will arise from this last request I made to get Number #1 back. The frustration and hurt I feel at this moment at the tug-of-war T-Mobile has put me through is beyond belief. I am owed SOMETHING from T-Mobile as an apology for the miscommunication and incompetence.