T-Mobile deprives customers of something they need the most right now
T-Mobile policy change makes rivals more attractive.
T-Mobile is limiting some promos to new customers. | Image by The Hollywood Reporter
Smartphone prices are rising, but you can always count on carriers to finance your next device, right? Sure, but that might make it a lot harder for you to switch to T-Mobile.
Loyalty doesn't always pay
Keep and Switch and Family Freedom are only for new accounts now. | Image by PhoneArena
Device subsidies offered by carriers are a great way to purchase devices without paying the full price. The downside is that they tie you to a carrier for the duration of your installment period, which usually drags on for two to three years.
To ensure these contracts don't scare off potential switchers, T-Mobile offers two promos.
The first is Keep and Switch, which reimburses up to $800 per line to clear your remaining device balance with a rival carrier. The device can then be used on T-Mobile.
The second is Family Freedom, which offers the same $800 rebate but requires you to trade in your device and buy a new one from T-Mobile on an Equipment Installment Plan.
Previously, even existing accounts could take advantage of these deals by opening a new line, but T-Mobile has made existing accounts ineligible.
New customers only
As first noted by The Mobile Report, starting July 9, only new accounts qualify for Keep and Switch and Family Freedom. For some reason, accounts that only have Home Internet or T-Satellite will also qualify.
If your household already has voice lines with T-Mobile, you are out of luck.
What's your reaction to the move?
Baffling move
T-Mobile has long used these promos to get more customers to join, and even temporarily boosted rebates in the past to steal market share.
That makes this pivot very strange. By closing off these deals, T-Mobile is essentially stopping a solo switcher from joining an existing family account, practically handing them over to a rival network instead.
The policy change is reminiscent of a tweak that limited the number of times a single promotion could be applied to an account from four times to two. It was seen as an attempt to prioritize individual Billing Account Numbers (BANs) over large family plans. The change was later walked back.
Terrible timing
As smartphones get more expensive, fewer customers are going to buy devices outright. By restricting the very promos designed to wipe out the remaining balance with another carrier, T-Mobile is making itself less attractive to new customers.
At the same time, it is incentivizing the creation of new accounts, which is a metric it has started favoring over individual lines.
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