That makes no sense. Why would NOT extending your contract get you out of paying an $18 fee? You'd think that they would waive the $18 fee if you agreed to a contract extension...

Wow, punishing the customer that could easily change carriers. Way to go!!

Cell companies are so weird. I'm moving to South Korea.

So basically, ppl should upgrade before their contract expires? and then later on extend the contract? huhh.....

I really liked T-Mobile until now. If they pull this on me when I upgrade to a new phone in a few months, they will have lost me as a customer.

If I only paid $18 for the phone, then I'm cool with it. But if they want to charge me $18 on top of the $150 I'd be spending for the phone, subsidized or not, they can suck it.

No, I'm afraid if you upgrade before your contract is up and choose not to extend it, then you will pay full retail price for the fun. This is pretty scummy. I'll have to think about when my contract expires canceling and then either A)signing up with another company and getting all the good deals associated with being a "new customer", or B) Go with a prepaid for 3 months, and then sign a contract with T-Mobile as one of the "subsidized" new customers.

if you do not sign a 2 year contract then the PHONE will be bought at RETAIL price.

Most times they loose money when they sell the phone at contract prices.

This is exactly what NEXTEL/SPRINT does except they charge $36.

ITS A SCAM PRETTY MUCH...

@aparsons: I think this is because you only get a discounted phone when upgrading if you extend your contract. It seems they would just be if effect taking back $18 of that discount.

Instead of adding a fee, I don't see why they just didn't raise the prices...I guess they can advertise lower prices but really, that would only piss me off more.

@Coder4Life: Cingular has also been doing this for years.

Actually, this isn't such a bad idea, as it may help people be more responsible in the long run... If anything, it will encourage people to think twice before blindly upgrading to the latest "gotta have it" technology.

You know why this annoys me? Because I can ALREADY get a much better deal by jumping ship since resellers provide huge discounts! If anything they should be offering a beefy discount because you were nice enough to stay.

Can't you buy a phone somewhere else and just switch out the Simm card?

Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tubeman!
Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tubeman!
Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tubeman!

I'd pay the 18 bucks if they also gave me a Wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tubeman!

@Troy F.: I agree. You would think they would be willing to eat the cost in order to retain customers. Since I can take my number with me to any carrier, I fail to see the incentive.

I hate to say it, but this is one of the things Verizon does well with the "new every two" promotion, giving you a free upgrade every two years. With some web-only specials, my wife got a free Razr.

@GothamGal: Yes, you can just change the SIM card, but it has to be with a T-Mobile phone (and maybe Cingular also, not positive). I bought a "re-furbished" phone on ebay when I got my subsidized T-Mobile phone wet. I've had no problems.

Phones that run like computers are being sold for next to nothing these days. Anyone recall the razor appearing on Cingular for $399.99 w/ a 2yr agreement. Phones of that caliber are often free after rebate or less than $50 dollars these days w/ renewal.

I have formerly worked for the dealer and direct channel for a major player (One of the top 4) almost 5 yrs, and we used to charge different levels for new vs. existing contract subsidies on phones.

I think this is only if you go into the retail store, I bet if you do your upgrade online, no fee is involved!

Companies are starting to do this, since the cost of paying a sales rep for the transaction in the store exists, and the company pays less to reps and dealers on the backend for the transaction.

Its all about passing the buck in one way or another, either you do the work and upgrade online, or pay for the face time of a rep to do it for you.

I am not defending the telco's but If you saw the amount of time an average customer wastes during an upgrade asking about every little detail on their account from the past 2yrs you would have a better understanding. Its really the time spent on the transaction you are paying for. Avg transaction time (forgot where I saw it) is around 1 hr, guess what most corp store reps make on average an hour 10-14 hr + a commision on the sale (usually $1-10 per line/plan renewed)

This is really a plan to ease traffic in already crowded stores and even out the cost of labor.

Just an insiders view on the practice, but I think it sucks that reps get paid less to retain a customer, and the customer gets to foot the bill too. The companies still make out either way.

@aparsons: Because they aren't supplementing the cost of the phone if you don't extend the contract.

This kind of sucks, I'm a t-mobile customer and my contract ends next month, so I was going to upgrade, but maybe ill just switch to another carrier.

