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

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?