Explain Magneta or whatever it is called

For 3 years I paid for JUMP!, which in the end gave me absolutely nothing for my money. It seems it only paid if something happened to my phone, but I was told at the end of my “lease” I could trade-up or “Jump” to a newer phone. The “Jump” cost more than a standard trade.

Fast forward to now, in order to trade up, it seems I have to join the Magneta plan or basically pay full price. But here is the kicker, Magneta will cost me $20 more a month per line, and I can get the same phone from the manufacturer for slightly more than that. I understand T-Mobile “claims” I can trade more often, but I heard that lie before.

When I went to a T-Mobile store, they couldn’t understand enough to explain either. Stating I got free Netflix (I already do, but don’t use it as I already had an account I wasn’t dropping as I am Grandfathered in). Then something about customer service. Going back to when I was with Metro, I have been with T-Mobile for almost 10 years and never needed customer service but twice. Basically, they had no answers.

So I ask, why would I want to pay extra for nothing other than a phone that should be given to me. The funny thing is, I can switch to AT&T or Verizon for a new phone, but my rate with them would be about the same as T-Mobile with Magneta. So in my mind, this is a marketing ploy by T-Mobile to raise their prices without calling it a price increase.