T-Mobile customers can cancel their contract without penalty due to increased text message fees
Effective June 1st, T-Mobile's text message rates will increase from $0.10 to $0.15 per message. Consumer advocacy groups like UCAN maintain that such changes constitute a materially adverse affect to a wireless customer's contract, thereby allowing the customer to terminate his/her contract without penalty as provided by standard contract law and the cell phone company's terms and conditions (except Cingular). T-Mobile has acknowledged this publicly. As reported by www.consumerist.org, T-Mobile spokesman Peter Dobrow told RCR Wireless News that, " Customers may terminate their contract without incurring an ETF soon after receiving their notification of the pricing change."
T-Mobile's materially adverse clause in its terms and conditions says that, unless notified otherwise, customers have 14 days to cancel their contract without penalty due to a materially adverse contract change. But be careful. Cell phone companies don't enforce material adverse clauses uniformly, and a lot depends on the customer service rep you talk to. T-Mobile's clause also states that you accept the changes by using your service. While this should not apply to the 14 day window, you may end up with a nasty sales rep bent on keeping you as a customer. If you know for sure you want to get out of your contract, call T-Mobile on June 1st from a landline phone and don't use your cell phone untill your contract is cancelled. This is the T-Mobile notice:
On June 1, 2007, the charge to send a picture, video, or multimedia
message (MMS) to a US wireless number from the US or Canada, and the
charge to receive an MMS message from a US wireless number while you
are in the US or Canada, will decrease from 25¢ to 15¢ per message.*
The same day, the charge (a) to send a text or instant message (SMS) to
a US wireless number from the US or Canada, and (b) to receive an SMS
message (including a scheduled alert) from within or outside the US
while you are in the US or Canada, will increase from 10¢ to 15¢ per
message.* If you subscribe to a monthly messaging bundle, then each of
these rate changes will apply to MMS and SMS messages in excess of your
monthly allotment.** All per-message and messaging bundle charges are
subject to applicable taxes.
Be sure to check out guide to Cancelling Your Cell Phone Contract
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cancell contract
i want to cancell my contract i have only had it 1 week and i have already got a bill its not fair i am pregnant and need to cancell it
T-MOBILE Cancellation
My wife and I have t-mobile and our contract is up in June. We have unlimited text but the service is bad(dropped calls, different answers from CSR, Can't upgrade phone). How much is the penalty if we cancel and can we cancel because of the text increase ?
1st off, What the hell does
1st off, What the hell does being pregnant have to do with your cell phone contract? If anything u should keep ur cell phone just to make sure u and ur baby are safe at all times and have the ability to call for help, if in need. I swear u people are sooo dumb!
Right....
.... Yet they're smart enough to spell the word 'you'. Imagine that.
cost of prepaid phonecards
I do not have a regular tmobile account, but do have a prepaid tmobile to go phone. Although I'd rather have a regular account, I have been unable to obtain a regular account because of some credit issues, so I have to settle for using the prepaid instead. To a degree, it is o as I dont have a bill hanging over my head or have to always worry about what time of day I can talk or after 9 at night or if I've gone over my limit, etc. There are prepaid cards available to put minutes on your account. They are available in amounts of $10, 25, 50, & 100. Upon an initial start of a prepaid account, one would need to purchase $100 minutes of airtime to receive an additional 15% of free airtime to future airtime purchases. Ok, but what is it with tmobile and scaling back the amount of minutes when you, say, purchase a $10 card. I remember that I could get 50 minutes with one about a year ago. Now I get about 35 minutes for the same amount. Is tmobile that hard-up for money that they take away or reduce a service while charging you more? Tmobile is so greedy and without compromise. Does customer loyalty mean anything anymore? They suck.
T-Mobile texting scam!!!!
Hi Everyone,
I know a lot of you are having the same problem with the text messaging cost I talked to Don M #1049790 who is supposed to be a big manager, but was the rudest person I have ever talked to at T-Mobile to date.
T- Mobile should not be able to charge people who do not subscribe to text messaging. If you text someone anyway then you should be charged. But you should not be charged for solicitors or wrong numbers or people who think it is funny to text you even when you have asked them hundreds of times not to. I have signed my phone up to not be solicited but I still get them.
Do you know if say a Million customers who do not want text messaging (Do not want to receive it or send it) receive 3 unwanted texts a month T-Mobile makes $450000 a month off of Innocent peoples hard earned money. That is if it is only 1 Million people with just 3 unwanted texts per month, Which I think those numbers are Conservative DO THE MATH. They bring up the point that they have to still receive it through there server well I know with all the technology out there that they could easily put a block on your phone except for the free texts they send you. This is there reasoning behind charging you even though you do not want the service.
