Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- T-Mobile customers who were formerly on the Sprint Flex Lease plan are finding that they are still being charged a monthly lease fee.
- The program allows the charges to continue indefinitely until the customer asks a representative to remove the plan from their bill.
- Due to the non-stop recurring fees, many customers have ended up paying over the value of the phone they leased.
If you were formerly a Sprint customer and stayed to join T-Mobile after the merger, you may want to take a look at your bill. Some customers are realizing that for years they’ve been paying an unnecessary monthly fee.
On Reddit, a user who appears to be a T-Mobile representative posted a PSA alerting customers to an extra fee they may not know they are paying. The user urges customers to check their bill and talk to a representative to have the fee removed. In the post, the Redditor states:
I see it every single day people coming in for upgrades and on sprint, and they were on a month to month lease program that they’re paying usually per line with no end day! It’s till the end of time! It can be removed with a press of a button. So go in store and get your account features looked at.
The fee in question is connected to Sprint’s infamous Flex Lease program. This program offered to let customers get a new phone at a low monthly cost with the ability to cancel the contract after a set period. Unlike other plans that apply lease payments toward the cost of the phone, however, this plan required customers to verbally opt into that option; otherwise, they would be charged a monthly fee indefinitely.
In the past, customers have reported that they never received a notification at the end of the contract that they could terminate the lease. Others have said that if they wanted to own their device, Sprint would require them to pay an extra fee on top of the monthly lease payments, despite already paying the carrier more than what the phone was worth.
Additionally, there was a class-action lawsuit filed against Sprint, which alleged that the company was tricking customers into lease agreements and trapping them in recurring fees. The lawsuit also claims that Sprint prevented some customers from canceling the plan even after the end of lease period.
Another Reddit user, who also appears to be a T-Mobile representative, responded to the PSA putting the onus on the customer. The user says that customers should pay more attention to their bills, adding that they act as if they are doing the customer a favor when they remove the fee. That user states:
You don’t need a manager to remove it just remove it under features and let the customer know you did them a courtesy by removing it typically the customers are happy about that super easy. It’s amazing how customers do not pay attention to there bill get upset because they have been charged years for something. On you to check the bill buddy but I’m glad to reduce it by 45.00 if you want to help me out and buy something that be great
We have reached out to T-Mobile for comment on the situation. This article will be updated when more information is available.
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