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As part of their latest Uncarrier concept, the feisty service provider led by the sharp-tongued John Legere is offering to pay off the early termination fees associated with competitor’s wireless contracts when users switch to T-Mobile’s network. They are also offering subscribers the chance to pen “breakup” letters to their ex-carriers. According to a T-Mobile spokeswoman, more than 80,000 of the letters have already been created.
T-Mobile admits not all of those taking advantage of the opportunity have actually committed to making a switch just yet, but regardless the campaign has allowed many to voice their disappointment with current carrier agreements. For T-Mobile, a company bent on shaking up the industry, this can only be a good thing.
The unconventional tactics have done wonders to boost T-Mobile’s position with consumers, but for competitors John Legere’s brash sensibility is likely already wearing thin. Regardless, expect the Deutsche Telekom-owned carrier to continue riding this wave for the foreseeable future.
Have you penned a breakup letter to your carrier as part of T-Mobile’s promotion? Let’s see ‘em in the comments below.
[via Reuters]
I really like what T-Mobile is doing; I think they’re doing a tremendous job marketing and positioning themselves. My only issue with T-Mobile is still their coverage which ultimately is the most important thing to me. The coverage where I live is actually pretty good but there are far too many areas around where I live that don’t even get 3G. Customer service is awesome, their ability to think outside the box is awesome but they must improve their coverage.
This is true. I’ve noticed Tmo getting better while on it, but I live in Houston. No telling about other areas where the coverage was below par.
I wanted to cancel my at&t yesterday, but in order to do that for my 4 current family lines, I have to:
1) Buy 4 phones from T-Mobile
2) Trade all 4 phones in
3) Wait 6-8 weeks for ETF to come in
I wonder if it’s true that I have to buy all 4 phones AND trade in all 4 phones? I thought I can bring my own devices from at&t if they are unlocked.
Sorry bud in order to take advantage of t-mobiles deal you are going to have to give up all those phones. That way t-mobile can resell those devices.
and also make it harder to go back to the other carrier in case Magenta doesn’t work out..hehe
Not if you are switching back to AT&T. You would at least get HSPA with the T-Mobile phones assuming you get them unlocked.
I hear you….but how many consumers know about getting phones unlocked?
Actually, a tmo phone should fully work on AT&T, but an AT&T phone may not fully work on Tmo. The Tmo phones should have that one extra band for their own networks.
You can give TMO the old phones sitting in your drawer if you like… then buy the cheapest ones they offer at $50/pop, then take the SIM cards from the cheap phones for use in your AT&T phones…
I read they just changed it to accepting damaged phones. So bring out all those old phones, trade em in, buy that cheap T-Mobile handset, and then take your new Sim and put it in your old phone.
Make sure your old phones have compatible bands to T-Mobile that way you can enjoy the network. And if you do have to buy a couple new phones, do the math and I’m sure you’ll still be saving money
I understood it as:
If all you did was wanted to cancel your plan, they will pay up to $350 for the ETF. You didn’t necessarily have to buy phones for Tmo.
But I didn’t read the Tmo version, I read the Phandroid interpretation. So I could have read it wrong.
I thought of threatening Verizon with this too try and get an upgrade whilst keeping my unlimited.
All great minds think alike , that was also in my bag of tricks .
Tried that and alas, I’m switching! Contract ended 2 weeks ago with big Red and I’m using too much data for Verizon to allow me to keep my unlimited plan. They just said (on the phone and in person) “it’s been great having you as a customer all these years, we hate to see you go, do you need your account number to help with the transition?” Seriously…they were very good in helping me leave!
Bwahahahahaaaa!!
I need to stay off Phandroid while at work.
You don’t have to leave unless you want to. They haven’t taken action on eliminating unlimited plans yet (without using your upgrade).
It’s not blackmail if a big corporation encourages consumers to do it. Lolololol.
How about uncarrier 5.0 and get rid of credit checks!!
How about paying your bills so you have good credit?
How about you tell your mom to pay her bill or the pimp hand is coming down hard!!!!
Really? Is that the best you can come up with?
That was pretty lame!
Not at all! Boondocks’s “A Pimp Named Slickback” style right there! Very funny!
