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DaveSoCal
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Re: what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?
I texted 611 last night and politely explained that I did not want to entrust sensitive bank account data to TMo and, if they could not figure out a way for me to keep my autopay discount (I have had 5 lines for 12 years) I am preparing to port my numbers to ATT. I really thought they would send me directions on how to leave TMo. But I was wrong. They proposed an acceptable alternative to me. I’m not going to explain it here because it was a bit complicated. I think TMo management may be hearing the outcry from customers. Others may wish to contact 611 by text. Don’t call them. You will need to start with a short clear statement of your concern to get past the bot agent and be queued to a real person. It will take several minutes. Hope this helps.30Views3likes0CommentsRe: what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?
ericv wrote: T-mobile has started “annoying” me since the coverage area quality got worse maybe a year ago, yet I was too busy to bother changing carriers. Now that they’ve wrecked their auto-pay business with removing credit cards… I’m not going to give them my real bank account info for them to take out as much as they want. Temporarily I’m using those cheap savings accounts and pushing $ into that… But that in itself is upsetting due to the fact that they are dictating how everyone pays for the service to get a discount. Ever heard the expression “the customer is always right? They don’t think so. I’m shopping for a new carrier. I’ve been with T-mobile since 2013. It was a decent 10 years but they got too big (and greedy) and seemingly don’t care about their customers anymore. Be careful. Any time your bank account -- even a cheap savings account used just for autopay -- is overdrawn, you may be charged a fee by your bank and your credit rating may be affected.27Views0likes0CommentsRe: what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?
tomwil wrote: HankTheTexan wrote: If this was about credit card fees T-mobile would stop accepting credit cards all together. You can still use credit cards to pay your bill just not on auto pay. It appears you are confirming that you can no longer use credit cards on autopay, discount or not. https://community.t-mobile.com/troubleshooting-38/no-more-auto-pay-discount-no-customer-service-contact-50218 I recently tried to update my auto-pay, and was unable to. Apparently, T-Mobile no longer takes credit cards and won’t take my new card ... Just look at it as a poorly disguised price increase on your plan that wasn’t supposed to change. If TMO just wanted to compensate for credit card fees, they could have simply let customers keep their autopay discounts and pay a small credit card convenience fee of 2 or 3 dollars. Lots of companies and state agencies do this. The “use your debit card or checking account number” ploy is inexcusable and full of risks.26Views3likes0CommentsRe: what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?
MellyBee wrote: In a chat conversation today with “Jivy”: Me: Why is my credit card no longer eligible for the autopay discount? Jivy: To be honest with you that one of the reason why the credit card is not eligible for a Autopay discount is because when you use the debit card it will make sure that you have funds on your account and will avoid any back out payment that might cause you a draft fees. Me: Draft fees don't apply to credit cards, only debit cards. Jivy: We get your point. Also we want to continue to provide customer with the best value in wireless through our Autopay Discount program and the best way to keep this program is to get you to use either a bank account or debit card for autopay. I understand that you may still prefer to use your Credit card as a payment method, and I can help you work through your options. However, I strongly recommend that we switch you over to an eligible payment method so you can keep the discount. Is this something you'd like me to help you with ? Me: The best way for ME is to use my credit card, and especially since T-Mobile has suffered not one but MULTIPLE data breeches, two just this year! Tell me again why I should entrust my bank account information to T-Mobile? Jivy: I totally understand you on that. And as part of T-Mobile my apology for this kind of inconvenience. Our systems and policies prevented the most sensitive types of customer information from being accessed, and as a result, customer accounts and finances should not be put at risk by this event. If you prefer, you can still use your credit card to pay your bill, however it won't be eligible for the AutoPay discount. So basically, a fancy-worded “go f*** yourself” from T-Mobile. This chat with “Jivy” is great example of how TMO “experts” -- particularly the ones offshore -- have ZERO understanding of the security implications of this change. They offer silly scripted apologies but will never promise any restitution if something bad happens. The key point is that if your funds are mistakenly or fraudulently withdrawn from your bank account using a debit card or account number, the funds may remain unavailable for days or weeks. I just read about a couple who had their entire bank account drained while on vacation. They eventually got their money back but the vacation was ruined. Before going along with TMO’s latest “autopay condition,” ask your bank about your protections if TMO has (another?) data hack.28Views4likes0CommentsRe: what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?
