Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- It seems a small number of T-Mobile customers with very old legacy plans are starting to see some forced plan changes.
- The plans impacted didn’t see changes or price increases last year, and actual price increases and changes vary.
- It appears these changes are targeting plans that existed long before Price Lock, such as certain Simple Choice plans.
For years, T-Mobile and the other big carriers mostly left their legacy plans alone, letting customers switch when they were ready. This made sense back when new plans often brought real upgrades over legacy offerings, but over the past few years, most new plans have largely been seen as downgrades or sidegrades at best.
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The situation changed in 2023, when T-Mobile attempted to switch customers on Price Lock plans to newer offerings automatically. This plan was met with major criticism, and eventually, T-Mobile shifted its focus to slowly increasing fees related to many of its legacy plans.
Since then, T-Mobile has slowly started its automatically changing plans again, starting last year. That said, the difference is these are now much older legacy plans that aren’t protected by Price Lock, such as Simple Choice plans. It seems that T-Mobile isn’t done just yet.
According to Redditor Sfkn123, a verified T-Mobile employee and brand expert, the carrier is once again automatically switching those on very, very old plans.
For example, Sfkn123 saw a plan change recently from the extremely old Preferred FT 600 NW to Legacy Rate Plan C26ML4999, which increased the 5-line plan’s total by roughly $100. Several other Redditors chimed in with increases of their own, varying from just $15 to $100 or more.
In addition to forced plan changes, some legacy customers are also seeing the removal of old discounts and other changes designed to drive them to newer plans.
The good news is that if your legacy plan already saw an increase last year, you’re likely safe here. Likewise, newer legacy plans with price guarantees are unlikely to be impacted here.
As much as price increases and plan changes can sting a bit, some of these truly ancient plans have real limitations, including poor data speeds, limited data packages, and other downsides. Newer plans can often provide a much better experience, but for those with tons of lines, the increases can add up signficantly.
Not happy with T-Mobile’s latest rates? We highly recommend Google Fi if you’re looking for a high-priority alternative that runs on T-Mobile’s network, or Visible if you don’t mind jumping to Verizon’s network.
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Frequently Asked Questions
A small number of T-Mobile customers with very old legacy plans, such as certain Simple Choice plans, are seeing forced plan changes. One example: a plan changed from the extremely old Preferred FT 600 NW to Legacy Rate Plan C26ML4999, raising a 5-line plan's total by roughly $100.
Increases vary from $15 to over $100. Several Reddit users reported increases in that range, and some legacy customers are also seeing old discounts removed to push them toward newer plans.
If your legacy plan already saw an increase last year, you are likely safe. Newer legacy plans with price guarantees are also unlikely to be impacted.
In 2023, T-Mobile tried automatically switching Price Lock customers to newer plans, which drew major criticism. Since then it has focused on fee increases, and last year began automatically changing much older legacy plans not protected by Price Lock.
