T-Mobile Raising Rates for More Legacy Customers (cnet.com) 40
After raising rates last June for customers on some of its older plans, T-Mobile is pushing up costs again -- but it's not entirely clear how many people are affected. From a report: According to a memo obtained by CNET and sent to T-Mobile employees early this morning, some people will see a $5 per-line increase beginning with their April or May bills.
The memo by Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile's consumer group, states that customers affected by the price hike should be notified by the end of today, March 13. Only those who receive a notice will see the rate increase.
Freier cites the "rising costs over the past several years" as the impetus behind the price push. Other carriers are facing the same headwinds, such as Verizon last December and this January, and AT&T last January and June.
The memo by Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile's consumer group, states that customers affected by the price hike should be notified by the end of today, March 13. Only those who receive a notice will see the rate increase.
Freier cites the "rising costs over the past several years" as the impetus behind the price push. Other carriers are facing the same headwinds, such as Verizon last December and this January, and AT&T last January and June.
Not surprising but... (Score:5, Informative)
On the one hand, inflation over the last X years since I changed my plan has been way over the less-than-10% increase this amounts to for me.
On the other, Mint Mobile is selling prepaid simcards with 5Gb a month and unlimited everything else for $15/line ($30 for unlimited data) - https://www.mintmobile.com/pla... [mintmobile.com] - and Mint are far from the only seller of prepaid simcards with budget plans like this.
And T-Mobile needs to up its game in general. Pretty much every review of its own-brand equipment - in-car hotspots, kid-safe smartwatch, etc - reports bugs and general failures. It's not a quality carrier right now.
Re:Not surprising but... (Score:5, Informative)
I switched from T-Mobile to Mint Mobile and my bill went down like 80%.
Then T-Mobile kept billing me after I cancelled. And kept billing me. Then sent me to collections when I cancelled my credit card so they couldn't keep taking my money. I had to file a complaint with the FCC to get away from them.
Tip: If you cancel a T-Mobile account, record the conversation because you're going to need it.
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Oh dear.
T-Mobile sent a plan adjunct to their 5G Gateway customers, offering a scant $30/month for all you can eat.
And so, these other plans are subsidizing this, more bait for their traps to lure customers into their lair-- where they can bump up the price and make it difficult to change carriers.
Heroes for consumers, they're not.
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Which is a funny thing to say... T-Mobile owns Mint...
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That's pretty much my opinion as well. I got my two-line plan more than a decade ago, and I got a text notification yesterday. Bumping it by under 10% is still much less than inflation.
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Hitting Sprint converts (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Hitting Sprint converts (Score:5, Informative)
T-Mobile is currently facing a class action lawsuit over the last round of increases because they said in unmistakable terms that they would not increase prices on certain plans *AND* they said their customers on those plans would never have to pay increased prices. We're probably a couple of weeks away from finding out if it actually gains class-action status.
What I recommend to all T-Mobile customers is that they reach out to T-Mob and request they turn off ALL marketing email, texts, etc that they send you when they feel like you should be buying more shit from them. Basically the conversation being something like: "Whether my bill goes up or not doesn't matter, I ain't giving you more money so don't advertise your shit to me." Trust me, they're tracking that shit.
https://topclassactions.com/la... [topclassactions.com]
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Re: Hitting Sprint converts (Score:2)
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Same here. LONG time Sprint customer that was transitioned to T-Mobile after the purchase/merger. I think the prices have increased to a point where we have to re-evaluate pricing and benefits.
Explains recent T-Mobile iphone deal old customers (Score:2)
Well, isnt that nice. Locked in a bunch of people to 2 year arrangements to pay off their new iphone right before they announce a rate hike.
Re:Explains recent T-Mobile iphone deal old custom (Score:5, Informative)
Loyalty is dead (Score:5, Interesting)
Last month ATT came and buried fiber in my area so when the salesman came up to pitch me that i asked them to bundle up my home internet with wireless phones and they were ready to make really good deals and they did, I cut my bill for both services down a good amount.
Then I call Spectrum back to cancel my cable internet and they throw me even better deals (which actually pissed me off a little bit since those deals were not made available to me as a 5-year+ reliable customer until i told them I was leaving) and then TMobile calls me back after i cancelled with even better deals to come back .
Considering if you bring your own phone the coverage between the major carriers is pretty equalized seems like for the customers the best deal for them is to jump ship every 1-3 years and take those sweet new customer offers, offers you don't get for paying your bill on time, that's just what they expect.
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Sometimes retention staff get a budget of flexibility that nobody else does plus they are measured in how many they retain. Depends on the whims of management but you might get lucky in your timing and get a good deal and that may last a while. Or you might be unlucky and their budget is gone, they are in a bad mood, or they look up and find that you call support so much that you cost them more money than you are worth. (In my case, I used to call comcast tech support every year by just enough to erase th
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Yeah the retention guy was a really good talker, really trying to wheel and deal. I had already committed at that point so I just had to get through it.
What's interesting now that I think about it but my car insurance, that's a thing I pay for where my loyalty is rewarded, I have had 8 years with the same provider and now I have 2 accident forgiveness's, a reduced rate, free roadside, etc. Yet with my internet or phone service I have yet to see those same benefits from really any company, your nice discou
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I switched my Internet from Comcast to AT&T for a $55 all included and 300MB fiber, symmetric. Then a year later I have do direct bank instead of credit card autopay, to avoid a hike to $60, then last month it goes back up to $60 plus taxes. So IDK how their crap is calculated but before switching I clearly asked the rep when the prices would hike and he said they would not. I did not get that in writing, would not have happened of course.
