T-Mobile Hiking up Charges for Paper Billing, Starting September 12th
By James Falconer on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 6:19 AM PST In T-Mobile
I’ve been off paper billing on Rogers (NYSE: RCI) for quite some time now. I love it. Fact of the matter is when I’d receive my insane monthly statement, I’d look things over for a few minutes… only to shred the statement in preparation for the recycling box. Kind of a waste of time, and certainly a waste of good paper.
With that in mind, T-Mobile (NYSE: DT) is making a change that many out there will appreciate. Starting September 12th, T-Mo will begin charging $1.50/mth for paper billing. This is on top of the existing charges of $1.99/mth for detailed paper billing… Bringing the total per line up to almost $3.50. That’s just over $40 per year for papers you’re just going to throw out anyway. I suggest you sign up for paperless billing through your my T-Mobile account right now to avoid any unnecessary charges. You’ll save money, save some trees, and the environment will thank you… I think.
[Via: TMoNews]
This is bullshit. Why would customers have to pay for a service they signed a contract for that was free? We should be getting a 1.50 DISCOUNT to switch to paperless billing. This is corporate greed at it’s finest. Also this is a breach of contract by T-Mobile since you will now be required to have an ISP to use T-Mobile. File complaints with the FCC, BBB, and T-Mobile. We will not take this.
Paperless billing is okay for me and maybe for all of us online but thinkd about this…
I feel this is an unfair charge and is penalizing the less fortunate, lower income and elderly. I, myself, have an elderly mother as well as a disable brother. Both use T-mobile; both have no computer or Internet access, and both are on fixed incomes. (Needless to say both probably also need a mobile phone for emergencies much more than the average person.) This is like true of most elderly, disabled and lower income families with small children in general, not just my family.
I feel signaling out those that do not have Internet and in need of paper billing is simply unfair, and I feel it is also on the verge of discrimination. I am extremely disappointed in T-mobile for implementing such a practice.
Furthermore, your customer support claims that this is to help offset the cost of mailing. However, I find it hard to believe that your company has been in business for this many years without already factoring in the costs of postal mailing to its rates. Additionally, for those who choose online payment, what about the additional costs of purchasing the server hardware, software and technicians’ salaries to maintain that online payment system? Shouldn’t online payment users have some sort of fee to cover the costs of this additional service, which is not available to those without PCs? Why are you selecting to penalize persons who are not online?
Also, if they have (for example) 1 million customers who need a paper bill.
That a cool 1.5 million dollars per month.
Write Richard Dotson, T-Mobile CEO, at rdotson@t-mobile.com. Sample letter:
Mr. Dotson:
I have received notice that T-Mobile would be adding a $1.50 per month charge to my account for receiving a paper bill, and I wish to register my dissatisfaction with the company’s unilateral decision. Prior to September, T-Mobile provided paper bills to its customers; this normal cost of doing business was covered by the monthly fee for service. Therefore, the new, additional fee of $1.50 amounts to an increase of the monthly service fee, as it covers no new service provided by T-Mobile to its customers. Among these reasons that T-Mobile has put forth for the new fee are:
> Increases in postal charges and printing costs. From one year to another, postal charges, especially in bulk business shipments, such as those for mobile phone bills, have not increased by more than a few pennies, at a maximum; the same is certainly true of printing costs — much likely less, in fact. Clearly, these are not a valid reasons for charging the new fee.
> An interest in preserving the environment. This is certainly a noble cause. However, if T-Mobile were truly interested in promoting environmentally-friendly action, it could simply encourage paperless billing by sharing the associated cost savings with customers; imposing a confiscatory fee is disingenuous in this regard, with T-Mobile providing nothing of its own toward the stated noble end while reaping considerable profit from its customer base. Would you be lobbying for a new fee on US businesses to promote recycling if this fee did nothing to provide T-Mobile with a competitive advantage and there was no means of recouping this fee? Again, charging a new fee for this reason is certainly invalid.
> T-Mobile employees will also be paying the fee. This is virtually meaningless, as these T-Mobile employees are simply a subset of T-Mobile customers. Would you be happy to accept the above-noted recycling fee simply because government agencies were similarly forced to pay it? I think not, and using this as a support for charging your customers a new fee is rather pitiful.
T-Mobile used to be a company that prided itself on its customer relationship. The unilateral imposition of the paper bill fee is a decided step in the opposite direction of this philosophy. I suggest that you direct your company to reconsider its choice in this matter.
Sincerely,
T-Mobile customer