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Bob Sullivan

Corporate sneakiness. Government waste. Technology run amok. Outright scams. The Red Tape Chronicles is MSNBC.com's effort to unmask these 21st Century headaches and offer real solutions that save you time and money.

Bob Sullivan covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for MSNBC.com. He is the winner of multiple journalism awards for his coverage of online crime and author of Gotcha Capitalism: How Hidden Fees Rip You Off Every Day and What You Can Do About It. and Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic.

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T-Mobile users to be billed for bills

Posted: Tuesday, September 1 2009 at 05:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan

Rob Connor of Charleston, S.C., watches his bills carefully.  So he's pretty "steamed" that soon he's going to have to pay for the right to do so.

Connor is caught in a debate that could pit environmentalists against consumer rights advocates over the basic monthly task of paying the bills.

Connor's mobile phone provider, T-Mobile, recently sent him a note saying it will now charge customers $1.50 per month to receive paper bills mailed to their homes, or $3.50 per month for detailed bills.  E-mailed bills are free, but Connor says that won't help him. He doesn't have Internet access at home.

T-Mobile says it's making the change, which takes effect in September, in part to help the environment, but Connor doesn't buy that.

"This thing of having to pay so I can pay is just a little too much," he said. "And I'm certainly not interested in some bogus argument about me contributing to global warming by NOT signing on to making it cheaper for T-Mobile to send me a bill."

Is T-Mobile stiffing consumers like Connor or helping the environment?  Many companies are strongly encouraging consumers to forgo paper bills in favor of electronic versions. Sprint offers a $5 credit to consumers to enroll in online billing. Verizon recently offered consumers who make the switch a chance to win a Toyota Prius.   

But T-Mobile's fee for even summary paper bills marks one of the most aggressive steps by companies trying to push consumers into the paperless world.

"After considering a number of factors, including rising costs for paper, printing, and postage, as well as environmental impacts associated with printing paper bills, T-Mobile has started to charge customers who would like to receive a paper bill," the company said in a statement. It stressed that consumers can access billing information online for free at any time or, in some cases, with their handsets.

The firm is not the first wireless company to charge for paper bills. Verizon Wireless and AT&T charge $2 monthly fees for consumers who want to receive detailed bill statements via U.S. mail.  Basic summary bills are still free, however.

The cost savings for the companies are obvious. Verizon recently said it saves about $600,000 each year for every 100,000 customers who go without paper bills. In 2008, the firm replaced paper bills with electronic versions, saving 4.3 million pounds of paper, or about 52,000 trees, it said.

The PayItGreen Alliance – a banking industry group – says that if 20 percent of U.S. households switched to electronic bills, 1.8 million trees would be saved each year. 

But Connor thinks he has a right to the paper bills for free, and he's not alone. T-Mobile customers have taken their displeasure with the new policy to the Internet, registering complaints on dozens of Web sites.T-Mobile’s own consumer message boards are full of angry notes.

“It really pisses me off when companies hide behind the environmental wackos for a reason why not to include services anymore,” reads one. 

“E-mails don't receive much weight from me, I respond much quicker and better to a physical bill in the mail than an electronic statement,” said another.

Get out of their contracts?
Harvey Rosenfeld, founder of Consumer Watchdog and lead attorney in several lawsuits against the mobile industry, says Conner and other complainers may have legal grounds for their objection.  He recently settled a lawsuit against Nextel Corp. for requiring consumers to pay for detailed billing statements back in 2003. As part of the settlement, Nextel agreed to refund customers.  He says consumers are entitled to bills and invoices that itemize costs.

"There's a lot of policy language in state and federal law that says consumers need to be able to determine the validity of a bill," he said. "You need to know if you're being overcharged, if you've received a promotional discount. You can't figure anything out from a bill if all they give you is a single unitemized bill."

Rosenfeld says he's seen hospital bills where the consumer was charged $2.50 to obtain a copy of the bill.

"To bill you for the price of billing you is an outrage" he said. "It's the cost of doing business."

T-Mobile counters that it is providing a free means for customers to receive their bills – on the Web. 

Nextel also made that case, Rosenfeld said, but at the time, millions of the firm's consumers did not have Internet access.  T-Mobile probably has a stronger case on that point today, but Rosenfeld still thinks consumers who want itemized paper bills shouldn't have to pay for them.

Meanwhile, many T-Mobile consumers are wondering if the new paper bill fee constitutes a change in contract terms which would allow customers to break their contracts without paying an early termination fee.

T-Mobile says no.

"It doesn't qualify for opt out in the contract because customers were given 30 days notices as part of terms and conditions. They have the option to opt out. And they have access to bills for free online," said a company spokesman, speaking on condition he not be identified.

But Rosenfeld said the firm has clearly changed the cost to consumers – a $50 plan now costs $50 plus at least $1.50 to get a paper bill – so consumers should have the right to cancel.