I’m sorry would slapping my penis on her face be better? that can be arranged.
WEAK!!!!!!!
Ummmm….yeah…No.
Bill paid, now what?
That’s why there’s prepaid. And you actually save money because you don’t have to pay all those taxes and fees every time.
Seriously, I could use Tmobile or AT&T but I’d really rather use prepaid and save some money. Only reason I would use the other companies is maybe for a family plan. Just buy a Nexus phone and go prepaid.
Uncarrier 5.0 I would like to see data be treated like data!!! Unlimited on BOTH the smartphone, and mobile hotspot. LTE can handle tons of data just fine.
Uh…? I have unlimited data on my Hotspot. I still get data just fine. Pages may redirect, but I technically still get data.
My Dropbox, and League of Legends works just fine after I reach my 2.5GB. LoL!!
I need to turn douche mode back off. LoL!!
I get what you’re saying, but that’s probably not going to happen any time soon. For starters ISP, or home internet providers don’t even give you unlimited data, so how are cell phone carriers supposed to?
“I just wanted to hear Macklemore”
I find it interesting how much folks enjoy him acting like a douche…
The other carriers have plenty of problems to exploit. Can’t he do it with some class?
He’s an advocate for consumers, I appreciate that a lot!!!
Honestly I haven’t followed closely enough to decide whether that’s true, or it’s just a different tactic for gaining customers.
Ron Weasley + Draco Malfoy + Snape in Grandma’s clothes = Macklemore
Nope, but it did seal the deal come April.
I don’t feel like waiting 8 weeks for the money. They should be able to pay you a lot faster. Ideally ahead of time, and require a bill or they charge you for it, to prevent fraud.
It took about 3-4 months for Verizon to send me the ETF bill. Was somewhere around $300 I think, there may be some wiggle room here. Something to think about.
Honestly I am just lazy. I will switch in April and not have to hassle with it at all. Hoping the m8 comes out before then.
T-Mobile, you wanna take over the industry? BUILD YOUR FREAKING NETWORK UP!! I’d love to leave Verizon, but no one can match their coverage. At the end of the day I’m paying for a service, and as horrible as VZW is as a company their network is fantastic. I can’t even remember the last time I had a dropped call.
I’m glad I don’t live in an area where I’m forced to use Verizon. I’ve only lived in places that had good coverage without Verizon.
there’s always straight talk where you pay $45 for unlimited talk, text, and if i recall 2.5GB high speed data(which is pretty much what most people have on their verizon plans) all on AT&T’s network.
Don’t understand why this is getting down voted. Straight Talk is a great option. I’m probably going to switch to Straight Talk and buy an AT&T sim card after my Verizon contract is done with
I suppose there are some disadvantages to living in the third biggest country in the world with the most debt in history after all. Lolololol.
They are, but not as fast as we’d like. I’m a gardener and I’m all over the place for work, but in the past few months I’ve noticed better coverage here in LA (Sierra Madre and Arcadia to be more specific). By the end of 2015, I expect T-Mo to be a very stable network for me :)
If you travel a lot, maybe it’s worth paying twice the price. I jumped to T-Mo to save the dough since I rarely travel outside of my Metropolis.
I bought the Nexus 5 and waiting to leave Verizon in 2 weeks after contract ends (they loused up the GNex terribly and left a bad taste in my mouth). I’d go to Tmo except I think at&t has better coverage. I’m just glad to go anywhere without a contract. Any thoughts which is better?
Make sure to check coverage before you switch. As long as you live in a major metropolitan area T-Mobile should be great. Plus don’t forget the benefits of unlimited data and hotspot use.
My friend just moved from AT&T and she keeps forgetting she has unlimited data. LoL!!
She can actually use her smartphone more! Watch more videos, Crackle, Netflix without worry of how much data she’s used.
Price wise T-Mo is better. Coverage wise, AT&T is currently better.
