- Back in 2017, T-Mobile said it was “giving you—and only you—the power to change the price you pay”
- That didn’t actually seem to be the case since T-Mobile announced in May 2024 that it was raising rates on plans that customers thought were guaranteed for life
- Angry customers filed a litany of complaints with T-Mobile and the FCC and now some of them are pursuing a class action lawsuit
Chances looked pretty good earlier this year that a class action suit would be filed after T-Mobile said the “price lock guarantee” that many customers thought they had signed up for wasn’t actually a lifetime guarantee.
Indeed, four named plaintiffs earlier this month filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey seeking class action status.
They said T-Mobile in 2017 promised that customers who signed up for certain plans were promised those rates for life and T-Mobile broke that promise in May 2024 when it “unilaterally did away with these legacy phone plans” and switched the plaintiffs to more expensive plans without their consent.
The complaint was filed on July 12; Ars Technica first reported on it last week.
The plaintiffs’ stories sound similar to the one New York resident Eric Michelson told to Fierce back in May. He and his wife signed up for the “One Plan Unlimited 55” years ago, thinking they were locked in with a price guarantee for life. But this year, he was informed by T-Mobile customer care that his service will increase $5/month for each of the two lines they have.
In the suit, plaintiff Christopher Oddo recounted how he signed up for a 2 Lines One Plan in 2017 after being impressed by a press release issued on January, 5, 2017, that said “T-Mobile will never change the price you pay for your T-Mobile ONE plan.”
On May 22, 2024, Oddo received a text message from T-Mobile stating that his rate plan would be increasing by $5 per line/month. He currently has three lines, so he’s now being charged an additional $15/month, “which violates the price lock guarantee,” according to the lawsuit.
He filed a complaint with the FCC; that letter was forwarded to T-Mobile, which responded on June 4, 2024. T-Mobile said it made some “small adjustments” to the pricing of some older rate plans, and it committed to customers that if it were to increase prices and customers chose to leave as a result, T-Mobile would pay the customers’ final month’s recurring service charge, so long as T-Mobile was 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 months’ qualifying service charge reimbursed if their rate plan prices increases and they choose to cancel service,” T-Mobile stated.
The suit calls T-Mobile’s reaction the old “bait and switch” tactic and says T-Mobile is “well aware that its customers are angry at being duped by its false advertising.” The suit points to numerous complaints that have been posted on T-Mobile’s website.
T-Mobile didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Changing the terms – in more than one way
T-Mobile’s tactic of changing the terms it uses in describing price plans is not a new tactic. Kind of a souped-up game of “you say tomato; I say tah-mah-toe,” but with much higher stakes.
Last month, the advertising watchdog group National Advertising Division (NAD) recommended that T-Mobile discontinue the “Price Lock” claim or modify it to explain, as part of the main claim, what “Price Lock” really means: It’s a policy that promises customers a free month of home internet service if T-Mobile raises the monthly price and the consumer promptly notifies T-Mobile that they’re going to cancel service. The ruling stemmed from a complaint filed by AT&T.
T-Mobile told Fierce that it would take the NAD’s recommendations for clarifying the offer into consideration but that it will continue to offer Price Lock to customers.
By T-Mobile’s terms, “Price Lock” means the ability for customers on eligible rate plans to get the opportunity to “get their final month’s service charges paid” by T-Mobile if their price ever changes and they provide notice to T-Mobile that they plan to leave. That’s according to a T-Mobile’s own statement.
It’s not exactly how most people would define a “Price Lock.” But whether T-Mobile’s shenanigans affect its bottom line to any measurable extent is another story. So far, it’s been fairly immune, consistently leading the industry in new customer additions. A few new clues might emerge later this week when T-Mobile reports its Q2 2024 results.