My New, T-Mobile Phone

I think T-Mobile is trying to become the Nordstrom's of the cell-phone world.

I switched from Sprint to T-Mobile because a couple of independent phone stores told me T-Mobile had great customer service. Yes, indeedy. I've even written about this before.

Here's the short version of my latest T-Mobile interaction:

A few weeks ago, I went to Europe. I asked T-Mobile to set up my phone so it'd work in Europe. They said they would, and it didn't. After I got back, I called to ask why. They said that they were sorry but my Nokia 6010 wouldn't ever work in Europe. It's a 2-band, US-only model; to get something that'd work, I'd have to upgrade phones.

Oh well. I'm partial to Nokias, because they're very sturdy, and a tri- or quad-band Nokia would have cost a fair amount.

I said, "Okay, thanks," and went on my merry way.

It took T-Mobile customer service two days to call back.

"Gosh," said Sheila, "we feel bad about your experience, so we're sending you a new, Nokia tri-band phone. Normally, we'd ask for money or a contract renewal, but we just want you to be a satisfied customer."

She continued, "The new phone will have a camera and a speakerphone and some other stuff, too, so we hope you'll like it. We'll call you on November 21 to make sure you like it."

Excuse me?

"Uh. Sure. Wow. Thanks."

I'm amazed by my new Nokia 6101.

Do I tell everyone this story? Why yes, I do. Do I even blog about it? Why yes, you're reading it. When contract renewal time comes up, will I stick with them? Why yes, I will. Does this sort of customer service work? Why yes, it does.