I’ve been with Verizon since the days they were (for me) NJ Mobile. Then NJ MObile became Bell Atlantic Mobile, then Verizon Wireless. Verizon has always had the best coverage among the carriers, but their costs and their “limited data” plans have me concerned. Thankfully, my 5 phone account is grandfathered to the unlimited data plans, so for now, I don’t have to worry about it. Then again,…you never know what Verizon is going to do. With that said, I bought a Nexus 5 and opened up a T-Mobile account to test the network. From where I am and where I travel, the data network is very good, however, it’s just not consistent. My data drops in elevators, certain malls and supermarkets, mountains, etc…. To be honest, I never had that problem at all with Verizon. With Verizon is 100% full coverage in the state of New Jersey and New York for me. The difference in quality is also apparent in Manhattan, where my data signal keeps getting lost. Think about it, you are depending on Google Maps to navigate you to a certain address in New York City and than…BAM!!!…Data signal lost or whatever the voice thing is telling me. I appreciate the efforts and policies, John Legere and T-Mobile are offering me, but if it’s a choice between cost vs reliability….C’mon here, we are talking about a phone……reliability wins all the time.
So T-Mobile….Fix that Network!
I have T-mobile, and though I love their service, I do agree they need to patch up some spots.
i actually have the opposite experience as you. I have absolutely zero issues with tmobile in manhattan. I even get service on some subways. The only time I have noticed a signal loss when my friends still have signal is when I go into the basement of a store or restaurant, my signal consistently drops there.
I’m sure its pretty bad in the mountains as you say, but I have no problemm recommending tmobile signal to anyone who primarily resides in the NYC area.
if coverage is an issue than, again, go with straight talk.
$45 a month, unlimited talk, text, 2.5GB data, ATT network.
i’m not here to promote straighttalk, i’m just pointing out that there are options out there and people do not need to be a slave to the big two.
From what I recall, Google Maps/Nav should be caching the entire route so that, in a period of the route where you have no data, it still navigates (at least, if you stay on the route it has you going. Deviate from that, and of course it’ll need to pull data to recalculate.). I took a road trip from western Kentucky to northern VA, and at several points during that trip, lost mobile data (I’m on Sprint), but Nav kept on chugging along as I drove.
It does. My phone was dying, but I really needed GPS, so I got maps up and running then turned off my data so my phone could last.
I got off track one time, though. =.S
Maps should cache the route and continue to guide you regardless of data connection. But…I understand your concern. It is real. It is a problem. T-Mobile has admitted it. They are working on fixing it. The 700MHz spectrum they purchased from Verizon is a first step. Their current AWS bands do not penetrate walls and other blocking structures. It also does not reach out as far as a lower band spectrum. Also, the old TV 600MHz spectrum will be up for auction either at the end of 2014 or beginning of 2015 and as long as the FCC doesn’t play favorites, T-Mobile could get a good chunk then. With all the people switching to T-Mobile, it’s bound to make a difference in the bottom line and allow them to purchase more spectrum. In the past, AT&T and VZW have had all the money and all the ability to buy up any and all of the low frequency spectrum available. So, with that being said, try again in a year. If it’s still not up to your satisfaction, try again the next year. It’s bound to get better. Also, VZW may have to change some of their policies to keep customers like you from going to T-Mobile, so this may benefit you without having to make the switch!
How dare you blaspheme TMobile here!
A true consumer will speak positively or negatively of ANY company! I am first and foremost a consumer!
Good for you. But rarely do they deserve the positive. :)
Is gaining 4.4 million customers in just one year not positive? Having more pro-consumer policies like upgrading more often, not positive?
Well even when they were doing poorly Tmobile has always been the most innovative wireless carrier
Sorry.. when I said ‘they’ here I meant companies in general, not TMobile specifically.
They just bought low band spectrum from Verizon so they are doing what they can to fix it. FYI low band penetrates buildings better and travels further. Expect devices to support tmo low band at the end of this year and widespread coverage early 2015. End of 2014 is when some of that should be built out.
We just left AT&T to switch to Republic Wireless. Our bill has been cut by 2/3! I’m never signing another long-term phone agreement again.
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Living in Canada I admit I had to buy my Galaxy S3 at full price 18 months ago ($630) to get it with Mobilicity. That being said I paid $31.50 per month for 12 months and I now pay about $30 per month. It’s only applicable in a few cities but I hardly travel outside the city anyway so savings galore for me and I’m getting unlimited everything. People on contract with Rogers, Bell and Tells pay $55/month minimum and don’t even get unlimited data.
