Questions on paying T-Mobile

Reader Patricia Hall's effort to pay her daughter's T-Mobile bill was thwarted when sales reps at the Marley Station cellular store informed her they could only accept payment from a person who owned the ...

[john tmobile]

a good way to get arround that is just going through the automated system. then there is no charge to the account holders bill and you only have to verify the account to a machine so there is no need to talk to a rep

[Greg]

I worked for T-Mobile up until last month.

T-Mobile takes top priority in its customers' account security.

If you go through the automated system to make a payment, it will ask you for the last four of the primary account holder's social security number and you will be exempt from the $5 fee.

If you pay with a rep, you will be required to be listed on the account as an authorized user.(An authorized user is a name that the Account Holder has specifically added to the account to allow that user access to the account, after verifying a user-set password or last four of social).

The reason a person must be an authorized user to make a payment with a Customer Care rep is because the $5 payment processing fee is added to the account, and technically that is an account change that you must be authorized to complete.

The easiest answer is T-Mobile doesn't want someone else to be able to learn any information about a customer's account without his or her permission, or to make any changes to the account without some verification - such as a payment in the automated system and having to verify the last four of SSN.

The only exception is with a canceled account. You cannot make payments on these accounts in the automated system, however there is no fee with a rep - but you will still need to be listed on the account (billing party or auth user) in this case.

I hope this provides a little bit of clarity, even though it is a bit wordy.

[Greg]

I might add that being a Customer Care Rep, I had explained this to many-a-customer over the phone - and I know it's not a response that one is happy to receive.

[Phil]

The biggest ripoff aspect of this whole story is why T-Mobile feels it has to charge people 5 bucks for making a payment over the phone or in person. That's the underlying reason for their idiotic policy in the first place. Glad I don't use them!