Class Action Lawsuit Alleges T-Mobile Broke Its Lifetime Price Guarantee

Angry T-Mobile customers person filed a people enactment suit implicit the carrier's determination to rise prices connected plans that were advertised arsenic having a beingness terms guarantee.

"Based upon T-Mobile's representations that the rates offered with respect to definite plans were guaranteed to past for beingness oregon arsenic agelong arsenic the lawsuit wanted to stay with that plan, each Plaintiff and the Class Members agreed to these plans for wireless cellphone work from T-Mobile," said the complaint filed successful US District Court for the District of New Jersey. “However, successful May 2024, T-Mobile unilaterally did distant with these bequest telephone plans and switched Plaintiffs and the Class to much costly plans without their consent.”

The complaint, filed connected July 12, has 4 named plaintiffs who unrecorded successful New Jersey, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. They are seeking to correspond a people of each US residents "who entered into a T-Mobile One Plan, Simple Choice plan, Magenta, Magenta Max, Magenta 55+, Magenta Amplified oregon Magenta Military Plan with T-Mobile which included a promised beingness terms warrant but had their terms accrued without their consent and successful usurpation of the promises made by T-Mobile and relied upon by Plaintiffs and the projected class."

The ailment seeks "restitution of each amounts obtained by Defendant arsenic a effect of its violation," positive interest. It besides seeks statutory and punitive damages, and an injunction to forestall further "wrongful, unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair conduct."

“T-Mobile Will Never Change the Price You Pay”

The lawsuit's allegations volition beryllium acquainted to those who work our erstwhile articles connected the caller terms hikes of up to $5 per line. In January 2017, T-Mobile issued a property merchandise announcing the "Un-contract" committedness for T-Mobile One plans. "Now, T-Mobile One customers support their terms until THEY determine to alteration it. T-Mobile volition ne'er alteration the terms you wage for your T-Mobile One plan," the institution said astatine the time.

The terms warrant was besides hyped by past CEO John Legere astatine a property lawsuit successful Las Vegas. But separately from the announcement, T-Mobile revealed a important caveat that fundamentally nullified the promise. T-Mobile said successful a FAQ connected its website that the lone warrant was T-Mobile would wage your last month's measure if the bearer raised the terms and you decided to cancel.

Many customers saw the salient beingness terms warrant but not T-Mobile's contradiction of that committedness and signed up for plans reasoning their prices would ne'er beryllium raised. The "Un-contract promise" was offered connected definite plans betwixt January 5, 2017, and April 27, 2022.

T-Mobile started offering a antithetic warrant called Price Lock connected April 28, 2022. This was primitively much ironclad than the Un-contract, and customers who snagged it were seemingly not impacted by this year's terms increases.

But T-Mobile past created a confusing concern with Price Lock. The stronger mentation of Price Lock was offered from April 28, 2022, to January 17, 2024. It was replaced by a weaker version that is inactive called Price Lock but is fundamentally the aforesaid arsenic the Un-contract. Customers who signed up for Price Lock connected oregon aft January 18, 2024, don't really person a terms lock—but they tin get their last month's measure covered if T-Mobile raises the terms and they determine to cancel.

After the terms hikes, respective T-Mobile customers contacted Ars to express their displeasure. One of those customers said that helium canceled and tried to get his last month's measure covered, but T-Mobile refused to supply the refund. The Federal Communications Commission told america it had received astir 1,600 user complaints astir the terms hikes arsenic of precocious June.

Class Action Plaintiffs

The suit says the plaintiffs and galore different customers were swayed to power plans based connected promises made successful the January 2017 announcement and afterward.

"The experiences of the named Plaintiffs [are] not unique. Numerous wireless customers were motivated to power to T-Mobile based upon the Press Events and Videos archetypal promoted astatine the Las Vegas Trade Show," the suit said. "The extended advertizing by T-Mobile successful people and connected tv besides motivated customers to power to what person present go bequest plans that T-Mobile customers are nary longer capable to keep."