T-Mobile Will Start Charging a $35 Fee on All New Activations and Upgrades

T-Mobile may be joining rivals Verizon and AT&T by introducing an $35 charge for all new postpaid activations and upgrades, according to The T-Mo Report and some Redditors. Engadget: According to T-Mobile internal documents, it's introducing a "Device Connection Charge" for "all activations and upgrades for mobile, Beyond the Smartphone and broadband devices." Before, the Uncarrier charged activation fees only if you received in-store customer support for new activations, with online orders exempt. Now, all new postpaid activations are charged, whether or not you were assisted. This includes updating to a new device, adding a Bring-Your-Own-Device line, or ordering a Home Internet line, according to The T-Mo Report. T-Mobile has always tried to separate itself from regular telecoms, but charging customers for essentially nothing doesn't sound very Uncarrier-like, if the reports are accurate. And you can't take your business to Sprint, as it no longer exists thanks to its merger with T-Mobile. When that deal was finalized, T-Mobile said things would be "better for customers," but constant activation charges would definitely not be better.

Someone has to pay for all those empty stores.

[Fly Swatter]

With 3,4,5 employees all hanging around one desk poking at their phones with no customers to serve...

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[WankerWeasel]

Recently had to go to an AT&T store because they couldn't activate my replacement phone remotely and I needed a physical SIM (because they're worthless). First store wasn't open at 12:30pm. Second store had just 1 employee. He said the other store has been having issues with the guy not showing up and they don't really have much other staff. Seems like many places, people left the low paying jobs and they're severely understaffed at this point.

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[tlhIngan]

Recently had to go to an AT&T store because they couldn't activate my replacement phone remotely and I needed a physical SIM (because they're worthless). First store wasn't open at 12:30pm. Second store had just 1 employee. He said the other store has been having issues with the guy not showing up and they don't really have much other staff. Seems like many places, people left the low paying jobs and they're severely understaffed at this point.

Well, they left their shitty low paying jobs that were highl

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[OfMiceAndMenus]

This is painfully true. I drive by three on my way from the office to home. I use T-Mobile, and aside from the first time when I switched like 7+ years ago I've never done business in any of them.

I tried to stop in one of them a while back to see if they had any better phones to upgrade to and disable my smartwatch plan (which I'm sure some lobster in the Atlantic is enjoying greatly), and they basically told me "We can't do that in store, we only handle new customers. You have to call in to change your

e-SIMs

[bill_mcgonigle]

This is one reason they love e-SIMs - they can obstruct your freedom to use a device you want; in this case charging $35 for what "used to be" a SIM card swap.

Permissionless is always preferable for the end user. It's amazing to see some old-school folks here wax poetic about asking for permission (after all we've learned).

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[luvirini]

Indeed. That is why eSIMs are a bad idea..

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[Anubis IV]

This is one reason they love e-SIMs - they can obstruct your freedom to use a device you want; in this case charging $35 for what "used to be" a SIM card swap.

Permissionless is always preferable for the end user. It's amazing to see some old-school folks here wax poetic about asking for permission (after all we've learned).

The "freedom" you claim to have with SIM is a myth: it does not exist and never did. The carrier has always had control over this process, including right now when you transfer your SIM to a new device.

You're old enough to remember when you had to go in-store or on a website to punch in your new device's IMEI before you could use your new device with your existing SIM. That manual process for registering your new device's IMEI with your carrier account was eventually replaced at some carriers by an automate

Not That Different

[WankerWeasel]

They've always charged $35 if you activate in-store or over the phone. They don't charge the fee if you activate online. Did so just the other day and it's clearly highlighted in their terms.

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[timeOday]

To me it feels very different because before I could activate for free and now I can't. And yes I am on T-Mobile, on a family plan with 6 phones on it, so it's not like replacing one of the phones is a rare occurrence.

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[WankerWeasel]

They're just doing what everyone else does. Free money for them, as they see it. I upgrade my iPhone each year and have paid the $35 activation every year with AT&T.

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[OfMiceAndMenus]

But their whole schtick is that they aren't like other girls and they're special and better.

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[WankerWeasel]

It was clear years ago that was just their way of amassing customers, and once they grew large enough they'd become like everyone else. After the Spring merger, they're sized to take on Verizon and AT&T. This seemed to be where they were headed all along.

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[tysonedwards]

I was swapping SIMs between two phones on my account today (iPhone and Android number swap), and they were going to charge me the activation charge for each line, as they need to update the linked IMEI for security. $70 charge. Absolutely not!

Long time T-Mobile customer here, and ...

[King_TJ]

Yeah, this is not a welcome charge they've added. But honestly, even the previous policy just served to confuse and frustrate people. I mean, say you're at the mall and you go past their kiosk and think, "Hey.. I may as well do my phone upgrade here so I can walk out with it today, vs. waiting for T-Mobile to ship it to me."?

All of a sudden, you're billed $35 for the activation. Felt like a punishment for not tying up one of their reps on the phone and saving T-Mobile the cost of shipping a phone to you.

Per

Not enough competition

[grmoc]

Seems pretty clear that there isn't enough competition when this is happening.
I wish our anti-trust stuff worked better.

Right from Chapter 1 of the Merger Manual

[rnturn]

``When that deal was finalized, T-Mobile said things would be `better for customers,' but constant activation charges would definitely not be better.''

Corporation lies to regulators. Screws customers after merger is complete. Business as usual.

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[grmoc]

Sure would be nice if we prosecuted such for fraud/perjury.

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[kellin]

Except why would the govt do that, when all these big corporations pay tons of payola cash to our senators to keep things as they are?

You can actually negotiate with them

[istartedi]

I had been carrying an ancient T-mobile flip for years. I just wanted another flip, not an upgrade. They were going to charge me $100 for a new flip. I didn't really get mad or pull any kind of "talk to the manager" BS. I was very polite and said that if $100 was going to be charged anyway, I might see what the Verizon store down the street had to offer. Bearing in mind, I had been with them for over a decade, not only did I get my new flip for free; I got a discount on my new plan! The new phone is

Consider an MVNO if bringing your own phone

[Ambiguous Puzuma]

I recently ported a secondary line to Tello (in the US). Tello uses the T-Mobile network, and for all practical purposes acts like T-Mobile for me, but my billing, sim card activation, etc. were all done through the Tello website. Monthly bills are much cheaper than they would be with T-Mobile, and I haven't run into any surprise fees like this.

My understanding is that traffic for MVNOs like Tello might be deprioritized in times of congestion, but I've yet to experience any noticeable slowdowns.