T-Mobile's "Forced" Migration to More Expensive Plans Begins Today

This is where social media can come in handy. Spread the word and provide all the info on how to opt-out. Loudly and CC to local media.

Alan Browne snipped-for-privacy@blackhole.com wrote

I agree that social media can help spread the word as my plan would have gone from $120/month (includes taxes) to about $190/month (with taxes).

The forced upgrade adds nothing to the plan other than Canada & Mexico calling and Netflix and AAA for a year for 1 person & AppleTV for 1/2 year.

That's criminal considering there wasn't any change in my plan for that.

My advice is everyone on T-Mobile call 611 right now and tell them to put this "feature" on your plan so that they won't "upgrade" you to Magenta. "Plan Migration Optout"

I logged on to my account and didn't see a way to opt out so I called them. They insisted Magenta Military will not be changed -- ever. I questioned the "ever" claim but they persisted. I still wanted to opt out for future forced changes but they said it can't be done.

Nothing more I can do.

badgolferman snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote

Hi badgolferman,

Thanks for that data where my situation was different in that they said they added the option to my plan called "Plan Migration Optout."

Mine would have migrated from $120/month for four phones unlimited everything, to $190/month for almost the same limited everything.

Oh, and I get "AppleTV" for six months - whatever the heck that is.

However...

Your plan is specifically singled out in Steve's original reference as being safe from this - while mine isn't listed at all in the chart.

As is often the case, the situation varies with the situation.

But I do thank Steve for cluing us in on this forced migration for many.

Interestingly, both Steve & badgolferman are charter a.h.r ng members.

Or you could just move to Mint Mobile, a Tmobile MVNO. That's what I did

I pay Mint $20/moth for 15 gigs. (It used to be less data for the same price, but they raised it a year or two ago. for everyone.)

I assume Wally means, by 4 phones, four lines. Not one line with 3 extensions, LOL And Mint which afaik is among the cheapest for one line doens't seem to give a discount for more than one. So if I had 4 lines, I'd be paying the same was wally but each would only have 15 gigs. And wally's are all unlimited!!! So he has a bettr rate with Tmobile than I would have with Mint. Didn't I get that right?

micky snipped-for-privacy@fmguy.com wrote

I'd love to pay $20/phone for unlimited everything (where I would consider

I'm glad people use the MVNOs because I'd love to get a better price than what I'm paying - which - is the following $100 for 4 (plus 2) SIM cards.

Many years ago T-Mobile offered free SIM cards for life so two of my six lines are for the iPads - but then I have four lines for $100/month + fees.

A couple of years ago T-Mobile offered free Android phones and half price iPhones (with tradein) so I also took advantage of that as shown below.

We have to be careful about the true meaning of "unlimited", as Steve Scharf would point out - which is that it's unlimited high speed data unless the tower you're connecting too is considered "congested", and in that case, then it's only 50 GB of high speed data on _that_ tower.

In practice, of course, unless you're a college kid, it's unlimited.

If I could get a better deal with the MVNO's, just let me know as I'm fine with T-Mobile, AT&T & Verizon as I've had them all at one time or another.

One other point which you wouldn't know unless it happened to you is my kids when they were in graduate school wanted to use their mobile hotspot.

It's limited to 5GB/month, which, for them, runs out near the halfway mark. What T-Mobile does, to help them know this, is send them a text at 4GB.

Even if they go over the 5GB/month, T-Mobile will just slow them down (there are no extra charges unless you explicitly ask for $10GB/month).

Also the 5GB/month hotspot doesn't work in Europe - but everything else does so you still have unlimited data in Europe with no roaming charges.

I don't know about being a charter member. I think I've been subscribed to this group since the mid 2000's by one pseudonym or another. Probably around the same time as the Toyota group, which is where I know sms from. He's surely been around longer than me.

I didn't analyze the math, just responded to his desire to move to a lower cost provider in general. Looking at it now, looks to me like he's saying the new pricing will be $190 for 6 lines. So you're right, for unlimited that's about $32 a line. If unlimited is really needed on all of them, I would not move, hard to beat that. When you have multiple lines, the big three can be very competitive. If 5gb is enough, then it would be $15/mth at Mint if you buy a year at a time.