Diertch wrote: If everyone just turned off paperless billing and autopay, this would make them reconsider. They’d now have to print out hundreds of thousands of bills, pay postage and then process paper checks. I guess they’re hedging that people will not do that. I love the simplicity of autopay using a CC but if i have nothing to gain from it, then i have no issues going back and doing things the old fashioned way. I think people should first leverage Twitter Facebook and other crowd social media to drum up support for getting TMo to reconsider this ill conceived change. I plan to shop for a better carrier. In the mean time, I am looking at cutting services to compensate for the loss of the autopay discount. I don’t want paper in my mailbox and I don’t want to miss payments. So perhaps I’ll keep paperless but use my bank’s bill pay service to send TMo a hard copy check every month.24Views0likes0CommentsRe: what's up with T-mobile removing autopay discount for credit cards?
syaoran wrote: That was announced months ago. It is because credit card companies charge a service charge that is based on the percentage of every transaction, which eats into T-Mobile’s revenue. Removing the auto pay discount for credit cards negates that. You fail to see the very real risks to subscribers. Continuing the autopay using cc discount plus a simple credit card payment fee of 2.5% or a flat convenience fee of $3 would have been a much better idea. Consider the following: For low income customers for whom the monthly autopay discount is very important. This change is especially harmful to customers who may not have bank accounts/debit cards or have bank accounts with frequently low balances. A data breach exposing banking information to criminals would hit these customers especially hard. Even when fraudulent charges are disputed, banks may continue to make checking account funds unavailable to customers for several days causing considerable hardship. When I asked a T-mobile “expert” in an overseas call center about data security, he replied that T-mobile had secure ways for customers to send bank account numbers to T-mobile. What?! If T-mobile doesn’t even understand the problem, how can customers entrust such sensitive personal data to them.28Views1like0CommentsRe: AutoPay Change Causes Us to Lose Phone Insurance Benefits
55 and older wrote: By forcing users to use bank data it also is a greater exposure to fraud if tmobile servers are hacked. With a credit card you have some consumer protections. This change by tmobile management looks like a money grab. Definitely not equable to their customers. I agree. Subscribers should share this concern on Twitter and Facebook tMobile channels. Consider low income customers for whom the monthly autopay discount is very important. This change is especially harmful to customers who may not have bank accounts/debit cards or have bank accounts with frequently low balances. A data breach exposing banking information to criminals would hit these customers especially hard. Even when fraudulent charges are disputed, banks may continue to make checking account funds unavailable to customers for several days causing considerable hardship. When I asked a T-mobile “expert” in an overseas call center about data security, he replied that T-mobile had secure ways for customers to send bank account numbers to T-mobile. What?! If T-mobile doesn’t even understand the problem, how can customers entrust such sensitive personal data to them.64Views6likes0CommentsRe: Autopay
I like the analogy to 5 stages of “autopay grief.” But it doesn’t need to end with acceptance. At least not yet. I suggest subscribers use the power of social media (Twitter, Facebook ) and their better business bureaus to spread the word about the harm this particular autopay change is causing. IMO, here are the key points: Giving low income members the “choice” of paying by debit card or bank account to get a promised discount could hit them hard: Risk sharing bank account data to get your discount. In a data breach where criminals get bank account number, bank accounts aren’t as protected as fraudulent credit card charges. Your missing bank account funds could remain unavailable for days or weeks. T-Mobile has always said they would leave older plans unchanged. Really? They are now just “redefining autopay discounts” to exclude certain methods of payment. This is BS or disingenuous at best. TMobile’s “experts” and operations are located in countries other than the US where laws and protections may differ. Entrusting bank account and debit card details to them may be risky especially when their staff seem to have no understanding of the issues. One “expert” told me Mr Dave, don’t worry. We have secure ways for customers to send us their bank account numbers. Yikes! I think customer pushback on this change is appropriate. There could be more customer grief to come.71Views0likes0CommentsRe: Security of bank account information
T-mobile’s move to condition future autopay discounts on the use of bank account numbers, debit cards, or T-mobile Money (their own bank) deserves strong customer pushback. Consider low income customers for whom the monthly autopay discount is very important. This change is especially harmful to customers who may not have bank accounts/debit cards or have bank accounts with frequently low balances. A data breach exposing banking information to criminals would hit these customers especially hard. Even when fraudulent charges are disputed, banks may continue to make checking account funds unavailable to customers for several days causing considerable hardship. When I asked a T-mobile “expert” in an overseas call center about data security, he replied that T-mobile had secure ways for customers to send bank account numbers to T-mobile. What?! If T-mobile doesn’t even understand the problem, how can customers entrust such sensitive personal data to them. I’m currently looking for a new carrier after over 10 years of loyalty. I hope customers will push back hard against this latest change to autopay discounts.93Views6likes0Comments