On several occasions, T-Mobile (TMUS) has made it clear that it isn’t afraid to pull a lever that many of its customers aren’t too fond of.
The phone carrier has recently been increasing the prices of its older phone plans, an initiative that kicked off last year.
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In April 2024, T-Mobile increased prices for older phone plans (One, Magenta, and Simple Choice) by $2 or $5 per line. Earlier this month, the phone carrier also implemented a $5 price hike for some of its older phone plans, which frustrated some customers to the point where they threatened to flee to T-Mobile’s competitors.
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According to a leaked memo from T-Mobile, which was obtained by CNET, the recent adjustment to pricing is due to “rising costs over the past several years.”
To lessen the blow of the price hike, T-Mobile began offering select customers free voice lines in an effort to keep them away from competitors.
T-Mobile sends customers a surprising notification
Now that it appears the dust has settled, T-Mobile has decided to notify customers via text message that it will soon increase a mandatory fee in their monthly bill.
On April 24, T-Mobile’s Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee will increase from $3.49 to $3.99 for voice lines and from $1.40 to $1.60 for data-only lines.
Some T-Mobile customers took to Reddit to express frustration over the upcoming price hike.
“What the hell are they ‘recovering’? Always increasing, it’s BS!” wrote one Reddit user.
“These bastards are really nickel and diming us now,” said another Redditor.
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“It’s just going to push me away. I have been with T-Mobile since the late ’90s (VoiceStream), not that anyone really cares. But watch how fast I jump to another carrier as they continue to nickel and dime me — on a plan [where] they promised me my rates would never change,” wrote another.
According to T-Mobile’s website, the Regulatory Programs component of the fee helps the company “cover costs for funding and compliance with government mandates, programs, and obligations.”
The Telco Recovery part of the fee helps T-Mobile pay for “costs and charges” imposed by other carriers for delivery of calls, and for network facilities, operations, and services.
T-Mobile was recently hit with a lawsuit over the fee
In December of last year, T-Mobile was hit with a class-action lawsuit over its Regulatory Programs & Telco Recovery Fee. Customers in the lawsuit flagged that the fee had increased by 28% over the last eight years. They also alleged that the fee’s description is “deceptive” and used to charge customers “illegal fees.”
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“To conceal these illegal fees, T-Mobile includes the RPTR Fee in the section of their customers’ monthly bill that bundles this fee with ‘Government Taxes and Fees’ to disguise it as a required government charge, passthrough fee, or other regulatory-mandated fee,” reads the lawsuit. “In reality, the RPTR Fee is a concoction designed to increase T-Mobile’s revenue and pad its bottom line.”
Customers also alleged that this fee is not mentioned in their T-Mobile Subscriber Agreement, as it omits “how much is charged, when it is charged, and that it is charged per line.”
“Customers can find out what fees they are being charged only by looking at their bill after they’ve signed up for an account,” reads the lawsuit. “T-Mobile should have accurately stated the true monthly prices for its post-paid wireless plans in its price representations and advertising.”
The customers in the lawsuit allege that T-Mobile’s method of enforcing this fee violates the Communications Act. They are seeking an unknown amount of damages.
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