A little about Mario Depeine, Sr.

As an educator I get the opportunity to get a small glimpse of how our society is shaping up. Children come into the classroom with all types of perspectives. A lot of the perspectives are a result of their environment. Some of those perspectives reflect the home life or lack of. Some reflect the street life and some just reflect the media that the children are exposed to.

Middle School children are just starting out in life. You see how their characters and personalities are shaping up. Many can be molded or adjusted easily others are a lot more resistant to change depending on their circumstance.

I work in an urban district. While there I see many interesting and at times disheartening things. Hopefully my experiences as an educator can shed some light on what we can do to better prepare our children for the future.


Saturday, October 8, 2011

T-Mobile, where you used to "Get MORE!"

T-Mobile should get into the banking industry. While the banks are finding ways to strip consumers (very few have the means these days) of any money that they may acquire, T-Mobile seems to be following their lead.

Most banks now use our money and give us "not a dime" in return (interest). They raise our credit card rates to rates higher than "loan sharks" - we're talking rates as high as 25 to 30%. Now it is popular for them to charge 12 to $20 a month because of minimum balance requirements! Where, in this economy, will most people ever come close to maintaining these minimum ($1500 or more) requirements?

Well, now T-Mobile seems to be moving in the direction of the banks. Here is how they are doing it. If your bill is not paid on the expected due date, you get a text message that reads: "Your bill is past due & payment is required to avoid suspension & $20 restore fee per line." $20!!! Wow, with two lines you are charged $40, three lines $60. I pity the customer who has a family plan and has difficulty making the "deadline." Speaking of "deadline," they do even specify the "suspension" date or when you need to pay the bill by to avoid paying the fee. So you can get two warnings and then, BAM. Your monthly bill can be increased by 33, 67 or even 100%. A family plan subscriber can easily double their bill with this new "penalty."

I wonder how many extra millions of dollars per month T-Mobile is making in this very bad economy. Yes, the cell phone is still an optional tool, but increasingly, that is what is being used for most communication these days.

So T-Mobile, is not the company where you "get more." In the past, I did not feel this way, I thought they were great at customer service and making the customer feel important and valued. Their slogan has been changed from "get more" and I have a better understanding of why that is the case. I see them as a company who wants to "take more" from its customers. In this very bad economy, T-mobile is "getting more" from the consumer when it should be looking at how to have even better customer relations by being a little more "reasonable" and sensitive.

What a great thing it is when you work with a business, company or provider which understands the state of the economy and "works" with its customers. They will have that customer for life! That customer will feel like they are working with an organization that has a "heart" and values the business relationship. In T-Mobile's case, it seems that its all about the MONEY!

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New Jersey Rally of May 22, 2010

New Jersey Rally of May 22, 2010
Young ones making their voices heard.