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T-Mobile, the self-proclaimed “UNcarrier” that is shaking the wireless industry up with some big and bold moves to attract new customers, seems to be readying up another big move soon. According to several independent rumors from TmoNews and HowardForums, T-Mobile is apparently getting ready to migrate all of their customers to their new Simple Choice plans by the end of this year.
The language in T-Mobile’s leaked letter suggests you only have two choices — accept the new plans, or get out of your contract without a fee. If true, this will be one of the fastest deaths of grandfathered plans or features we’ve ever seen. But who wouldn’t want to get on T-Mobile’s new awesome plans?
According to the letter, T-Mobile will be giving users a 3-4 month grace period for deciding whether they want to go through with it, which should be ample time to consider all the positives and negatives. Ask yourself, though — if you’ve stuck with T-Mobile for this long, are you really willing to switch now?
People I know with Simple Choice seem to love it, but we’d understand it if some of you aren’t comfortable with giving up a long-standing account that might have some invaluable features T-Mobile no longer offers to new customers. We’ll be looking to drag a response out of T-Mobile to see if there’s any truth to this rumor. In the meantime, let us know if you’d be down with switching to Simple Choice in the comments section below.
I know for a fact, that if Verizon ever decided to force their customers out of their grandfathered unlimited plans you’ll see a huge increase of new T-Mobile subscribers. Not to mention not having to wait over 6+ months for upgrades to their devices.
They can really force you out of contracts in the US? Forcing as in you either take this new plan or we cancel on you?
Maybe it says so in the contract?
It’s a big IF. I honestly don’t know if they are allowed to do that or not. But if they ever did it and got away with it, it would really upset a lot of subscribers like myself who enjoy having unlimited data at their disposal.
Contract changes can be made with proper notification. In this case everyone is being notified that their plans are changing, they can opt out with no punishment or they can continue with their services. This isn’t anything new with any line of business, from cell phones to health insurance.
Contracts are set up to protect both sides while giving both sides options for termination. For the carriers, there’s usually a clause that allows them to make any changes they want, though if those changes are materially adverse (meaning they change the cost or availability of non-optional services), users can opt to leave without having to pay an early termination fee.
Thats why I see this happening with Sprint and Verizon very soon.. Those who have grandfathered unlimited plans number the millions for all big 4 carriers…Sprints Unlimited Guarantee is a huge clue and a giveaway to the eventual axing of their old unlimited data plan. They lore you in with unlimited guarantee data and charge you about 30-40 more for those who stay within 2-3 lines on a plan. I could see those being grandfathered eventually forced to a fully tiered model, after they have announced the end of the unlimited guarantee period. so basically they get those who jumped on the guaranteed plan to pay an extra 30 bucks and everyone else on tiered….from the gist of it i think sprint reps are being really vague and saying that the old plans are not guaranteed unlimited plans. Wonderful how they play with words on contracts.
Ooo!! I can see A LOT of Verizon customers leaving if they changed plans like that. LoL!!
it seems like force. or they will word it in a way on their bills that changes are coming and if you wish to opt out, do so by XXXX date. if you do not respond you agree to incur the costs of the new plan we are moving you to on this XXXXXX date
If they change the terms on you, you can leave with no ETF or accept the change.
You take this new plan, or you can leave for free. Since it’s a violation of the contract you are able to leave for free. It’s not that they will cancel you, but you are able to leave the contract.
Not to be too picky on word choice, just making sure you understand. LoL!!
Me and my brother were on an unlimited data family plan that was grandfathered in but they just kicked us off last month. We already went over the data cap in the first month so yes I am very close to dumping them and going T-Mobile. If the Nexus 5 wins me over then it will be definite.
Did they force you off or did you willingly sign a new contract with new terms? So far Verizon hasn’t kicked anyone off of unlimited.
My brother resigned a two year. I am not sure if he unknowingly accepted the new plan but it was not clear that was going to go away. Either way I need to get a new phone and if I am going to sign on for another 2 years I might as well switch to someone I am happier with.
