T-Mobile Sued for Breaking Lifetime Price Guarantees

[wikiverse]

I know the promise was to never raise the price, but I filed that under "too good to be true." Prices pretty much always go up on everything.

If they've promised - in writing - to maintain a price forever, they are legally obligated to offer that price forever. If they want to increase prices, they need to increase them on new customers. You shouldn't need to be 'bummed' about paying more, because you shouldn't be paying more.

My gym gave me a 'foundation membership' which locked in the price I paid when I signed up 15 years ago. They recently tried to increase it to double that amount, and I pushed back. They ended up honoring the original price, because that's the entire point of a foundation membership.

A company can't say 'Buy one get one FREE*' and then put in small print that the *company has the right to charge full price for the free item, if you don't wish to pay full price for the free item, you can cancel your purchase after buying one. What T-Mobile has done is effectively this, but with a price increase on the existing service, rather than an additional free item. It's misleading and deceptive.

In Australia, a company can be fined up to 10% of their annual revenue for engaging in this kind of behavior, as well as having to compensate customers and honor the original promise.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If they lose in the suit, T-Mobile should rollback the rate increase instead of paying it out. I was for (8) years, paying $70.00 a month for (2) lines, under the 55 Plus plan. Last year my wife and I upgraded our phones to iPhone 14 and 14+. Then they tack on this $3.00 equipment fee. Recently, our (2) lines was increased to $5.00 a line. So now we are paying $83.00.
Overall, I really can't get any cheaper service elsewhere.

I am with T-Mobile and have never paid an equipment fee. What is that and are you financing the new phone through them?

 

[AMG1978]

If tmobile was forced to repay the fees, they could simply end your contract. You showed them! Then you can resign back up with TMo or look at other carriers and see what kind of deal you’ll get now.

 

[JitteryJimmy]

Can't wait for my $1.45 settlement check in 4 years!

I got a $750 settlement check a couple years ago, as did my spouse. Not so bad.

Which in my mind was complete vindication of the class action process. Your time will come.

 

[JitteryJimmy]

Anyone complaining about T-Mobile or the two other US national carriers should call up their congressman and see where he stands. Ask him what his pursuable plan is to fix the noncompetitive, deceptive US telecom industry. After all, this class of telco nonsense impacts literally 100% of his constituents.

 

[armandxp]

I know all of this will be an absolute waste of time and T-Mobile will take their slap on the wrist, and go on about their merry way. I signup in April of 2017, and the original agreement was changed. A lot of us nerds kept copies of said agreement.

But like most things in this world, all things come to an end and there’s no way to change the outcome, really. I think John got out, when he knew that things were changing, and not for the good. All of this merger and bs about caring about their customers, was a big wake up call to my ignorant a$$. I used to believe stupid 💩 like that, about a huge corporation really caring about its customers (caring about shareholders is all any company really cares about, and that’s fine). I’m hoping I’ll never be that ignorant again in life. C’est la vie.

I do have 9 lines of Go5G+ for $99 a month (five free lines) and unlimited home internet for $30 a month. So, I have a deal that most don’t. Once that deal is destroyed in my eyes, is when I’ll leave.

It’s really not even worth the time of typing this out, but here I am doing it. LOL. I’m just glad my Apple loves me so much as their customer. WAIT. What did I just say??? 🤔🫢😱🤦🏻🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

[Trioptre]

Ah, the old bait and switch! A timeless classic!
Not to be outdone by the class action lawsuit. ;-)

This is not really bait and switch:

“customers are "baited" by merchants' advertising products or services at a low price, but then, when they visit the store, those customers discover that the advertised goods are not available and are pressured by salespeople to purchase similar but higher-priced products ("switching").”

 

[webkit]

Should have disclaimered it to raise price by inflation or CPI.

The point was to get new customers and retain existing ones. An offer with price increases tied to inflation or CPI wouldn't have done it. They might as well not have made any sort of "price guarantee" offer at all.

 

[Trioptre]

I know all of this will be an absolute waste of time and T-Mobile will take their slap on the wrist, and go on about their merry way. I signup in April of 2017, and the original agreement was changed. A lot of us nerds kept copies of said agreement.

But like most things in this world, all things come to an end and there’s no way to change the outcome, really. I think John got out, when he knew that things were changing, and not for the good. All of this merger and bs about caring about their customers, was a big wake up call to my ignorant a$$. I used to believe stupid 💩 like that, about a huge corporation really caring about its customers (caring about shareholders is all any company really cares about, and that’s fine). I’m hoping I’ll never be that ignorant again in life. C’est la vie.

