Programa de Descuento para Internet (ACP)

So I quality but the plan I have does not. That seems very suspicious It is not as if Tmobile would be out the $30

I was told by multiple agents T Mobile participated until 3 months in w bills. I even sent copies of text & info of what I was told by TMobile agents to exc offices - to no avail. All I was told is it's done through TMobile Metro. Just contact them & u can get it. But NNNNOOOO. U have to have phone service w T Mobile Metro (u get the $30 credit) HOWEVER the internet is $50 w OUT the ACP credit cuz it was used in ur phone bill. So STILL PAYING $50 for internet.  Talk about sweeping under the rug !!!!  So disappointed in TMobile. Have their phone service w others so I can't change it & up till now happy w their service!!!

I qualify as well but T-Mobile only offers through Metro   I don’t understand why they don’t honor it as well as they will receive the extra 30 per month … straight talk goes through Verizon towers and has great plan 55.00 for 25.00 - everything I am currently paying 73.00 for at this moment 

Ok. So I am a tmobile customer. Have been for years. 

I have a ACP approval and if I need to move over to Metro fine.

LET'S DO IT. WHAT DO I HAVE TO? So far, look likes lots of hoops to jump through. 

I was able to do my ISP in minutes. Tmobile, not so much.

It's crazy!!!!!!!! I've been with T-Mobile for at least 8 years. T-Mobile participated in the broadband discount but when they changed it to ACP they no longer accept it . If you call T-Mobile customer care you get completely different answers from each person you speak with!!!! First I was told that all I had to do was switch to a metro by T-Mobile Sim card later that day a supervisor called me back and said that I didn't need to do anything that I was eligible under my T-Mobile plan and to give it some time to show up on my bill. The discount never showed up on my bill so I called again and was told no I would have to switch to metro which means I'd have to cancel  insurance on my phone and and because I'd be using my same phones with metro I would now not be eligible for insurance on my phone even though Metro by T-Mobile is a T-Mobile company that I still would have to change my whole plan and close out my T-Mobile account and open a metro account. So I go to a metro store to make the changes in the worth or in the metro store says no that I can sign up with T-Mobile and he calls for T-Mobile stores which said the same thing I can use the ACP  program  with T-Mobile. It's crazy

Please file an FCC complaint;

It states on the FCC website that the program protects consumers by:

https://www.fcc.gov/acp

"Preventing consumers from being forced into more expensive or lower quality plans in order to receive the ACP;"

And forcing Magenta and Magenta Max plan holders to switch to Metro is most certainly a lower quality plan, with deprioritized data and speed throttling.

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

T-Mobile does participate in the ACP….just not under the T-Mobile branding. They are offering ACP plans under both Metro by T-Mobile and Assurance Wireless. The law that changed the Emergency Broadband Benefit  (EBB) to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) is very vague about how long the program will exist or if there will be any requalification or expiration of the benefit for the individual beneficiary at some point. The law requires participating telecom carriers meet well defined standards, but can only say that the Biden Administration hope's the program will last for at least several years. 

The ACP is a great benefit, I'm using it myself, but it was rolled out without even having the regulatory process in place to establish how the program would be administered. There were already nearly 10 million households using the plan before the carriers were told what the proposed rules were going to be. The government can't say how long the program will last, but the carriers can't perform credit checks, they have to give at least 3 months of warnings before terminating service for non payment, even longer if the customer disputes the bill, and the government unexpectedly came out with an interpretation of the benefit to mean that any participating carrier must allow customers to use the benefit on ANY rate plan , including grandfathered plans and customized plans that people had under unique circumstances. So, if a company wants to offer the benefit at all, they have to offer $30 off ANY plan that includes any amount of data and $75 per month off to anyone on tribal lands. 

The carriers can't upsell or offer a lower tier of service to those using the benefit, they can't enforce data limits, can't have termination fees, and must allow customers to change carriers ONE TIME PER MONTH with no delays or fees even if the customer wants to swap between carrier "A" and "B" back and forth each month for several years. Any participating carrier has to allow this. 

