T-Mobile details prorated ETF policy, dodges rotten vegetables
by Chris Ziegler 
posted Jun 24th 2008 at 1:48PM
Why those T-Mobsters couldn't just fall into line with the rest of their national US carrier brethren, we don't know, but here's the skinny: yes, T-Mobile's going to prorate its early termination fees just as it promised to do last year, but the discount schedule is a little shady. Not until the last six months of a contract do you start to see any cash come off that $200 charge, when the ETF drops to $100. At three months it drops to $50, and with less than 30 days left on the contract, you pay the lesser of $50 or your remaining bill. In other words, assuming you're on a two-year plan, you don't see any benefit from this little arrangement until it's already three-quarters of the way spent. That's a far cry from the monthly discounts calculated by some of T-Mobile's competitors -- and likely a far cry from what Kevin has in mind, for that matter -- so with any luck this little scheme will fix itself eventually.[Via Phone Scoop]
Filed under: T-Mobile
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James @ Jun 24th 2008 1:51PM
thats smart really
--James
Pamela @ Jun 24th 2008 2:33PM
It's because of the fact their reception and lack of 850 band (which was my main problem with them when I had them, my basement office had 1 bar and cut out) which is why they have a bad deal like this.
7on @ Jun 24th 2008 3:31PM
T-mo has 850Mhz band
TmoBin @ Jun 24th 2008 2:51PM
Honestly, this is not a bad plan on T-Mobile. They are one of the only carriers who actually give you the option to pay more for the phone and sign a 1 year contract. Most other carriers require a minimum 2 year contract. If T-Mobile were to change their ETF pro-rate to benefit 2 year contracts more, then they would have to stop offering 1 year contracts to balance.
john @ Jun 24th 2008 3:25PM
Actually, they also give you the option to pay full price for the handset and have no contract (flexpay month to month).
Seems like a decent way to do early termination, it's not quite "pro-rated", which would be ideal.
Workin Man @ Jun 24th 2008 11:08PM
You can get a 1 year price on any carrier, you might have to take the time to call in to get the price instead of the internet, but you can still get the 1 year.
Chris @ Jun 24th 2008 3:06PM
OR they could just charge you the $200 you agree upon when you sign a contract. Sheesh, give someone an inch they want the whole foot. How about this for a deal? After one month you can cancel your service with no ETF, is that good enough for you? T-mobile wants to make sure they get their money that you get discounted on a phone plain and simple. They are still a for profit company so to give this away, the diminishing ETF's, is a gift. Can't you all just be thankful instead of criticizing them for doing you a favor?
Mark Jenkins @ Jun 24th 2008 4:09PM
I'm a huge T-Mobile fan. I have had at least one line of service with them for over 10 years (back to Aerial). At times I have had up to 3 lines of service. That said,
This is not a prorated ETF. They are great for offering 1 and 2 year contracts, but why can't they make the ETF easy.
1 Yr Contract - $200 divided by 12 months = $16.67. Reduce the ETF by $16.67 (or even $17!) each full month of service.
2 Yr Contract - $200 divided by 24 months = $8.33. Reduce the ETF by $8.33 each full month of service.
That's my understanding of "prorated".
genaldar @ Jun 24th 2008 5:44PM
Thats why I only sign 1 year contracts.
BIG Reub @ Jun 24th 2008 6:15PM
I used to work in the industry and (about 10 years ago) it was standard for an EFT to be prorated. I'm really annoyed that companies are giving back some of the features the took from us in the greedy, greedy 90's and we
are all supposed to be super happy about it.
molson @ Jun 25th 2008 11:18AM
To bad it doesn't it doesn't apply for current customers. Only new customers and current ones who renew after July 28th can take advantage of this. Guess I'll still have to wait until December to get my iphone.