Phone service in the United States is some of the most expensive in the developed world.
According to a 2018 study by Rewheel, among EU28 and OECD countries, the United States was the 5th most expensive market for data per gigabyte, coming in at around $6.50 per gigabyte. In contrast, a gigabyte of data in Italy costs less than a dollar.
To make matters worse, Americans generally don’t get substantially better cell service for these high prices. In November 2023, TIME reported that cell phone service was actually getting worse in several areas of the country. And as noted by PCMag, many areas of the country have significant dead zones.
Many have taken to social media to complain not only about their cell service, but the company providing it. For example, a Verizon customer recently vented about just how much her plan cost, while another accused T-Mobile of lying while signing her up for a plan.
Now, another internet user is sharing their T-Mobile story and how others could face the same issue.
Why was T-Mobile overcharging this customer?
In a clip with over 35,000 views, TikTok user @come_c_abt_meee3 issues a warning to all T-Mobile customers.
“If y’all have T-Mobile, I’m gonna need y’all to check your bills real nice and be careful out there, because these [expletive] have been charging me for two [expletive] lines, and I have one,” she starts.
According to the TikToker, she had her mother’s line on her account until September 2023, at which point she removed it. However, T-Mobile appears to have continued to charge her for the line, resulting in her overpaying roughly $675 over time. The TikToker only realized after calling to downgrade to deal with how much she was paying.
“Homie says, ‘Oh, we’ve been charging you for two lines this whole time,’” she says, recounting an experience with customer service.
When the TikToker was allegedly told that the company simply “forgot” to cancel the line, the TikToker was not amused.
“You forgot? [Expletive], what if I forgot to pay you?” she says. “That would be unac-[expletive]-ceptable, right?”
The customer service representative allegedly acknowledged the mistake, refunded her $133, and promised to follow up about the rest in the coming days. Still, the TikToker wasn’t satisfied.
“Why you gotta wait till Friday?” she asks. “Because $675 is crazy work. Like, I could have my bill paid for six months.”
To close her video, the TikToker says that if problems like these continue, she’ll be switching to Verizon.
“Check your bill, look at it, call them [expletive], because how are you telling me that I’ve been paying for two lines for a year and a half?” she warns others.
How to secure a full T-Mobile refund
In a follow-up video, the TikToker reveals that she was able to get her money back.
“I have some good news,” her update starts. “I’m gonna tell you how I got my refund of $675 credited to my account.”
According to the TikToker, after calling customer care twice, she was offered partial refunds of $133 and then $300. Frustrated, she decided to investigate why she was being charged so much in the first place—and discovered that, despite removing a line, her plan did not update to reflect that.
“When you remove a line, it doesn’t automatically change you to a one-line plan,” she details. “That would be up to the rep to change, which they didn’t, and up to me to double-check.”
For those having similar issues, the TikToker recommends not to call the company, but instead reach out to them via Facebook Messenger.
“That is the highest form of customer service,” she says. “They can look into your issue. They fixed it for me completely.”
That said, the TikToker says that this issue appears to be common.
“If your T-Mobile bill seems to be really high, then you should call them and figure out why, because maybe you’re paying for an extra line too, and you didn’t know it,” she advises. “And if you need it rectified, just message them on Facebook.”
How common is this issue?
While the TikToker mentions lawsuits against T-Mobile, there do not appear to be any active or settled lawsuits regarding this specific issue.
However, there are still many instances of customers reporting the same problem.
For example, one user on T-Mobile’s community forum said they were being billed for 2-3 lines when they only had a single line. Another user on Reddit noted that, after taking a line off their plan, they were still being charged the same price.
Commenters on posts like these advised a similar solution to the TikToker’s. They said T-Mobile had failed to downgrade their plan upon removing a line and that they could simply resolve the problem with the company directly.
Some of these users have reported being able to get full refunds; others claim that their refunds were only partial.
@come_c_abt_meee3 @T-Mobile how many people you doing this too? #doublecharge #tmobile #robbed ♬ original sound – Stop_clocking_me_boo
Commenters share their thoughts
In the comments section, users shared their own T-Mobile stories.
“Happened to me too ! We recently switched and we had trying getting two lines only!” exclaimed a user. “And we noticed I was getting charged almost $300 and they were charging us for 4 lines.”
“Did it to me for over a year and a half also,” stated another. “Didn’t refund me a dime. Ended up switching providers.”
“And that’s why you never do auto pay and you always get paper bills so you can check,” offered a third. “call it old school but I’ve never been overcharged by anyone for more than a month cause I catch it right away.”
The Daily Dot reached out to T-Mobile via email and @come_c_abt_meee3 via TikTok comment.
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