T-Mobile Eliminates Handset Upgrade Fee

That's what they did for about 6 months before they implemented the "upgrade fee".

You know, I can justify an activation fee to my customers and they'll get it....Their's no way to justify an upgrade fee to a customer that doesn't make it sound like I'm ripping them off.
So I don't even try. Here's how it plays out when a customer questions the fee:

Customer: $18 upgrade fee?

Me: Yea.

Customer: So what is the $18 upgrade fee for?

Me: Well...It's a fee associated with doing an Upgrade.

Customer: Um OK. [Blank Stare]

Yeah i love these comments. I love how customer's reasoning works. Phone's worth $300 full price and customer gets it for free. They pay $29.99 a month so it only takes 10 months to make up that cost.... WRONG. Seriously, think people. How does t-mobile pay it's employess? How do they pay for advertisement? Yeah we all know cell companies make profit from us but serously... you complain about the ONE TIME $18 you spend on an upgade but you don't complain about the 86cents you spend every month per phone line you have?

I love comments that obviously have some bias... just look at the names!

I work for an AT&T dealer and have to put up with the same thing, same $18 BS.

How does T-Mobile pay thier employees? Commission from signing the contract. What you get paid is a fraction of what the company expects from the contract. Its a 2-year contract... do you really think they're ONLY making $100 - $200 (or how much they subsidize the phone) over that two years?

What really ticks me off is that these are costs slapped on to your monthly bill. That would be like Target charging me an extra $20.00 as a "customer fee" and sending me the bill a month later.

I have always gotten them removed, usually with minimal difficulty, but it is still entirely asinine. Activation fees at least are disclosed upfront and can somewhat be BS'd as costs to add a line to their network.

I wish I got the $18 fee for all the people I upgrade.. 🙄

I guess I wasn't really clear in my position about the whole thing, so lemme clarify.

Activation Fee: Ridiculous but can justify

Upgrade Fee: Complete BS charge and shouldn't be tolerated by customers or retail reps.


I remember reading the email that was sent by the higher-ups when they announced we were gonna start charging upgrade fees. The main reason they gave was basically:

'Other carriers charge an upgrade fee so we're gonna do it too.'

Our reaction at the store: So just because other carriers are doing it means we should do the same? That's one major differences between us and other competitors. Along with only 1 year contracts (Gone), Best deal on rate plans (Gone), and JD Power & Associates #1 Wireless Best Cus...
(continues)

"Other carriers charge an upgrade fee so we're gonna do it too."

Did you ask them... "Well, if all the other carriers were jumping off a bridge would you jump too?" 🤣

ah...memories of childhood

$29.00 a month? Anyone with a plan like that most likely has a disposable basic phone. Try > $60.00/mo for someone likely to 'upgrade' . And they are locked in for 2 additional years.

Next, if a carrier subsidized a phone by $150.00, but then demand I pay them $18.00 a month later, why don't they just discount it by $132.00 upfront so they don't worry about these fees? And if this $18.00 really helps recover the subsidy, why is there still an etf?

Can you imagine if you bought something on sale at walmart and had them send you an $18.00 "customer" fee a month later in the mail?

It's an outrage becase it is a "because we can" fee. That's why they don't bill it upfront... They wait until you've taken the phone home, gotten used to it...
(continues)

I agree with the general point your trying to make but just so you know, the activation fee IS billed to you but the upgrade fee is charged when you pay for the phone(if you purchased it at a retail store).

First: I was just saying that as an example of an average. 3phones on a $90 a month fam plan would be $30 each.
Second: Your example at walmart is stupid, its not like walmart pays $200 for a CD then sells it to you for $10.
Third: This fee was to make money, we all know that. You really think a company can spend all that money on buying a 3g network then not raise a fee? Without these fees not 1 company would be where they are today. So go ahead and start a riot for cell phone companies to get rid of contracts, fees, ETF. Lets see how far carriers advance in the next couple years without the same income play with

All you guys are saying why don't they just add the $18 price to the price of the phone??? Because people would b!tch about why they don't get the same price as a new customer. Then they say yall treat new cust better then your existing ones. So cust will always complain about something. The $18 is completely justified by carriers. Like every one has said they have to pay the bills some how, also recover the cost of the phones they are discounting. For some reason people seem to think that there is an exception to every rule when it comes to wireless sales and products. I have been doing this for 6 years and people never seem to surprise me with their new complaints and concerns with cell phone companies.

🤣