T-Mobile will start automatically moving some customers to pricier plans

[Shawn Knight]

A hot potato: T-Mobile is planning to move some customers from legacy service plans to more expensive options in the coming weeks. A T-Mobile spokesperson told CNET that starting October 17, some customers on older plans will receive a notice regarding the change. Starting with their November bill cycles, a "small number" of customers will be moved from older plans to newer ones with "enhanced features." The spokesperson said that on average, customers will pay approximately $10 more per line following the migration, but failed to share how many customers might be impacted by the pending changes.

"We're always looking for ways to give our customers more from our services," the spokesperson added.

CNET noted that customers who do not want to have their plan changed automatically can elect to stick with their current plan, but they will need to call T-Mobile customer care to opt out of the move. There will also be a window to reverse a plan change after it has already happened, but it's unclear how long customers will have to make the change.

One of T-Mobile's concessions in its Sprint merger was promising not to raise rate plans for at least three years. A quick check of the calendar shows that three-year window expired in April. Still, pushing users into more expensive plans they did not ask for feels sleazy. Being able to opt out of a forced move is a plus, as is the option to reverse a change, but inevitably some users are going to get moved and perhaps not realize it until it's too late.

T-Mobile does offer a Price Lock guarantee, but it mostly applies to accounts activated after April 2022. There is a clause for accounts activated before this date, called Un-Contract, that could apply in certain circumstances. Full details on qualifying plans can be found over on T-Mobile's website.

What would you do in this situation? Would an unprompted rate plan change be enough to drive you to a different carrier, or would an old rate plan that you are grandfathered into be worth the occasional headache of a decision like this?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/100472-t-mobile-start-automatically-moving-customers-pricier-plans.html

 

[MakeMSGreatAgain]

That's not very un-carrier of them...

 

[hahahanoobs]

I was actually forced to move to a new plan that was cheaper and offered more about a year ago! I was shocked.

I now pay $30 CAD for unlimited talk and text and 1GB of data. My old plan without unlimited talk was $35.

 

[wiyosaya]

My wife and I signed up for the Magenta 55+ plan about a month ago, with only her line on the plan at the time due to my having a sizeable prepaid balance, and they automatically switched the plan to "Go5G 55+" We called up and complained and they switched us back to the Magenta plan. Then when payment time came, they were going to charge us the Go5G plan rate, so we called and complained again. I think they finally have it worked out, but I have yet to check the actual amount of the charge.

For anyone on T-mobile and talking to their customer service, they act very friendly, however, to me, the fact that they did not get it right two or three times, makes me think that this is a ploy that they use to convince you they are doing what you ask so that you won't notice that they are not doing what you ask.

 

[wiyosaya]

That's not very un-carrier of them...

Maybe they have been contaminated by Sprint policies.

 

[p51d007]

My wife and I signed up for the Magenta 55+ plan about a month ago, with only her line on the plan at the time due to my having a sizeable prepaid balance, and they automatically switched the plan to "Go5G 55+" We called up and complained and they switched us back to the Magenta plan. Then when payment time came, they were going to charge us the Go5G plan rate, so we called and complained again. I think they finally have it worked out, but I have yet to check the actual amount of the charge.

For anyone on T-mobile and talking to their customer service, they act very friendly, however, to me, the fact that they did not get it right two or three times, makes me think that this is a ploy that they use to convince you they are doing what you ask so that you won't notice that they are not doing what you ask.

Tried t-mobile a couple years ago. In store & online their people WERE very friendly, but had to drop them after a month...too many dead spots in my area. City of 200,000+

 

[wiyosaya]

Tried t-mobile a couple years ago. In store & online their people WERE very friendly, but had to drop them after a month...too many dead spots in my area. City of 200,000+

We heard the same thing from my wife's sister, although, she lives in a different part of the country. It's not been my experience where I live metropolitan area of about 800,000, and I've been on their pre-paid plan for probably eight or nine years now.

 

[yRaz]

We heard the same thing from my wife's sister, although, she lives in a different part of the country. It's not been my experience where I live metropolitan area of about 800,000, and I've been on their pre-paid plan for probably eight or nine years now.

I've had t-mobile for almost 10 years(2014?) and it coverage has gotten significantly better. I now get service in areas where I expect not to but that's really been the case over the last few years. I'd say that really started around 2019-2020. I will say their customer service is top notch.

 

[Dimitrios]

T-mobile prepaid for about 10 years and happy. Some complained about lag with WYZE security camera's but not an issue with me.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Maybe they have been contaminated by Sprint policies.

Or Boost Mobile.

 

[GeforcerFX]

I was actually forced to move to a new plan that was cheaper and offered more about a year ago! I was shocked.

I now pay $30 CAD for unlimited talk and text and 1GB of data. My old plan without unlimited talk was $35.

whats your carrier? that's $22 USD a month and down here $20 gets you unlimited talk and text and anywhere from 2gb (with carryover) or 10-15gb of data a month. Is Canada really that bad per gb on wireless plans?

 

[PEnnn]

My wife and I signed up for the Magenta 55+ plan about a month ago, with only her line on the plan at the time due to my having a sizeable prepaid balance, and they automatically switched the plan to "Go5G 55+" We called up and complained and they switched us back to the Magenta plan. Then when payment time came, they were going to charge us the Go5G plan rate, so we called and complained again. I think they finally have it worked out, but I have yet to check the actual amount of the charge.

