T-Mobile Simple Choice Plans

[nativepaul]

Interesting with contracts changing in the states, maybe things will start changing over here too if it catches on. Is that the first plan in America with unlimited data? is tethering included? Unlimited data is fairly common over here but normally not with tethering (unless you root and steal your tethering) I use my phone tethered to my PC for internet at home and use around 100gb a month, need unlimited tethered data for that as I don't want to steal it, which limits me, at the moment there is only 1 plan I am aware of in the UK that gives unlimited tethering which is the "one plan" on the three network but I pay £32/$48 for it, Maybe if Tmobile and O2 bring out competing plans the price will come down a little.

[brijar]

So just a couple days ago I ported my number to T-Mobile and signed up for their Simple Choice plan. The first hidden/not advertised fee that hit me was the $10 SIM card. I was expecting that after googling around a little. I brought my own recently craigslisted LG Optimus G E970 (AT&T version, but I bought an unlock code for it the previous day for $9 from cellphoneunlock.net using a 50% off coupon to make it $4.50). They required a credit check, which I wasn't expecting. I asked if it was mandatory and the lady said it was. I seem to have "passed" the credit check, though. There seemed to be some kind of promotion that waived the $35/line activation fee. I was then told that I could have up to 3 lines without a deposit. I asked how I could get 5 lines and she said that lines 4 and 5 would each require a $50 deposit. What she didn't tell me was that in order to get those deposits back, you had to have an active account in good standing for at least 12 months. That has CONTRACT written all over it. Basically an early termination fee in disguise. I went ahead and got everything set up. They gave me a temporary number. It took a few hours for my real number to get completely ported over. Voice, text, and data worked immediately and quite well where I live.
Something to note about prepaid vs rate plans is that most of the prepaid carriers I've encountered include taxes in their monthly rate. I discovered that at least T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon do NOT include cellular taxes in their monthly rates (their fine print always says this). These taxes are about 20% in Missouri. If I went with my plan to have 5 lines at $110 per month ($22 per phone), taxes will increase that to over $130 per month ($26 per phone). This makes it harder to convince my relatives to switch from their $30 per month prepaid plan, especially since they have to get gsm phones and if I ask them to commit to one year.


Conclusion and things to be aware of:
SIM card fee $10
Possible $35 per line activation fee
$50/line deposit on lines 4 and 5, refundable after 12 months
Cellular taxes ~20%

If you want to keep it really simple and reasonably priced, I would suggest a prepaid deal like Page Plus, Ptel, or T-Mobile's $30/month, 100 minute, unlimited text, 5GB data plan.

Hope this information helps someone.

[gtxracer]

Originally Posted by brijar

The first hidden/not advertised fee that hit me was the $10 SIM card.

They required a credit check, which I wasn't expecting. I asked if it was mandatory and the lady said it was. I seem to have "passed" the credit check, though.

There seemed to be some kind of promotion that waived the $35/line activation fee.

I was then told that I could have up to 3 lines without a deposit. I asked how I could get 5 lines and she said that lines 4 and 5 would each require a $50 deposit. What she didn't tell me was that in order to get those deposits back, you had to have an active account in good standing for at least 12 months. That has CONTRACT written all over it. Basically an early termination fee in disguise.

Cellular taxes ~20%

I take it you haven't had a contracted plan in a while?

The new plans are no contract. Yes, they run credit. Every major company runs credit, its a service and the company is taking a risk by signing a person and letting them make payments on a phone or give them a discounted device. It's business and technically you're placing items on credit. Thus, your credit is run. You should also note they don't charge you interest.

As for your deposit - that's based on your credit class. You have decent credit and therefore didn't have a deposit on your first 3 lines but in order for T-Mobile to give you full access on 5 lines they wanted a little assurance that you'll continue to pay your bill. It is NOT a contract.

If you're wondering why other carriers may not do that, it's because they'll charge you a lot more and get their money back much more quickly. Think about it - 2 phones, with payments, unlimited talk, text AND 4G web, with insurance, is $176 plus tax. Wanna know how much it is at Verizon? Go shopping, you'll see its near $300. I know this because I used to sell all four major carriers, like I said earlier.

The problem with the market right now is people want a great phone for free and they want an unlimited plan for $25 a month without a contract. Not gonna happen.

By the way, cellular taxes are from the state and federal government. They'll get their hands on the prepaid stuff eventually but for now the state has us paying sales tax on every prepaid transaction.

There are no more activation fees, the $10 sim charge is for replacement sim cards for the life of that phone line. Would you rather keep paying the $35/line activation fees on the bill or $10 right there in the store?

But, alas, no matter how hard we try to please our customers there's always one that doesn't appreciate the deals we give them and is a cellular detective, able to insert clear and precise insight into our business with Google search as backup.

[brijar]

I am merely sharing my experience and thoughts. I commend you, sir, on your well written reply.