The boring details...
    I rented this phone.  It arrived on time.  Everything was fine, except for the (dog?) hair and dirt in the  travel case and there was human hair stuck to the earpiece.  Everything was fine, except that when I tried to use it, a recorded message said "You cannot make a call with this phone", or something to that effect.  So I knew it would be useless in China, for calls to the US.

 Was a better deal available on the net in 2001?
    I'm no expert, but I think so.  Searching in GOOGLE or YAHOO using the key words INTERNATIONAL TELEPHONE RENTAL AND YOU'D HAVE FOUND PLENTY OF OFFERS.  I have no experience with any other phone except this one from VoiceStream.  

  My Letter to the company

VoiceStream Wireless
45 Broadway
20th Floor
New York, NY 10006

Dear Sir or Madam -

Enclosed you will find the rented telephone.

Your friendly sales rep assured me that my rented phone would work for international calls, "especially with my good payment record with VoiceStream,  (now T-Mobile?) on the other cell phone that you already own".  (Curiously, he repeated this several times.)

When I tried to make an International call the telephone did not work, and I had no time for get a replacement before my trip.

I called your company to explain the problem.  Your representative told me that the international feature had been purposely deactivated but that it would be activated as soon as my last payment for service on my normal cell phone had been posted

Unfortunately, by the time you would do this, I would be in Guangzhou, China -- so, I asked if this activation would be automatic.  His answer was no -- activation is not automatic.  The representative told me that I would need to call a VoiceStream representative to have it activated.  He said that I might have to call daily, to see if the activation were possible!

When I asked how I should call VoiceStream from China, if my cell phone is unable to make international calls, he replied that I would have to use a Chinese telephone to make the call to VoiceStream's telephone menu system and ask that my phone be activated.  This is a silly answer, of course, and renders unnecessary the entire reason for renting this device in the first place! 

You will find my public complaint about this event at nowscape.com/suck/Voicestream-Sucks.htm.  If I have made any errors or omissions, please let me know and I will correct the web page.

Please let me know if you have had the opportunity to post my check for eighty-some dollars by now.
I request that you refund any charges you may have made to my credit card and give me accounting.

Best regards and thanking you kindly in advance for your reply,

[signature]

PS:  Your rental application process seems very old-fashioned, difficult and cumbersome to use. You should have a web page for this; after all, you seemingly try to position yourself as a modern communication company.  You  faxed to my employer a long and cumbersome application form. You asked that I fax it back to you, along with a Xeroxed copy of my drivers license and credit card!  Afterwards, another telephone call from your company to me seemed to be required.  I estimate that the time I spent ordering, waiting for your fax, Xeroxing, faxing to you and conversing with you about this seemingly simple rental process was in excess of three hours!

CC:VoiceStream Wireless
45 Broadway
20th Floor
New York, NY 10006

 REFUND...    If VoiceStream will give a refund and an apology, it will be posted here -- holding my breath : )

  b y   J a m e s   K e n d r i c k    Oct. 28, 2010

The FCC proved it does indeed have consumer’s backs by handing out a $25 million fine, the largest ever, to Verizon for charging its customers spurious fees over a period of years. The fine was the result of a 10-month investigation into the carrier’s billing practices, and is in addition to a minimum of $52.8 million in refunds Verizon must make to the 15 million customers affected.

The investigation determined Verizon regularly allowed data connections on phones to generate $1.99 per minute charges even though the customer did not intentionally start the connections. The agency also took offense at Verizon’s charging data fees for web sites promoted to be “free of charge”, including the carrier’s own Mobile Web homepage. Verizon has also been ordered to allow customers to request a data block on phones to avoid unintentional charges.

Verizon had recently volunteered to refund charges it determined to be spurious, and now has been ordered by the FCC decision to form a Data Charge Task Force to monitor charges going forward to prevent improper fees to customers. The task force will report regularly to the FCC to make sure the carrier remains in compliance with the order.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski made the following statement about the findings:

Today’s consent decree sends a clear message to American consumers: The FCC has got your back. People shouldn’t find mystery fees when they open their phone bills — and they certainly shouldn’t have to pay for services they didn’t want and didn’t use. In these rough economic times, every $1.99 counts.

Source: gigaom.com

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Do these things suck? ~~ Unpleasant experiences with companies and organizations. Scams.

  Page updated   2010-10-29