For anyone on T-mobile and talking to their customer service, they act very friendly, however, to me, the fact that they did not get it right two or three times, makes me think that this is a ploy that they use to convince you they are doing what you ask so that you won't notice that they are not doing what you ask.

I am on the same plan and it took forever to fix their ever-changing monthly bills last year.

Keep an eye on your monthly bill, I don't trust T-Mobile at all.

 

[hahahanoobs]

whats your carrier? that's $22 USD a month and down here $20 gets you unlimited talk and text and anywhere from 2gb (with carryover) or 10-15gb of data a month. Is Canada really that bad per gb on wireless plans?

BELL. I think we have one of the highest, but thankfully I don't need more than 1GB. Service is solid.

 

[Uncle Al]

There was a time when this would have required FCC approval ....

 

[mountains]

Hi all. Don't just complain and put up with the crap from these companies! Stand up for yourself! Consumers/voters have become more docile these days.These giant corporations more and more treat the original customers like a product to be farmed for max growth, and the stockholders and C suite crowd the new customers.

It is shocking what all these massive tech giants and telecom's get away with these days that would have never happened 20 years ago. Mergers, company stores, mandatory online accounts, rate hikes, changing your settings after an "update"...

So pay attention to rate hikes. Be willing to cancel or change companies. Even reach out to your local elected representatives. Spread the word. Be heard. Fight back!

 

[wiyosaya]

Or Boost Mobile.

Considering the connotations of "Boost" in another context, any company using "Boost" in their name is bound to contaminate any company with which they are related.

The worst service, though, was the plan I got my wife onto when we first got her a cellphone. H2O wireless. At one point, they just stopped supporting her phone without ever notifying her. She could no longer make or receive calls though she could browse the internet and send texts. That's AT&T for you!

 

[wiyosaya]

I am on the same plan and it took forever to fix their ever-changing monthly bills last year.

Keep an eye on your monthly bill, I don't trust T-Mobile at all.

Thanks for the heads up!

 

[GoldenGoat]

I think if they want to discontinue a plan, they should at least give the customer notice and a reasonable amount of time to select a new plan themselves and tell them that if they don't by a certain date then they get moved to this new plan with the new price listed. The customer needs to agree to it. You can't just change the deal and expect the customer to pay no matter what.

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

Considering the connotations of "Boost" in another context, any company using "Boost" in their name is bound to contaminate any company with which they are related.

The worst service, though, was the plan I got my wife onto when we first got her a cellphone. H2O wireless. At one point, they just stopped supporting her phone without ever notifying her. She could no longer make or receive calls though she could browse the internet and send texts. That's AT&T for you!

Boost had a really good plan that worked out to $15 per month as long as you paid annually. But it was like pulling teeth to get them to honor it. I first tried signing up through their website which threw me an error when I tried to pay. Then I spoke with no less than 6 CS agents over the phone, none of which seemed to know what I was talking about even after directing them to their own damn webpage for the promo. Finally got one agent on the line that seemed to want to work with me but somehow we got disconnected halfway through signing up. And of course calling back just got me another clueless rep. That one told me she thought maybe I had to sign up in a local Boost store. So I go to them and they have no idea what I was talking about either. It was a ridiculous waste of one week of free time.

 

[wiyosaya]

Boost had a really good plan that worked out to $15 per month as long as you paid annually. But it was like pulling teeth to get them to honor it. I first tried signing up through their website which threw me an error when I tried to pay. Then I spoke with no less than 6 CS agents over the phone, none of which seemed to know what I was talking about even after directing them to their own damn webpage for the promo. Finally got one agent on the line that seemed to want to work with me but somehow we got disconnected halfway through signing up. And of course calling back just got me another clueless rep. That one told me she thought maybe I had to sign up in a local Boost store. So I go to them and they have no idea what I was talking about either. It was a ridiculous waste of one week of free time.

And definitely the type of experience that gives a company's CS a bad reputation.

In a way, it reminds me of the time that I called up to complain to a Spectrum, then Time Warner, rep. To make the long story short, they screwed up, and I knew it. However, the rep, probably speaking from his "how to handle an upset customer" script, told me "We don't make mistakes."

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

And definitely the type of experience that gives a company's CS a bad reputation.

In a way, it reminds me of the time that I called up to complain to a Spectrum, then Time Warner, rep. To make the long story short, they screwed up, and I knew it. However, the rep, probably speaking from his "how to handle an upset customer" script, told me "We don't make mistakes."

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

 

[Hotlynx16]

I have had T-Mobile for about 10 years, I have the Magenta 55+ plan, $55 a month unlimited talk & data. My biggest gripe is if you are having to deal with companies that put you on hold for long periods T-Mobile will drop the call! This was very evident when I was trying to go through my retirement process over the phone! Thank God I still have a home phone that I was able to use to finish my retirement process! Also it seems like I have to reboot my phone once a week or it will not let me call out! Another issue is I can't use the Wi-Fi on my router to boost my signal at home because it causes strange issues like a call will come in but they can't hear me if I have the Wi-Fi feature turned on the phone! I got a 5G phone last year because with 4G I only had 2 bars signal, now I get 3 to 4 bars. When I have called and complained they just tell me to "reboot your phone"At least ? I have my house phone for back-up! Back in 2005 my wife was still able to call me on it after hurricane Rita went through! She didn't want to leave at the time but changed her mind after 2 days of no power, she called and I arraigned a meeting place so she could follow me to a friends house out of harms way!