I complained to the online chat support and they are switching me
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Yeah I shoulda qualified, I will stick with the ATT fiber because, well, it's the only fiber coming into my house. For cell phones though I think i'll just do the bounce every couple of years
Re: Loyalty is dead (Score:2)
Absolutely! Similar story here a year or so ago.... Same players.... AT&T laid fiber. Asked Spectrum what they could do to keep me as a customer. Spectrum said "go pound sand" (or at least that's what I interpreted them saying). I switched. Been happy with AT&T fiber. One outage in 18 months. I was having outages regularly on Spectrum. Even saved money by switching to AT&T and Sling together Vs Spectrum for both Internet and TV.
So when T-Mo sent the "rate hike" text, I reached out to thei
Dishonest T-Mobile Raised 50-Plus Accounts (Score:2)
Merger (Score:2)
Really, really wish we didn’t let t mobile buy sprint. If even the democrats let the merger through, then there’s no political group that represents the interests of the consumer.
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If TMO had not bought Sprint, there would have been no Sprint.
Even TMO didn't really want it, they wanted the spectrum. The subscriber base was worthless. PCS was worthless. Just the spectrum.
Re:Merger (Score:4, Insightful)
If T Mo hadn't bought Sprint, Sprint would have gone bust anyway and likely Verizon and AT&T would have bought most of the assets.
T-Mo, for better or worse, was the least bad option. At least it means we have a third major carrier competing with those two, rather than two giant carriers who dominate the market and small carriers fighting over what's left.
How are ... (Score:2)
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A number of those MVNOs are owned by the big 3 so they don’t need to worry about price sensitive customers moving to them. Those that aren’t are leasing tower capacity from them.
20 Year Customer Left (Score:1)
Switch (Score:2)
Just went and looked yesterday and upgraded from Magenta MAX to one of their Go5G plans that includes more tethering data and is $5 less (every other option is the same). With the $5 increase, saves me $10/mon by switching to a newer plan.
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That's basically what I was saying in my post below, but apparently there are people offended by the change and want to switch, despite their bill seemingly being simultaneously lowered and getting improved service.
We Need a Non-Profit Co-Op Communication Union (Score:2)
Cost increases? (Score:2)
Maybe T-Mobile buys their bits and bytes from China and is just passing along tariff costs? :-)
Whiners? (Score:2)
Seriously, its $5 extra for the OLDER plans. I'm still on Magenta and got the text message. The newer Go plans, the one of comparable (with one or two slight improvements to service) costs a dollar LESS than I *currently* pay. I would end up saving myself $6 / month by switching to the new plan.
I feel this is more about them trying to just cut down on the number of different plans they have to keep track of more than anything.
Re: Whiners? (Score:2)
Count me as a whiner then.
I want to get value for my money. T-Mobile made a business decision to increase their price. That's their choice. I can choose to continue with this arrangement, choose to negotiate a new arrangement with T-Mobile or opt out of the new arrangement by arranging alternative services with a competitor, if possible.
Also one might note that mobile phone service in the US is kinda expensive when compared to the rest of the world. I have six lines with T-Mo right now. Will be paying
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There are plenty of virtual mobile networks that charge cheaper prices.. Mint, MetroPCS, Boost, Consumer Cellular..
That being said, I guess it's harder to check to see what your price would cost on a new plan through T-Mobile than would be to check someone else's? (sarcasm)
I literally just said the newer plan would lower my monthly by $6. My wife has her own plan she set up with her parents. Its two phone lines (we keep talking about merging our accounts) and she just told me she's saving $10/month by sw
Re: Whiners? (Score:2)
You're right. "your mileage may vary" comes to mind. Switching plans wouldn't achieve what I wanted. AT&T offers discounts that T-Mobile doesn't offer for existing fiber customers and for teachers so that was a huge factor.... Got a plan with AT&T that's equivalent to the T-Mo plan for a lot less and able to take advantage of their phone deals to get new devices all around and still end up paying less per month than what T-Mo is charging.
Basically put it pays to shop around.
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Here's the source of the 'whining':
New Rule: Only YOU Should Have the Power to Change What You Pay â" Introducing Un-contract for T-Mobile ONE
Today, T-Mobile introduced the Un-contract for T-Mobile ONE â" and notched another industry first with the first-ever price guarantee on an unlimited 4G LTE plan. With the Un-contract, T-Mobile signs, and customers hold all the power. Now, T-Mobile ONE customers keep their price until THEY decide to change it. T-Mobile will never change the price you pay for your T-Mobile ONE plan. When you sign up for T-Mobile ONE, only YOU have the power to change the price you pay.
source: https://www.t-mobile.com/news/... [t-mobile.com]
(Emphasis mine.)
And here is an excerpt from an actual chat from an actual T-Mobile CSR today about it:
Me: ``Yes, T-Mobile promised that, but that doesnt apply to you, and we cannot articulate how.`` :: is that a fair characterization of your [T-Mobile's] position?
T-Mobile: We understand that you were promised a price for your account.
Me: and its not valid because . . . ?
T-Mobile: Your plan in the first place is not part of the price lock.
Maybe I am a whiner, and maybe that's petty, but that's also false advertising and we are NOT drowning in alternative mobile providers to switch to. I can't run and I can't accept it, so what else have I got?