Verizon is shady. I had them and signed over to my name to apply a work discount (it had been under my mothers for college). Prior to the change i asked if I would need to upgrade my phone that day or not, they said no I’d retain my eligibility to upgrade whenever (i had my droid for 2 years at that point). Well 4 months later my droid died and I tried to upgrade and was told I had to wait another 6 months because my eligibility was canceled on the sign over despite the fact that they told me it was not. I quit and went to Sprint. I will never ever go back to Verizon ever!
I can see this being a potential issue for people who don’t need unlimited everything, who were paying much less than their cheapest Simple Choice plan.
Personally, I use less than 60 minutes a month of talk time (usually not even half that), send 0 texts (the ones I do receive are spam, and, not accepted, since I disabled the messaging app on my phone), and I only truly want unlimited data on their HSPA/LTE network. If it wasn’t for the last option, and I could get away with spending $20, I’d do it, and, I’d be pretty upset they were jacking up the price to $45 on me.
A number of people with feature phones I’m sure fit into this category, particularly the older generations who are less dependent on their devices than T-Mobile’s younger customers. I have friends whose parents only have a cell phone in their car’s glove box, in the event they need to call a tow truck, or 911 in an emergency.
I’m in that same boat… I’m still on a Value 1000 plan (Simple Choice before it was Simple Choice) that saves me about $30 / month over Simple Choice just because I don’t need the minutes.
You’re a perfect candidate to get out of the contract and go prepaid , for their 100 minutes and unlimited data (5GB 4g if you go over that drops at 2g)…and it’s only $30. I’m on it and love it .
Sometimes you need a choice to up vote more than once. I’m reaching the end of my Verizon contract and I’m having a hard time making a decision to stick with Big Red or dip my toe in the Magenta pool. My biggest problem is I don’t live in a major city and I worry about T-Mobile coverage in the sticks. I don’t have a way to test coverage without signing up for service (which I can cancel later). Anyone have any words of encouragement?
Coverage maps they are pretty truthful but in most cases T-Mobile sucks in smaller cities one of thr few things I miss about sprint is that when i went somewhere I always had coverage.
If you’re in a metro then T-mobile is the best. If you are not, sprint or ATT. I refuse to support Verizon after they dicked me out an a upgrade. they can get bent!
I have Verizon also 2 months left. I plan on picking up the new nexus phone and trying out T-Mobile. I live in the sticks also if T-Mobile doesn’t work well enough for me I’ll take my nexus to aio wireless which is at&t and is just as good as Verizon if not better here plus they have T-Mobile prices. I hope to try T-Mobile while I’m wrapping up my Verizon contract so I can then know where I’m going in December and port my number
Last month I used 72 gigs. The first 5GB at 4G speeds, and then, 2G for the rest of it? That would hardly be enough to run Ingress, let alone stream Netflix properly. While I appreciate the suggestion (it’s a plan I didn’t know existed), I’m afraid that it wouldn’t work for my needs, as I truly need unlimited 4G data. Then again I’m currently paying $60 for it, which is far cheaper than any other provider’s offerings as it is, so I’m not complaining. I’m just offering the opinion that, not everybody would be happy with this move. Personally, I couldn’t care less.
Getting some more information on this subject, it looks like this article is incorrect or at best incomplete . Apparently they will not force you into their Simple Choice plans, but they’ll work with you offering some kind of unadvertised plans, and you might be able to keep your unlimited data, too.
“But who wouldn’t want to get on T-Mobile’s new awesome plans?”
People who want high speed data and good coverage, not EDGE and GPRS, and stinky coverage.
I was talking about people who are existing T-Mobile customers still on the old plans. Those people are obviously fans of T-Mobile (or if not fans, then the service is good enough to keep them satisfied).
He’s just a garden variety T-Mobile troll.
