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In addition to the usual little freebies and... slightly more unusual big freebies, T-Mobile appears to be trying another strategy as well to make subscribers affected by a recent price hike wave (or two) get over their disappointment with the "Un-carrier." Unfortunately for Magenta, the letter sent to at least one customer explaining the debacle we extensively covered over the last few weeks is highly unlikely to convince said user to "close" their complaint with the FCC.
As was fairly easy to predict, it seems that some people have done a bit more than simply vent their frustration on Reddit or X after receiving those dreaded text messages of an impending monthly rate increase, taking their grievances to the Federal Communications Commission.
Did T-Mobile lie when unveiling the "Un-contract" offer?
While it's unclear if the FCC can actually step in and force T-Mo to keep its prices unchanged, admonishing and even financially penalizing the operator for breaking its promises to customers is most likely well in the Commission's purview. And because the "Un-carrier" is already in quite a bit of legal and regulatory trouble regarding a few different issues, we can totally understand why its wish is for these complaints to go away.
But Reddit's "mjsztainbok" is definitely not backing down, and something tells us a lot of other folks are either already in the same position or soon to join this camp that's probably giving T-Mobile's lawyers plenty of headaches. One of the reasons why this particular customer, for instance, has no intention to drop their complaint is that T-Mo's explanations are unsatisfactory and quite possibly inaccurate and deceitful.
This is the letter T-Mobile sent to a customer asking them to drop their price hike-related FCC complaint. | Image Credit - Reddit.
Among others, Magenta claims that its "Un-contract" program never guaranteed prices wouldn't increase, merely offering to pay customers unhappy with a potential hike their "final month's recurring service charge" as compensation if they decided to leave for a different carrier. While that promise is apparently still on, multiple Redditors are citing a now-deleted press release from 2017 as proof that T-Mobile is lying.
Said Un-contract announcement indeed made it seem like customers on T-Mobile ONE plans would never see an unauthorized price hike, being the "only" ones with the "power to change" what they pay. That's obviously no longer the case, and it's just one of a few different reasons why T-Mo could get in a world of (new) trouble with the FCC.
But wait, there's more
Another point of contention is the "Price Lock" guarantee, which sounds even more self-explanatory than the Un-contract offer. T-Mobile insists this is being honored exactly as it was originally marketed in 2022, but that's also up for debate, and a lot of customers want the FCC to weigh in as well.
For its part, T-Mo is highlighting that "lines covered by the April 28, 2022 to January 17, 2024 Price Lock guarantee are exempt from the monthly recurring rate plan changes"... unless you happened to migrate to a "new plan not covered by Price Lock." That already seems to overcomplicate what was supposed to be a very simple and straightforward deal, and on top of everything, quite a few people are saying their prices were "unlocked" without warning or proper explaining.
A lot of T-Mobile customers are feeling cheated of their Price Lock rights. | Image Credit - T-Mobile.
False advertising is a problem that may well stick with the former "Un-carrier" (which many exasperated customers are now referring to as the "Re-carrier") for quite a long time going forward, both as far as retaining existing customers is concerned and in terms of continuing to boost those all-important subscriber numbers.
You can probably expect a huge class action lawsuit to follow shortly after these somewhat scattered FCC complaints Redditors have been talking about for the past couple of weeks, which means that this issue is unlikely to go away (completely) for months and maybe even years to come.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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