Gizmodo: fee

T-Mobile Eliminating Handset Upgrade Fee

Sean Fallon — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST

Effective immediately, T-Mobile is eliminating the $18 fee it charges customers to upgrade to a new phone. I'm glad to see that T-Mo came to their senses here—penalizing a customer for upgrading is ridiculous.

From the press release:

T-Mobile is pleased to announce that beginning yesterday, the company has ditched the handset upgrade fee for customers. The elimination of the $18 upgrade fee applies across-the-board to all handsets (including the T-Mobile G1) and in all channels (e.g., retail, online, etc.).

With consumers watching every dollar this holiday season, the savings come at a perfect time. Note however this is NOT a holiday promotion, as there is no specified end date; it's just another way T-Mobile is thanking its loyal customers.

We can only hope other carriers that continue to charge these fees will follow suit.

AT&T Starts Reducing Early Termination Fees

Jason Chen — Tue, 27 May 2008 11:48:19 EDT

AT&T doesn't have to wait for the FCC to tell it to pro-rate early termination fees, they're starting to do something similar already. Now, instead of paying the maximum fee of $175 no matter when you quit, you'll get $5 off for every month you're with the company over the course of your contract. If you end your stay in the 23rd month, you'll pay $60. If this were truly pro-rating they'd be cutting your rate down by $7.30 each month, which would be all that's left to pay if you quit at month 23. [Broadband Reports via Consumerist]

T-Mobile's $18 Phone Upgrade Fee is Confusing, Stupid

Sean Fallon — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:20:36 EST

According to an email shared by a source with our friends at the Consumerist, starting today T-Mobile will begin charging existing customers an $18 fee when they buy a new phone. Apparently the new fee will help underwrite the cost of selling subsidized phones to new customers. Now here's the confusing part — if an existing customer is upgrading their phone, but not extending their contract, the fee will not be assessed. Perhaps they feel that any potential anger resulting from this charge will subside after a fresh two-year contract expires. Hopefully we will learn more when we receive some confirmation on this issue. [Consumerist]

Sony Planning to Drop $30 LocationFree License Fee

Sean Fallon — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:00:38 EST

According to Maximum PC, sometime between now and the end of the month Sony will formally announce the end of their obnoxious $30 LocationFree PC serial key license fee (rhyming!). Currently, if you want to install the software on multiple PCs you would have to cough up the extra dough. The move is believed to be in response to the stiff competition Sony faces from companies like Sling Media, who have always offered software for their Slingbox free of charge. [Maximum PC]