09-21-2005, 09:33 PM
This is a complaint I wrote to T-Mobile about the behaviour of a subcontractor Mobiles at Home, which is a UK company that uses telesales .
To the Complaints Department
I am writing to complain about unfair treatment I received at the hands of Mobiles at Home a subsidiary/franchise of T-Mobile. Firstly on the grounds that I received an extremely hard sell which to be fair isn’t a crime in itself, but secondly on the grounds that I after I’d sent the phone back by special delivery with a letter expressing my wish to cancel the contract I received a bill for it which I should not have done.
Now firstly let’s make one thing perfectly clear regarding hard sells: I understand people have to make a living. I understand that they have to try and sell as much of their products as possible by being as effective as possible. I studied Business Studies for an A level and will be taking a course on Economics as part of my BA Politics degree so don’t insult my knowledge over this issue.
However I am angry that the person who sold me the phone hardly allowed me an opportunity to break off the conversation politely. Sure I should have just put the phone down, which in hindsight is what I wish I had done, but I just plain didn’t want to be rude to the guy and he appealed to my business knowledge saying it was bad to the company as it was a loss. I thought fair cop. More importantly I thought the contract was eight pounds a month which seemed like a good deal for me instead of eight pounds for the first three months of an eighteen month contract.
If I had been tougher then, more likely than not I wouldn’t have accepted the deal as it would have been far too expensive for me, especially given the facts that I am a student and at the moment am currently unemployed (apart from a bit of writing). I can get a much better deal using a “Pay as you Go” contract seeing as I hardly use my phone.
Added to that the employee who sold me the phone didn’t seem prepared to give me any time to think about it, which I would have asked for to research the deal, and let myself know what I was being let in for in terms of contracts, check whether to see if there were any other deals worth a look, that kind of thing etc. Instead I felt like I was being swept into a deal no matter how much I tried to resist without breaking off.
Secondly I am also angry that when I had sent the phone back and also specifically asked that T-Mobile (Mobiles at home) didn’t contact me or any other members of my family, unless it was anything raised about the letter. Instead I received a bill from them which I am also returning to you after I’d sent the phone back, which by the way, I hadn’t even activated while therefore not starting my contract. I regard this as firstly being unfair and secondly as being an insult (however unintentional it may have been) to me.
And as if your company really did want to add insult to injury at 13.40 today one of your employees called my mother, not in order to apologise but instead to… try and sell one of your contracts. This is why I asked my mother to handle calling your company
Twice your company has gone against my express wishes as a non customer which does make me wonder how you treat your actual subscribers.
I am copying this letter to a number of different groups and organisations. OFCOM, my local support group (Supporting Aspergers Families in Essex) and I am also sending this to any forum, website, or even organisation in the online offline autistic/autism community that is prepared to put my letter either as a forum post or as an article. Oh and I’ll also send this to the National Autistic Society too just to make sure all national organisations are contacted. What they do with it, well I’ll leave it for them to decide.
Why? Because I feel that unless your company is prepared to change its attitude with relation to people with my “condition” or come to think of it everybody else then, quite frankly we should not have to be prepared to do business with you, unless we (unfortunately) are already doing business with you. However if I do get a formal and sincere apology from T-Mobile then I will be happy to put that up online as well.
Personally I’m absolutely not interested in any sort of financial compensation or any one of your employees getting sacked or fired. I firstly just want a formal apology and secondly that you make sure your employees especially your telemarketing ones are a little more aware when dealing with people like us and last but not least, you refrain from contacting me or any other members of my family unless it is something just like I said in my first letter. Not much to ask is it? Oh and it’ll save you a bit of face too, if you’ve got any face to save.
Yours Sincerely
Leo Capella
To the Complaints Department
I am writing to complain about unfair treatment I received at the hands of Mobiles at Home a subsidiary/franchise of T-Mobile. Firstly on the grounds that I received an extremely hard sell which to be fair isn’t a crime in itself, but secondly on the grounds that I after I’d sent the phone back by special delivery with a letter expressing my wish to cancel the contract I received a bill for it which I should not have done.
Now firstly let’s make one thing perfectly clear regarding hard sells: I understand people have to make a living. I understand that they have to try and sell as much of their products as possible by being as effective as possible. I studied Business Studies for an A level and will be taking a course on Economics as part of my BA Politics degree so don’t insult my knowledge over this issue.
However I am angry that the person who sold me the phone hardly allowed me an opportunity to break off the conversation politely. Sure I should have just put the phone down, which in hindsight is what I wish I had done, but I just plain didn’t want to be rude to the guy and he appealed to my business knowledge saying it was bad to the company as it was a loss. I thought fair cop. More importantly I thought the contract was eight pounds a month which seemed like a good deal for me instead of eight pounds for the first three months of an eighteen month contract.
If I had been tougher then, more likely than not I wouldn’t have accepted the deal as it would have been far too expensive for me, especially given the facts that I am a student and at the moment am currently unemployed (apart from a bit of writing). I can get a much better deal using a “Pay as you Go” contract seeing as I hardly use my phone.
Added to that the employee who sold me the phone didn’t seem prepared to give me any time to think about it, which I would have asked for to research the deal, and let myself know what I was being let in for in terms of contracts, check whether to see if there were any other deals worth a look, that kind of thing etc. Instead I felt like I was being swept into a deal no matter how much I tried to resist without breaking off.
Secondly I am also angry that when I had sent the phone back and also specifically asked that T-Mobile (Mobiles at home) didn’t contact me or any other members of my family, unless it was anything raised about the letter. Instead I received a bill from them which I am also returning to you after I’d sent the phone back, which by the way, I hadn’t even activated while therefore not starting my contract. I regard this as firstly being unfair and secondly as being an insult (however unintentional it may have been) to me.
And as if your company really did want to add insult to injury at 13.40 today one of your employees called my mother, not in order to apologise but instead to… try and sell one of your contracts. This is why I asked my mother to handle calling your company
Twice your company has gone against my express wishes as a non customer which does make me wonder how you treat your actual subscribers.
I am copying this letter to a number of different groups and organisations. OFCOM, my local support group (Supporting Aspergers Families in Essex) and I am also sending this to any forum, website, or even organisation in the online offline autistic/autism community that is prepared to put my letter either as a forum post or as an article. Oh and I’ll also send this to the National Autistic Society too just to make sure all national organisations are contacted. What they do with it, well I’ll leave it for them to decide.
Why? Because I feel that unless your company is prepared to change its attitude with relation to people with my “condition” or come to think of it everybody else then, quite frankly we should not have to be prepared to do business with you, unless we (unfortunately) are already doing business with you. However if I do get a formal and sincere apology from T-Mobile then I will be happy to put that up online as well.
Personally I’m absolutely not interested in any sort of financial compensation or any one of your employees getting sacked or fired. I firstly just want a formal apology and secondly that you make sure your employees especially your telemarketing ones are a little more aware when dealing with people like us and last but not least, you refrain from contacting me or any other members of my family unless it is something just like I said in my first letter. Not much to ask is it? Oh and it’ll save you a bit of face too, if you’ve got any face to save.
Yours Sincerely
Leo Capella