in which i turn into the consumerist. 1

So, an update on the T-Mobile free companion flight offer that I decided to research. I’ve always believed that ‘too good to be true’ is exactly that, but it took a lot of persistence and annoyance to even prove that in this case.

First of all, I should note that the company who does the booking is not T-Mobile itself, but TLC Marketing. Google it, and you will find many, many consumer complaints. And since T-Mobile’s branding is all over this promotion, they’re responsible as well.

I picked out some flights that had exact matches on both nwa.com and the T-Mobile booking site, and emailed my information exactly as I was instructed in the FAQ. I got a reply over 24 hours later, saying I needed to include the booking number. I wrote back with that. One more day later, I got a pasted copy of the FAQ about price matching, with no further information. Since I had already provided all that information to them, I pasted it all into the email again, and sent it off. I received no further reply.

Well, that’s just guaranteed to piss me off. At that point, I knew that nothing was going to come of it, but I was determined to get them to acknowledge that they were doing shady business. I compiled all the information again in a fax, including printouts of the searches with the matching flights circled. It read:

I’m resubmitting a price match request I emailed three days ago. I’ve received two emails requesting further information, which I’d already supplied, but have not been contacted about the price match, which according to the FAQ on your website, meets all the requirements.

[All the relevant personal information]

Itinerary Details:
MSP to LAS 9/19 to 9/21
NWA flight 197, leaving MSP 9:10am
NWA flight 196, leaving LAS 2:15pm

Your site quotes a price of $581.20. NWA.com quotes $299.20. Please see the attached pages with the correct flights highlighted. Since this meets your guidelines, I should be able to purchase this through you for $299.20 plus 15%, correct?

I’m prepared to book as soon as possible, so please let me know.

I got a voicemail from TLC Marketing 24 hours after submitting my request. I tried to make a note of the list of numbers she rattled off, but had trouble keeping up. She said it was $258 for the flight (with Northwest’s fees it was actually $299, but whatever), plus 15%, plus a $30 per person booking fee, so [insert some magical math here] that equals $438.59. Call before 4pm or my request would be cancelled.

Right.

Granted, I’m unlikely to get a direct flight to Vegas for $219 per person, so that’s still a decent deal. It is not, however, what their site seemed to promise. Not even close. And there’s no way in hell I’d give money to a company with business practices that questionable.

Not that I’d technically call this a scam (more like “you’d have to be an idiot to fall for this”), but I do know I’m getting a ton of searches for ‘tmobile free companion flight scam’. So maybe that’s what other people consider it. Also, the fact that T-Mobile is getting people to sign up, renew contracts, and buy phones based on the free ticket deal? That’s definitely pretty shady. I’ve always been very happy with that company, so I hope they dump this promotion as soon as possible.

And TLC Marketing, you can feel free to suck it.