Question

Massive down payment means t-mobile wants to pay me!

  • 4 March 2022
  • 9 replies
  • 12213 views

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I don't usually post on forums bet I felt it necessary in this situation. I am a long term sprint customer (now tmobile obviously) I had leased a galaxy s20 ultra through sprint. The lease term was 18 months. In January of 2022 the lease ended. It is now March so naturally I would like to upgrade so I'm not paying $60 a month towards a phone that is already paid off but needs to be returned. So I tried today to upgrade to the galaxy s22 ultra. Online it told me it was going to be a $500 down payment. I never had to put money down for a phone in the past. My credit is good and I understand tmobile is getting rid of the leasing program (good riddons) but the $500 down payment caught me off guard so I called... after talking to 4 different sales reps, they all told me that my down payment was actually going to be $920!  However, there is a promotion for the s22 ultra right now for $1000 dollars off! Oh wow that's perfect I thought. Well I thought wrong because even after the promotion which brought the phone down from $1300 to $300, they still want $920 down... so basically, I will be paying $920 for a $300 phone in which case tmobile will pay me monthly to a total of $620. What. The. Eff. Can someone please explain this to me. 


9 replies

I'm having the same exact issue.

Userlevel 6
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I don't usually post on forums bet I felt it necessary in this situation. I am a long term sprint customer (now tmobile obviously) I had leased a galaxy s20 ultra through sprint. The lease term was 18 months. In January of 2022 the lease ended. It is now March so naturally I would like to upgrade so I'm not paying $60 a month towards a phone that is already paid off but needs to be returned. So I tried today to upgrade to the galaxy s22 ultra. Online it told me it was going to be a $500 down payment. I never had to put money down for a phone in the past. My credit is good and I understand tmobile is getting rid of the leasing program (good riddons) but the $500 down payment caught me off guard so I called... after talking to 4 different sales reps, they all told me that my down payment was actually going to be $920!  However, there is a promotion for the s22 ultra right now for $1000 dollars off! Oh wow that's perfect I thought. Well I thought wrong because even after the promotion which brought the phone down from $1300 to $300, they still want $920 down... so basically, I will be paying $920 for a $300 phone in which case tmobile will pay me monthly to a total of $620. What. The. Eff. Can someone please explain this to me. 

T-Mobile only allows so much per line.  IF you are going above the total limit then you will pay that difference.  Regardless of Promotions.  So without actually looking at your account(No person here can see your account details).

Userlevel 4
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1st Off. Do you get to own the phone now that the lease is up or do you have to return it and if you have to return it what would you do for a phone. 2nd. Why did you lease a phone? 3rd. It appears all phones bought through T-Mobile require a down payment regardless of credit status. Because of this i ordered my new phone from the manufacturer. With trade in value i paid the same as what T-Mobile wanted but no down payment required.

Userlevel 6
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1st Off. Do you get to own the phone now that the lease is up or do you have to return it and if you have to return it what would you do for a phone. 2nd. Why did you lease a phone? 3rd. It appears all phones bought through T-Mobile require a down payment regardless of credit status. Because of this i ordered my new phone from the manufacturer. With trade in value i paid the same as what T-Mobile wanted but no down payment required.

DO you have any payment plans running?  Like I said there is maximum they’ll allow per line.

If you got it from Samsung on their payment program they’ll set limits to it as well.  It may be more or less than what T-Mobile will give but it won’t be unlimited.

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Basically financeing a phone with T-Mobile is the same as going to the bank and get a used car loan which requires a huge downpayment really there’s no body to talk to at T-Mobile because they can’t change the way phones are financed for me I got wait until December to finally get a iphone13 I wish consumer cellular didn’t mess up my account so bad because. Y now I would have a iphone13 for just $58 downpayment a lot better than $199 down didn’t know I had a bank loan for a used car LOL

 

Userlevel 7
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I think the aspect missing here, is the taxes due when you get the device.  The taxes and fees are on the full cost of the device, regardless of promotions.  Add that on to what is required for a down payment, add in those upgrade fees, and that is probably how you get to that amount.  