I sent a email and a fax to Robert Dotson. Email rdotson [at] t-mobile [dot] com Fax (813)351-4100 I suggest everyone else does the same right away. If they know we will not stand for it and that we will ban together to stop it, Maybe they might just stop being scammers.
I am also thinking of starting a class action suit against them.
Here is the letter I sent to Robert Dotson CEO today:
6-13-2007
Dear Robert Dotson, CEO
This is Charles and Stephanie . We have been complaining for over a year since February of 2006 about being charged for unwanted text charges. My wife and I do not subscribe to texting and do not want to either. We do not want to be nickeled and dimmed for random incoming text from solicitors or wrong numbers or just people texting. I am well assure you are aware of so many complaints from your CUSTOMERS THAT DO NOT LIKE IT. I understand that T-Mobile uses this for billing, upgrades and etc. BUT T-MOBILE FOUND A WAY NOT TO CHARGE PEOPLE FOR RECEIVING THOSE TEXTS. YOU ARE THE CEO, JUST CHANGE THE WAY YOU BILL, AND CHARGE THOSE WHO SEND TEXT MESSAGES AND NOT THOSE RECEIVING MESSAGES. as simple as that.
Now we just received our bill statement on 6-12-2007 and noticed the price increase. Called up to complain again. Well a year ago your customer service in handling the situation of dissatisfied customers, told us that they would give us text credits and when those ran out we could call back up to get some more. NOW, THEY SAY THAT CAN'T DO THAT ANYMORE. Now we do not get that many text messages but WE ARE NOT WILLING TO PAY FOR SOMETHING WE DID NOT WANT. YOU ( T-MOBILE) CAN CONTROL THIS. T-MOBILE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE ACT LIKE THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO. ---- JUST DO THE RIGHT THING----- Why make your customers unhappy. They choose you, why be sneaky , in the fine print , JUST BE UPFRONT. THE WORLD IS UPSIDE DOWN AS IT IS. JUST MONEY HUNGRY AND SCREW PEOPLE OVER IN THE FINE PRINT. That is a fine way to live in this world. HEY, BE THE GOOD GUYS. PEOPLE WILL RECOGNIZE THAT.
As for nickle and diming your customers. How do we know that you don't have a subliterary company or just giving out phone numbers to solicitors or just random texting so YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE CHARGED THESE SMALL FEES. Sure, was .10 cents and now .15 cents is that much, BUT SAY 1 MILLION OF YOUR CUSTOMERS GET 3 unwanted TEXTS A MONTH AT .15 cents THAT IS $450000.00 A MONTH , $5.4 MILLION A YEAR. Well that is great for T-MOBILE BUT NOT FAIR TO YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS.
LOOK OUT FOR YOUR LOYAL CUSTOMER!!! We are giving you money as it is. And we are repeat customers. All of us. Don't just try and screw more money out of us if it is not something we don't want.
Now moving on regarding the cancellation period. For the change to .15 cents. We have our bill for march to April and there is NO NOTICE ON OUR BILL. Also reading on the web by consumer advocates, canceling didn't truly start until June 1st with a 14 day window.
Well I am ASKING you do the right thing and either NOT CHARGE US FOR INCOMING TEXT
or TO CANCEL MY SERVICE in which you offered as a company. THE FINE PRINT IS B.S.
EITHER STAND BEHIND YOUR COMPANY TO SERVE YOUR CUSTOMERS (because we,the customers, are paying your salaries)
OR
FOR WHAT THE COMPANY OFFER CUSTOMERS TO CANCEL WITHOUT THE RUN-A-ROUND fine print.
Please e-mail and respond to this so we can resolve any and all issues.
A Loyal but Dissatisfied Customer.
THANK YOU,
GIVE YOUR ACCOUNT #
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO JOIN A CLASS ACTION SUIT PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!!!!
Remember this is more than just an extra $0.45 to $1 it is about a mis-justice and big company's making money off of innocent people that work hard for there money. With the prices going up such as gas peoples budget is getting tighter and tighter and they are stealing. The only reason they are getting away with it is because too many people just think is just a small mistake in T-Mobiles favor and they can not be bothered. if you add it up they are making Millions off of you and everyone. Stop being a victim and fight back.
I do not agree with stupid law suits but this is pure steeling just think of the older people on a really strict budget who are just trying to call their kids. It could be your Parent or Grandparent!!!!!
T-Mobile is charging us for "Bogus" Messages from Europe!
Dear Stephanie:
My Husband and I have the similar problem with T-Mobile. It is now over one year when we discovered we are being charged for Non-existing Messages we NEVER received from the number which is actually "T-Mobile provider and Carrier for SMS located in Czech Republic". We contacted T-Mobile Costumer services multiple times, and asked them to stop this practices, but they only gave us some credit back, but they say there is NOTHING they can do. It did not stoped, and recently we were informed that from now on they will not gice us any credit back!!! Are you still considering classaction law-suit, or what is going on???Please, let me know, because it is absolutaly outrages what is going on... Thank you in advance
T-Mobile is charging us for "Bogus" Messages from Europe!
