T-Mobile raises overage rates; cancel your contract sans-ETF
They say when the cell phone gods close a door, they open a window. Such is the case this morning for T-Mobile subscribers who aren’t enjoying their time with the carrier. As of today, T-Mobile is raising its overage rates to 45¢ per minute on individual plans under $59.99 and family plans under $89.99, and 40¢ per minute for plans above those price points. Since this rate increase is carrier-invoked and it constitutes a “materially adverse change of contract,” subscribers will be able to flee without the need to pay a hefty Early Termination Fee (ETF) — just as many did with Sprint earlier this year. What do you do if you want out of your contract? Get ready for battle, that’s what. As always with carriers, odds are good the some (or even most) customer service reps won’t even know about this option. When you call, be patient while the CS rep gathers info. Make sure that when you explain why you want to cancel your contract, you specifically cite these overage rate increases as your motive. If your rep starts giving you a hard time or doesn’t sound like he/she is going to put the pieces together, ask to speak to a manager or simply call back and start over with another rep. Oh, and hit the jump for a section of the T-Mobile contract that you may want to familiarize yourself with.
Thanks, Dan!
Changes to the Agreement or Charges. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, IF WE: (A) INCREASE THE CHARGES INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN, OR (B) MODIFY A MATERIAL TERM OF OUR AGREEMENT WITH YOU AND THE MODIFICATION WOULD BE MATERIALLY ADVERSE TO YOU, WE WILL NOTIFY YOU OF THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION AND YOU CAN CANCEL THAT SERVICE WITHOUT PAYING A CANCELLATION FEE (WHICH IS YOUR ONLY REMEDY) BY FOLLOWING THE CANCELLATION INSTRUCTIONS IN THE NOTICE. IF YOU DO NOT CANCEL YOUR SERVICE BY FOLLOWING THOSE INSTRUCTIONS, OR YOU OTHERWISE ACCEPT THE CHANGE, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE INCREASE OR MODIFICATION, EVEN IF YOU PAID FOR SERVICE IN ADVANCE. IF THE NOTICE DOES NOT SAY HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO CANCEL, THEN IT IS WITHIN 14 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THE NOTICE, UNLESS A LONGER PERIOD IS REQUIRED BY LAW. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY LAW, CHARGES FOR PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OPTIONAL SERVICES, OR ANY OTHER CHARGES THAT ARE NOT INCLUDED IN YOUR MONTHLY RECURRING ACCESS RATE PLAN (SUCH AS DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE, ROAMING, DOWNLOADS, AND THIRD-PARTY CONTENT) ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE, AND IF YOU CONTINUE TO USE THOSE SERVICES, OR YOU OTHERWISE AGREE TO THE CHANGES, THEN YOU AGREE TO THE NEW CHARGES. VISIT OUR WEB SITE, RETAIL LOCATIONS, OR CALL CUSTOMER CARE FOR CURRENT CHARGES.
So my dad just tried this and it worked. They claimed they sent notifications and blah blah blah and to he had to pay the ETF but he said they were violating the contract… Also they are charging $1.50 for statements so bring that up 2. about how your supposed to view ur statements if u didnt have a computer.. They are vilating the contract. I had a sidekick data plan so it affected me bigg time because i used to be charged .20 for minutes which was mostly for emergencies and now i was being charged .45… Its your rights people .. GOOD LUCK everyone.. more info email me a.barrera.92@Hotmail.com
I tried this for both the charge for billing and the overage increase. I have been told no by 4 reps. I sent a complaint to the FCC, but apparently Tmobile doesnt care about violating your contract.
A question for all of you who finally made it.
Were you able to keep your cellphone number? Did you switch to a different carrier, and if you did it, was before or after calling T-Mobile? I’m afraid of losing my number, I use it for bussiness purposes.
So i just signed extended on july 30 2009. Ive had tmobile for 3 years now. Would i be able to cancel using this?
Hello all, just wanted to say for the past couple of months I have had overages on my T-mobile account. I did receive a notice earlier this month. I disregarded the notice, Then I started reading about the overages and knowing I had almost another year to go on the contract, I called and told them I received a letter in the mail stating that the charges where going up and that it said if I wished to cancel my account without a ETF fee I had every right to do so. The first REP stated she had never heard of such a thing, and would have to get clarification. She put me on a brief hold and came back and said that it was true and that she would have to transfer me to someone else. I waited, they came on the line I explained about the letter and what the contract says, and she agreed and cancelled my service with no ETF!
They did try and offer me other options and said I could come back within 90 days free. I just wanted to let peeps know that if you have had overages the past few months, and received a notice, [or even of you did not receive one]As long as yhou have gone over your minutes and paid extra you should be able to get out of the contract with NP my phone was cut off before the rep could even say goodbye.
One last word of advice: Be persistent
worked for me today!
the first time i called, they said that i had to have overage charges each month for the past six months –> i asked to speak w a supervisor that clarified that it had to be at least once during the past six months only. however, she said my account was ineligible because my contract was not signed prior to june 2008. I argued for 10 minutes but she wouldn’t budge.
called back an hour later and spoke with another rep that reiterated what the previous supervisor said –> i asked to speak with another supervisor that agreed to cancel my contract without any EFT because my account was eligible afterall!
i am still unsure what the exact criteria are though and am just happy that i was able to cancel
now i get to shop for a new phone.
good luck everyone and get ready to argue if you call t-mobile.
I’ve been with T-Mobile long enough to qualify, but unless you can show overages I think the chances are low it will work out. I think I argued the legal points as well nearly as can be done. They just keep saying the charges will not materially affect me.
