San Jose couple fights to get offered rebate after switching to new carrier

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Phone carriers offer all kinds of incentives to get you to drop your current provider and jump to them. It didn't quite work out the way one San Jose family would have liked.

David and Debbie Tjon enjoyed reliving Game 4 of the NBA Finals. It's just one of the highlights from a fantastic year that has also taken them to Greece and Italy.

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The couple decided they wanted to switch their cellphone carrier to T-Mobile prior to the trip because T-Mobile's international plan had no extra fees for data.

"Our other plan would've cost us $10 a day for each phone, so roughly $300 for the trip we took. So we made the switch," said David.

The Tjons took advantage of this two-for-one offer and ended up getting four phones for the price of two.

They said the sales person promised them a $1,400 rebate within 8 weeks.

But eight weeks past and nothing happened. The family says their attempts to get their rebate were unsuccessful.

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"We would get into a spin cycle when we kept getting no as the answer at the end of each person that we work with," Debbie told 7 On Your Side.

David said he kept thinking a resolution was near, but then nothing would happen.

He kept extensive notes of every phone call and email exchange with T-Mobile.

"I made 35 phone calls to T-Mobile. I spoke with 24 different agents in three countries and spent the total of eight hours on the phone with them over a 10-week period."

David said he had lost all hope he would ever get his $1,400 back.

"I could see his blood pressure going up and he's a pretty patient guy, so I suggested to him that we should try 7 on Your Side as kind of a like last resort."

He did and we contacted T-Mobile.

They received their $1,400 rebate in two days.

The couple used their new phones as planned in Greece and Italy.

"All in all, it was a good experience to see that there are good ways to resolve things in this world," Debbie said.

We reached out to T-Mobile for comment, but it did not get back to us.

Written and produced by Randall Yip

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