After 10 years, I simply canceled my T-Cellular account. Here is why

For the final 10 years, T-Cellular has been my cellphone provider of selection. I’ve been on a household plan with my accomplice, dad and mom, and grandmother (with two traces for myself), and it’s been a great expertise for all of us. T-Cellular’s protection is dependable, 5G speeds are quick, and further perks like weekly gasoline coupons and discounted streaming providers have been good cherries on high.

Nevertheless, after a decade of being a loyal T-Cellular buyer, I’m canceling my account and switching to a different supplier.

Why? It’s one thing that’s been boiling for some time, although anytime I’ve considered switching, I shrugged it off and determined to remain. That’s the simpler selection, in any case. However T-Cellular’s newest worth enhance pushed me over the sting, and after 10 years of use, I’m formally shifting on.

For the previous couple of years, my T-Cellular invoice has ranged wherever from $173/month to $183/month, relying on whether or not or not I’ve lively LTE service for my Apple Watch. That’s for six traces on a combination of the previous T-Cellular ONE and ONE Plus plans. Not too unhealthy in any respect.

I haven’t been thrilled with every part else surrounding T-Cellular (safety breaches, degrading customer support, and so on.), however with my invoice largely staying the identical, I by no means felt compelled to leap ship. That modified with my most up-to-date invoice generated on the finish of final month.

As introduced in March, T-Cellular elevated the price of legacy plans by $5 per thirty days per line. As such, my invoice, which is often $173 or $183 per thirty days, jumped as much as $212. My grandma’s portion of the invoice elevated by $5, my dad and mom’ went up $10, and my accomplice and I have been a $15/month enhance — with nothing to point out for it apart from more cash leaving our pockets.

Is an additional $15/month make-or-break cash? In our scenario, no. However it’s nonetheless extra cash we’re paying with out gaining something in return. As a self-proclaimed penny-pincher, I wasn’t a fan of that.

However there’s extra to it. If this have been the one challenge we’d had with T-Cellular within the 10 years we’ve been prospects, I’d most likely be prepared to abdomen the price and stay subscribed. However having been a buyer for thus lengthy, I’ve witnessed firsthand a relentless degradation within the service we’re paying for.

What sort of degradation? The cell app is a chief instance. For the longest time, T-Cellular had separate functions for its varied providers. There was a major T-Cellular app to handle your account and invoice, plus one other T-Cellular Tuesdays app to get your free goodies every week. They weren’t something spectacular, however they have been good, dependable cell apps.

In 2024, T-Cellular retired these functions and changed them with a brand new, singular T-Life app. On paper, it is a swell thought. In apply, it’s been terrible. The app continually throws pop-ups and survey requests in your face. Vital particulars like invoice historical past and cost strategies are hidden under large banners to remind you of your Magenta Standing. The app commonly logs me out of my account even after I’m actively utilizing it, and on a number of events, it’s did not course of a invoice cost.

It isn’t simply the T-Life app, although. Customer support was once one among T-Cellular’s greatest benefits over different main carriers. Keep in mind when T-Cellular made an enormous push for its “Crew of Consultants” program? The pitch was that each one postpaid TMO subscribers had a small, devoted group of customer support brokers to assist them out, and also you’d at all times speak to an actual particular person and by no means a bot.

Yeah, not a lot anymore. The previous few occasions I’ve used the stay chat characteristic in T-Life, I’ve needed to first speak with T-Cellular’s “AI-powered Digital Assistant.” And, like several good AI customer support chatbot, I’ve to sort “customer support” and point out I wish to speak to an actual particular person to get the assistance I would like. It’s a multitude.

What else? The standard of freebies from T-Cellular Tuesday has decreased dramatically through the years. In 2023, T-Cellular eliminated autopay reductions if you happen to had autopay arrange with a bank card, forcing you to hyperlink your checking account or debit card to maintain that low cost. And that’s to not point out the (at the least) 9 main knowledge breaches T-Cellular has had since 2018.

If solely one among this stuff have been true, we’d be having a special dialog. However the truth that all of this has occurred — and T-Cellular is now asking me to pay more cash for a considerably worse service — I’m at my breaking level.

If issues have been so unhealthy, why have I stayed with T-Cellular for thus lengthy? As a result of it was simple. I don’t have an allegiance to the corporate or something like that, however if you happen to’ve switched carriers earlier than, you understand how a lot of a trouble the method might be. However after months and years of mounting frustration, throwing a worth enhance on high of every part else lastly acquired me to name it quits.

Does all of this imply T-Cellular is the worst provider on the market? One you must keep away from altogether? No. In the event you’re OK with the worth enhance and blissful along with your service, you might not want (or need) to modify.

Nevertheless, if you happen to’re a longtime buyer like me who hasn’t made a change shortly, and also you aren’t thrilled with the trajectory T-Cellular is heading, use this as your signal to begin looking for one thing new. That’s what I’m doing, and as time-consuming as looking for a brand new provider could also be, I feel it’ll be nicely price it ultimately.