I do have 9 lines of Go5G+ for $99 a month (five free lines) and unlimited home internet for $30 a month. So, I have a deal that most don’t. Once that deal is destroyed in my eyes, is when I’ll leave.

It’s really not even worth the time of typing this out, but here I am doing it. LOL. I’m just glad my Apple loves me so much as their customer. WAIT. What did I just say??? 🤔🫢😱🤦🏻🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

It doesn’t make sense to keep customers that you are losing money on. They’ll be sorry that they’re current offerings a good fit for your needs, so they’d be fine without you as a customer.

Customers that make you money are the ones you want to keep. Cut loose the customers that are costing you money.

Maybe it’s not so much about the cost, but the exclusionary nature of having a VIP ‘deal’ that the common folk can’t get. Losing that VIP status in your mind is a blow to your ego, so you’ll show ‘em!

I’m not saying the lawsuit was unjustified, and it was unrealistic to offer a price that will never change.

I’m boycotting McDonalds until I get my 15 cent hamburger!

 

[michaelscarn]

T-Mobile doesn't prorate the final month if you switch carriers. Verizon and AT&T do. Just FYI.

We're moving to a MVNO now that the phones are paid off. T-Mobile's plans are all too expensive, and the rates have gone through the roof in the 2 years we've had them. Service is poor on the de-prioritized plans, like Essentials.

 

[atsang]

John Legre was a fraud that used smoke and mirrors to gain customers at the expense of employees. What? You think all those things he offered were free, there is no free and the employees covered those expenses long enough.

Mike has to now clean up the mess that Legere created by promising things now, but kicking the problems for the future. Well the future has arrived and T-Mobile needs to cover those costs, and that is by raising prices.

I worked for T-Mo and left for AT&T, even during that period I could tell Legere was screwing his workforce in the long term because of the "Uncarrier" crap that would cost it in the future. Legere made sure he did all these "wonderful" things and then retired because he knew it would come back to bite him.

You're revealing the hard truth. T-mobile was 4th place and he took it to 3rd place by unsustainably sacrificing profits in exchange for customer growth and reduced churn rate. Combine that with the free spectrum and cash they got from AT&T and he and the rest of the investors were eyeing a personal cashout event (Sprint merger) as their planned exit.

 

[Allwordzaremadeup]

I was a loyal t-mobile customer since 2009 when I was in high school and had a iPhone 3gs running tmobile painful edge service when they didn't officially support the iPhone yet. Stuck around with them but 2 years ago I made the switch to Verizon. Haven't looked back since.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I was a loyal t-mobile customer since 2009 when I was in high school and had a iPhone 3gs running tmobile painful edge service when they didn't officially support the iPhone yet. Stuck around with them but 2 years ago I made the switch to Verizon. Haven't looked back since.

Verizon is good but, I think they are overly expensive.

 

[AF_APPLETALK]

Remember when they did the free data with iPads for life thing? I still have the iPad, but they automatically closed the account a few years ago, without any confirmation.

 

[dandyryan]

Lifetime means LIFETIME. T-Mobile can choke!

 

[FromtheRight]

T-Mobile New Rule issued January 05, 2017

Source: T-Mobile Newsroom



�New Rule: Only YOU Should Have the Power to Change What You Pay - Introducing Uncontract for T-Mobile ONE

Today, T-Mobile introduced the Un-contract for T-Mobile ONE � and notched another industry first with the first-ever price guarantee on an unlimited 4G LTE plan. With the Uncontract, 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.�

The Un-carrier Goes ‘All In.’ T‑Mobile ONE Now Includes Taxes & Fees.

At “Un-carrier Next,” T‑Mobile charts what’s next in wireless—announces an end to bogus monthly fees and added taxes, abolishes price hikes & pays customers back for unused data

www.t-mobile.com

 

[technole]

Mike Sievert was COO during John Legere's tenure, it's not like the room really changed considering it was him that executed the Uncarrer.

 

[avheatherim]

You’re getting a whole dollar?