This really should not be a surprise to anyone that left T-Mobile and went to Sprint years ago, as I did. The minute I heard that T-Mobile was taking over my Sprint, I was sick!!! There was always a charge here and a charge there!! Never once did I every pay a deposit for a phone!! Never ever!! When I contacted Sprint for any reason they were always avialalbe by chat. T-mobile doesn’t have chat!! You just can’t only be on the phone when you are at work, so chat was amazing. So my choice is to move one line at a time to Verizon as the phones are paid off. I can’t believe that anyone wants to stay with T-Mobile and accept their ridiculous demands. I should have left the minute it was announced. Now I am paying more for my monthly plan, more for my phones when I upgrade. Charge here a charge there!!  I always received a receipt emailed to me when there was an upgrade. So tell me why I had to call T-Mobile to ask for a receipt that was not provided at the store or sent to my email.  I really miss the fair practices of Sprint!! Hello Verizon !! 

Userlevel 7
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This really should not be a surprise to anyone that left T-Mobile and went to Sprint years ago, as I did. The minute I heard that T-Mobile was taking over my Sprint, I was sick!!! There was always a charge here and a charge there!! Never once did I every pay a deposit for a phone!! Never ever!! When I contacted Sprint for any reason they were always avialalbe by chat. T-mobile doesn’t have chat!! You just can’t only be on the phone when you are at work, so chat was amazing. So my choice is to move one line at a time to Verizon as the phones are paid off. I can’t believe that anyone wants to stay with T-Mobile and accept their ridiculous demands. I should have left the minute it was announced. Now I am paying more for my monthly plan, more for my phones when I upgrade. Charge here a charge there!!  I always received a receipt emailed to me when there was an upgrade. So tell me why I had to call T-Mobile to ask for a receipt that was not provided at the store or sent to my email.  I really miss the fair practices of Sprint!! Hello Verizon !! 

Sprint wasn't't profitable!  A company that can't make money isn't a good one.  If getting a receipt was the biggest of your complaints with T-Monile.  Good luck with Verizon.  As a customer, you should have realistic expectations and nothing more and no loyalty to any company that won't offer you the closest to what you want at that point in time.

This really should not be a surprise to anyone that left T-Mobile and went to Sprint years ago, as I did. The minute I heard that T-Mobile was taking over my Sprint, I was sick!!! There was always a charge here and a charge there!! Never once did I every pay a deposit for a phone!! Never ever!! When I contacted Sprint for any reason they were always avialalbe by chat. T-mobile doesn’t have chat!! You just can’t only be on the phone when you are at work, so chat was amazing. So my choice is to move one line at a time to Verizon as the phones are paid off. I can’t believe that anyone wants to stay with T-Mobile and accept their ridiculous demands. I should have left the minute it was announced. Now I am paying more for my monthly plan, more for my phones when I upgrade. Charge here a charge there!!  I always received a receipt emailed to me when there was an upgrade. So tell me why I had to call T-Mobile to ask for a receipt that was not provided at the store or sent to my email.  I really miss the fair practices of Sprint!! Hello Verizon !! 

Sprint wasn't't profitable!  A company that can't make money isn't a good one.  If getting a receipt was the biggest of your complaints with T-Monile.  Good luck with Verizon.  As a customer, you should have realistic expectations and nothing more and no loyalty to any company that won't offer you the closest to what you want at that point in time.

Sprint wasn’t profitable, but it sure was a better company than T-Mobile.  We also left T-Mobile to go to Sprint and was VERY SATISFIED with the service, everything.  Then when the news hit and I found out it was back to T-Mobile, I bounced to Xfinity Mobile.  Better service all around.  I still have lines on T-Mobile but only because of the kids.  As soon as their phones are paid off to Xfinity Mobile we go!

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