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| | | Deneral Tips for new T-Mobile customers as of 6/5/04. May not apply to pre-paid service. Policies are subject to change but for now...
Your Price Plan allows you to use up to "X" number of minutes per month. Any leftover minutes expire and you are issued new minutes monthly. If you exceed the amount of minutes in your "bucket" of minutes you will then be billed a per minute charge for the "overage". It is your responsibility to keep track of your minute usage.
Dial #646# and send the call to get a free text message showing your minute usage. Notice the time/date listed - if you have made calls after that time, they are not counted in the usage listed. T-Mobile (TMO for short) does not offer real-time usage. Usage is normally delayed from a few minutes to several hours. But if you a roaming on a partner's network that usage may be delayed for weeks. Learn your Price Plan and how many Whenever minutes you get monthly.
Not all plans include Free Nights, Free Weekends, or Free T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile. If you do have free weekends and the message says "used 30 whenever minutes and 40 weekend minutes" disregard the weekend minutes. They are given for those plans that do not include free weekends. If you have free weekends just pay attention to the number of whenever minutes used. The Sidekick and some handsets can't use #646#. Try dialing 611 SEND then at the prompt press 1 to hear your minute usage. Or register for MyTmobile.com where you can see your minute usage online.
If you call #646# on the first day of your new billing cycle it may not reflect you got your new minutes until mid-day. But be assured you get new minutes at midnight on the first day of your bill cycle.
IF you have Free Unlimited Nights you must hang up and restart your call at 9:00pm or after for it to be free. And if you start a call by 6:59am the whole call is free even if you talk past 7:00am. Weekend calls are calls that BEGIN between Saturday night at midnight thru Sunday night at 11:59pm
Customer Care is open 24/7. Call 611 from your handset (FREE CALL). If you are having a problem with your handset or service, call from another phone so troubleshooting can be performed. The number is on the back of your bill: 1-800-937-8997.
Many problems can be fixed by simply powering your handset off, then powering it back on. Always try this, then test your handset again, before calling Customer Care. Also you should do this daily to prevent echo and other problems. New York City customers should do this twice daily.
TMO bills for connected calls from SEND to END. Calls are rounded up to the next minute. So if you call a friend and their answering machine picks up in 30 seconds, and then you end the call, that will be a 1 minute call.
If you REJECT a call it will count as a 1 minute call. If you just let it ring and then forward to voicemail on its own then it will NOT count as a 1 minute call or appear in your call detail. You have 500 additional minutes for those type of forwarded calls (called Conditional Call Forwarding). But, if you should exceed 500 minutes then you start using your bucket of whenever minutes or if out of minutes are billed as overage and then it will appear on your call detail. It is highly unusual for most people to run out. Calls forwarded during you free periods (if any) don't use up your 500 Conditional Call Forwarding minutes. A forwarded T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile call is no longer counted as a T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile call.
You can also Unconditionally Call Forward [forward all calls option]your calls to a different number but that uses straight minutes from your plan. If you need to temporarily forward your calls it is usually best to Conditionally Call Forward them [forward when not able to take calls, forward when busy, forward when not available option].
You use minutes whether you MAKE or RECEIVE a call.
Calls to "toll free" numbers use minutes. They are not "free", they are just free of toll charges.
If you have a 3000 minute Regional Plan you have a Home Calling Area (HCA). Find out what states are included in your HCA. If you use your phone outside of that area you pay .49 per minute roaming charge to make or receive a call. If the number you call is long distance from where you are standing then you will also pay an additional .20 a minute long distance fee. If you are in your HCA and you call to a state outside your HCA then you pay a .20 a minute long distance fee. Prices to other countries vary. Canada is .20 a minute. Mexico is .29. Smart Access accounts are blocked from calling Mexico.
In theory calling voicemail from your handset uses minutes unless during your free period. Having the free T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile does not guarantee calling voicemail will be a free call although do to a system issue some customers do receive this benefit. You may call voicemail from another phone and avoid using your minutes by dialing your own mobile number and letting the call forward to voicemail. When the greeting plays press the "*" key and enter your password when prompted. The default voicemail password is the last 4 digits of your mobile number You should change this to something more secure.
TMO has some roaming partners like Cingular, AT&T, Western Wireless, etc. If you travel to an area where TMO doesn't have their own service but has a roaming partner your handset will automatically register on their system so you can make/receive calls. You can not register on their system in areas where TMO doesn't have an agreement. If you have a Regional Plan you can make/receive calls from them at no additional cost as long as you are within your HCA. If you are on a Nationwide Plan your HCA is the 48 states plus Hawaii, but NOT Alaska.
There is no charge to pay your bill with a credit card or electronic check payment. Do it online at T-Mobile.com, by using the automated system (611 from handset or 1-800-937-8997), or with a Customer Care representative. Payments post within two hours normally. If service is suspended for non-payment it will restore within two hours if you have paid the necessary amount.
You also can set up automated monthly payments on T-Mobile.com or with a Customer Care rep. You will still get your bill and have time to look it over. If you have any disputes call Customer Care. If not your current ballance will automatically be deducted from your credit card or checking/savings acct 3 days before the due date printed on your bill.
Peak=Monday-Friday daytime 7:00am-8:59pm
Off Peak=Monday-Friday nights 9:00pm-6:59am
Weekend=Saturday & Sunday
For a call to be a T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile call on a Nationwide Plan you must be "on network" (not on a roaming partner's network) and the other number must be a T-Mobile customer (they don't have to be on-network).
For a call to be a T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile call on a Regional Plan you must be "on network" (not on a roaming partner's network) and in your HCA and the other number must be a T-Mobile customer (they don't have to be on-network) and in your HCA.
Not all plans include Free Nights, Free Weekends, or Free T-Mobile-to-T-Mobile. Check the details of your plan before assuming you have any of these free calling periods. If you don't have them and want them call Customer Care.
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