So you should just cancel and then start a new account with the new phone at the discounted rate. Great plan, Tmobile.

"If you saw the amount of time an average customer wastes during an upgrade asking about every little detail on their account from the past 2yrs you would have a better understanding"

If the contracts and gazillion complicated plans weren't enormous documents of fine print written in legalese, you wouldn't have people wasting your time with so many questions.

@xtc46: you dont have to upgrade you know. if your phone is not working you can buy a tmobile to go kit and use that phone. no extensions, no fees and you always have another sim card with minutes (well until they expire).

also, if you are thinking to upgrade you can tell them you are shoping for other companies due the prices and they can do something about it. they have preferencial plans and phone options that they can offer (retention team, the so called cancelation team)

if your contract expire you gain that consumer advantage.

I thought cell companies made all of their $$ off of the service, not the device (except maybe with few exceptions like the iPhone or Razr)? $45 per month x 12 months = $540 ($1080 for 24 months). Sure, that profit comes with costs to the carrier so it's not like they're making that net, but compared to this, $18 seems like a drop in the bucket...

Hmm... Never have paid full price for phone from Alltel. Never have had to pay to change my rate plans with them, never have had them hound me because my contract was running out. Only have ever signed 1-year contracts with them. Out of contract with them now and I'm sure when the time comes for a new phone, they'll be practically giving me one again.

T-Mobile should just raise their phone prices rather than alienating their customers. Gotta love the local AT&T rep's response when I was asking them about plans. "If I choose this plan, what will my final bill be, including taxes and fees?" "I'm not sure, it's not much more you'll just have to wait and see when the first bill comes." "No thanks." Cell phones are taxed at ~20% in Florida.

T-Mobile's practice does not make any sense, maybe on purpose. I was rather amazed when I recently upgraded my phone with Sprint online.

I got a Free phone and a $35 credit on my service if I renewed for 2 more years. I couldn't really find a better deal with less hassle so why not?

@FLConsumer: That's why I'm on Alltel. When I renew my contract every 21 months (another fantastic thing about Alltel- 2 year contracts are technically renewable 90 days before expiration without an addition to the contract) I get a phone for the same price as any other new contract, there's no extra charges, fees or other nickel and dime stuff. Their customer service may not be great, but that's pretty much the same across the board.

But really T-Mobile. Giving old customers the shaft while you try to entice new users with cheap phones so you can then charge them out the wazoo a year or two later with fees designed to bring in more people after that? Bad idea.

Just one more reason I don't buy my cell phones from my cell phone company.

eBay, Buy.com, Amazon are all much better in terms of selection, price, and no-bullshit-fees-like-this.

T-Mobile, baby, welcome to mediocrity! Seems like T-Mobile set its course downhill after I left them (to cash in on the independent dealer provided free phones, no less)

Guess I'll be staying with AT&T just a little bit longer.

Well sad fact is, they all do the same thing, more or less. Fact is, in the end everybody pays. If you don't pay it up front, you'll pay it under the covers. T-Mobile along with all other carriers, will recover losses in one way or another. After reading the above post, I wish Alltel was available in my area, but unfortunately it's not. My only other choice is Verizon with it's sky high pricing, or Cingular (I would rather use homing pigeons then use AT&T as a carrier!)

T-Mobile might want to reconsider their decision. To get a larger market share, you have to offer something the other guys aren't. This ain't it! Come on T-Mobile, get with it! You can absorb the loss!

It pays to stick with a phone until it either dies or is no longer useable with current technology. Take care of it! (buy a case for it & resist losing it or dropping it in the toilet!

I bought a siemens cf62T When they were first available by t-mobile and still use it today (even though it is a buggy, slow POS!).

Also.. prepaid is the ONLY way to go unless you constantly live on your phone ( I pay less than $75 a year on my phone because I only use it when I absolutely need to.... I dont chat for hours on end with my friends on my phone.... and I use it as my home phone as well).

And buying a slightly used phone (that some moron wanted to get rid of because he just HAD to have the latest trendy expensive gadget-phone)is a great way to get a decent phone for a bargain price.