Dude are you kidding me right now? T-Mobile speeds in Chicago are faster then anyone would ever need…I pull anywhere from 7-25mbps and so far I’ve never not been able to do something on my Nexus 4. I freakin LOVE T-Mobile and their new plans and like you mentioned Quentyn I’ve been with them so long the only thing that would make me switch is if they pulled something crazy and bad for business. T-Mobile rules…they have great phones and don’t forget the STARTED the whole Android craze….G1 anyone…
I’m still a customer, but I’m guessing that one of the following is true:
(1) You have LTE
(2) You were never in the Loop in the day between June 14 and September 30 or so
For that three and a half month period, HSPA in the Loop was *dead* starting around 10 AM and persisting until I rode the train out of the Loop at 4:40. I *nearly* switched — whether I’ll be glad I waited is another question.
If I lose my unlimited internet at the excellent price of 35$ I’m going to go insane
I’m a happy T-Mobile customer, but this article looks, sounds and smells like an infomercial .
I’m on a contract with a classic plan…this would let me out of my contract? I have a signal booster too, if I switched to their pre-paid thru this change would they want it back?
I don’t think so. You can still sign contracts with T-mobile, but its strictly for phones and their products, not for the service. So your service is like a pre-paid carrier, no contract, while their products and handsets, if you decide to make payments on will be on a contract.
You can cancel your service, but as long as the payments for the phone is not finished being paid off, then you still have to continue paying off the phone even without their mobile service.
And that’s where the BS lies. I don’t have a text plan, saving me $20 a month for our 2 lines. I also get a 15% discount because of my work. Grand total, BEFORE paying the $40 a month for the phones, is $47.55. If I’m forced into the new plans at $45 a line, that would come to $72 after my discount, basically $25 more a month.
Prior to T-Mob’s unchaining the phone to the plan, that would constitute a material change to the contract and you could just walk away with no penalty. Now you can walk away and go elsewhere, but you’d have to continue paying for the (now useless, unless you go to AT&T) phone.
If this turns out to be legitimate, I’m going to be pissed.
Just do what’s best for you. I had AT&T with a family plan, 3 lines 700 mins unlimited text, 300 MB of data on 2 of the lines. Price? 190!
Moved over to T-Mobile, 3 lines, unlimited talk & text, 200mb 4g data on my sons phone, 2.5 GB data on my wife’s, and unlimited on mine. Price? 110! That’s without my EIP though. Add $40 extra for 2 new phones, so $150. Still saving money for unlimited data
Did that say unlimited 4G for $45 a month? How do I get that?
T-mo took us off of our contract after they screwed us with promises of bill discounts in place of subsidies. To fix this, they moved us over to the new system which has pros and cons. Firstly, our monthly bill is comparable to what it would have been with the bill discount and e are no longer on contract. We now have data across all lines while our main two lines are still throttled after 5GB apiece. The two add a lines are at 200MB. We can now tether freely and international roaming and data are free. The downside is we have to pay full price for devices. Deal a day sites will take care of that though. Thank God for Android’s range of price and choice for handsets.
Lol love my tmo it works for me
For me, it will cost $10 extra a month. I currently pay $60 for 500 minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data (no throttling). The closest plan for me is $70. I am being forced to pay $10/month to pay for something I don’t use. I consider this a bad move by T-Mobile forcing me to change. Even evil Verizon didn’t force people off their unlimited plans that quick.
been with Magenta since 2004, if i can get out of contract and keep all 4 GS3s to go unto new family plans…i will be saving $40 per month.
This would not be good for me. I pay $130 per month for 5 phones all with 2GB of data. Under the new simple choice I would pay $160.
In related t-mobile jerkwad news: Tmob retail employees have stated that if they don’t get at least 90%(!) of customers signed up on “Jump!” when upgrading, they’ll be fired in 3 months. A lot of people have apparently specifically asked NOT to be moved to Jump! but were anyway, by someone understandably afraid of getting fired. source: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2478474
They told me that I have to get the Jump program but I can drop it after the first month.
They’ll tell you whatever it takes to get you to initially pad their numbers, because dropping it a month later doesn’t affect them.