The only multiple line thing at Mint is that you can use the family plan option which allows one account to manage the other ones and if you pay for a year at a time, you can pay it quarterly instead of all up front.

I've been here since '93 or '94. In those days I had a lot of questions about home repair. Now 30 years later, I just let the place fall apart and I don't need advice to do that.

When I die, my house will have to go to a flipper. No one else will want it.

sms snipped-for-privacy@geemail.com wrote

I tell it like it is. And I live in the same area that Steve does (he's in Cupertino, while I'm in those "surrounding foothills" of the Santa Cruz mountain range).

I've had all three major US carriers sequentially over time. They're all about the same out here in terms of overall coverage (IMHO).

For some reason, only Steve shills for a carrier on this newsgroup, where everyone else doesn't care what carrier they're on for the most part.

Most of us just pick one of the big three in the USA (AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon) and stick with them - and over time - I've had all three of them.

Rest assured I'd notice if the coverage sucked any more on one than on the other given I live in those "surrounding foothills" that Steve claims has no T-Mobile coverage - but - as always from Steve - fantastic Verizon coverage.

Even nospam wouldn't say that crap since the coverage varies where Steve, the consummate politician, always cherry picks the exact spot to prove the point he pre-determined (which is the only way a politician can do things).

I'm well aware that others (like badgolferman) are of the same opinion that I am, and I'm also well apprised of the yearly annual empirical tests which pit the three carriers for coverage - which never support Steve's claims.

Of course, Steve will pick the one spot in the middle of Death Valley that has only Verizon coverage and not T-Mobile coverage - but that's his ploy.

Steve will also foist fake JPGs that he's personally edited out the captions & the fact they never cover 5G signal - only 4G (not even 3G).

He doesn't tell you any of that so either he's ignorant that these are calculated maps based on what carriers tell the FCC and that NONE of these maps that Steve provides us has _any_ 5G coverage at all on them.

Ever the consummate politician, Steve feeds us this falsified data to fit his pre-determined opinion that Verizon is fantastic & T-Mobile sucks.

BTW... as I said, I've had all three (sequentially) in the Silicon Valley and surrounding hills plus I hike a lot where my friends and neighbors I hike with have all three, and my assessment is that their coverage is about the same in these same "surrounding hills" that Steve swears is filled to the brim with Verizon coverage and not at all with T-Mobile coverage.

After having said they're all about the same, I don't make any money off of any of them (as Steve has said he does) so I don't care if one is better than the other - and - in fact - I might move to it if it was much better.

I'm no fool. I'll take the best service (price to performance) out there, although I don't go to the inordinately complex machinations that Steve is a genius at for finding the one MVNO at the one moment that has a deal.

I give my sincere thanks and kudos to Steve for unearthing the best deals in not only MVNOs but also credit cards and charging hardware - where I've actually purchased most of the charging hardware that Steve recommended.

I even bought both the $100 Google Fi Motorola phone and three free Samsung A32-5G phones when Steve pointed each of them out on this newsgroup, so I find Steve's affinity to find the best deal rather astutely helpful (where the iPhone was half price - with a trade-in - on that same deal).

In summary, Steve is rather astute in finding the best hardware, and in finding the best prices on MVNOs, credit cards and phone deals... but...

Steve shills too hard for Verizon over T-Mobile where most of us on T-Mobile don't seem to be able to support Steve's views on that carrier.

Not that we care about the carrier, per se (as we don't); but we do care that the truth be brought forth - where methinks Steve skews the facts.

trader_4 snipped-for-privacy@optonline.net wrote

I tell it like it is...

The math we should use is the bill goes from $120 to $190 per month for _four_ lines, if I allow them to migrate me (not six lines - because two of the six lines are free for life data SIM cards for my iOS tablets only).

