Two weeks after internal documents leaked, T-Mobile dropped its plan to move customers onto newer, more expensive plans without asking them first. The reversal came in October 2023, after a wave of complaints.
The leaked documents said customers would be shifted to pricier tiers starting with the November bill cycle unless they got in touch with T-Mobile to opt out. Customer service reps, the papers showed, had been trained with a script for anyone who objected: “We are not raising the price of any of our plans; we are moving you to a newer plan with more benefits at a different cost.”
Then the company started backing away from its own plan. In a leaked email to staff the week before the reversal, Sievert said media reports about the move were “largely inaccurate and caused a lot of confusion for our customers.” That sat awkwardly with what T-Mobile’s public relations department had already done, which was confirm the plan to Ars Technica and other outlets.
The company’s October 13 statement to Ars was specific. “We have identified customers we think will benefit from the additional features of our newer plan options,” it said. T-Mobile said it was telling those customers about the move, the benefits, “the per line price impact and when the change will take place.” Customers, the statement added, could take the new plan, pick another available rate plan, or opt out and stay where they were.
After the criticism, the automatic switch was scrapped.