I completely understand T-Mobile not including the core brand in the ACP. The terms that the government came up with after the carriers had already committed to participating are INSANE.

See for yourself… https://www.fcc.gov/acp 

On a positive note, I want to spread the word about the ACP provider I used. PcsForPeople is a legit 501((c)3) that accepts used computers from businesses and then prepares them for reuse and offers them for sale at reduced rates for those with a low income. They provide free shipping anywhere in the country and they have a simple website where you can qualify for ACP and use the $100 discount on either a laptop for $49.99 or desktop with monitor, headset, keyboard, mouse and webcam for $11. You just have to buy a mobile hotspot for $45  Yes, the total price for the desktop full system with the hotspot is $56. That includes shipping and a one year warranty. The unlimited 4G internet on the T-Mobile network using Mobile Beacon is completely free. The $30 subsidy covers the monthly fee. You simply spend 30 seconds on the website to "purchase" a free 30 day subscription. 

The offer sounded too good to be true when I found it, but it was perfect for me to use for school. 

Check them out acp.pcsrefurbished.com

Sarahjusthates wrote:

JRC wrote:

Please file an FCC complaint;

It states on the FCC website that the program protects consumers by:

https://www.fcc.gov/acp

"Preventing consumers from being forced into more expensive or lower quality plans in order to receive the ACP;"

And forcing Magenta and Magenta Max plan holders to switch to Metro is most certainly a lower quality plan, with deprioritized data and speed throttling.

https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov/hc/en-us

 

 

That's not what its saying tho... its saying that you can't be forced to switch to a different plan FROM THE SAME PROVIDER. 

But having to switch providers in order to use the benefit because you're current one doesn't participate is totally legal

It's just like having a coupon for one retailer and complaining a totally different store wont take jt

Don't lie to yourself.

When Verizon bought out Tracfone which Safelink (the Lifeline and ACP provider) is a subsidiary of... they tried to force me to switch providers.from T-Mobile to Verizon.   Verizon is vastly lower quality.  I filed an FCC complaint and a Safelink executive contacted me later with his tail between his legs and restored my plan with T-Mobile as the service provider instead of Verizon 

I don't think the FCC is fooled by companies using different names to funnel government funding into programs that don't even attempt to use one penny of the $ to actually provide the service

SMH I'm not lying to myself, I'm literally just trying to explain how you're misunderstanding the quote you keep referencing.

It states  'Preventing consumers from being forced into more expensive or lower quality PLANES in order to receive the ACP;" 

PLANS...not PROVIDERS. The simple fact that there's some providers that work in one state but not in another. Like where I'm from TMobile is garbage while Verizon is top dog. 

And not to be rude,  but it looks like youre trying to portay as being the catalyst that got a federal government agency to step in and stop some secret cell company. Money scheme? Was your basic of the mill commission based sales tactic that a store manager could have addressed. Plus the FCC most definitely had no actual involvement other than forwarding your complaints to jts appropriate mocation in what was essentially a run of the mill refund. 

🤷🏼‍♀️

Sorry, wasn't trying to aggravate you

Of course I got a government agency to step in, that's what the FCC does whenever anyone files a complaint.

The legitimacy of the complaint (or not) obviously affects whatever results you get.

My advice is to follow the $.  One can play games talking about "providers" and "plans" but ultimately the government funds are going to the same few actual providers.   "Metro by T-Mobile" and "Magenta" are just two different levels of service plans that use the same provider.  In both cases, T-Mobile is receiving government funds via ACP to provide broadband data services.

I'm glad you have better experiences with Verizon than I have.  In my area the Verizon network is so congested that pre paid level plans don't get any data at all. (maybe a little at 3am when most people are asleep)

For well over 10 years they've not spent a single penny to upgrade the bandwidth of the network here.  So when they bought out Tracfone and started forcing people to switch ACP funded plans over to a Verizon pre paid level plan... Verizon is essentially stealing government funds without providing the service the $ was allocated for.   From the reaction I got, apparently the FCC agreed with me.