T-Mobile acknowledged that technical errors during a forced plan migration led to some longtime subscribers losing their free-line promotions. The company stated these lines remain free and are being restored, but price hikes on other lines will persist.
The incident highlights T-Mobile's challenges in managing complex system migrations and maintaining customer trust, particularly concerning promised benefits like free lines and price guarantees. It underscores the potential for technical errors to significantly impact customer satisfaction and loyalty.
T-Mobile has acknowledged that technical errors during a forced migration of customers to new rate plans caused some longtime subscribers to lose their free-line promotions. The company stated that these lines remain free and are being restored, with discounts backdated where necessary.
The forced plan changes have been controversial, with many users facing price hikes of up to $6 per line. The unexpected removal of free lines exacerbated these increases for some customers. T-Mobile attributed the issue to a delay in applying promotional discounts following the migration.
In addition to the free line issue, T-Mobile is also investigating reports of incorrect Hulu billing for some customers after the migration. The company apologized for the confusion and stated it will rectify the situation.
The mass migration aims to simplify T-Mobile's back-end system by eliminating approximately 1,100 legacy billing codes. While T-Mobile stated that nearly half of affected customers will see no change in their monthly bill, others will experience adjustments. The new plans are intended to offer improved network experiences, more premium data, and better international coverage compared to older 3G and 4G era plans, which had restrictions on data and video resolution.
This incident follows T-Mobile's decision in 2024 to end its lifetime price guarantee, which also led to customer complaints and a pending class action lawsuit. Some customers who felt betrayed by the end of the price lock are now facing further price increases.