 

[laptech]

This reminds me of a very similar case a number of years ago. I remember seeing a number of musicians on youtube but one main youtuber in particular who took up the fight against a music software publisher who had originally said it was life time upgrades for a software package but the company changed it's policy a number of years later telling owners of the software that they now had to purchase the latest version of the software if they wanted to continue to use it. I believe it had something to do with a upgrade that did not work and when the musician contacted the company to find out why the update had failed he found out that the had to purchase the latest version of the software for it to work on his system. He complained saying he has a lifetime license of upgrades due to the software package he bought, showed them the sales contract he signed into when purchasing the software and therefore said the company has a legal responsibility to honor that original sales contract. The company refused telling the man that he had to purchase the latest version of the software. He said the company had an obligation to honor the lifetime license of upgrades. He then used his youtube platform to name and shame the company. Long story short the company backed down and gave the man the new version free of charge and continued free updates.

T-Mobile are doing exactly the same thing, offering something so good to entice customers knowing they will not be able to honor the offer.

 

[technole]

T-Mobile New Rule issued January 05, 2017

Source: T-Mobile Newsroom



�New Rule: Only YOU Should Have the Power to Change What You Pay - Introducing Uncontract for T-Mobile ONE

Today, T-Mobile introduced the Un-contract for T-Mobile ONE � and notched another industry first with the first-ever price guarantee on an unlimited 4G LTE plan. With the Uncontract, 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.�

The Un-carrier Goes ‘All In.’ T‑Mobile ONE Now Includes Taxes & Fees.

At “Un-carrier Next,” T‑Mobile charts what’s next in wireless—announces an end to bogus monthly fees and added taxes, abolishes price hikes & pays customers back for unused data

www.t-mobile.com

You missed the best part, Now-CEO Mike posing right in front of it.

I used to TM One plan, I think I made the to move Magenta in 2022 of course they offered more with it to make it compelling along with all-flight-long airline wi-fi. Still, what will likely get TM in-trouble is the CS department sometimes not honoring paying the whole final bill if they decided to cancel or not "opt-in" to the new change.

 

[Numbah One]

I am sure there was no solicitation from lawyers for this suite and it really comes from customers upset at paying 2 dollars a month more

Maybe it was a lawyer who noticed the bills for their kids Buffy & Jaden went up

 

[rjohnstone]

Here's the catch....
"price guarantee on an unlimited 4G LTE plan"
Once you upgraded to a 5G phone and it's 5G service, YOU changed the plan, not T-Mobile.
Granted not everyone has done this, but my bet is a large portion have.

 

[lyngo]

Here's the catch....
"price guarantee on an unlimited 4G LTE plan"
Once you upgraded to a 5G phone and it's 5G service, YOU changed the plan, not T-Mobile.
Granted not everyone has done this, but my bet is a large portion have.

Mike Sievert… is that you?

 

[Justin Cymbal]

This is incredibly frustrating that T-Mobile did this (after explicitly promising that they would never raise prices - in the press release)

I’ve been a T-Mobile customer for a long time - I joined T-Mobile back in 2010 (right after graduating high school) and haven’t had any issues with them, the coverage in my area is really good so I haven’t had to switch to another carrier

I have the T-Mobile One plan and my bill went up by $10/m because I have two cell phones on my plan (for my Dad and I) and I hope that any kind of settlement with T-Mobile includes retroactively removing that $5 per line increase

T-Mobile used to be very customer focused when John Legere was CEO but unfortunately, they have since pivoted from that stance. Hopefully they can reconsider that approach so that they can continue to be well perceived as a great wireless provider (like they once were)

 

[Chazak]

Sure, Verizon. Lackluster 5G UW coverage.... Double the price of every other carrier.

Want a full trade in value? Sorry, can't be on their unlimited starter plan, which is $75 with autopay ($85 without), and no hotspot tethering because their max trade credits are $415 on that plan. Can't even get UW on this plan either.

Second level up? $90 with autopay and $100 without autopay.

Discounts aren't very good compared to AT&T and T-Mobile either.

Verizon is definitely not the best choice. Sorry bub.

My knowledge of Verizon and my bill do not validate your claims. Sorry Bub but your experience is very different than mine.

I just went to Verizon's site and reviewed their offerings. None of what I found backs up what you are saying. They have $55 plans that include UW and 60 GB of hotspot.

The trade in stuff I can't really comment on. I stopped buying phones from carriers on their deals after iPhone X. I will not tie myself to a particular carrier. Giving up your freedom rarely turns out to be the best choice. You could always pay off what you still owe and flip that to your next purchase.