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Why is my T-Mobile bill for one phone $120 a month?

A

Anthony T

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 10, 2008
1,021
132
I have the Simple Choice plan with a 32GB iPhone 5S with unlimited text/calling and data and my bill is $120+ a month.

Why do I feel like that's a lot compared to what other people on here are paying? I've seen people paying $120 a month for their entire family plan, and my bill alone is that much? A little confused.

I switched from AT&T because I thought I'd be saving money, but I'm seriously considering going back. Especially considering the service with T-Mobile has not been impressive so far.
 
Have you called T-Mobile to inquire about your plan and its cost? It does seem quite high to me. I pay about that for my phone and a mifi device together.
 
SandboxGeneral said:
Have you called T-Mobile to inquire about your plan and its cost? It does seem quite high to me. I pay about that for my phone and a mifi device together.
Click to expand...

Well I had them take off the unlimited data and went with the free 1 GB option, and it supposedly brought my bill down $20 a month for my next billing cycle. I do have the "Next" insurance/upgrade thing which is $10 a month, but I still feel like my bill is high. I was not expecting to pay more than like $75 a month for one phone.
 
Take a look at your plan details. Do you need unlimited data? Is there a cheaper plan that would cover your data usage? T-Mobile's unlimited data plan is $80 - what does your bill details tell you about the other $40?

I switched my family's AT&T plan from a grandfathered Family Talk plan including unlimited data on my own iPhone, to a 4GB Mobile Share plan, since combined we have never used more than 4GB/month, and saved $40

Edit: Ok, you clarified what you actually have. But you should be able to see exactly what you're being charged for by looking at the bill.
 
Did you pay full price for the phone or are you on the EIP?

You have to factor the EIP payments into the bill if you're doing that.
 
Anthony T said:
Well I had them take off the unlimited data and went with the free 1 GB option, and it supposedly brought my bill down $20 a month for my next billing cycle. I do have the "Next" insurance/upgrade thing which is $10 a month, but I still feel like my bill is high. I was not expecting to pay more than like $75 a month for one phone.
Click to expand...

The $50 1GB + $10 insurance is $60. NOT $100/mo.

You need to analyze and breakdown every charge for us, or do it foryourself, or post your bill with personal details whited-out. Something. You gotta give us something to work with.

You're better off going to the TMo store to inquire.
 
PsstGreek said:
Did you pay full price for the phone or are you on the EIP?

You have to factor the EIP payments into the bill if you're doing that.
Click to expand...

I did the EIP, but I also gave $100 (maybe even more) out of pocket toward the cost of the phone up front. I'm gonna try to get a printed copy of my bill, and find out the exact breakdown.
 
Anthony T said:
I have the Simple Choice plan with a 32GB iPhone 5S with unlimited text/calling and data and my bill is $120+ a month.

Why do I feel like that's a lot compared to what other people on here are paying? I've seen people paying $120 a month for their entire family plan, and my bill alone is that much? A little confused.

I switched from AT&T because I thought I'd be saving money, but I'm seriously considering going back. Especially considering the service with T-Mobile has not been impressive so far.
Click to expand...

You should be paying half of that.
 
Anthony T said:
I did the EIP, but I also gave $100 (maybe even more) out of pocket toward the cost of the phone up front. I'm gonna try to get a printed copy of my bill, and find out the exact breakdown.
Click to expand...

Maybe they're charging you extra EIPs? They did that too me.
 
Anthony T said:
I have the Simple Choice plan with a 32GB iPhone 5S with unlimited text/calling and data and my bill is $120+ a month.

Why do I feel like that's a lot compared to what other people on here are paying? I've seen people paying $120 a month for their entire family plan, and my bill alone is that much? A little confused.

