7.24.19 T-Mobile merger details; Don’t trust anonymous surveys; When should you call customer service?
The T-Mobile merger is likely to be approved very soon. And it's not all that bad as it turns out; Don't take "anonymous" surveys that your work sends you. You aren't really anonymous; Clark tells you when to call customer service to avoid waiting forever for help.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Read more
Are you thinking about switching to a low-cost cell phone carrier, but don’t know which one to choose? Metro by T-Mobile, formerly MetroPCS, offers plans and add-ons that give you flexibility and a predictable bill every month.
Nicole Carroll, Team Clark’s Social Media Manager, has been a MetroPCS and Metro by T-Mobile customer for 18 years! In this article, we’ll review the key features of this service.
Read on for everything you need to know before you sign up, plus Nicole’s video review.
Metro by T-Mobile offers several plans and add-on services with no annual contracts.
Currently, the company offers four plans, two with data caps and two with unlimited data. Pricing is as low as $30 per line but will vary depending on the plan and number of lines.
Higher-tier unlimited plans also include perks like Amazon Prime, hotspot data and Google One cloud storage.
You can also add on services to your plan, including hotspot data, international service and additional robocall blocking. Learn more about the plans and pricing here.
Currently, if you pay your bill in-store, you will be charged a $3 fee regardless of payment method. The same fee applies to paying a bill of more than $18 over the phone.
When MetroPCS started, the service was only available in a few parts of the United States, but as time has gone on, its coverage has expanded. T-Mobile has owned MetroPCS since 2013 and changed the name to Metro by T-Mobile in 2018.
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Metro runs on (you guessed it) T-Mobile’s network and uses their towers to provide coverage. You can see Metro by T-Mobile’s coverage map and compare it to T-Mobile’s network coverage.
RELATED: Coverage maps: Find a cheap cell phone plan with the best coverage
There are three quick steps to set up service with Metro by T-Mobile:
These steps can be completed by going to MetroByT-mobile.com or into a Metro by T-Mobile store. Note that some Metro by T-Mobile stores still have the old MetroPCS logo.
Metro by T-Mobile lets you bring your own phone or purchase a compatible GSM device directly from the carrier. To check your phone’s compatibility with Metro by T-Mobile, click here.
You’ll need to know your phone’s IMEI number to check the compatibility. Here are a few ways to find it fast:
The company notes on its website that a “Phone must be unlocked GSM device. Certain device functionalities may not be fully available for BYOD customers. See store for details and information.”
If you choose to buy a phone from Metro by T-Mobile, you’ll have to buy it in-store. According to a customer service representative, the phones you see online are just a sample of what Metro by T-Mobile offers.
If you buy a phone through Metro, it may be best to pay for it in full to avoid finance charges.
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Since Metro by T-Mobile runs on T-Mobile’s network, you’ll want to make sure that your area has a strong T-Mobile connection before you switch.
Nicole from Team Clark is based in Atlanta, where Metro by T-Mobile has a big presence so she experiences few problems with her service.
Overall, Nicole’s phones have performed well on MetroPCS and Metro by T-Mobile, but she has experienced a few troublesome situations.
Nicole bought an unlocked GSM phone from an independent retailer and experienced dropped calls almost every time she was on the phone longer than five minutes.
The in-store associates tried resetting the phone and switching the SIM card, among other things. By the third time she went to the store for help, they told her that the phone itself was the problem.
When she switched back to a phone from MetroPCS, she no longer had those issues.
Nicole also recently went on a road trip to Orlando and did not receive any calls or messages during the ride. When she arrived, she restarted her phone and received all the messages that she missed while she was in the car.
Other than these recent incidents, Nicole said she hasn’t had much trouble with calls or texts with her 4G LTE service.
Data speed is important for everything from web browsing to streaming music.
We conducted six speed tests on Nicole’s LG Stylo 3+ from the Team Clark headquarters in Atlanta. The average download speed was 18.8 Mbps and the average upload speed was 1.13 Mbps.
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That’s a decent average, especially if you stream video on a service like Netflix or YouTube.
Nicole has been a MetroPCS and Metro by T-Mobile customer for 18 years and she’s had plenty of interactions with customer service. She says:
“Every time I’ve contacted customer service…I’ve had a great experience. They’ve always been very helpful, whether it’s been in the store in-person or over the phone.”
Team Clark member Chelsea also has Metro by T-Mobile and has had some billing issues.
She’s contacted customer service multiple times for some refunds. Although her problem was eventually resolved, she had to be persistent about her problem in order for the company to fix it.
You can get customer support in-store or by calling 888-863-8768.
Metro by T-Mobile offers dependable and affordable service on a Big 4 network, plus in-person customer service at its stores.
If you’re looking for other options, Mint Mobile and Republic Wireless are also mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) that run on T-Mobile’s network and offer competitive low-cost cell phone plans.
Williams-Sonoma, the home furnishings and gourmet cookware specialty store, is hiring right now for customer service associates in several cities.
All of these are work-from-home jobs. The retailer is known to go on hiring sprees from time to time and Clark.com loves to spread the word about remote jobs.
The company is hiring “Customer Service Agents” who happen to live in the same states as one of their Customer Care Centers.
As a Customer Care Agent, you’ll take calls to assist people with placing orders, making returns, scheduling deliveries and more, according to the job description.
