Like many other service providers, T-Mobile penalizes subscribers who don't pay on time by charging a late fee. At the moment, the late fee is the greater of 5 percent of your monthly charges or $7. What this means is that if your bill remains unpaid past the due date, T-Mobile looks at two numbers for the calculation of the late fee (5 percent of your bill or $7) and picks the larger number.
That means that $7 is the minimum late fee right now. Starting in November, this will increase to $10. Not everyone will get hit with the same penalty, though. State law caps the late fee in Washington, D.C. (2 percent), Maryland (1.66 percent), and New York (2.08 percent). If you live there, you will pay less than everyone else.
Customers who don't pay their bills on time will be penalized more heavily from November.
T-Mobile applies a penalty for late payment to encourage users to pay on time and push them toward AutoPay. This free service allows customers to link a bank account or debit card to their account so payments can be deducted automatically every month.
The last increase in the late fee occurred in 2022. At that time, the carrier changed the penalty from the greater of $5 or a variable percentage allowed under state law to the greater of $7 or 5 percent of applicable monthly charges.
Technically, you can avoid these payments by not falling behind on bills. While that sounds doable in theory, life doesn't work like that. That's why customers are angry at T-Mobile for increasing the penalty.
If you don't clear your past due balance, your service might be terminated. In that case, you will have to pay a $20 account restoration fee for each line on your account to reinstate service.
Are you disappointed in T-Mobile for raising the late fee?
Of course.
59.26%
Nothing T-Mobile does surprises me anymore.
33.33%
No, it's a small increase.
0%
No, it's avoidable.
7.41%
For years, T-Mobile bragged about holding the line on prices while competitors didn't. That changed when it scrapped the price lock guarantee and raised prices despite promising not to do so.
After explosive growth over the past few years, T-Mobile has maxed out on opportunities to expand at breakneck speed. The company's new CEO, Srini Gopalan, is expected to focus more on squeezing efficiencies out of the business. Increasing seemingly minor fees, such as the late charge, will help the company increase its revenue. It also seems to be reconsidering partnerships that once benefited customers in order to streamline operations and lower expenses.
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Anam Hamid is a computer scientist turned tech journalist who has a keen interest in the tech world, with a particular focus on smartphones and tablets. She has previously written for Android Headlines and has also been a ghostwriter for several tech and car publications. Anam is not a tech hoarder and believes in using her gadgets for as long as possible. She is concerned about smartphone addiction and its impact on future generations, but she also appreciates the convenience that phones have brought into our lives. Anam is excited about technological advancements like folding screens and under-display sensors, and she often wonders about the future of technology. She values the overall experience of a device more than its individual specs and admires companies that deliver durable, high-quality products. In her free time, Anam enjoys reading, scrolling through Reddit and Instagram, and occasionally refreshing her programming skills through tutorials.
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