All the math should be done on the four paid lines, is my point. a. I pay $100/month for four paid lines (plus two free iPad data SIMs) b. It would go to $160/month for those same four paid lines

So the forced migration would turn my $120/month (includes taxes & fees) to $190/month (also includes taxes & fees) for four paid lines (2 are free).

In terms of price/line, it goes from $25/month/line (not including taxes & fees) to $40/month/line (not including taxes & fees).

Bad deal in every way given all you get for that extra $15/month x 12 months = $180 is Netflix, AAA for one person for 1 year & 6 months of Apple TV (whatever that is) and free calling in Canada and Mexico.

BTW, I guess it's an "upgrade" because of those things, so T-Mobile isn't lying - they're just being sleazy (IMHO). And I like T-Mobile but I tell it like it is.

I wouldn't mind buying a year at a time but at the moment, the kids need the unlimited data far more than I do (I barely use 1MB of data per month).

BTW, most of that is likely because I'm good at using Wi-Fi since I used to not have data plans long ago so I had to learn how to do things on Wi-Fi while driving and visiting places (like turn the iPad into a speakerphone).

I'm Ok with paying on any schedule since everything is autopay anyway.

Because I mislaid my credit card and the new one had a different number, my annual paymment to Mint bounced today, and looking to fix that, I found something I didn't know about. Is it new?

That is, a "recovery fee" of 20.50 per year (plus taxes and surcharges of $3.50 that I probably did know about, but forgot because it's only

I've had Mint for 5 or 10 years. Is this charge new?

So I switched plans to 10... oops they don't have that. You have to go alll the way to 5. But I saved $60. I think you can buy data at the last minute at an exorbitant rate if you run out, but if I have to do that say twice, I can upgrade the plan back to 15.

"10.1 Recovery Fee. The Recovery Fee is assessed to help recover Mint Mobile’s costs to comply with various federal and state programs, taxes and fees including, but not limited to, (i) state and federal Telecommunications Relay Service Programs, (ii) Federal Universal Service Fund Program, (iii) international, federal, state, municipal, local and/or other governmental franchise, excise, public utility and other telecommunications taxes, fees and charges now in force or enacted in the future, and (iv) other costs we incur to comply with government regulations and programs, which are not taxes or fees that local, state or federal governments require Mint Mobile to collect.

Mint Mobile Service Plans The Recovery Fee is calculated as a flat, per-plan fee (refer to table below), plus an additional 2.5% of the plan cost which is applied to help recover other administrative fees."

It's always been there, the only exception is when you buy a new plan, then I think they don't charge it. Some of it is actual taxes, govt charges etc that Mint has to pay to various jurisdictions, so it varies based on location. But part of it is an arbitrary fee Mint puts on to cover their cost of complying with the govt regulations. Numbers I see are about the same, I tell people expect about 10% additional.

If you're not aware, you can always upgrade at any time by paying the pro-rated difference for the remaining plan. You just can't go down.

The good thing about Mint is it just keeps working, I'm at 6 years now and it's always worked great, no problems. There are probably other services that are a little less money or where you can get about the same rate without the yearly commitment, but not worth changing what works. Tmobile is trying to buy them, deal is still under govt review, we'll have to see what becomes of that.

If anyone is interested in switching to Mint, right now they have a great promo, $15 a month for any plan for the first 3 months. So you can get the 40gb/unlimited plan for that and then it's $30 a month, plus the fees if you pay for a year at a time, $35 if you pay for 6 months, $40 if you pay for 3 months at a time. If anyone wants to switch, let me know here, can give a referral that gives them a $15 credit.

Okay. I guess I didn't pay attention during any of the renewals and if it's not there the first time, I didn't even know about it (so it's not something I've forgotten. whew!)

I still don't like the name Recovery. Every part of every charge is is for profit or to recover expenss, including rent on the cell towers, not just govt. fees.

Today they accidentally continued to say I owed the money after I paid yesterday. I checked the wrong cc and didn't see that I had alread paid so I paid again, but their chat got me back my money fairly easily.

Oh, you're right. I once knew that. Thanks.

Hmmm.