*Telus*
Absolutely Love T MO , I was with Sprint for 18 yrs , couldn’t wait for 4G any longer , I’m very happy , with that said coverage in some area’s are HORRIBLE , I go to the Jersey shore every summer for a few mnths and there is literaly no data , I really hope things change by the summer ……….WTG T MO……………….TGIF PeePS….
Tmo doesn’t have decent coverage at the Jersey shore? I would think that would be well covered!. . .Maybe your talking about Sprint?
I wish maybe it’s just Ocean City New Jersey only and other parts have no problems , I’ve been off of Sprint for over two years now , guess I should of clarified that it’s Ocean City New Jersey , that’s Horrid ..lol as I said hopefull that will improve this year as it seems there expansion unlike Sprints seems to be Growing at Lightning Speed……..
they should call you the run on sentence bandit.
And Verizon’s network can’t handle a lot of people which is why they have such low data caps.
Pros and cons.
No one has decent coverage on the Jersey Shore. People are too busy trying to get that perfect orange tan to cover up.
I’ve been with Verizon since 2001. Great coverage here in Iowa. I have no idea how good T-Mobile is here. I know I-Wireless is an affiliate.
Hey fellow Iowan! iWireless is an affiliate, but they have their own towers throughout most of Iowa. T-Mo doesn’t cover the Cedar Valley, for example, bit iWireless has HSPA+ in Waterloo and Cedar Falls. T-Mo just covers the Interstate, Des Moines area, and Ames.
I wish we at least had the option of picking T-Mob over iWi. We don’t if you want to keep your Iowa area coded number. iWireless has some good plans, but nothing as innovative as T-Mobile’s stuff, like the free international roaming. If VZW somehow finally takes away my grandfathered unlimited data I’ll be sending a breakup letter of my own.
A friend of mines did this. She LEFT AT&T and moved to Tmo. She said she went at 12pm and the store opened at 10am. What I’m getting at is that she said the clerk had witnessed about 50 migrations that day alone, so far. LoL!!
It looks like a lot of people aren’t liking their carrier in Houston.
Houston will still always be an att town. That’s because att is based out of San Antonio. Slightly better coverage than Verizon and faster data speeds. If you don’t travel t-mobile is good. You do get what you pay for with att.
Not only that but what t-mobile wont tell you is on most phones if you want to leave t-mobile the remaining balance on the phone is due, which is often much higher than the equivalent ETF balance you would be required to pay to leave att.
Seriously? That last part though. LoL!!
Dude, this is taken from “Tmobile.com”. Like on the home page right underneath the phones.
“IF YOU FINANCE YOUR DEVICE AND CANCEL WIRELESS SERVICE, REMAINING BALANCE ON PHONE BECOMES DUE.
0% APR On Approved Credit for well-qualified buyer.”
I have noticed that if you have good coverage with Tmo and don’t travel, you will most likely not experience any “slow speeds”. LoL!!
I live in Connecticut, Waterbury, New Haven, Stamford, and Westport are all very, very solid coverage. Only Route 69 in between Waterbury and New Haven drop to EDGE, and Willimantic is all EDGE, but Google Maps does work in Willimantic.
Sprint is just the worst… It has the worst coverage of any major carrier, in any major city EVER. Literally the speeds were so awful that it crippled you phone. When I just took my 2 lines from Sprint to T-Mobile, the latter gave me $350 per line and $300 per phone! It doesn’t even have to be the phone you’re using on said account, the catch is, and I know I’m stating the obvious, you have to buy a new phone from T-Mobile. All in all, I walked away with about $1300. Not bad when my EFT where only $300 total.
We just did this last week from AT&T and it took 3 hours to switch because of the line in the store. Pretty crazy stuff. So far I’m happy with the service. Also, if you get low bars in your house call 611 on your TMobile line and ask for a free signal booster and they will give it to you and you only pay 7 dollars shipping. We have good signal in the neighborhood, but not in the house. Now we have 4-5 bars in living room!