Note: About 6 months ago I replaced the battery & got one for $6 on ebay! Still going strong!

just t-mobile following suit with the other carriers - boo! upgrade for at&t is $18, sprint/nextel is $36...i don't believe verizon has an upgrade fee, but their phones are overpriced in the marketplace, so you could argue that it's already included.

it's true that in many cases you get better deals by jumping ship, but at what cost? every carrier has a new line activation fee that'll set you back about $40. & if you don't know what the carrier's service is like in your area, you could be in for a big surprise.

now is really a great time to haggle those fees & prices - cell companies reached their saturation point about 1-2 years ago, so new customer business is not like it was before. the companies have been slow to react to the reality that they actually have to treat their customers well to retain them, but i think they're starting to understand. retaining a customer for 5 years is much more profitable than turning one over every 2 years (most customers don't upgrade their phones every 2 years...more like every 3-5, so in reality, that upgrade has already been paid for tenfold).

@jmackowi: Also, do note that *any* T-Mobile phone will work, including phones from the UK and Germany- such as the iPhone. This is due to the fact that T-Mobile does not lock their phones to a specific country, only to their network. Other than that, any unlocked phone will work.

Of course, for the iPhone you'd still have to apply the no-activation hack, but better than messing around with unlocking and possibly damaging the baseband radio (well, according to Apple, anyway).

@mac-phisto:

it's true that in many cases you get better deals by jumping ship, but at what cost? every carrier has a new line activation fee that'll set you back about $40. & if you don't know what the carrier's service is like in your area, you could be in for a big surprise.

Indeed...I'm not 100% dissastisfied with T-Mobile, but I'm not exactly in love with them either. Pretty much the only thing keeping me there is that switching providers means multiple visits from the F*ckup Fairy.

But it's annoying as anything to go to Amazon and see for instance that a new customer can get a Blackberry Pearl for 1 penny (or -$50 if you remember to send in the MIR) but after having been with T-Mobile for 5 years, the same phone would cost me $150 after rebate...plus another $18 now.

Obviously a high-volume channel reseller can do some wheeling and dealing, but shouldn't your current provider be doing SOMETHING to encourage your continued loyalty?

@warf0x0r:

I love that video!!

@greatgoogly: That's a great idea, but it won't work. I used to be a sales rep, and you don't get any "new customer" credit for switching from pre to post-paid. As far as they're concerned, you're not a new customer. Also, once you sign up with T-Mobile once, you're in their customer database forever. If I'm not mistaken, you'd have to have your post-paid account cancelled for about 6 months before you could be considered for any new customer incentives. Be warned.

I, for one, will just buy unlocked phones from now on. Sure the price is a little higher, but at least I have a choice outside of T-Mobile's meager offering of crappy phones.

Didn't this company used to have the best reputation for customer satisfaction? Things sure do change.

Verizon Charges an upgrade fee on certain customers w/ lower end price plans. I believe it is $20 per line if not done on the internet (Direct Channel). High-tier customers were exempt from the fees, last time I checked.

@Troy F.: you're not the only existing customer that gets pissed about this. hell, i used to get pissed when i was activating phones simply b/c i was the one that had to put a happy face on it & relate the info in a way that customers would understand.

but the truth is, new activations are simply worth more to carriers - usually $200-300 more in bonuses, not to mention residual payments that the originating store receives for every month you keep service with the provider, regardless of when or where you upgrade!

so, why don't they care?

I'm not 100% dissastisfied with T-Mobile, but I'm not exactly in love with them either. Pretty much the only thing keeping me there is that switching providers means multiple visits from the F*ckup Fairy.

i would venture a guess that most cell customers think exactly the way you do. so, i would recommend the following:
1) gather up a bunch of info you have on the phone you want from competing providers & from t-mobile (for new accounts)
2) call t-mobile, tell them you've been a long-time customer (stress this part...it really does matter) & are generally happy with their service, but you're looking at jumping ship.
3) translate it into dollars for them - $150 is literally all this is about. that's pennies for them (the blackberry data plan ALONE will gross them $1000 over 2 years).
4) see what they say - you might still pay $150 for the pearl, but they might give you some service credits to offset the cost (that's a standard practice for retention CSRs). if that is the case, make sure the CSR notes the account accordingly (so you don't get stuck in a new contract w/o the promised credits).
5) make sure they waive the $18 fee. tell them you find it insulting that you would have to pay for them to retain your business. it's new, so each CSR is probably allowed a small percentage of waivers before they need manager approval.

if they don't budge, or you're not happy with the results, jump ship. DO NOT CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU WANT TO PORT YOUR NUMBER! find a new carrier, port your number & then call t-mobile to make sure your account is cancelled.

