First bill is $0.00?

[Bodycount]

Before I call T-Mobile up and maybe change something that might be a good thing for me right now.. maybe I'm missing something and this is really how it is.

I signed up for T-Mobile service on Cyber Monday. December 2nd. Got in on the zero down deal plus $48 off price of phone for a new Galaxy Note 3. Well.. Kind of actually. They had credit department issues on December 2nd. I ended up having the website check my credit twice (which it still wouldn't go through) which I'm sure hurt my credit score. So I called in and got through. The guy said call back later this week and they will get me going but there was nothing he could do on the 2nd because credit checks were down.

So I called back later in the week. Got through to a lady. Told her my story and what the previous guy said. She said the credit department was still down but she could get me going anyway. I was like great! I brought up the $48 off the price of the phone sale for website orders for Cyber Monday only which I couldn't do because credit was down. She said she couldn't give me the $48 because there was no way to code it in since the deal was over. She put me on hold and then came back and said a manager gave me $100 off the phone price instantly. I was only asking for $48 and they gave me $100 lol.

I used slow shipping because I wasn't in a rush for it since I had my old phone still from Verizon. It came to my door that Monday, December 9th. It came with a new number so I had to call and have them port my old Verizon number over. That took until Tuesday, December 10th. So finally on that day the phone was working with my original phone number.

So later on that week I signed up for the T-Mobile Advantage program which is a work discount. 15% off my plan charge. Well worth it. After it went through the email sent to me said my billing date would change. And it would take two months to process. Thought to myself why does it take two months to process a discount but they can instantly change my billing date. Oh well I couldn't do anything about it.

So I've been checking the T-Mobile site every day seeing when my first bill was due. Finally today my bill is showing up but it's $0.00 which is due on Jan 22, 2014.

What gives? Is this normal?

 

[Rukbat]

No, it's not normal. But I wouldn't cut a check for $0.00 just yet. If you get a bill next month showing an overdue balance of $0.00, just call the billing department, both of you have a good laugh at how stupid computers are (they're not, really - someone really messed up the coding if you get an overdue notice for not paying nothing) and it'll all straighten out.

Of course if next month's bill is also 0, you know there's something wrong, so then I'd call and ask how much I should pay just so they don't mess up the account or my credit score. And I'd try to speak to a manager.

But with the $100 discount applied to your first bill, and the 15% discount, it could very well have dropped your first bill (which is pro-rated) to 0.

 

[Bodycount]

She said it would lower my phone rate by a couple dollars a month. Not be a credit to my bill. It was originally $29.50 a month fee for the phone I believe. It ended up being around $26 a month fee.

My phone plan is $60 before the 15% discount. $50 plus $10 more for 2.5 GB data plan. Then phone fee was $26 more.

 

[chong67]

What is the final price on your Note 3?

Are you going to take 24 months to pay it off?

 

[Bodycount]

What is the final price on your Note 3?

Are you going to take 24 months to pay it off?

Final price was $618 according to my first bill with zero down.

Yeah. I'm at 0% interest so why not. I have the money to pay it off but I'd rather keep it in the bank building interest instead of giving it to T-Mobile so they can build interest. Something my parents taught me to do.

Checked my bill again today. It jumped up to $136 and some change. Tried to get details through the website and it came up blank. So I called in and got a representative.

Guy said the details button is happening to all T-Mobile customers and it will be fixed soon. He went through my bill and explained. First bill is pro-rated and also they make you pay one month in advance. He told me what my final bill will look like after the first bill so I have that now. And he saw my 15% discount applied which will show up on my next bill he said so that's all good. Wish it would have came up on this one. I'm shelling out two months worth of fees. Maybe that's why they say it takes up to two months to process once you sign up.. so they can get you with a huge first bill lol.

My final bill is still cheaper than my friend who is with Verizon. He has grandfathered unlimited which I could go to for $10 more but even if I paid an extra $10 I'd still be paying less than him. And he has to buy his phones at full price if he wants to upgrade.

 

[chong67]

Fry's got the Note 3 for $619 + tax for those that don't want to sign any contract. I have call to confirm no contract. Its on their website.

 

[Bodycount]

T-Mobile is no contract also. If you leave T-Mobile before it's paid off, you're charged the remainder of the price.

 

[damewolf13]

I actually had a very similar experience with T-Mo a couple of years ago.
I checked my bill on their website which was about $100.00 at that time, and it had already been paid by someone other than me. Needless to say, I was pretty happy about that, but alas,...they finally discovered their mistake (I did not call and tell them of it), and a couple of weeks later my real unpaid balance for that month was posted.
They do make mistakes, but it usually gets straightened out before too long.