T-Mobile honed in on simplicity for its latest “Un-carrier” event, but instead has found itself cursed by growing complexity.
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T-Mobile US deserves credit for a lot of the fun that has transpired across the domestic mobile telecom space over the past couple of years.
And I am not just talking about all the cursing that comes out of the mouth of their executives, though that is pretty f&%#*ing sweet.
(Oh, I should probably mention that quite a bit of this column is NSFW.)
Outside of the foul language, T-Mobile US has regaled the industry with its “Un-carrier” moves and events that are sort of a mix between an Apple product launch and a Sam Kinison show.
The latest in this string of events was conducted last week in Las Vegas during the annual technology orgy that is CES. The T-Mobile US event didn’t receive an official numerical title, but it would appear to have been No. 13, which is probably why it was not entitled as such. No need to encourage any bad juju.
“Un-carrier 13,” as I will call it, was T-Mobile US’ reinforcement of the Un-carrier 12 event, which for those of you that have not dipped into the Kool-Aid, was the launch of the carrier’s One “unlimited” rate plans.
Now, if I can get this straight the point of the “One” plan was to make rate plan choices easier for consumers by lumping all needed services on an “unlimited” basis at a single price point.
In fact, here is CEO John Legere to explain how awesome the One plan is.
Sounds great and at least for a couple of days that was indeed what T-Mobile US appeared to accomplish.
But, as we have all witnessed, T-Mobile US has since thrown out various iterations of the One plan so that now there are several One plans that I am guessing would infuriate at least one person.
So, with Un-carrier 13, T-Mobile US has again mixed up the One program with new variations that further confound the idea of simplicity.
To wit, the One plans now include a “KickBack” option that allows customers that use less than two gigabytes of data per month to receive a $10 credit. Great idea in that those customers feeling pressured to purchase unlimited data even though they only use a small amount can receive a nice discount per month.
However, to get that discount, customers will have to ask for it. Not that making a customer ask for a discount is wrong or anything, but is that really the most “consumer friendly” way to do it?
Plus, with T-Mobile US acknowledging less than 10% of its customers actually use less than 2 GB of data per month, the ground shaking impact of this deal is limited at best.
Along the same lines, T-Mobile US also indicated that customers signed up for the One plan will now get to maintain their price point for that plan until they decide to change it. This would seem to indicate that should T-Mobile US for any reason decide to alter pricing for the One plan, customers will get to decide if they want to take on that price change.
Interesting idea should T-Mobile US at some point look to increase the price point on One plans, and perhaps that’s what the carrier is planning on doing at some point. But, what if T-Mobile US decides to offer up a lower price point for One as it has done with various promotions during the recent holidays? Will customers on the older, more expensive price have to ask for the lower pricing? Nothing says pro-consumer like making existing customers ask for a discount available to new customers.
And finally, Un-carrier 13 included the inclusion of all taxes and fees into the One rate plan(s), or at least for new customers selecting the rate plan. Current customers on a One rate plan will have to select the new option in order to garner the potential savings.
This is a great move in that it seems targeted at clearing up the disconnect from the pricing carriers like to promote for their services and what customers actually pay for those services.
However, T-Mobile US does note the taxes and fees now included will not include any taxes or fees tied to anything outside of just the rate plan. Thus taxes and fees associated with the carrier’s wildly popular device financing program or handset protection programs are not included, and neither are any taxes tied to the purchase of SIM card “starter kits,” extra data passes, device upgrade fees or calls from foreign countries.
Basically, your mileage will vary.
Look, I am all for T-Mobile US going event crazy with its Un-carrier schtick, its One plan, and its overall attempts to make the cellphone purchasing and using experience simpler for consumers. But while T-Mobile US management likes to go on about the simplicity of its One plan, I would argue that the 34 “frequently asked questions” the carrier has in place on its website for the One plans indicates otherwise.
Are its rivals any better? Of course not. But then again, they aren’t cursing up a storm on stage every couple of months touting that they are.
Again, full props to T-Mobile US for maintaining its adult image by working blue. But it appears the carrier may need to be reminded that with the power of language in the name of simplicity comes the responsibility of making sure the message attempting to be delivered by that language is not lost in translation.
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