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‘Burner phone quality at best’: TikToker calls out T-Mobile for changing billing date without notice and random $170 charge

‘Dear T-Mobile, your service is trash.’

Photo of Braden Bjella

Braden Bjella

Man dancing like robot caption 'We need a new cell phone service provider...' (l) T Mobile store interior with sign out front (r)

A TikToker’s letter of complaints to T-Mobile has gone viral after he shared a read-out of the text to the platform.

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William Fanene (@viliamufanene) posted the video to his page earlier this week, where it quickly garnered over 2.5 million views.

The video has inspired several follow-ups and comments from other wireless providers like AT&T and Cricket Wireless.

@viliamufanene Dear @tmobile #fyp #foryou #badbusiness ♬ Stories 2 – Danilo Stankovic
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In his initial video, Fanene reads out the content of the letter, asking for feedback from viewers.

“Dear T-Mobile, your service is trash,” he reads. “Y’all randomly changed my billing date without warning, and none of your unqualified experts seem to know the reason. As a matter of fact, none of your pandemic professionals gave me the same answer.”

“Per our agreement, you weren’t supposed to touch my account until the 27th of each month,” he continues. “I didn’t notice until March that you’ve been early-withdrawing on the 24th since last October.”

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“What caught my attention was some random $170 charges from your Everest College graduate accountants,” he adds. “I called to see what the charge was, and guess what? None of your customer service reps could explain either.”

Eventually, Fanene says the company told him they would stop making these charges and offered him a $170 credit for the charge. But as Fanene points out, that does not make much sense.

“You mean $170 that you stole from me without explanation? That’s not a credit, that’s just giving me my money back,” he says. He then notes that there was not a consistent resolution to this issue.

“To top it off, your service is burner phone quality at best,” he reads. “I should not have to stand on one leg holding a piece of aluminum foil trying to get a good signal out your ass in 2022.”

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He adds a few more points before closing the video by saying he wants them to end his contract.

“Terminate my contract immediately. I will not pay your early termination fees, and I will be reporting your bootleg company to the Attorney General, the State’s Attorney, the Federal Trade Commission, and filing a report with the Better Business Bureau as well as a small claims case, which you’ll find out the exact reason upon service by your local Sheriff.”

In comments, users supported Fanene, with many sharing similar complaints.

“Hey, lemme sign my name at the bottom real quick because me [too],” wrote a commenter.

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“This needs to be a template,” added another.

“Effing TMobile! 15 years with Sprint not one problem one week into TMobile and nothing but problems,” shared a third.

Thankfully, this story has a happy ending, as detailed in an update posted by Fanene.

@viliamufanene Reply to @angeliquedis Pt 2 #storytime @tmobile #fyp #foryou ♬ Laverne and Shirley – The Main Title Theme – TV Themes
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The text overlaying the video reads as follows:

“After my wife emailed and I posted this tiktok…. the executive office of T-Mobile called us. The executive actually LISTENED… She pulled our past calls and complaints to T-Mobile…. She is going to personally help us in our transition OUT of T-Mobile.”

According to Fanene, this includes “$440 credit applied to our account” and “Termination fees are waived for all 9 of our devices,” which he says saved him over $3,000.

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All of these means that T-Mobile is avoiding Fanene’s planned lawsuit, he continues.

In comments under this video, carriers AT&T and Cricket Wireless proposed themselves as alternatives.

“Still SMH at vernon… let’s make some magic,” Cricket Wireless wrote, calling out T-Mobile’s unhelpful customer service rep.

“We might have a suggestion for a new provider,” AT&T stated.

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While Fanene appears to be entertaining Cricket’s offer, he clowned AT&T for theirs in a later video using a clip from the 1990 film Goodfellas.

@viliamufanene Reply to @att Inside of the comment section under Craig’s reply be like..Why yall do Craig like this😪. #fyp #foryou @uhjoyful @tpritch @khalednassar93 @maribella90210 @brikissell @mintmobile ♬ original sound – amuuso

Many viewers supported him in this as well.

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As one user wrote, “tired of these companies getting away with everything.”

We’ve reached out to Fanene via email.

Update 11:44am CT, May 27: In an email to Daily Dot, Fanene says that he does not have any updates beyond what is visible in the videos. While acknowledging that there does not seem to be a mobile provider that people don’t have complaints about, he says he is weighing all the options for his nine lines and hopes to partner with lesser-known or under-appreciated brand interested in marketing to his demographic. He says he will keep viewers up-to-date with his situation as it develops.


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