Dear Stephanie:
My Husband and I have the similar problem with T-Mobile. It is now over one year when we discovered we are being charged for Non-existing Messages we NEVER received from the number which is actually "T-Mobile provider and Carrier for SMS located in Czech Republic". We contacted T-Mobile Costumer services multiple times, and asked them to stop this practices, but they only gave us some credit back, but they say there is NOTHING they can do. It did not stoped, and recently we were informed that from now on they will not gice us any credit back!!! Are you still considering classaction law-suit, or what is going on???Please, let me know, because it is absolutaly outrages what is going on... Thank you in advance
Please read this-Their own website states text charges of 5 cent
This is for those that are tired of getting stuck with charges that don't belong to them. I noticed my T-Mobile bill going up in price each month, so today, being tired of paying more than what I signed on for, I started to do some research on our bills. Apparently T-Mobile raised the price of our text messaging WITHOUT informing us. We have kept every single piece of paper T-Mobile has sent to us over the last two years...we use one of the phones for business so we had to keep any and all documentation for expense reports and taxes. We never received any "insert". On top of this, for the last year of our service, we have had dropped calls, static on the lines, no service, etc. We have called many times to get the technical problems resolved-even went as far as purchasing new phones (at full cost) for both lines and replacing sim cards-and still-the service is below par. As far as the texting goes-I did my research and then looked at our plan online...I signed in, clicked on "Plans", went to the bottom of the window and clicked on "See Other Included Services", went to the bottom of the next screen and clicked on "More Information About Services", On the next page...First paragraph under the heading "ALL PLANS" If you read the first couple of lines-you will see that T-Mobile themselves say that text messages are only supposed to be 5 cents a text. This is for ALL PLANS-Not just for mine. Yet they are charging everyone more! As far as I am concerned-this is deplorable-and earns them MILLIONS of dollars a month!!!!! A month-not a year or more. Think on it-every one of their customers is paying more than what they say they actually are charging. I called T-mobile and explained that we were very unhappy with the service and now we find out that our Text cost went up. I spoke to a lady and explained what I found on their website and started to ask why they were charging me more than they themselves state the charge is supposed to be. And here I have been paying more for TWO YEARS!!! She said this was a tax, I said no it isn't-read the paragraph. She put me on hold for a few minutes. When she came back, I asked what would they do for me since I have been paying more than required for 2 years. She didn’t know-so I asked for a supervisor. It took a few minutes-but I got one. . She came back and actually thanked me for finding the "typo". She couldn’t believe that no one had found it before. She even confirmed the “typo” with her supervisor and then their business department. When I did get the supervisor, she was very defensive. I wasn’t-I was actually pretty nice. I explain everything again, and I ask her-what was T-Mobile going to do for me since I have been paying over their own rates for the last two years. She states that she has documentation that we received the insert explaining about the Text rate change. She stated that I HAD to have received the insert. I told her I was more than willing to send her every paper I had for the last two years, it isn’t here. Unless I signed it and gave it back (which if I had received it and they had asked me to at the time-I probably would have), she cannot say I received it. I am not a dishonest person-I would take a lie detector test to prove we never received it. She refused to give any-she only offered me a rate of .10 cents for our texts for the last month, but as of right now-I am officially notified that my rate of texts from here on out would be 15 cents per text. I couldn’t believe she said that-I repeated ”So you are saying, as of right now-you are officially notifying me?” She said yes. If that is the case-I should be able to cancel my contract because I am just now officially informed of my text rate change, and since we are still having service problems after trying everything they suggested, we no longer want to keep the service. We especially don’t feel that we should have to pay even more for services that we are not happy with. She said no-and I said-but you stated yourself that people had 30 days from the time of discovery to cancel their contracts without an ETF if they did not approve of the rate change, and you just “OFFICIALLY” let me know of my rate change. She started to get a little more rude now and told me she could not waive the ETF. I explained that this didn’t make sense, from what she herself said in the beginning of the conversation. We keep going round in circles repeating the same points of view. I asked to speak to her supervisor. She told me they weren’t there but she would have them call me. I have “print screened” the page with the 5 cent text rate-with the date of 2-6-2008, so they can’t say it didn’t exist. If 5 cents per text was on their site and I saw it-they should honor it, and have it retro-active for the last 2 years. I just feel that they are cheating everyone, and they aren’t even letting anyone know about it. We shall see what happens.
Some customers reporting T-Mobile is not letting customers out
An article on the Consumerist suggests T-Mobile is giving customers a hard time getting out of contracts for this change...
see the blog post here http://consumerist.com/consumer/tmobile/raised-txt-msg-rates-got-until-m...
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