“””We have to get 90% of all the customers that buy phones to get jump or we lose our jobs after 3 months if we are under 90%. Some mangers will tell reps to put it on for a month and the manger will credit it after month is over. The system still sees it has a add and the rep is safe.”””
Pretty low.
Or walk the sale …. Smh
You really should mention that the prices offered for the forced migration are quite a bit lower than the prices offered to new customers.
I haven’t seen the full slate of offerings so I can’t say that for myself. The plan option in the letter seems to suggest that is accurate, but again, I am not comfortable stating that without having seen any official material.
$5 lower for my acct. Last time I contacted them about the switch they wanted to charge me $149 service charge for the migration, to which I laughed and hung up.
Lemme see, I have 4 lines with TMobile on the new Simple Choice plan. It’s unlimited talk, text and data (2.5GB LTE speed per line + Hot Spot + 200 MB International Data) and Free WIFI Calling and Texting from anywhere in the world. All for $192 a month AFTER taxes. That’s $48 per line. Yes, I do love the new plans.
Correction, you have Unlimited International Data at 2G speeds now!
Yup, for Free.
Phase 3 of T-Mobile’s Mobile Takeover was announced last week or so. It was Free UNLIMITED International Data!
Oh that’s nice. (Although is hard to spend too much data on 2G speed anyway). TMobile really is being very aggressive to get new clients. Good for them, good for us. :)
Yes it took me 17 years to find this plan, i like how i get billed, the amount never passes $55 usually $53 unlimited internet i think, and be watching lots of you tube, and sound cloud, amazon, i love to have a netflix but i dont think this lg 4 can run it. Just think t- mobile should rule the cell phone business.
My wife and I were on the original “Grandfathered” date plans. Guess what, I was still throttled when I was supposed to be “unlimited”. We switched over to the new plan structure about a week ago. We both got new Note 3’s and are finally able to utilize the LTE Network.
A few things:
-Our bill is now $122/mo for unlimited everything (no throttling), Including insurance and JUMP. We saved $53/mo from previous
-Our network internet speeds jumped from roughly 8-12/mbps on HSPA+42, to around 22-28/mbps on LTE. Im able to get over 2mbps inside my house. Thats impressive.
Because we have been loyal customers for almost 8-years,we were able to talk them into unlimited everything for $20 less per month.
Sometimes it takes being a loyal customer and talking to them. Just ask and you (usually)shall receive.
And u probably got two Note 3s with zero down payment. :)
I did! The wife got $85 trade-in on her S2. I was supposed to get $200 trade-in on my S3, but they screwed up. SO in my favor I sold the S3 for $300. Deff a good deal.
I paid $56 taxes and got $300 for my old phone.
We should write a letter to the FCC thanking them for not letting ATT buy (and ruin) TMobile. LOL
I don’t get what you’re saying. The original plans had unlimited data with throttling at 5GB. Then they had the 10GB and 20GB before throttling. Then they just got the unlimited no throttling.
I’m sorry, but I hate it when people make it seem like they’re data isn’t unlimited when they’re throttled. It’s no different than being in an area with nothing but 2G. Unless you were one of those unlucky people who got throttled beyond usage. I always got throttled to 2G and I was still able to use Facebook. LoL!!
We had unlimited data from back to the OG Moto Cliq….sorry if I wasnt clear as to the time frame. And when I was throttled it was 56kbps. I know from a speed test. Its embarrassing.
I get you had unlimited data. Tmo has always had unlimited data. I just didn’t know you had the unlimited, no-throttle and they were throttling you.
I know, the way to explain it is so confusing. LoL!!
But you’re right about being a loyal customer. They have the BEST customer service. I don’t care what anyone says.
Yeah, they’re pretty good on customer service. I just got a sim unlock code from them for my S4, despite initially being told I couldn’t because I hadn’t fully paid for the phone yet. The supervisor overrode the system when I pointed out I’d been a customer for years.