Outraged T-Mobile customers have filed a class action lawsuit over the carrier’s decision to raise prices on plans that were advertised as coming with a lifetime price guarantee.
“Based on T-Mobile’s representations that the rates offered for certain plans were guaranteed for life or for as long as the customer wanted to stay on the plan, each Plaintiff and Class Member agreed to those plans for wireless cell phone service from T-Mobile,” he said. complaint filed in the United States District Court for the District of Modern Jersey. “However, in May 2024, T-Mobile unilaterally withdrew these older phone plans and switched Plaintiffs and the Class to more expensive plans without their consent.”
The lawsuit, filed July 12, has four named plaintiffs living in Modern Jersey, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania. They seek to represent a class of all U.S. residents “who signed up with T-Mobile for a One Plan, Simple Choice plan, Magenta, Magenta Max, Magenta 55+, Magenta Amplified or Magenta Military Plan that included a promised lifetime price guarantee, but whose price increased without their consent and in violation of the promises made by T-Mobile that Plaintiffs and the proposed class relied on.”
The complaint seeks “refund of all amounts Defendant has obtained as a result of the breach,” with interest. It also seeks statutory and punitive damages and an injunction to prevent further “unfair, unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair conduct.”
“T-Mobile will never change the price you pay”
The allegations contained in the lawsuit are familiar to those who have read our previous articles on the recent price increases reaching as much as $5 per line. In January 2017, T-Mobile issued a press release announcing its “Un-contract” promise for T-Mobile One plans. “Now, T-Mobile One customers keep their price until they decide NOT to change it. T-Mobile will never change the price you pay for your T-Mobile One plan.” the company stated then.
The price guarantee was also excited by then-CEO John Legere at a press conference in Las Vegas. But regardless of the announcement, T-Mobile revealed a significant caveat that essentially voided the promise. T-Mobile stated in an FAQ on its website that the only guarantee was that T-Mobile would pay your last month’s bill if the carrier raised the price and you decided to cancel.
Many customers saw the prominent lifetime price match guarantee, but did not see T-Mobile contradicting that promise, and signed up for plans thinking their prices would never augment. The “no-deal promise” was offered on some plans between January 5, 2017, and April 27, 2022.
T-Mobile began offering another guarantee called price lock on April 28, 2022. It was initially more indisputable than Un-contract, and customers who purchased it apparently did not feel the effects of this year’s price increases.
But T-Mobile created a confusing situation with Price Lock. A stronger version of Price Lock was offered from April 28, 2022, to January 17, 2024. It was replaced by weaker version It’s still called price lock, but it’s essentially the same thing as Un-contract. Customers who sign up for price lock on or after January 18, 2024 don’t actually have price lock — but they can get their final month’s bill covered if T-Mobile raises its price and they decide to cancel.
Following the price increases, several T-Mobile customers contacted Ars to ask express your dissatisfaction. One of those customers said he canceled and tried to pay last month’s bill, but T-Mobile refused to refund the money. The Federal Communications Commission told us it had received about 1,600 consumer complaints about the price increases through the end of June.
Plaintiffs in class action lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs and many other customers were convinced to change plans based on promises made in the January 2017 announcement and later.
“The experiences of the above-mentioned Reasons [are] “This is not unique. Many mobile customers were motivated to switch to T-Mobile based on press events and videos first promoted at the Las Vegas trade show,” the lawsuit said. “Extensive T-Mobile advertising in print and on television also motivated customers to switch to what became legacy plans that T-Mobile customers are no longer able to keep.”