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Money expert Clark Howard is calling on T-Mobile CEO John Legere to make a change to the wireless provider’s new unlimited data plan.
T-Mobile Essentials is being marketed as an unlimited wireless data plan for people who want just the basics: unlimited talk, text and smartphone data in the United States.
Available starting August 10, T-Mobile Essentials costs $30 per line for a family of four with autopay — but there’s a big catch.
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Unlike the popular T-Mobile One plan, taxes and fees are NOT included with T-Mobile Essentials, a spokesperson for the wireless provider confirmed to Clark.com via email.
In addition, you don’t get some of the other perks of T-Mobile One, including free Netflix.
When you factor in taxes and fees, Clark says T-Mobile Essentials can be more expensive than T-Mobile One ($70/month for a single line and $160/month for four lines), which has far more benefits.
In a Tuesday afternoon tweet to Legere, Clark asked the CEO to fix the new unlimited plan!
.@JohnLegere Respectfully, have you lost your mind? I love the Uncarrier but you have betrayed your loyalists with the new Essentials Plan. Bait & switch with junk fees & taxes. Essentials can be more expensive than @TMobile One, which includes more stuff. Fix this! @tmobilehelp
Since his tweet, Clark has spoken twice with officials from T-Mobile and believes the company’s new unlimited plan is all about marketing.
He says T-Mobile wants the price of its plan to stand out compared to Verizon and AT&T, which charge local taxes and fees separate from the monthly advertised price.
“I expressed strongly that I don’t like that. I don’t like them reacting to what AT&T and Verizon do, which I think is wrong, and the way T-Mobile usually does it is right,” Clark said.
Clark told the people from T-Mobile that the new plan is an unnecessary complication of how they do business and he hopes they’ll change their mind.
This is what he tweeted on Wednesday afternoon:
With cell phone plans getting ever more complicated, compare your options to find the best unlimited plan for you in Clark’s cell phone guide.
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