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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by hemmes@vlemmy.net to c/mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world

Maybe I shouldn’t be as pissed as I am but, for me, I like using my Apple card for autopay because I get 3% back with T-Mobile charges. What I like to do is use my CCs to max my rewards / cash back and then pay off my card each month.

Maybe I'm overreacting, but I’m not happy about this. Of course I don’t want to pay an additional $40 a month on my phone bill so yes, I’m switching autopay to a Privacy card, but F—, man.

Okay, I’m done lol

Edit 6/6/1023: So I made a new virtual card but when I add it to my T-Mobile account the site adds it and says it’s not supported for the discount. They’re going to force me to enter a physical debit card or bank account or pay an additional $40/month.

T-Mobile really has been sucking with their service strength in NY. But they’re doing very well at driving me crazy.

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[-] NarrativeBear@lemmy.world 83 points 1 year ago

This looks like a scam text message asking for banking information. Is that hyperlink going to a true T-Mobile website?

[-] eoddc5@lemmy.world 49 points 1 year ago

This this this.

Don’t interact with this message!

Go straight to T-Mobile.com. Check your account for any messages like this.

I haven’t heard of this at all for anyone, including myself. T-Mobile and Apple have a deal for Apple Card to be used for that 3 percent on service payments. Why would they randomly change it without warning or publication

[-] blake@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I confirmed it with a store representative when I switched around a month or so ago. You only get the AutoPay discount with a debit card now. It was effective immediately for new customers and is now rolling out to existing customers.

[-] HeinousTugboat@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

I've been getting the same texts. And emails. And a banner across the top of their website.

Although, it's only $10 for me, not $40.

[-] SmashingSquid@notyour.rodeo 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's legit. T-mo.co is their shortlink domain and 456 is the shortcode they send from.

Edit:

https://www.tmonews.com/2023/06/t-mobile-reminds-customers-of-autopay-changes-via-sms/

[-] Ballistic86@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

This isn’t a scam message. I received the same message a few days ago, different date due to billing cycle differences. This is the same thread that confirms my automatic payment has been received.

[-] pizza_rolls@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

The change is real, there's a bunch of news articles about it. I still wouldn't click the link though and go to the website manually to change it

[-] hemmes@vlemmy.net 5 points 1 year ago

I would prefer that, unfortunately, it is real.

[-] Daisy@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago

Im not happy having to give my debit card. T Mobile keeps having data breaches and I’m not going to give up the safety of using a credit card. May be looking for a new carrier soon.

[-] ultranaut@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

This is exactly why I am pissed about this. T-Mobile has been hacked over and over again, they can not be trusted with my bank info. In the time I've been a customer my data has been stolen at least 3 times. Giving them your actual bank info instead of a credit card is a terrible idea, they are not competent enough to keep it secure.

[-] EeeDawg101@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago

Eww yeah their whole data infrastructure is sketchy af. I used them in the past (just in time to make sure all my data was in their hands when it was breached) and doing simple billing changes were way more confusing than it should have been because their whole system is like a decade behind.

[-] Ballistic86@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

A big reason I use credit cards for payments is the protection I get when things go wrong. Charge up my card and I can dispute, charge up my bank account and I’m out that money until the bank resolves the issue.

[-] Helchez@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I'm not defending T-Mobile, but you just outlined why they are making this change. People are abusing the system by disputing charges valid or otherwise. Banks require a higher burden of proof to return funds, where most credit cards will immediately revoke the money from the merchant if you file a dispute and it might cost the merchant more to fight it than to just let it go.

Again not defending T-Mobile, they do have a bad track record with data privacy and could have handled this in a different way. For example, being able to use a credit card for auto pay could be a loyalty bonus for long term customers or after completing a certain number of on time payments. Another option that could be good for T-Mobile and customers would be to partner with a Credit Card provider to offer a card with cash back perks. T-Mobile could work with the provider to tweak the dispute terms more in their favor and the customer could get a cash rewards card and wireless service with a single credit check.

[-] ultranaut@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

How do you know they are doing this because people are abusing charge backs? It doesn't really make sense to me in the context of auto payment on a phone bill where there's a contract and pattern of regular payments.

[-] IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I’ve had my identity stolen multiple times over the years, and have had to deal with fraudulent IRS tax returns and at least 5 attempts to take credit cards out in my name. One of the data breaches that impacted me was the federal government (search for the office of personnel management or OPM data breach for details) and that got me over 10 years, and potentially lifetime protection from a really good credit & identity monitoring company.

I will NEVER willingly hand out my banking or debit card info to third parties. If fraud occurs it’s much easier to deal with a credit car company, so I’d much rather pay that way than save a little time and/or money.

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[-] onzu@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago

I've linked my debit card for auto-pay but I manually pay with my credit card before the due date and by doing so I get the auto-pay discount and as well as the credit card cashback.

[-] downpunxx@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

pretty sneaky sis

[-] Falmarri@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Oh shit that's a good idea

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[-] ninjan@lemmy.mildgrim.com 18 points 1 year ago

It's because the CC companies charge out the ass to be a payment processor towards T-Mobile (and all other companies). I'm reasonably certain we'll see many companies outright refusing to accept credit cards within 10 years.

[-] elgordio@kbin.social 12 points 1 year ago

This is something the EU got right by limiting interchange fees to 0.5% rather than the 3%+ in the US. It stopped companies charging consumers extra for credit transactions and also stopped weird outcomes where airlines and hotel companies became more interested in their branded credit cards than in providing an actual service.

