My T-Mobile Senior plan is about $65 for 2 phones W/unlimited TT&D.
I get a $10 discount for using Autopay on a Credit Card.
T-Mobile informed me:
“We’re changing the payment methods that qualify for AutoPay discounts. To continue receiving the $10.00 AutoPay discount, you must update your payment method to a debit card or a bank account.”
I know how Clark feels about “Piece of Trash Debit Cards” and the direct debit to my Bank account seems even worse.
Any Opinions?
More and more providers are moving to auto-draft as a form of payment. I do not have a debit card so I setup a separate account and I move money in there via ACH when necessary. I have all electronic forms of payment (electronic drafts, Venmo, Paypal) directed through this account.
The same thing just happened to me. In addition to the monthly charge we got two iPhone 14s and the discount of $600 on them involved a 24-month “equipment payment” of $58.
So when they came up with the “debit card or draft your checking account” crap I called them up and reminded them that I had a 24-month purchase contract for $58 on a credit card. After two bump-ups on the support line they said I could keep the phones on the CC but I had to move the monthly service to a debit card. So I set up a separate account with a debit card and the phones with my CC. The CC has a cash-back and a push feature for me to set up the payment.
Visible, Mint, Cricket. See what else is available and take your business elsewhere. I pay $30 for my wife’s phone on Visible. One kid is on the same plan, I think. The other pays yearly on Mint (~$250, all in). My wife’s and the Mint are both charged to real credit cards.
I fell for the pitch of putting two iPhone14’s on a 24-month zero interest payment plan. If I bail on the plan I lose a $600 phone discount. A mistake on my part in taking them up on it.
My excuse is that it was the best deal I could get on the phones at the time and one was DOA and we had to replace it. The discount is $15 a month for the service (two phones and a watch) and I’m wired into the deal until Sept. 24 to get the phone discounts. I’ll have to play their game until then.
I’m putting my T-Mobile on my debit card. I consider it a small risk. Not worth the hassle of setting up a separate checking account and having to remember to move money there periodically. Also too much risk of screwing that up and having an overdraw situation.
Do you need unlimited talk & data? Do you know how much you and your wife actually use individually? Because if you actually don’t use a lot of data, you can actually save quite a lot. I currently have a Tello plan with 500 MB of data, 300 minutes of talk, and unlimited texts for $7/month. If I wanted unlimited talk, that would only cost $9/month. And even with a full GB of data, the cost would only be $10/month. And if you each have different needs, you can customize each plan for the best fit for each of you.
I got the same notification. I opted to pay through my checking account in order to keep the $10.00 discount. It is a slush fund account if you will. Clark suggested having a second checking account for the purpose of keeping a minimal amount of money in it to let all these auto pay services grab their payment every month without the worry of a big unauthorized grab draining your account. I keep whatever is necessary for these services.
Many credit cards are giving insurance protection and consumers were canceling TMs Total Protection 0ffering. That’s likely one of the reasons amongst others.
We got the same notice about a week ago and went today to our credit union to set up another checking account, separate from our main one and with just enough money in it to pay the bills. Annoying to have to manage it, but if this is a trend, maybe in a few years we’ll be paying all our bills out of this account.
you clearly knew what the terms were.
there is no free lunch!
Not quite… at the time we agreed to the deal, we could pay with our 2.5% cash-back Visa card. When they switched to the debit card requirement a year later, we lost the 2.5% discount and had to set up a debit card payment for the account. Based on out-of-pocket cost, we still came out ahead @ $400 off the phones plus a $15/mo discount, ($800 + $360 + $38 = $1,198) just not as far as we had expected.
Fooled me once…