The 4-star rating is for this particular store, and this store only. Not necessarily for T-Mobile…read moreas a corporate entity.
A few months ago, my old-fashioned flip-phone broke, and I thought maybe it was time to belatedly enter the modern era. A friend of mine stays up to date on technology and I had been impressed with the photos he took on his phone (another friend, a professional photographer, advised me to get rid of my old 35mm camera, as the chances of ever using it again are pretty much non-existent). My friend with the impressive phone photographs agreed to accompany me to the nearest T-Mobile store in Hackettstown, and see if they could hook me up with the same thing.
When we arrived at the store, we were told the phone we were looking for was "on back order," but I was offered what I was told was a comparable phone for less money. My friend did "due diligence" on his phone (if addition to photos, he can look up reviews, articles, etc.) and said it was a good deal, and I should jump on it. With alacrity and pleasure, I made the deal.
A word about my friend...he abused massive quantities of alcohol and drugs over the years, and was the last person I ever expected to sober up. But he did. Unfortunately, his short term memory has been severely damaged. On the one hand, he's an example of hope and inspiration for those afflicted by long-term addiction issues. On the other hand, he's a living cautionary warning for those expecting to abuse substances with impunity and without consequences. I mention this because it is germane to the review.
The next morning, he called me from his home, read what he had written down when we were buying the "new" phone, and said, "I'm doing a little more research here, and that phone you've got is not comparable to mine. It's almost like a bait and switch. I really wish you had brought me along when you bought it." Alarmed, I practically shouted, "Dude, you were standing right alongside me!" "I was? Oh...shi...Man, I'm in bad shape. I don't remember it. Well, I'd go back with you, but I gotta work today."
When I called the store to return the phone and get the one I wanted, the teenaged zombie on the other end replied in a flat monotone, "It's on back order." "When will it be in?" "It's on back order." "Do you have an idea..." "It's on back order."
Angry that I was going to pay for a phone I didn't want, envisioning in my panic that I might be stuck with it (I had cancelled my service with Verizon Wireless, and the flip-phone was irreparably broken), I called the T-Mobile in Flemington. The person I spoke to was marginally more helpful...at least he sounded as if he had been blessed with a pulse...but he also advised me that the phone I wanted was "on back order." I asked if that meant it might be obsolete. He conceded that it might be. He agreed to take my name and phone nbr., and said he would contact me when the "back order" arrived, but I had a bad feeling that that information went right into the "circular file." I wasn't anticipating that he would contact me any time soon. Any time soon like...ever.
In desperation, with a feeling of ominous dread, I went to the store in Rockaway. It had been years since I had been in Rockaway (seeing "Midnight Movies" at the mall), and it was not in a part of NJ I remembered with fondness, but I was determined. And pissed. If I was not the victim of a bait and switch, I sure felt like one. Thankfully, the process at this T-Mobile couldn't have been smoother. Everyone was informative, and helpful. Yes, the phone I wanted was no longer available, but they recommended a model that was indeed comparable, if not better. When I ran it by my memory-challenged friend, he looked it up and said, "Yeah, that's a great phone. In fact, I'd like to replace the one I have with the one you're getting."
I was able to return the phone I didn't want, and get the one I wanted. One that was actually better than the one I wanted.
A lot of time was wasted, there was a lot of angst and frustration and exasperation, but in the end, everything went as it was supposed to go. I got my new phone, it's set up, and I'm taking photographs, and doing everything else that an old codger entering the "modern era" is supposed to be able to do on such a phone. Kudos, T-Mobile of Rockaway. To those consumers interested, as I was, in the "new technology," make sure to shop around.
As my experience makes obvious, all T-Mobile stores are not alike.