You can expect to communicate with customers via phone, email and live chat to help them with whatever they need. The job posting also says that you’ll get growth/promotional opportunities as well as a 40% discount on most merchandise.
Here are details about the pay and benefits for this position:
You’ll need to have a computer/PC/Mac with compatible OS, a computer USB headset with microphone and a minimum internet upload speed of 6 Mbps and 10 Mbps of download speed before training.
Here are some available openings on Williams-Sonoma’s website:
If you need to work from home only during a certain time, Williams-Sonoma also has night shifts available on the customer service team. Learn more about this position and apply now on Williams-Sonoma’s website!
If you want to lower your cell phone bill to $25 per month or less, your options are limited with major wireless providers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. But have you heard about Twigby?
Twigby is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that primarily relies on Sprint’s towers to provide cheap cell phone plans.
I spent 30 days testing out Twigby to provide you with this summary of its pricing, network coverage, call and text performance, customer service and other key features.
In this article, I’ll share my Twigby review and everything you need to know before you sign up!
When I first visited the plans and pricing page on Twigby’s website, I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the options. The carrier lets you customize your plan by selecting minutes and data. The more you use, the more you pay.
I opted for a plan that put my first month’s payment at around $20. Here’s what I bought:
As you can see from the price breakdown, Twigby charges for the SIM card and shipping, plus taxes are extra. The total also reflects an introductory discount — 25% off for the first six months of service.
If you run out of minutes or data, you can move up to the next plan or choose not to with its “Overage Protection” feature.
Along with a SIM card, Twigby will mail you detailed step-by-step instructions to activate your service.
I know that sounds so simple and like something every company should do, but I’ve found that setting up your phone with a discount wireless provider can sometimes be a real pain in the neck.
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Twigby’s instructions were clear and helped me get up and running quickly. I was able to make calls, send texts and use data in about 10 minutes.
For my 30-day test, I brought an unlocked Moto G6 smartphone to Twigby’s service. If your device isn’t compatible (check here) or you just want to buy a new phone, you can purchase a phone from Twigby.
The company says the selection will vary, but 25 phones were available when I last checked in June of 2019.
There was a phone sale taking place at the time. The cheapest smartphone available was an Alcatel Cinch for $15, and the most expensive smartphone available was a Samsung Galaxy S9 for $748.
The overall phone selection was decent, but you may be better off buying a compatible device elsewhere and bringing it to Twigby.
Twigby primarily runs on Sprint’s network, but customers can use Verizon’s network for talk and text if they’re somewhere that Sprint doesn’t have coverage.
I had more than 200 minutes of talk time for the month and thought the call quality was solid. My family, friends and co-workers who helped me test the service agreed. Most of my calls originated from Broward County, Florida.
Twigby also offers calls to Canada, China and Mexico at no additional charge, but I didn’t get a chance to test this feature.
Although Verizon is a backup network for talk and text, you only get Sprint’s network for 4G LTE data when you’re with Twigby.
If you live in an area where Sprint’s network is reliable, Twigby will likely be a good fit. Otherwise, you may be frustrated with slow data speeds. Here’s where you can go to check Twigby’s coverage map.
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From South Florida, Twigby’s data speeds were inconsistent. Some places I visited only had 3G data available.
However, when I traveled to Team Clark’s headquarters in Atlanta, it was a much different experience. The Speedtest by Ookla app confirmed an average download speed around 25 Mbps, which is perfect for surfing the web and streaming video.
Twigby is an online-only company, so there’s no store to walk into for customer support or even a phone number to call. Setup, billing and general account issues are handled through Twigby.com’s chat feature.
When I tested it out, a customer service representative responded almost immediately and was very helpful.
And when it came time to cancel my service at the end of the 30-day test period, that took place over a chat. The representative asked for my 4-digit security pin and processed the cancellation in a couple of minutes.
Twigby’s mobile phone plans are priced competitively with some of the other discount cell phone providers. If this sounds like you, Twigby may be a great way to lower your cell phone bill:
If you’re not sure about Twigby, we have a list of other cheap cell phone plans and deals that start around $10 per month. I’ve tested several of them, as well. Compare your options in Team Clark’s guide.
If you’ve ever had an issue with an airline reservation or flight, you know it can be quite a challenge reaching a real person. You may be able to get some results from customer service via social media.
A recent article in the New York Times says that more and more, airlines are providing customer service via social media, rather than phone. Because of its real-time capabilities, tweeting is especially effective, the Times indicates. Another advantage of social media is that airline “social care” teams can post helpful links for rebooking, lost and found and other things.
I recently noted an instance where Delta’s Twitter handle answered a request in about 8 minutes. Mind you, these are not usually expansive formal answers, but rather quick and dirty replies — oftentimes just what you need as a hurried traveler on the go.
Increasingly, if you’re in need of immediate help and aren’t keen on picking up the phone and waiting perhaps an ungodly amount of time on hold, all you need is a social media account on one of the major social platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The social team for American Airlines, for instance, fields 4,500 tweets per day and has a 30-minute response time goal, according to the Times. Other major airlines have similar setups.
Now that you know how to contact customer service on social media, here’s money expert Clark Howard’s secret to finding the cheapest flight possible.
Here are some more travel-related articles you might enjoy from Clark.com:
