Precio Fijo

I moved to a higher priced plan and stayed on it for years, because I was told that it was price locked for life.  I even paid for all of my phones in full, lump sum, just so my plan would not be affected. Hell, I even stuck with T-Mobile after all the data breaches to keep my plan.
 

Now I feel like a fool.

Joycher wrote:

I had the Magenta 55+ with a supposed "price lock guarantee" as well. One line was unlimited talk text and data. One line was talking text only. I was very satisfied with my service until we got the messages that our bill would be going up. I have gotten FOUR different stories from Four different reps and all conflict.

1) first call -  I was told that one of the lines, the talk, text, data line was priced lock guaranteed, and the other was not. I know it was a price lock guarantee on both that I was initially led to believe. I had my notes from the call  2 1/2 years ago where I asked them three or four times to confirm, and they did. The representative during my first call a few days ago suggested to keep the bill down to change to the essentials plan, as my usage was not that high anyway. I stupidly changed. I then made a comment on T Mobile site on Facebook and they asked me to chat. So I did.

2. Chat - in the chat, I was told that the first representative was wrong, and that the line that went up was the talk and text only line. He assured me that the magenta 55 line was price lock line. He changed me back to my prior plan.
3. then I get a text message about when my bill would be drafted on auto pay and it was $25 or so more than it was supposed to be so I had to call and speak to a third person. The third person assured me that the second person was wrong and that the first person was correct in which line was supposed to have been price locked. Then they tell me that none of the lines were ever price locked. The bill did get adjusted back where they took the $25 off and the bill was only five dollars more  not $30 more. However, the fact remains that the bill went up. Again, where is their price lock guarantee? 
   4.  Just now, I saw a comment on their Facebook page about the same issue, so I made a comment. Of course they wanted to chat. I know it's going to do no good, but I'm in the middle of one now. This person tells me that the magenta 55 with the data is on the price lock.  See update below.

so what is it? I have four different answers or opinions which all conflict. I don't know what T Mobile is doing besides lying to customers. The initial representatives when I switch to T-Mobile confirm the price lock, which is now somehow gone. Are they lying Just to sign people up? is it because T Mobile is purchasing another company and they want more money? 
 

And now, the current chat - Rep tells me that her first info is incorrect in that only one Line is going up, now - so sorry,  BOTH lines are going up. The other three said only one was. So this is story number FOUR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They do not know their butt from a hole in the ground, or they are just instructed to say anything at all to get rid of dealing with the customer.

I don't know where to turn because you get a different story each time. All I know is it's a bunch of lies.

T MOBILE.     YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED !!!!!!!!!!!!  But I know you are not.

I have gone through the same stuff but on the phone.  When I received the text that my plan price was going up I decided I was through with them as far as my voice line goes.  I have a home internet account and cell line through them. 

I never had any issues with the home internet but from day one I had issue after issue with the cell line, Not with the voice, not with the data, not with the sim, not with any phones I used, Simply with Billing. My bill has changed so many times over the past 2 years, it is unthinkable. Time after time again I was charged for a line I did not have, When I added data to my plan I was told it would be a certain dollar amount only to find out it was 10 dollars higher, then I was put on a discounted plan to make up for the issue, then that plan got kicked after 6 months with me being told the supervisor should had not did that, and ect.  Now this increase.

Like you, I spoken to 6 to 7 different people on the phone about me leaving and trying to get information. 3 where supervisors and rest where customer service agents.  I had agents and supervisors tell me I not covered by the carrier price promise, Then I had agents and supervisors that told me I was covered, then I had agents that lied to me and told there was never any such price promises or gauntness on any plan I must been mistaken that T-Mobile has never made that claim.  :P

It has been a real circus. I finally got agent and supervisor that was good enough to go over things in detail with me.  I am still working with that supervisor he is trying to see if he can get me a better plan that more meets my needs or if I decide to leave (like I originally intended after the price going up text) If he can make my transition go smoother.

I thought the point of them having state side support, (English speaking customer service), was so these sort of things do not happen.  I am really starting to wounder if the agents are not just reading from a script but found out last minute with very little detail about this price change.  There is just to much confusion going on about it. 

Personally I think who ever rolled out this price increase plan was trying to do it quietly as possible especially after T-mobile trying to force the plan upgrades a year or two ago and how bad that went  I bet there customer service teams are beyond confused. 

I have done my fair share of Help-desk support for companies IT departments before, so I can easily see how this got out of control.. In the end I bet the guy who dreamed this new price roll out is hating his life right now.  In the end it is rightfully so that person who rolled this out should be. When a company promises to you with there agents in store or on the phone and advertises through televised commercials that they wont do this and you turn around and do it what would you expect. No matter what the fine print in the end, no matter what the fine print may or may not say, or what that print has been changed to say, in the end you lead a bunch of people to believe it is real!

I updated my FCC complaint today, pointing out that T-Mobile is telling the FCC one thing (Price Lock customers WON’T be impacted), while telling its customers the exact opposite (Price Lock customers WILL be impacted).

I ask that you keep my complaint open, for the reason explained below.

On/about June 11, 2024, I received from T-Mobile a hardcopy of an electronic filing that T-Mobile sent to the FCC on June 4, 2024.  That filing advised the FCC that T-Mobile has made adjustments to the pricing of some older rate plans ("the change"). 

In paragraph 5 of that filing, T-Mobile gave the FCC the following assurance:  “. . . customers with Price Lock are not impacted by the change”.

I called T-Mobile Customer Service yesterday, June 19, 2024, hoping to find out that T-Mobile's assurance to the FCC is true.  I spoke with "Courtney".  She confirmed that I am a Price Lock customer, but then told me that my monthly charge will go up anyway, despite T-Mobile's assurance to the FCC that customers with Price Lock will not be impacted by the change.

I think the FCC needs to ask T-Mobile why it told the FCC one thing (Price Lock customers WON’T be impacted), but is telling customers exactly the opposite (Price Lock customers WILL be impacted).

If the FCC does not have regulatory authority to ensure that a cellular provider complies with a guarantee to its customers, which Federal agency does have such authority?

Please keep my complaint open until T-Mobile agrees to honor its guarantee to its Price Lock customers.

I filed my FCC complaint on May 22.  I received T-Mobile's "response" to my complaint on/about June 11 (a hardcopy of what T-Mobile sent electronically to the FCC on June 4).

As I mentioned in an earlier comment, T-Mobile requires notice in writing if you dispute its billing practices.  Otherwise, you get even less respect (if that's possible).  Here's the letter that I wrote to T-Mobile yesterday:

As required by the T-Mobile Terms and Conditions, I hereby provide notice that I dispute T-Mobile’s intent to increase my monthly charge.

I selected T-Mobile as my cellular service provider in February 2023, when T-Mobile offered me a Price Lock guarantee of $75.00 per month.  I was told that "Price Lock" meant that my monthly charge would always be $75.00 per month unless I changed my plan with T-Mobile.

On May 22, 2024, T-Mobile sent me a text message announcing its intent to increase my monthly charge by $2.00 per line, which will violate the Price Lock guarantee that T-Mobile gave me when I signed up.  I called T-Mobile Customer Service the same day and registered my displeasure about the announced increase.  I then filed a complaint with the FCC (ticket no. 7047563).

On/about June 11, 2024, I received from T-Mobile a hardcopy of an electronic filing that T-Mobile sent to the FCC on June 4, 2024.  That filing advised the FCC that T-Mobile has made adjustments to the pricing of some older rate plans ("the change").  Paragraph 3 of that filing states explicitly that all customers impacted by the change had been notified by text and email of how much the change specifically impacts their account.  The clear import of that statement is that the T-Mobile text message that I received on May 22, 2024, applies specifically to my account – meaning that T-Mobile intends to increase my monthly charge even though I am a customer with a Price Lock guarantee.

Compare that with the following, different, statement in paragraph 5 of the same filing:  “. . . customers with Price Lock are not impacted by the change” (emphasis added).

Because the statements in paragraphs 3 and 5 of T-Mobile's FCC filing cannot both be true, I called T-Mobile Customer Service again, today, June 19, 2024.  I spoke with "Courtney".  She confirmed that I a.m. a Price Lock customer, but then told me that my monthly charge will go up anyway.  Courtney was unaware of T-Mobile's FCC filing, so I read to her the statement in paragraph 5 of the filing that I quote immediately above, the statement about Price Lock customers not being impacted by the change.  Courtney immediately disconnected me, and I found myself then connected to another Customer Service agent (Jude), who knew nothing about my talk with Courtney, and who wanted to give me T-Mobile's boilerplate change script all over again.  I declined the opportunity to suffer through that a second time.

Upon my completion of this letter to you, I will supplement my FCC complaint with a summary of what I have elaborated above.  I will emphasize to the FCC that in paragraph 5 of the T-Mobile filing, T-Mobile committed to honor its guarantee to Price Lock customers, essentially telling the FCC the opposite of what T-Mobile Customer Service is telling Price Lock customers as recently as today.  I will ask the FCC to keep my complaint open until T-Mobile honors the Price Lock guarantee that covers my account. 

gemfire wrote:

I just received a response from the FCC! It requires a response back, within 30 days or it will be closed. T-Mobile sent the same letter to me (listed above) and it doesn't even mention anything about the 55+ plan that I signed up for. Just a reminder to respond to the FCC within that 30 days for them to look into it further. If anyone hears anything else, keep us updated please!

I got the same response from FCC.  It's the second time they've said basically the same thing.  We need to emphasize that our plan was NEITHER THE PRICE LOCK NOR THE UNCONTRACT!  It was simply the Magenta 55+ with a promise by them to NEVER raise the price as long as the contract was maintained by us.  

I just received a response from the FCC! It requires a response back, within 30 days or it will be closed. T-Mobile sent the same letter to me (listed above) and it doesn't even mention anything about the 55+ plan that I signed up for. Just a reminder to respond to the FCC within that 30 days for them to look into it further. If anyone hears anything else, keep us updated please!

AnikR wrote:

This is going to be a lengthy post, but I think it is important to read for anyone who has done, or is considering an FCC complaint. In short, I am providing the response T-Mobile has given to me in its entirety as well as voicing my own complaints about how the company is handling the response with this post. 

I have just gotten my response to the FCC complaint on 6/11/24. This is by far the worst response I have ever gotten in comparison to other companies I have filed a complaint against through the FCC:

• This is the first FCC complaint that doesn't address me by name. Normally I get contacted from someone higher up with a 1-on-1 conversation. At&t for example, I get a representative from the Office of the President along with a name to contact from there if I have related issues. In the response I got from T-Mobile, there is no person, phone number, etc. to contact and it was signed off as "T-MOBILE USA, INC."
• There seems to be no PII in the letter. I was not referred to by name in the response to my complaint nor was my address on the letter. My address and name was in form of a sticker on the envelope containing the response, usually I would see an account number or similar in a response like this as well, however there seems to be nothing like that. I was referred to as "To Whom It May Concern" in the letter. The response I got was a sounds like a generic copy and paste letter, leading me to believe that those filing the FCC complaint have received a similar response. 
• It looks like T-Mobile are dead set on doing whatever they can in order to keep the changes, they have offered the solution of paying the final bill if I decide to leave the company. I am at a disadvantage here since I am paying off a device in form of bill credits for a device I got from T-Mobile as a replacement for a family member's device under a deal, I would be forfeiting the credit if I leave the company, which makes me responsible to pay for the remainder of the device. I also pay for 2 different accounts since my first account is greater than 8 lines.
• The letter also provides the implication that affected customers are replaceable and T-Mobile would rather gaslight, lose long-term customers and even pay them a month just to get those affected customers to leave.
• T-Mobile claims that they have "began offering" Price Lock on April 28, 2022. This is false, and the links found in this thread prove it, and doing a google search for and setting the filter for results published before that date also proves it. Whoever sent this response did not read my complaint since I have mentioned that the agreement for the time I took my plan was archived through a website archival service, archive.org . Thankfully, that website exists, making it useful for situations like this.
• Based on the conclusion of the letter, it looks like they are requesting for the complaint to be closed, but the letter is so generic, it is unclear if they are asking me to request to close it, or to the FCC. In either case, I will am going to wait on what happens from here.

Here is the content of the letter, there may be some typos since this is an image-to-text scan:

To Whom It May Concern:

T-Mobile USA, Inc. ("T-Mobile") is in receipt of your correspondence regarding T-Mobile's recent rate plan monthly recurring charge update As costs and inflation continue to rise, for the first time in nearly a decade, T-Mobile has made some small adjustments to the pricing of some of our older rate plans. On May 22, 2024, T- Mobile began notifying customers enrolled in older rate plans that their plan's monthly recurring cost will increase as of their June or July 2024 billing statement.

T-Mobile notified all impacted customers, by way of text message and email, of how the change specifically impacts their account, including how much their current rate plan will increase, when to expect the increase, and where they can find more information. The price increase ranges between $2.00 to 5.00 per line. All plan types, benefits, and due dates will remain the same. If any customer is interested in shopping for a new rate plan or would like to review our current rate plan offerings, we encourage them to contact Customer Care or visit T- Mobile.com/cell-phone-plans.

Regarding these changes, we are aware some customers have inquired about T-Mobile's Un contract and Price Lock. With Un-contract, T-Mobile committed to its customers that if we were to increase prices and customers chose to leave as a result, T-Mobile would pay the customers' final month's recurring service charge, as long as we are notified within 60 days. Consistent with that commitment, customers who activated on an eligible rate plan between January 5, 2017 and April 27, 2022, can request to have their final month's qualifying service charge reimbursed if their rate plan price increases and they choose to cancel service. Customers simply need to request reimbursement within 60 days of the price increase.

As for customers with concerns about T-Mobile's Price Lock guarantee, it is important to note that customers with Price Lock are not impacted by the change. On April 28, 2022. T-Mobile began offering Price Lock on new account activations on qualifying rate plans. For customers who activated on a qualifying plan between April 28, 2022 and January 17, 2024, Price Lock guarantees that accounts activated with a qualifying rate plan, within the enrollment period, would not be subject to a price increase, so long as the account remained in good standing and the customer remained on the qualifying rate plan. If a customer migrates to a new plan not covered by Price Lock, the Price Lock guarantee will fall off the account given the customer is no longer on a qualifying rate plan. Lines covered by the April 28, 2022 to January 17, 2024 Price Lock guarantee are exempt from the monthly recurring rate plan changes. Based upon the foregoing, we respectfully request that this complaint against T-Mobile be closed.

Very truly yours,
T-MOBILE USA, INC.

Precisely the wording I received.  It actually SAYS it's "FILED ELECTRONICALLY".  Totally devoid of customer emphasis of any type.  

Manofintegrity wrote:

Has anyone received any positive feedback from any of the organizations where complaints have been filed?  My next bill, in about one month, will be for the increased amount.  I don't want to imply that this increase is ok with me.  In order to keep service, I'll have to pay the bill.  The only other option would be to change service providers.  However, if we can prevail with the complaints and somehow force T-Mobile to honor their commitment to us, I'd rather stay put.  Just don't want the fact that I pay my bills to give them the wrong signal.

Comments?

@ManOfIntegrity & all

Has anyone received any positive feedback from any of the organizations where complaints have been filed? 

Positive feedback? Ha! Not likely, unless there's some internal action that takes place within the next ~ 30 days T-Mobile is unlikely to rollback this poor decision. Currently the only hope we have is someone kicking off arbitration, turning to small claims, to class action subsequently being made whole at a later date.  

My next bill, in about one month, will be for the increased amount.  I don't want to imply that this increase is ok with me.

Review your bill, in short, this is no different than a financial institution where you have up to 60 days to notify them of any billing disputes in writing! Note, if you raise issue with this increase and accept an account credit this negates any cause(your rights) for arbitration or more as them crediting your account "resolves the issue". The issue with that is this matter is not a limited issue, one time grievance. This is a potential permanent change which technically means that after you've done the dispute letter, they have time to respond (is it 60 days, I forgot) then if you are not satisfied with their resolution then you proceed further with arbitration etcetera -

If your goal is to at some point receive financial compensation (in arbitration/class action/small claims) then you should make a formal dispute in writing and specify you don't want a one-time bill credit, but rather for them to adjust your rate and honor the terms of the initial agreement. They will likely say nothing is wrong with the bill and the amount is correct, and as a one-time courtesy they may (or may not) credit the difference. At that point you accept it and move on or continue with the escalation process for arbitration/small claims/class action.

 In order to keep service, I'll have to pay the bill.  The only other option would be to change service providers. 

Yes, you should(must) keep your account in good standing while an active customer, especially if you are pursuing a legal claim or want to port out(albeit I think I read they can't legally keep your numbers due to non-payment as long as service is active or something like that). As far as changing service providers, I have seen one too many posts about switching to an MVNO, specifically to a T-Mobile MVNO - this is extreme cognitive dissonance y contradictory:

1. If an MVNO is available to you (T-Mobile or Other), prior to this price increase notification – WHY wouldn’t you already switch and save your money!? Why did it take T-Mobile (Postpaid) to increase your bill for you to go to an MVNO(most of you switched to a T-Mobile one LOL) that has BEEN available to you prior to…
2. If I take issue with T-Mobile dishonoring the terms of my agreement with them (principal), then why the heck would I give them or ANY of their affiliates my business?! The primary catalyst for my disdain is the principle of their actions, not so much the denomination. Therefore, if I do switch providers, it will NOT be to a T-Mobile affiliate (MVNO's) - that is less than smart. I want NOTHING to do with them if it gets to that, so yes, despite T-Mobiles costs likely being lesser even with the increase & in lieu of their GREED, I will even consider paying MORE to a competitor! So unfortunately, the MVNO's that use T-Mobile are catching a few strays but oh well. "I switched to Google Fi, F T-Mobile" "I switched to MetroPCS, F T-Mobile"  - you can't make this up - people are clearly being emotional  and not logical.

However, if we can prevail with the complaints and somehow force T-Mobile to honor their commitment to us, I'd rather stay put.  Just don't want the fact that I pay my bills to give them the wrong signal.

Well, it doesn't seem like the abiding parties who received our complaints have said or done anything publicly. I did receive e-mail communication from the FCC and it stated they would contact me once they received a response from T-Mobile, then T-Mobile sent a letter that everyone has now seen; this letter did not follow previous FCC complaints(addressing me) and they typically make contact by phone or email to resolve, then present this back to the FCC - as of yet I have not heard from the FCC so my guess is they sent the default letter to us and has not officially responded to the specific complaint(s).

Comments?

My disgust with this decision by T-Mobile is disheartening. The business relationship is forever changed. The issue for me and one I will argue in front of a judge is simple: the original contractual agreement of never changing my rate plan directly influenced my decisions over the years to include but not limited to:

A)Switching carriers(example: we declined X deal despite being on our price locked plan because of the long-term effects; T-Mobile has misrepresented their position and disallowed me to make informed decisions. If my bill was unstable or going to change anyways, I could have taken advantage of other options.

B)Device upgrades/EIP/Promotions – if my reoccurring charges are set, then this impacts my decision to do business with T-Mobile from a device financing perspective.

C)If I participate in a promotion that indicates I must retain service for X amount of time to receive my promotion in full, then increasing my rate plan after the fact is in direct contrast with this decision.

If my rate plan was not set, then I would not feel comfortable deepening my relationship with the T-Mobile since I may need to switch at a moment’s notice due to volatile nature of our business relationship. My rate plan costs directly influenced multiple decisions over the years. This is what we want to be made whole from. I made buying decisions based on my rate plan.

It is unjust to keep my devices locked to your network, bill me for a remaining EIP balance for a device that was supposed to be free.

Nota: if you are on a regular EIP and just paying off a device, then that remaining balance is due regardless of your rate plan amount; however, T-Mobile should allow you to move that EIP to the account level and allow you to continue paying off the device without a large lump sum bill  in the event you leave since they raised your rate plan.

IF your EIP is on a promotion that would be directly (negatively) impacted by the discontinuation of service, then T-Mobile should forgive the remaining balance on those EIPs since you had no intention of leaving the company for the duration of time (fulfilling the promotion requirements) and since T-Mobile decided to raise your bill (something that was not supposed to happen) you switched providers. T-Mobile should pay off the remaining EIP balance for those circumstances.

If my rate plan was able to increase at a moment's notice, MOST people would decline those EIPs, and device promotions and T-Mobile knows this. Sure, some of us buy unlocked devices which often doesn't always have the same carrier-locked device benefits (example – my unlocked Samsung does not do RCS messaging in Samsung Messenger, yet my “carrier locked/firmware” does allow RCS in the Samsung App for BOTH PTN’s dual SIM – Google Messages does NOT offer DUAL SIM RCS and Google Messages is the only way to get RCS messaging on the unlocked device; yes, you can load carrier firmware on the unlocked model, but not everyone is comfortable doing this)

Ideally, I’d love for T-Mobile to make this right. I have a nasty taste in my mouth after all of this. I have several EIP's open for "free" devices, and this is not right because I wouldn't be cancelling services based on my own decision to forfeit my remaining credits, but rather T-Mobile raised my bill when our agreement said this would not change, so I participated in the promotion because I had no intention of leaving T-Mobile, especially during the promotional period. I would only pay off EIP's that I would have had to pay off anyways, any balances left on what would have been a promotion aka free/discounted - T-Mobile can get bent.

Has anyone received any positive feedback from any of the organizations where complaints have been filed?  My next bill, in about one month, will be for the increased amount.  I don't want to imply that this increase is ok with me.  In order to keep service, I'll have to pay the bill.  The only other option would be to change service providers.  However, if we can prevail with the complaints and somehow force T-Mobile to honor their commitment to us, I'd rather stay put.  Just don't want the fact that I pay my bills to give them the wrong signal.

Comments?

I'm surprised I havent read from the comments how funny it is:

Of course I know it wasn't a true restriction, after all its a man made program; **however**, isn't it convenient for years T-Mobile told customers those plans had restrictions, line caps that could not be changed, saying they couldn't make changes to the plan and you would have to switch plans to add more lines.....

Yet, they are able to raise price as it fits them... Comical and pathetic.

Self imposed limitations....