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When T-Cell introduced worth hikes of as much as $5 per line on older smartphone plans final month, many purchasers have been shocked due to T-Cell’s years-old promise that their worth would by no means rise so long as they caught with the identical plan.
“New rule: Solely YOU ought to have the facility to alter what you pay,” T-Cell stated in a January 2017 announcement of its “Un-contract” promise for T-Cell One plans. “Now, T-Cell One prospects preserve their worth till THEY resolve to alter it. T-Cell won’t ever change the value you pay in your T-Cell One plan.”
Sadly, the promise wasn’t so simple as T-Cell claimed it to be in that press launch. T-Cell additionally revealed an FAQ that answered the query, “What occurs in case you do elevate the value of my T-Cell One service?” It defined that the one assure is T-Cell pays your closing month’s invoice if the value goes up and also you resolve to cancel.
The FAQ said, “The Un-contract is our dedication that solely you possibly can change what you pay and we imply it! To point out simply how critical we’re we now have dedicated to pay your closing month’s recurring service costs if we have been to boost costs and also you select to go away. Simply tell us inside 60 days.”
The FAQ hyperlink now simply redirects to the T-Cell house web page however the Web Archive has a seize of the FAQ from January 2018. Whereas we could not discover an earlier seize of the web page, a dialogue on an Android Central discussion board exhibits that the textual content talked about above was seen by some prospects in January 2017.
The Un-contract was additionally beforehand utilized to T-Cell Easy Selection plans beginning in March 2015. The 2015 announcement stated the Un-contract can be enabled robotically with “no loopy strings, no hoops to leap via, no hidden charges, no BS.”
The current worth will increase reportedly have an effect on Easy Selection plans in addition to different packages, however we have not been capable of finding any language from 2015 that acknowledges an exception that lets T-Cell elevate costs on Easy Selection. We requested T-Cell a number of questions at the moment and can replace this text if it offers extra data.
T-Cell disputes grievance to FCC
T-Cell is pointing to the above caveat to defend itself towards not less than one grievance filed to the Federal Communications Fee after the current worth hike. Yesterday, a Reddit consumer and T-Cell subscriber posted a letter by which T-Cell requested the FCC to shut the grievance filed by the consumer.
T-Cell’s response to the FCC and the consumer who complained stated:
Relating to these modifications, we’re conscious some prospects have inquired about T-Cell’s Un-contract and Worth Lock. With Un-contract, T-Cell dedicated to its prospects that if we have been to extend costs and prospects selected to go away consequently, T-Cell would pay the purchasers’ closing month’s recurring service cost, so long as we’re notified inside 60 days. Per this dedication, prospects who activated on an eligible charge plan between January 5, 2017 and April 27, 2022, can request to have their closing month’s qualifying service cost reimbursed if their charge plan will increase and so they select to cancel service. Prospects merely have to request reimbursement inside 60 days of the value enhance.
The T-Cell response goes on to explain the more moderen “Worth Lock” assure that was supplied beginning in April 2022 and discontinued in January 2024. The T-Cell response stated that buyer strains lined by Worth Lock are exempt from the current worth will increase:
As for patrons with considerations about T-Cell’s Worth Lock assure, it is very important notice that prospects with Worth Lock should not impacted by the change. On April 28, 2022, T-Cell started providing Worth Lock on new account activations on qualifying charge plans. For patrons who activated on a qualifying plan between April 28, 2022 and January 17, 2024, Worth Lock ensures that accounts activated with a qualifying charge plan, inside the enrollment interval, wouldn’t be topic to a worth enhance, as long as the account remained in good standing and the client remained on the qualifying charge plan.
T-Cell’s response to the grievance additionally stated that prospects who change plans lose their Worth Lock assure.