Value Plans Vs. Classic

Chaviv · Thread Author #1 12-06-2011, 02:12 PM

Hi there. I had a quick question that maybe someone might be able to answer for me.

I'm currently on a 2 year contract with T-Mobile which I started in September. I was looking into getting a bit of a cheaper plan <with less whenever minutes basically> and the same amount of Data, if that's possible.

Currently I'm on the Unlimited Classic talk and text with 2 GB data.

When I go to investigate changing, it comes up with the following statement:
"You will incur a one-time Rate Plan Migration Fee of $200.00 with this plan choice."

Why would I incur a migration fee if I'm already ON T-Mobile to begin with? Are the value plans not on contract or something?

Thanks...

papped · #2 12-06-2011, 05:36 PM

Value plans are on contract, which is why you can't switch, because you are already in a contract term.

Value plans require signing a new contract, since they are essentially subsidizing the plan and not the handset. Otherwise you would be able to get a regular contract with a subsidized phone, then switch to the value plan mid contract and get the cheaper plan, which defeats the purpose of the value plans.

malanis5 · #3 12-06-2011, 06:22 PM

Value plans: Cheap monthly rate, but pay full price for a new phone. (on 2 year contract)

Classic plans: Increase cost of monthly rate compared to value plan, but you get discount on phone. (on 2 year contract)

Sounds like they don't want you double dipping if you got a discount on a phone signing a contract to a Classic plan and then wanting to switch to a Value plan a few months later.

If you try to increase your plan or downgrade your plan within the Value Plans or within the Classic Plans T-mobile just extends your contract without a fee. I think the problem you have is that you want to switch sides. You must stay on one side of the court or the other to avoid that $200 fee.

abutterflyloves · #4 12-06-2011, 07:10 PM

My husband and I have been on the "Even More Plus plan" for T-mobile with my Blackberry Curve, and his Samsung Galaxy S. We decided to go contract free, and pay a flat rate of $139.99 for unlimited talk, text, and web. Every single time I look to downgrade, or go contract, there isn't a unlimited data plan that would work for me. That plan is grandfathered, and between work, and Pandora, our DATA use is insane. Unless T-Mo goes to At&t.. I will stick with this as long as I can.

dosto · #5 12-06-2011, 07:26 PM

Chaviv, even with the $200 migration fee, after you do the math, you might still find switching to Value Plan to be cheaper than staying with Classic. It depends on your current plan and voice/text/data usage. I've been with TMO (or their predecessors) for 14 years. In most cases (unless you're on a ridiculously awesome grandfathered plan and use tons of data) the Value plan is cheaper than the Classic plan, by $15-$20/month, even considering you must pay full retail for the phone. With the Classic plan, TMO is basically financing your phone at a ridiculously high interest rate, and, ironically, the cheaper the phone, the worse the deal.

pastorglen · #6 12-06-2011, 07:27 PM

The "migration fee" will decrease the longer you stay on your classic plan. It basically reduces by $50 every 6 months you get closer to your contract expiration date. Think of it as that pesky "termination fee" you would incur if you canceled your classic plan. Same thing. They are recouping the "loan" on your handset.

Chaviv · Thread Author #7 12-06-2011, 07:36 PM

pastorglen, thanks for that. I didn't know that, and it makes a lot of sense what you say.

dosto , here is my current breakdown for the past 3 billing cycles:

I did an average for the past 3 months in terms of minutes, and it came out to less than 100 minutes a month, so unlimited seems like it's not the plan I need.

However, I did send/receive a lot of texts and when I checked my data, it averaged less than 200 MB of data a month. I was doing research into seeing if there was a cheaper plan even tho I was on contract.

I'll continue to do some research on this. Thanks for everyone's input so far. It's been very helpful to me.

eltiburon7 · #8 12-06-2011, 08:54 PM

Any of you thought of mysimplemobile. its BYOP service with a sim card and you pay $60 a month unlimited bb service. The service is provided by T mobile.
You can pick up a sim card for a few $$$ on amazon and pay $60 a month for service

canuckinnh · #9 12-06-2011, 09:11 PM

You have a choice to get ripped off by T-mobile through the Classic plan. Under this plan you pay significantly more for your monthly services (data, text and voice) and get a discount on an phone upgrade

The value plan is where you the subscriber aren't subsidizing T-mobile to provide you a discount on a phone upgrade.

Anyone who understands the 'time value of money' would NEVER purchase the classic plan

Hamp · #10 12-06-2011, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eltiburon7

Any of you thought of mysimplemobile. its BYOP service with a sim card and you pay $60 a month unlimited bb service. The service is provided by T mobile.
You can pick up a sim card for a few $$$ on amazon and pay $60 a month for service

How's the customers service?

scootnyinzer · #11 12-06-2011, 09:50 PM

Given the lousy phone subsidies on Blackberry at TMO, it would have been slightly cheaper to pay for the phone and get the value plan over the two year contract. TMO gave me an additional $250 discount on a 9900 when I tried to pay the $200 EFT and end the contract. That shifted the math to my favor ... and I have a $59 mo grandfathered rate. Your results my vary.

Chaviv · Thread Author #12 12-06-2011, 10:19 PM

I got my phone through Letstalk.com, and I got a heavy discount on it.. and they automatically signed me up for the classic unl talk/text. I deliberately chose that site because they were selling the phone for 100 dollars cheaper than on the tmo website....

marksthespot60 · #13 12-06-2011, 11:05 PM

The Even More Plus Plan works best for my family as well. Keeps our monthly payment down significantly.

Chaviv · Thread Author #14 12-06-2011, 11:25 PM

Do they still offer those, or is it just the classic and the value plans...?

DannyAves · #15 12-07-2011, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eltiburon7

Any of you thought of mysimplemobile. its BYOP service with a sim card and you pay $60 a month unlimited bb service. The service is provided by T mobile.
You can pick up a sim card for a few $$$ on amazon and pay $60 a month for service

I have a T-Mobile Value plan and I pay $39.99 per month for 1,000 minutes + unlimited texts + unlimited data.