T-Mobile charges customer for damaged equipment he says was never used
Retired English teacher Dan Ludwig, 66, has been using Optimum cable since he was a young lad. His family signed up for the service all those years ago so they could watch the New York Rangers hockey games. Now living in Weehawken, New Jersey, Ludwig said that his Optimum monthly bill rose in August to $283 from $265. One of Ludwig's promotional discounts had expired which led to the hike in his monthly bill.
When you "test-drive" equipment, assume that you are going to send it back
Ludwig decided that it was time for a change. Since he uses T-Mobile for his cellular service, he decided to take the wireless provider up on a promotion it was offering for its 5G home internet service with unlimited data for $50 per month. Part of the plan included a 15-day "test drive" during which the customer could cancel the service and return the equipment with no additional charges.
"It suddenly occurred to me that that was a considerable amount of money for a senior citizen living on a pension and Social Security just to watch television which these days consisted mostly of cable and local news channels, the odd cooking or nature show and one streaming service."-Dan Ludwig
On September 3rd, Ludwig received a box containing two pieces of equipment. One was a 5G Gateway device that combines the functionality of a modem and a router, and the other was a Mesh Wi-Fi system. Ludwig recalled opening the box. "The Gateway and Wi-Fi mesh units came boxed separately and were secured in the shipping box with a cardboard separator and plastic inflated padding," he said, noting that he simply put the equipment off to the side.
T-Mobile sent these blurry pictures to Dan Ludwig which supposedly show the damage it wanted Ludwig to pay for. | Image credit-Dan Ludwig
Optimum wanted Ludwig to return so within the T-Mobile trial period, the cable firm presented Dan with an offer he could not refuse-and didn't. With his decision in place to return to Optimum, the retired English teacher said, "I called T-Mobile to make arrangements for returning my untouched, unopened and unused equipment." With a T-Mobile retail location nearby, Ludwig asked if he could bring the equipment to the store, but the T-Mobile agent arranged to have the gear shipped back to the company.
In retrospect, Dan said, "Not knowing better and trusting the representative I did as I was told. But I do wish I had brought the box to the store." He says that now because after shipping the equipment to T-Mobile (using the original bubble packaging to protect the untouched, unopened, and unused equipment), he received an email stating that the equipment had been damaged; T-Mobile was charging Ludwig $79 for a broken screen.
Asking to see a photograph of the alleged damage, Ludwig received a blurry photo from T-Mobile which made it impossible for him to see the damage that he said he didn't do to the equipment. "The indiscernible serial numbers make it impossible to match with the numbers for my device," Dan added. The equipment with the damaged screen was not a piece of equipment that Ludwig recognized, probably because he never took everything out of the box before returning it.
Document the condition of any equipment you receive that might be returned
At first, T-Mobile offered him its "final" offer, a $20 deduction which meant that the carrier still wanted Ludwig to pay $59 for damage to equipment that he claimed not to have touched. Eventually, citing his position as a "loyal" T-Mobile wireless customer, the carrier removed the charge. The story doesn't end here. Ludwig decided to use Optimum for cable only and is getting content from Sling giving him a huge increase in viewing options at a lower price.
"As a 66-year-old man, it never occurred to me to inspect an item for damage that I received through the mail and that I knew I was going to return. But the representative insisted that she would have, although I did not believe her."-Dan Ludwig
Some will say that T-Mobile went out of its way and decided not to charge for the damaged equipment. Others will say that the carrier had no business asking for the $79 in the first place. But this is an opportunity for us to a learn a lesson here that might serve us well at some time in our lives. When you first receive equipment from a company that might be returned, go through all of the gear and document the condition it came to you in. Every one has a smartphone these days so there is no excuse not to have a photo showing any damage. Doing so might save you some money and at the very least, a hassle.
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