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T-Mobile to Change 'Deceptive' No-Contract Ads, Offer Refunds
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The only thing about tmobile that frustrated me was my inability to walk out of a store with iphone in hand at $575 (plus other fees). The store insisted I had to finance the purchase of the phone but the web site allowed me to order the phone and pay full price for it.
That sounds like an early termination fee to me. Perhaps there was a misunderstanding about when you were leaving.
Good luck with AT&T. It got in trouble for charging people a made up fee knowing full well most people wouldn't bother to call and have it removed.
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Strange. The store I went in with my ex-girlfriend gave her a choice. Poor training perhaps.
No kidding right? Seems like common sense should tell you you have to pay for the phone.... There is no termination fee just the balance of the phone cost.
I might agree on the surface, but exactly how "deceptive" do we let companies be? Exactly what level of IQ should we let them try and trick before we tell them to gtfo? In that regard, I'm all for forcing them to be truthful. Natural Selection isn't going to take place on cell phone contracts, there are numerous and better ways for it to do its job.
why not go after the bigger scums..aka Verizon and AT&T. at least T-Mo is trying to change this awful US carrier stench
This is good for t mobile. Why? Because the advertising was not deceptive except perhaps to exceedingly intellectually challenged persons, ergo, free advertising.
are you kidding? what kind of AG is this? why would he give tmobile, a carrier who genuinely has come up with a better deal for its customers, a hard time??? who in the world would think tmobile being deceptive?? i for one love what they are doing. with ATT, my choice is either 1. pay $600 up front or 2. get stuck with a 2 years contract. What if i want to change a phone every year? Well, with tmobile I can do that, by simply paying the full price in installments. This is far far far more flexible than what ATT offers and this AG is NOT HAPPY?
I second that.
This is stupid and unfair to T-Mobile. Finally a carrier moves towards transparency and fairness and this dingbat wants to punish them? Total BS with all the crap other carriers do on a daily basis. Is Bob so used to the traditional consumer-crushing way of doing business that anything else appears to him as unlawful by contrast? Boneheaded move.
Well if this is the case then most pre paid companies have been doing this for yrs. Anyone have straight talk iPhone and paying payments on it? New flash your under contract even though Wally World sign says your not.
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Anything that's got payments is a contract of sorts.
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I second that.
This is stupid and unfair to T-Mobile. Finally a carrier moves towards transparency and fairness and this dingbat wants to punish them? Total BS with all the crap other carriers do on a daily basis. Is Bob so used to the traditional consumer-crushing way of doing business that anything else appears to him as unlawful by contrast? Boneheaded move.
Anything that's got payments is a contract of sorts.
Some people are just that stupid. They need an attorney General to explain it to them and guide their hand. Thought they can get away with free phone courtesy of T-Mobile. Lol.
Now if only T-Mobile would make their coverage in my area better, I would have supported them with this great idea.
Now if only T-Mobile would make their coverage in my area better, I would have supported them with this great idea.
I second that.
This is stupid and unfair to T-Mobile. Finally a carrier moves towards transparency and fairness and this dingbat wants to punish them? Total BS with all the crap other carriers do on a daily basis. Is Bob so used to the traditional consumer-crushing way of doing business that anything else appears to him as unlawful by contrast? Boneheaded move.
Apparently the AG of Washington State thinks the residents of his state are idiots.
Tune in next week when the AG of WA demands car dealers really really really explain that you can't just stop making payments and keep the car.
Michael
What are you trying to say Gasu?
You need to remember who F'ed up the economy, the smart brainy people. Now they're managing to F up the entire world so if I were you I wouldn't be talking about brainy people.
Remember, they're experts not professionals.
Sense the smart people have taken over now we have wars.
I wish T-Mobile would continue to advertise the old way. I think it really makes sense and should help make some people understand that they are really paying for their phone when they have a contract. More importantly, it helps them understand that they continue to pay for their phone even when the contract is not complete.
People flip out when they break their iPhone and find out that it's $600 to replace it, so many people don't "get it"...
Gary
People flip out when they break their iPhone and find out that it's $600 to replace it, so many people don't "get it"...
Gary
It's sad that Americans are so dumb that they have to have everything financed out like that. If you can't afford the $350 for a new phone (or $650 in the case of the iPhone) then you shouldn't be buying a new phone. Financing little consumer items like this has bred consumer irresponsibility.
Hey MacRumors writers, you might want to do some fact checking... The Attorney General has no authority to order anyone to do anything. You say in the article that the AG "ordered" T-Mobile to stop its deceptive advertising. NOT TRUE. It was a court order that compelled T-Mobile to do this.
Please learn something about civics, it might do you good.
Please learn something about civics, it might do you good.
A payment plan is a contract. Okay so instead of a cell phone service contract, you get a phone installment-payment contract.
Cancelling your T-mobile service won't incur a ETF, but you will have to pay the remaining balance on your phone purchase plan.
All this basically means is that this "new" plan isn't really much different than other carrier's "traditional" subsidized phone purchase and prorated ETF if you cancel.
So T-mobile thinks it's found a way to advertise "no contracts" to differentiate itself from other carriers, but really it's all the same in the end, and the AG is just making sure the playing field is level. If Sprint needs to put their ETF terms in fine print, then T-mobile needs to put the terms of their phone purchase plans in the fine print.
Nevertheless, I agree with everyone here who thinks if a consumer thought they could get away with a cheap phone here, they're dumb. No such thing as a free lunch......if it sounds too good to be true......yada yada
You do realize that far too many people simply don't use their brains, at least not nearly enough (unintentionally or even intentionally). That's pretty much as factual as a fact can get. Welcome to the human condition.
Absolutely.
T-Mobile are not being deceptive here: they're doing what everyone has been asking for and separating the cellular service and device products. There is still no contract for cellular service.
If you want to, they also offer the option to buy a device in instalments to use with your contract-free cellular service. Or you can re-use one you already have. Simple.
Moves like this open up the cellular market enormously, because (in a hypothetical USA were this is the standard), you could change your carrier any time. You're not locked in to their service for 2 years; if a better deal comes up, you can take advantage of it without needing to buy a new phone. There would be no switching cost. Just think about what AT&T and Verizon would make of that; they'd be toast.
People in the USA should stop being walked all over by these guys. The USA telecoms market is maybe the most customer-hostile market on the planet. People get ripped-off left, right and centre and whenever it looks like change, they get the government to protect their disgusting enterprise.
The tagline T-Mobile is using to differentiate themselves from the others is No Commitment, but there is a commitment to the phone, if you choose to put down a down payment.