T Mobile= JERKS.
T Mobile is going to charge me $200 unless I can convince Egypt to speak English. Egypt speaks Arabic. This will not be possible.
figure 0.: The Letter I received from the snakes at T Mobile:
If you have had a cell phone contract in the United States, you know how stringent they are about cancellation fees. This is why I was so careful to read my contract when I signed up with T Mobile on New Years Day 2009.
The contract, like most in the States, allows early termination for free if you move outside the coverage area. Otherwise, there is a $200 fee.
On Dec 27 2009, I moved to Cairo Egypt. I am living there now, and posting this from my home in Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt. T Mobile does not get coverage here. I checked.
Before I left, however, I set about informing the company that I was moving outside the coverage area, and thus would need to cancel my contract. I will keep the sordid details out of this in the interest of brevity. T Mobile told me to bring documentation to their store, which I did. They then told me that my documentation (Plane ticket and Work Visa) were not enough for them, and that I would have to produce:
1. A voter registration card
2. A utility bill
3. A Driver’s license.
Furthermore, they told me, I would have to produce these IN ENGLISH.
Now, let’s go through these one by one to demonstrate why this is a ridiculous requirement, and totally impossible.
1. I don’t vote in Egypt. I Can’t Vote in Egypt. I WON’T BE VOTING. IN EGYPT. Egypt is a dictatorship, idiots. Also, I am an American citizen. You know this. I showed you my passport. Finally, even if I renounced my citizenship, registered to vote in Egypt’s worthless elections, I wouldn’t even get a “registration card.” If I did, it would be in ARABIC.
2. This one is slightly more reasonable. At least it would be, if Egypt was America and thus spoke “American” as T Mobile seems to intuit that they do. I am posting a copy of my utility bill here, for evidence of what I’m talking about. In addition, Egyptian law is that utility bills are made out to the name of the landlord. I am not a landlord, thus there is no utility bill in my name. Oh, how I wish every country was America.
figure 1.: Egyptian Utility bill. In Arabic
3. Driver’s License. Clever. I have posted below an Egyptian Driver’s License. It is not in English. Even if it was, I don’t drive in Egypt. A cab is 5 le ($1) to get most places I am going, and traffic is a death trap.
figure 2.: Egyptian Driver’s License. In Arabic.
Now, I wouldn’t be so mad about this if I hadn’t already tried in good faith to prove to T Mobile that I am in Egypt. I already produced my plane ticket and my visa. When that wasn’t enough, I showed them my new cell phone contract, with an Egyptian company and listing my Egyptian address. I also showed them a job offer from an Egyptian company. Why, T Mobile, would this company lie to you, claiming they met me in January, simply to get my out of my cell phone contract?
I am not lying. I am in Egypt. I will take a picture of myself on a camel at the pyramids holding the date, hand written, if need be. Anything to get these bastards off my back.
What makes me most angry about the situation is that T Mobile seems to be purposefully making it impossible for me to prove I am in another country to get their $200. I refuse to believe that they are simply so ignorant that they don’t realize there are countries that don’t speak English. If they are, the let this be a warning to any of their customers considering a move abroad: You will be charged the $200 fee, even if your contract states you shouldn’t have to.
Also, be warned that T Mobile only accepts snail mail. They don’t do emails, or faxes. This makes life difficult for me, since I am in Egypt. I don’t even know if my letter would get to them in 30 days from here, which they KNOW, because I already sent them documentation.
UPDATE;
If anyone would like to contact me regarding this issue, my email address is posted just to the right of the start of this post. T Mobile, I am looking in your direction!