Attention Companies: The Right Hand Needs to Know What the Left Hand is Doing

The other day my wife gets a phone call from someone claiming to be a T-Mobile rep. This person told her how he could help us save money on our phone bill and get her a free MyTouch 4G. She told him she would talk to me when I got home from work, and then call him back. He gave a number we could contact him at and that was that. I got home and she told me about this, and the first thing I think is it sounds too good to be true, and it must be scam (that's just the way I think, if it's too good to be true, it probably is). I researched the phone number, and from the sites I checked, it sounded fishy. Not one to let a good opportunity pass me by, I get on chat with a T-Mobile rep to confirm the number is good or bad. To add to the mix, part way into the chat, I call the number and got a rep on the phone, stating they were with T-Mobile.

Here is the ensuing chat. My comments are in parentheses. (The names of the reps have been left out as well as some information I didn't want floating around in cyberspace).

Gary: Hi, quick question. we got a phone call from someone identifying themselves as a t-mobile rep 
Gary: the phone number they wanted us to call them back @ was XXX-XXX-XXXX. Is this legit? 
Agent: Hi Gary , welcome to T-Mobile live Chat. I’m (Agent X) and I will be happy to assist you. Please give me a moment to review your question. 
Agent: Are you a current T-Mobile customer? 
Gary: Yes. 
Agent: Ok. 
Agent: Please verify your mobile number. 
Gary: XXX-XXX-XXXX is mine. My wife's is XXX-XXX-XXXX. 
Agent: Thank you. 
Agent: Please verify the last four of the SSN on the account. 
Gary: XXXX. 
Agent: Thank you. 
Gary: However, I was told my name was put on the account so I could discuss it last time I called in. 
Agent: Your name is on the account, however we do need the last four of the SSN to verify the account as well. (I was annoyed at this point because I had already entered in all this information before I started the chat).
Gary: k 
Agent: Thank you. 
Agent: Please allow me 2-3 minutes. (This actually took 8 minutes)
Gary: k 
Agent: Thank you. 
Agent: I have looked into our center wide directory and I do not see this number, nor do I see an out bound call made to you on your account. 
Agent: I would not make the return call to this number. 
Gary: Hmm...interesting. Okay. thanks. (This is when I place the phone call to the number that is suppose to be a scam). 
Gary: the message they say is they are t-mobile rep 
Agent: You are most welcome! 
Agent: It must be a scam. 
Gary: saving me money for preferred customers. (Listening to the message with the phone tree). 
Gary: can you look up one more number? (I explained to the person who answers, what I'm doing and that I'm told they are a scam, she then is great and trying to alleviate my concerns and get the person I know to be with T-Mobile to confirm).
Agent: Yes, 
Agent: Yes.* 
Gary: XXX-XXX-XXXX 
Gary: it's the courtesy department. 
Gary: says it's for the winback line (I'm basically repeating what the phone rep is telling me)
Agent: Please allow me 2-3 minutes. (More like 5). 
Gary: k 
Agent: Thank you. 
Agent: This number is not matching either. 
Agent: Are you still there? 
Gary: yes 
Agent: Is there anything else we can assist you with today? 
Gary: nope 
Agent: Thank you for contacting T-Mobile Chat, have a great day! 
Gary: have you heard of the outbound project? 
Agent: One moment please. 
Agent: Unfortunately I do not know of this. 
Gary: what about this refid? XXXXXXX her name is (Agent on phone). she works in telesales. (It should have been Rep ID).
Gary: That is who I'm on the phone with right now. 
Gary: anything? 
Agent: Gary, you are unable to be on the phone and chat at the same time. (Pretty sure I am, duh). 
Agent: If you are on the phone with telesales this is a different department than I am in. (Ya think?)
Gary: is that repid a t-mobile rep? 
Gary: *Rep ID? 
Agent: Unfortunately I am unable to release another reps information. 
Gary: so she is a rep is what you're sayin.. 
Gary: Therefore the number i gave you early MUST be a t-mobile number...correct? 
Agent: I did not find the numbers you listed about in our center directory. 
Gary: that's not what I was asking, I need to know if it is a t-mobile number, so I know I"m not being scammed. 
Gary: do you have a number for telesales? 
Agent: The number for telesales is 1-800-TMOBILE. (The phone agent tells me that just goes to Customer Service). 
Gary: do you have a manager I can chat with? 
Agent: Please allow me 2-3 minutes. (Time was about right here, but didn't get what I wanted).
Agent: I have spoken with my coach, I am unable to provide you with account information, however I can see your account has been accessed by one of our T-Mobile reps. 
Gary: Was her name (Name of Phone Agent here)? 
Agent: I am unable to release personal information. (Really? You gave me your real name, I hope). 
Gary: Seriously? So, this "tmobile" rep calls me and tells me to call a number that you've never heard of to get a good deal on a phone and our bill, that sounds like a good idea, but I have reservations, and you can't help? 

Agent: I can tell you however that the account was access properly and it is not a scam. 
Gary: okay...so that number is a t-mobile number. 
Agent: Yes. 
Gary: So 30 minutes later, we're good now. (I went with the chat method thinking this thing would take about 5 minutes, at most).
Agent: Yes we are. 
Gary: it was t-mobile and I can work them. 
Agent: Yes you can. 
Gary: Thank you very much. 
Agent: You are welcome! 
Agent: Is there anything else we can assist you with today?

Gary: Nope

A nice example where the company's right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. It sounds like T-Mobile has a good program in place for customer retention. I've been with T-Mobile for over 7 years now. I like them have had good customer service experiences with them in the past. However, this program is being rendered useless by those of us that don't want to be scammed. I went to a source that I knew for a fact was T-Mobile and they couldn't validate the number was good for 30 minutes. Had I not been stubborn and really tried to find out what was going on, and thanks to the agent on the other end, who was a delight to work with, even before I verified she was with T-Mobile, I would have given up and the program would have been super ineffective.
Did I get the MyTouch 4G that I really wanted? No, because it would have required getting my wife a data plan, and my plan wasn't up yet. She doesn't want a data plan, nor would she use it. Me on the other hand would love that phone, or that new LG G2x. (Sorry Damon, until Motorola gets a better phone with T-Mobile, I probably won't get another one. I don't like mine anymore). I voiced my frustration with the AT&T transaction that I'm hoping doesn't go through, but probably will. So we'll see what happens. Although for now, I hope you companies out there realize the importance of communication in a company.