I switched from AT&T because I thought I'd be saving money, but I'm seriously considering going back. Especially considering the service with T-Mobile has not been impressive so far.
Click to expand...


is this your first bill? if so it will be higher...ive had tmobile for years, well in the past then i left and went pre-paid with a jailbroken iphone for years,anyway...i signed up with tmobile may of last yr i have $50 unlimited minutes $20 unlimited data $8 insurance ($10 for jump is a rip off), my bill would be $85 after taxes but im a govt employee so my bill is exactly %72 per month with my discount (iphone 5 completely paid for).. ive noticed sometimes strange things will happ with their bill and you have to call them, my brother bill has been $85 the past 3 months, now his april bill is $105 and no reason given. i say you call them and complain theyll credit you at the most but they should fix it perm..
 
You can easily log into your account and see what you're paying for. Also, $120 is very expensive if you only have a 1GB data plan. My wife and I have two iPhones through Verizon with a 3GB data plan and it's only $140.
 
There must be some prorated charges or some type of error in your bill. I was paying $120 for 3 lines, one of which had the unlimited data plan on TMO.
 
Switching from AT&T to T-Mobil there would be some add ons for the first month billing, than it will go down a bit. Check into it.
 
Simple Choice Unlimited Data = $70, EIP $17-30/mo (depending on your phone), JUMP!= $10/mo + taxes ($7-15/mo depending on your state) and the first month is always closer to a 1+ mos of service. $120 is easy if your taxes and EIP is close to $30.
 
My first bill on T-Mobile was higher than subsequent ones also. The reason is because you likely started service in the middle of a billing cycle. So you're probably paying for 5-6 weeks of service on that first bill, not just a single month.
 
So apparently my EIP is $15 a month. The total balance left is $345 which I can pay off, but for some reason when I tried to, a message popped up saying that they don't recommend making extra EIP payments...any reason why?
 
Anthony T said:
So apparently my EIP is $15 a month. The total balance left is $345 which I can pay off, but for some reason when I tried to, a message popped up saying that they don't recommend making extra EIP payments...any reason why?
Click to expand...

That's odd. Everyone has the ability to pay the minimum or as much as they want per month towards their phone. I'd call up and ask.
 
Multi-phone and family plans are the way to go.

Get some friends or family together and combine your bill. I pay $160 for four people with AT&T. That comes to $40 a person.

One of the people I added to my family plan was paying $160 for JUST by themself with Verizon.
 
Anthony T said:
So apparently my EIP is $15 a month. The total balance left is $345 which I can pay off, but for some reason when I tried to, a message popped up saying that they don't recommend making extra EIP payments...any reason why?
Click to expand...

probably b.c tmobile wants the consistent flow of cash from people paying installment payments. Also, paying more towards the phone does not lower the monthly payment unless the phone is paid off.

For example, if you owe $300 on your phone and you pay $200 of that they do not recalculate the monthly payment. You will still pay $25 a month. That may be why they say do not pay it? I know I would rather have someone on a leash for the money
 
Anthony T said:
So apparently my EIP is $15 a month. The total balance left is $345 which I can pay off, but for some reason when I tried to, a message popped up saying that they don't recommend making extra EIP payments...any reason why?
Click to expand...

thats odd, i owed 230 on my iphone and i paid it all off at once while i paid my bill..maybe you have to pay it when you pay your bill?
 
mattopotamus said:
probably b.c tmobile wants the consistent flow of cash from people paying installment payments. Also, paying more towards the phone does not lower the monthly payment unless the phone is paid off.

For example, if you owe $300 on your phone and you pay $200 of that they do not recalculate the monthly payment. You will still pay $25 a month. That may be why they say do not pay it? I know I would rather have someone on a leash for the money
Click to expand...

This makes sense. I was planning on paying it all off anyway, so maybe I'll just do that to get it over with and lower my bill.
 
Wait till people add 4 iPhones on the equipment plans. Even at cheapest $100/4lines/1gb plans. People after taxes are going to paying $120.

Than the equipment lines kick in. $27-$33 a month x 4. That's another $120 a month.

So they are back to paying $250/month when they start tmobile again.
 
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