T-Mobile's Sneaky Move: How to Escape Expensive Plans Without Paying a Dime

T-Mobile will begin notifying its long-time customers on October 17th about a mandatory upgrade to their mobile plans. If you are currently on the Simple Choice, Select Choice, One, Magenta, or Magenta 55 Plus plan, you will be automatically migrated to a more expensive package starting in the November billing cycle. However, affected customers have the option to decline this upgrade by contacting T-Mobile's Customer Care support line.

The news of this required upgrade first came to light through a Reddit post on October 10th. The Mobile Report then picked up on the story and T-Mobile later confirmed its authenticity during a conversation with CNET. According to T-Mobile, customers can expect an increase of approximately $10 per line with this migration. However, by setting up autopay, customers can save $5 per line. It is important to note that autopay requires a debit card or bank routing details. As mentioned in CNET's report, customers who are concerned about T-Mobile's history of data leaks may prefer to continue making manual credit card payments.

T-Mobile has not disclosed the upgrade options available to its customers. However, the aforementioned Reddit post shared a document containing unverified details regarding the migration process. Based on this document, customers with Simple Choice and Select Choice plans will be moved to Magenta or Essentials Select packages. Those on Magenta or One plans will be switched to Go5G, while seniors with the discounted unlimited plan, Magenta 55+, will transition to Go5G 55+. It is important to note that these details have not been confirmed by T-Mobile.

Ironically, this story carries a significant paradox. The affected plans were initially introduced during T-Mobile's "UnCarrier" campaign in the mid-2010s. During this campaign, T-Mobile pledged to eliminate price uncertainty and criticized other carriers for using short-term promotions to retain customers. In a blog post from 2015, former T-Mobile CEO John Legere even assured customers that their prices would not increase and might even decrease.

Affected customers will receive a text message and email on October 17th regarding the mandatory upgrade. They will also be informed that they can choose to opt out by contacting T-Mobile's Customer Care line and will have one month to do so. However, the option to opt out is not a benevolent gesture by T-Mobile, rather it is a ploy to extract additional funds from inattentive customers.