Another reason to not sign a mobile phone contract

Good pickup by Consumerist here, using one of their inside sources. Word is that T-Mobile is now charging a fee of $18 to upgrade your phone. Yes, when your contract is up and you can gleefully walk to any provider you wish, T-Mobile is going to charge you an additional $18 to get a new phone. This is, in essence, $18 off the subsidy of a new phone. Subsidies are provided for customers who sign contacts. The reason, as given in the insider e-mail, is that “the new fee will help underwrite the cost of selling subsidized phones to new customers.” This is fundamentally backwards. Yes, T-Mobile should want to sign up new customers. But to alienate their existing ones in favor of the new ones is in poor form. We’ve always known T-Mobile to be good to their subscribers. We have a buddy who has been with them for four years, and he now gets 400 minutes for like $25 per month. But now they want to charge you more when you sign a new contract? If we were T-Mobile subscribers, we’d walk away immediately. Remember, the consumer, after being under tight restrictions during the contract period, actually holds the upper hand for once. Customer acquisition costs are high in the wireless industry — some customers can cost up to $800 to replace — so the carrier really doesn’t want to lose you. So why, then, would they charge you $18 more than they’re charging a new customer? Sorry, T-Mobile, but we’d recommend that anyone looking to sign a new contract and get a new phone should simply go elsewhere. If the company is going to treat their loyal customers this way, they don’t deserve to have them. [Consumerist]]]>