T-Mobile is bringing more fees for prepaid users

T-Mobile users are in for a bit of a frustrating time. While the company has been the cheaper alternative compared to Verizon and AT&T, it’s slowly losing that title. According to several reports, T-Mobile is planning to introduce more fees that will impact prepaid users.

Getting a service plan from a carrier is not cheap, and that is especially true when going directly to a major carrier like T-Mobile. This company used to stand out among the other carriers as the “Un-Carrier.” Customers would get a more affordable plan with some fun perks. However, the company has been struggling a bit financially. This led to recent rolling layoffs and price increases.

T-Mobile is about to introduce more fees that will impact customers

If you are a T-Mobile prepaid customer, then you’re going to want to pay attention to the changes coming up. A T-Mobile employee posted an image of the new policy to Reddit. According to the document, there will be a new phone activation fee called the “Device Connection Charge” applied for customers. This will replace the SIM activation fee.

What’s the difference? Well, when you get a new physical SIM card from the company and activate it, you’ll be charged a $10 fee. The fee is for the actual physical SIM card and not the service of activating it. So, if you have an eSIM device, you’ll be charged nothing. The only thing you pay for is your phone service.

However, with the device activation fee, you will still be charged the fee whether you are using a physical SIM or an eSIM. This fee comes in at $25, so it’s a notable increase over the $10 fee.

The fees don’t stop there, as people who go to brick-and-mortar stores will be seeing a fee. If you go to a store to pay your bill, you will be charged an additional $5 fee for the convenience of topping off your balance. T-Mobile is calling this its Payment Support Charge.

T-Mobile said that the number of prepaid customers who pay their bills at physical stores is minuscule compared to the greater T-Mobile user base. However, those users will still be upset.

These fees are going to go into effect on different dates. The Device Connection Charge will start applying on March 21st, so less than a week away. The payment Support Charge will go into effect on April 25th.