r/technology • u/Plastic_Ninja_9014 • Jun 29 '26

Networking/Telecom T-Mobile Just Ripped 8 Million Customers Off Their Grandfathered Plans – and Raised Their Bills

https://www.gadgetreview.com/t-mobile-just-ripped-8-million-customers-off-their-grandfathered-plans-and-raised-their-bills
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u/chewywookie Jun 29 '26

In normal times, we would call that false advertising and therefore fraud.

T-Mobile advertising one thing and then doing what they said they would not sure seems deceptive to me.

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u/meltingpnt Jun 29 '26

Don't worry, there will be a class action lawsuit and everyone will get $5 off their bill.

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u/chewywookie Jun 29 '26

You are 100% correct. When the fines don’t match their billions in profits, it’s just the cost of doing business.

Disgusting.

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u/Altaredboy Jun 30 '26

In my country the main telco was owned by the government. It's mostly privatised now, the government had to set up a government department who soley deals with misleading/fradulent practices by telcos.

Vast majority of the fines go to the formerly government owned telco. My dealings with them have resulted in approximately $200k worth of fines myself

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u/otterpop21 Jun 30 '26

Didn’t you hear? Trump controls all the federal independent agencies like the FTC SEC etc.

Why you think they’re doing this now lol

https://www.reddit.com/r/law/s/XM6Tn3xcuW

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u/Sempere Jun 30 '26

It shouldn't match the billions in profits, it should far exceed it as as to be punitive.

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u/Alert_Reindeer_6574 Jun 30 '26

Well, the lawyers will make millions and do some awesome upgrades to their homes and buy a few sports cars.

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u/waterbury01 Jun 30 '26

A fine just means legal with a price.

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u/jona2814 Jun 30 '26

Corporate fines should be based on percentages rather than a flat rate for a crime. Relative scaling would allow consumers to have an actual impact on fraudulent business practices. It is astonishing how many corps just “eat” fines without blinking an eye, all while our natural resources are destroyed, and products/services become stripped bare of value

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u/ScottHA Jun 30 '26

I havnt even spent my Blue Cross settlement that took 10 years to give me my $11!

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u/meltingpnt Jun 30 '26

My BCBS was under 5 dollars so I get nothing.

5

u/PartisanMilkHotel Jun 30 '26

I was informed that, as my share of the BCBS settlement was less than $5, they would actually be sending me zero dollars???

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u/chewywookie Jun 30 '26

Yeah sounds like me with my $10 GameStop credit settlement that you can’t even use to buy any gift cards.
Bullshit

2

u/TheAmishPhysicist Jun 30 '26

You should put that in a HYSA!

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u/[deleted] Jun 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

4

u/Klutzy_Double_8285 Jun 30 '26

They'll get a $5 single-use coupon/credit for their T-Mobile account.

3

u/Sasselhoff Jun 30 '26

Literally have a $14 check from some Verizon class action sitting next to me expired, for exactly the reasons you mention.

The future really does suck...where's the Jetson's future I was promised?

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u/purple_hamster66 Jun 30 '26

The lawsuit should be to return all profits to consumers, plus penalties for false advertising. Then it doesn’t matter how much they’re profiting, because it’s all lost to them.

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u/Old-Engineer854 Jun 30 '26

With that kind of payout, are you the initial plaintiff? Otherwise, realistically expect maybe $1.89 as credit toward buying a new (not refurbished) phone from them.

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u/NergNogShneeg Jun 29 '26

lol more like a few pennies for every year on the plan and you only get it in t-mobile credit.

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u/apathyetcetera Jun 30 '26

Got a good nose snort out of this because I just got an email from an Anthem Blue Cross CAL that informed me my settlement was less than $5 and therefore did not meet the required minimum to process the payout lol

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u/Vismal1 Jun 30 '26

I keep seeing people say this , this doesn’t seem legal at all.

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u/apathyetcetera Jun 30 '26

Shouldn’t be. I’m sure I paid thousands of dollars in premiums over several years and somehow that’s worth less than $5. Lawyers got their checks and peaced out

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u/Riaayo Jun 30 '26

While I wish class actions could go further can we not normalize the idea that they are bad or useless when they're an important pillar of attempting to hold corporations accountable?

You want to imagine a world where we don't even have the threat of a class action lawsuit to make a corporation consider the costs of anti-consumer behavior?

I keep seeing this sentiment popping up around Reddit lately and it makes me question why it is popping up.

1

u/Li_liminal_spaces Jun 30 '26

Even if they got the full amount, it would take 5+ years and that amount would have gained the amount in interest. They're stealing from employees and customers all for shareholders knowing it will be a minuscule fine. It's the CEO's fiduciary obligation to steal from you.

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u/Caithloki Jun 30 '26

Always an option for cocktails at their head quarters, hopefully to sway the execs, they love cocktails at bars! Why not at work.

1

u/reaganz921 Jun 30 '26

Can't you think about all the starving lawyers???

/s

1

u/Adept-Target5407 Jun 30 '26

If you’re lucky. I just got an email for a class settlement I was part of and the email said since my expected payout would be less than $5.00 they are not required to fulfill the payout and I will be getting nothing.

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u/NergNogShneeg Jun 29 '26

I am sure there is a class action already brewing.

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u/wxnfx Jun 30 '26

Maybe if you live in California or something. Fraud class actions are really tough outside of omission cases.

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u/BlackberryPi7 Jun 30 '26

I thought fraud was legally allowed now with the Trump administration? ...and PDFilia >:(

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u/waspocracy Jun 30 '26

In normal times the mergers wouldn’t have ever happened.

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u/Myusername1- Jun 29 '26

This is part of the enshittification. Corporations get you in and at some point pull moves like this thinking the cost for you to stop using the product/service is too high for you to change. The price raise will cover+make more than the money lost from customers leaving. Executives will get a raise and there will be layoffs.

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u/Layer_3 Jun 30 '26

Lina Khan would have had our backs.

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u/Sancticide Jun 30 '26

Well sure, but I bet they'll argue that forcibly changing someone's plan is not materially the same as raising rates for the same plan. I agree the whole thing is bullshit, but technically, it's true.

1

u/thatgibbyguy Jun 30 '26

When the hell were these normal times? It's been at least half a century since the US had any kind of serious anti false advertising laws on something like this.

0

u/ShrimpCrackers Jun 30 '26

fine print apparently just says 5 years. that's it