Infuriating they’re caving for some but not others. I was respectful but they just talked me in circles with the same “no” answers, despite me reading large sections of the contract as recommended.
I’ll be filing complaints with the BBB and FCC but apparently I’m going to be stuck for 7 more months in the contract. I might try calling once more but now my account is noted with “no” answers from multiple representatives.
i posted a few days ago and was able to get no ETF.
when you call Tmobile, ask for the cancellation department directly. don’t speak with a regular rep since they can’t cancel your contract themselves anyways. I think that the cancellation dept has the final say, so if they say you are eligible for no ETF, they can deliver on their promise.
i have been a customer with t -mobile for many years with a 2000 minutes monthly plan. Every month i have a remainder of between 500-700 minutes but this month for reasons that i cannot understand,the allowance is exceeded by 300 minutes.I asked for the extra minutes to be absorbed by t-mobile to no avail. I asked to be released of their illegal contract i.e every cry for help or advice generates a new contract.My problem is that t-mobile’s services stinks i.e for 4 years,my daughter has not been able to use the phone in CAMBRIDGE,MASS but upon complaining,i
was told to use a land line or stay out of Cambridge.A contract for which t-mobile was hired has not been fulfilled,my daughter must use public phone to call home,or use a friend’s better network or call from a different area. For all these inconveniences,I should be compensated and released from te so called contract
Sounds like you need to call Bas Rutten, the MMA legend to come and ‘break’ your contract for you!
Check out the lighter side of Bas on http://www.celldefense.com and have a good laugh. Imagine unleashing him on your carrier!
This worked for me today! The rep was very kind and when I explained the contract changes she said “you are absolutely correct”. She then chacked if I was within the timeframe to qualify for the ETF waiver and to my surprise said told me I was! She said that all I need to do is port my numbers to another carrier before the timeframe is up and my account will automatically be cancelled. Woohoo! Hello iPhone.
This is kind of sad for me because I’ve been with t-mobile for 8 years, but their service and phones just haven’t been cutting it recently. Too bad because their people are so wonderful. I want to thank my rep, Lisa, for making my last day easy and pleasant
Also, make sure if you do this you use it before September 30th!!! That’s when the eligibility timeline ends!
it didn’t worked for me they said, there are qualifications to do this
1. you should have overages for the last 6 months
2. you should be in t-mobile contract for at least a year
Because I have been laid off and using my landline to avoid overage charges, I basically shot myself in the foot. The criteria for overage in the last 6 months apparently is written in blood, whether notification was received or not (I did not receive as I have paperless billing and they did not e-mail, text or put notification on mytmobile.com account pages of the change).
In addition, the rep advised me they are NOT regulated to provide any notifications regarding pricing.
I was T-Mo before it was T-Mo (back in the VoiceStream days) and am done with them now. If they cannot show any loyalty then at the end of this contract, neither will I.
Just called T-mobile. Talked to a CSR and their supervisor. They wouldn’t budge. Told them it was a change in contract and that it was voided and that it could also affect me next month. They just kept saying that I had to have overage. They even agreed that the earlier contract terms weren’t that clear.
I guess it is just luck on what CSR you get. I will try calling back in a few days and see what happens then.
I am a bit confused because we just got paper notification of this in the mail today. How long ago was everyone else notified??
We signed on with T-Mobile in 2001 but our current contract isn’t up until March. We have no overages in the past 6 months but are definately in the “prior to 2008″ category. Are we out of luck??
It’s me again. I called today and IT WORKED!!! I got out without the ETFs. I truly didn’t not think it would happen, but it did, and I didn’t have to ask to speak to a supervisor.
Now, the question is: Verizon or AT&T?? They are the two providers that actually receive a signal in and around my home.
Good luck everyone!!
one tip: if you have a paperless billing, you’ll be able to cancel it. say that you DID NOT received the notice (which i really didn’t), then they will give in
I just did it today and it worked! I have been with Tmo for 10mo and had overages for only 2mo. I quoted the FCC statement above and they took care of it without any problems. Did not have to talk to any supersivor either!
Good luck!
Does anyone know how to get this waived if you signed a contract after June 28th 2008?
I have been on the phone with Tmobile for 30 min…. they have done everything in the world… offered to knock down prices, take 200 off my early termination fee etc… I have been a customer of tmobile since 1999 and i have 4 lines…. they kept having me increase my package to cover the overage over and over and over and over again and my children are still going over so much that the overages are twice as much as the bill… They kept trying to tell me that I accepted the terms by making a change to my account… I told them to pull the tape on the call and they will see that I called to complain about the overages then and they pursuaded me to go to yet another higher plan instead of cancelling the account…. I spoke with customer service… then cancellations finally escalated to management in customer service and they finally cancelled the contracts on all 4 lines…. I AM DONE
I got this done today! I told them I just wanted the option to shop around, and they released me from my contract but kept service going. They also lowered my messaging family plan by $10 per month, and gave me free “fave five” or whatever it is if I choose to stay with t-mobile.
if you call the reps and have them check the coverage in your daughters area and it comes up that she does not recieve coverage in cambridge then they will waive the early cancellation fee! i just talked to them 10 minutes ago!
mia, how did you get out of your contract? i am having the same problem with tmobile. i have spoken to 3 different reps and they will not budge. they say i am stuck in my contract for the same reason that i need to up the minutes because the lines on my account kept going over the minutes
So, after filing a FCC complaint about a month ago regarding the overage fees. I received a call from Tmobile informing me that they have removed my contract… meaning I get to stay with the service but would be able to cancel my lines without paying ETF.
It took about a month to receive a letter from FCC and another 2 weeks to receive a call from Tmobile.