So long, T-Mobile! Mark was looking for a new phone to replace his, and has been a loyal T-Mobile customer since 2007. What’s that worth to Big Pink? Not all that much. He saw a great deal reserved only for new customers. Here’s the catch: that deal included a nice price on a smartphone and a $50 per month unlimited no-contract plan. They weren’t about to let a contract customer move on to a dissolute, contract-free lifestyle. No way. 

When shopping for a new cell phone (which is a pain for my non-techie/ over-analyze everything/procrastinating self) I naturally turned to T-Mobile, my carrier since 2007–first in St Louis and then in Columbus, OH. To my dismay salesfolks in three or four stores here in Columbus could have cared less about my sterling payment history, overall low usage and ZERO calls for customer support over the six years I was with them. I was confused: why not retain an existing, loyal customer?

When on vacation in [redacted] ( with my ancient Razor on hospice care with it’s one-or-two-calls-then-dead battery) I thought I found a T-Mobile deal–a great price on a new Samsung “Smart” phone and an attractive, no-contract “unlimited” plan for 50 bucks a month. Alas–that price was only for NEW customers only–my loyalty to T-Mobile counted for nothing. The salesperson in the store suggested I call the “retention” brain trust; when doing so they merely confirmed the offer was for new customers only–my history be damned!

I ended up with a Boost mobile plan: $55.00 bucks a month (dropping by $5 bucks for on time payment each six months for the first 18 months) and a nice (for my usage level), Android WARP phone…..What were are you thinking, T-Mobile?

Guess they’d rather pay for ads to recruit new customers to their contract-free plans than keep an existing one. Oh, well: their loss.

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