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[-] freeman@lemmy.pub 14 points 1 year ago

I do not link my bank account to vendors like this. Discounts aren’t worth it, in time cost alone, when something goes wrong and you have to recoup your money.

I’ll autopay off a CC and pay that. Or pay monthly manually. Those are the choices, full stop.

It’s easier to handle fraud or theft with a CC who hasn’t gotten their money yet.

[-] PrimaCora@lemmy.fmhy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

T-Mobile doesn't even let me setup auto pay. I'm a Sprint customer that got converted. Sprint app no longer works, T-Mobile doesn't recognize me.

I still get the removed but it makes me pay manually, using the short code from the phone app... And since I can't see it get into the account, can't pay off or buy my current phone.

Once I get time off near August I hope to deal with that. And after, may just switch to something like mint. Hardly use any data, text, or talk, just needed phone financing and insurance.

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[-] v13@kbin.social 9 points 1 year ago

I had nothing but deteriorating service and escalating fees from them. So glad to have switched away!

[-] hemmes@vlemmy.net 8 points 1 year ago

It’s crazy, they were doing good. Then, past several months, garbage.

Who’d you switch to?

[-] v13@kbin.social 5 points 1 year ago

Ting. They rent/use Verizon and t-mobile towers I believe. The coverage is fine and the prices are way lower.

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[-] axsyse@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I switched to Mint Mobile several years ago (god, like 5 years ago now?) and haven't looked back since

[-] Bootheal0179@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

T-mobile bought Mint mobile back in March, so welcome back to T-Mobile

[-] Notorious@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Boost or US Mobile are the new Mint. Think Boost actually has a chance of hanging around for a while since they are owned by Dish who is building out their own network of towers (think they just hit coverage of 70% of US). They also use both T-Mobile and AT&T for roaming with their rainbow sims, which is extremely rare. US Mobile is a Verizon MVNO.. their "unlimited" package has the same priority as post-paid Verizon customers for the first 30gb each month, but I'm afraid they're eventually going to get bought out by Verizon ala Mint.

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[-] Morcyphr@lemmy.one 8 points 1 year ago

Xfinity is doing the same shit. I keep getting emails "reminding" me. I'm not sure what difference it makes to either company. I'm not so much mad as annoyed.

[-] ffolkes@fanexus.com 5 points 1 year ago

Credit cards charge the companies fees. Your $100 bill payment might only be $98 once it gets to them, because Visa/MC/etc took $2. But most importantly, it strips away any protection you have against incorrect charges. With a credit card on file, you can dispute charges, even demand a charge-back. But with a debit card or bank transfer? Your money is gone, too bad for you.

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[-] dynamojoe@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

My autopay discount is $5 and I get about half of that back in rewards points from my credit card. I'm keeping the CC on file and chalking it up to having better protections and an extra 25 days interest-free for $2.50/mo.

[-] Lucacri@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

This was the reason why I switched to US Mobile and I’ve been loving it. I know it sounds like a paid comment ahha, but I was a T-Mobile customer for 10 years and I realized I didn’t need to spend $80+/month for the service

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[-] JakenVeina@vlemmy.net 7 points 1 year ago

Holy shit, your AutoPay discount is $40?! Is this, like, not USD or something?

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[-] mtnwolf@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Check out Google Fi. It uses the T-Mobile network here (US), and I get unlimited data, no rate limits. I have three phone numbers on my account and it costs me $85 a month total. Also the phones from the Fi store are super cheap if you stay on Google Fi. My pixel 7 got $300 off at purchase and $100 for my old phone. They are unlocked, too. Something I hate when buying from other providers. One of my phones had a Verizon sim and a Google Fi e-sim, so I can switch services with easy. Here in the mountains, service can be spotty in places with TMobile. Wifi calling is also available though, so that helps, too. I abandoned US Cellular entirely.

[-] ultranaut@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

My only concern is being even more locked into Google. I already feel like I have too many eggs in their basket and they are basically impossible to deal with if something goes wrong. I don't want to end up locked out of everything with no data and there's no customer support person I can call up to maybe sort things out with because Google is too cheap to pay for actual customer support staff.

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[-] HiddenRetro@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Verizon does the same thing. 🫤

[-] untuned@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

All I wanted to do was use a Privacy.com card with them. No discount.

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[-] taurentipper@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

Switch carriers, why support a company thats actively annoying you and has a record of breaking customers privacy with data leaks?

[-] blake@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I just switched to T-Mobile after getting played by both AT&T and Verizon too many times. At this point, I don’t know what I’ll do if T-Mobile tries to screw me over worse than those two did.

[-] iAmTheTot@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

Switch again. Go with whoever has the best value at the time. Don't get sucked into brand loyalty.

[-] clegko@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

You switch to one of the dozens of MVNOs, like Mint Mobile, US Mobile, Cricket, etc etc.

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[-] Neato@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago

Why would they do this? Debit charges can fail if got enough funds. Cc almost always goes through. The only risk is a charge back.

I would NEVER do this. CC in the US have actual consumer protection laws. Debit does not.

[-] dipbeneaththelasers@kbin.social 4 points 1 year ago

My guess is to get better pricing at their bank for the ACH they're probably already using and reduce the CC network fees they're paying. Just a guess though.

[-] cityslicker343@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Huh, I only get a $30 discount for autopay

[-] quackslikeaduck@midwest.social 5 points 1 year ago

It’s per line. Which is even more infuriating. They aren’t charging you 4 times for 4 lines. They are clawing back money for more profit

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this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2023
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