If you have been a T-Mobile customer for any decent length of time (I'm going on 6 years myself) you might have some leverage. If you want to upgrade phones, ask for them to waive this fee, and if they do not threaten to switch carriers (and do so if they refuse). This is one of those fees that I'm guessing will be easy to get the rep to waive so they can get the upgrade/plan renewal commission. You just have to press for it.

There is one thing to keep in mind; most full-line T-Mobile stores (we're talking corporate stores, DON'T go to the crap "authorized resellers"!) can issue one-time credits up to $20 for "customer satisfaction." (I'm looking at page C-11 of my Retail Employee Manual right here.)

No, I'm not a "retail employee", but I am a T-Mobilie who was against charging stupid fees to start with as we slowly throw our good name at the wall and sink to the level of the other carriers. Sorry about that, folks. And, again, "authorized resellers" are the devil. We don't make more money selling you a phone directly, we just have slightly less incompetent staff and you'll never get bait-and-switched with an "equivalent unbranded" phone, call in two weeks later, and wonder why your myFaves isn't there.

@mac-phisto: Good tips Mac-Phisto, thanks. If the OpenMoko project has taken off by the time I'm ready for a new phone, I'll give these a try!

I'm frankly confused by the Tmobile policy of charging customers who want a new phone practically full price - ie $249 for a blackberry after being a customer for 2 years - when I can go to a new carrier like AT&T and get the same device for free or close. I want to stay with T-mobile, but even when I call them, they want to charge me $250 for the privlige of paying them $79/month for service. But if they don't want my business i'm happy to go somewhere and thank you congress for forcing number portability on the carriers.

remeber, you charge what the market will bear, if everyone else is doing it so will tmob, but the fee is allowing BOGO deals, and remember as well unlimited bberry is 19.99 @ tmob and INCLUDES tethering, same thing at other carriers can be $40 a mnth, 1k min is 49.99 others 59.99 for 900, if your RP cost 20-30 more a mnth that "free" bberry is really 480-720, i work for tmob, so take that into account be we have NEVER competed on phone price, but on the RATEPLAN, but if we don't get off our butts sprint is going to take that advantage away

T-Mobile should understand one thing: T-Mobile, please never undervalue your customers anytime. They will teach you very good lesson. They leave you for good and you will end up spending more to bring them back!!

I did learn this upgrade yesterday when my son upgraded his phone at T-Mobile. They have been good to us so far; but it does mean that we have to stay with them for ever. T-Mobile please never underestimate the power of your customers who will teach you a good lesson soon!!

I'm not going to die for any wireless company, but I think what a lot of people failing to realize is that EVERY carrier is doing the same thing. T-Mobile is actually one of the last to charge this fee.

Ironically some people are saying they should just switch and go to another company, but DON'T FORGET THERE IS AN ACTIVATION FEE with your new carrier which typically runs much more than $18.

I hate extra fees more than anyone. I used to work in the wireless industry so I understand the rationale behind this... as consumers we get a deal on the phone and the company makes it up on the back end through a contract/service agreement. Clearly no phone is FREE.

I would guess that T-Mobile is getting pressure from their parent company (German owned) to show higher profits. Perhaps they are trying to generate more money for their advertising budget (which is typically less than half of their competitors). If I am T-Mobile, and all my rivals are making extra money by doing this, I would probably do the same.

As sucky as this is, there is no easy answer. However, fellow consumers, don't switch to another carrier just to stick it to T-Mobile... you'll actually be paying more just to prove a point.

i can't wait till May to switch to cingular. I've been a customer for almost 10 years now but they've recently screwed me for the last time. Its time to get out. Their CSR's are terrible and I'm often overcharged for random inexplicable things.

Its likely just marketing. They probably lowered the cost of their phones for advertising. The other carriers are doing it. I wouldn't sweat it.