"If a company starts charging for a service that they previously did for free ... that’s a material change for sure," he said.  "I think consumers can get out of their contracts."

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573 COMMENTS

Who really cares???? My bill is the same every month and if it isnt, its MY responsibility to look into it! Its not T-Mobile's job to make sure my bill is paid on time!
Why not go paperless? Not only are you "saving trees" but its one less thing to lose, one less thing to clutter your purse or desk...if you dont have interenet at home-GET WITH IT! ITS 2010 NOT 1990!

I was really thinking of using T-Mobil, but, Comcast
started charging for paying by phone or internet.
I'm not interested in companies that are decietful and or greedy. I gave up comcast and wont even try t-mobil. As a person involved with computers since the 1960's, I would never, never exchange personal financial information over the internet. Everything you type, speak or transmit in any fashion is interceptable by someone. Be aware.

I am not going to renew with T-Mobile. The 18.00 a year is not the point, it how they went about it. However, let them think about this. I WOULD HAVE CONTINUED TO STAY WITH T-MOBILE,SO for the 18.00 a year they will lose 532.00 a year.

For a business owner who needs to keep records for tax purposes, not receiving a paper bill simply shifts the cost of printing to the customer. I need to keep organized records of my business expenses in case I'm ever audited and so I'd still have to print bill copies myself if I opted for e-billing. The companies are not 'going green'. They are simply trying to pass costs to the customer.

I think that there are some valid points posted here. The first thing to point out though is that T-Mobile is not going to be charging this fee anymore. Secondly, if you like paper bills, you can always login to your online account and print the bill. Sure, there's something to be said about the fact that it's nice to receive the paper bill in the mail. But with online access you get access to your bill quicker, in fact almost a week quicker. Also, I think this raises the realization that during the current recession, individuals aren't the only ones hurting and looking at ways to cut costs. It actually does cost a company to print bills, mail them to their customers, and this is a charge that companies have always "incurred." Obviously, it is going to make a lot of consumers mad that a company would even bring that up, yet we have consumers who will send out their bill with 1 cent more than the bill and then request their 12 cents at the end of the year in the form of a check in the mail, just out of spite? Isn't that the type of attitude that destroyed the housing market and caused this recession in the first place? I know that I'm doing whatever I can to stay ahead of this recession, just as T-Mobile and all other companies are. That's why I'm staying with them, since they have the cheapest rates AND are the only wireless service provider that can garentee in home coverage (through their Unlimited Hotspot Calling service). Plus, with their @Home line, I get my home phone for only $9.99/month and that is unlimited nationwide.

Aren't nearly ALL of you missing the FACT that on-line money transactions can be HACKED, Changed, ID problems ? The reason that my wife and I don't / won't use internet for money transactions is that it is NOT , NOT , NOT, SECURE !!!!

What disturbs me is the way T-Mobile is touting its electronic billing as FREE. How nice. A company that doesn't charge me for billing me. But how long until even the electronic billing costs a fee. "We could tell you what you owe but you have to pay." Here's how to get even: Keep paying by a check in the mail. The address is on your e-bill. Be sure to write your account number on your check. Processing paper payments sent in regular envelopes without a copy of the bill to scann will cost them plenty.

You think $1.50 is bad? Waste Management is charging $3.00 to receive a paper bill.

Pretty soon we will be charged for our junk mail!!! What a crock! For every bill I receive in the mail, I get at least two or three pieces of junk mail. I think that reducing the amount of junk mail would more effectively aid in conserving the environment and at the same time, provide the companies with the same or greater cost savings.

I just told them I was canceling, if they didn't like it, take me to court.

Who cares!!! It's free on their website? Welcome to the century where you can pay all your bills online. I do. I have Sprint and have been paying my bill online for years. Simple as this... who cares, if you can't afford to have the internet you probably shouldn't have a cell phone then too!

I just called TMobile, and the woman politely told me that they are rescinding the charge. Repeat, they are not going forward with the Bill Fee.

T-Mobile has the worst customer service. If T-Mobile wants to go green, T-Mobile should pay for it. T-Mobile should not expect the customers to pay for its green halo.

Changes such as these should void all contracts that have been signed with the carrier and then customers should be allowed to decided whether to continue with the new rules. This is subversion of the free market plain and simple.

It was a time when I could sign up for 1 year service and thought it was safe to sign up for 2. Not now! Last 3 years T mobil makes number of major mistakes. Like my phone was losing connection to a tower. I could go for days without knowing that I have no connection. Customer service could not resolve this for almost a year. Now this $1.50. Instead of offering discount for cutomers who willing to switch to paperless they charging to people who can't switch for different reasons.How rediculous is that. I ask representative if I can see their e bill on my bank ebilling web site. They said they don't provide that. Another big mistake because I can't send pay from my bank without e bill. What was there about saving enviroment and trees? I am tired of bad service and droping T Mobil as provider.

You are paying for Catherine Zeta-Jones. T-Mobile must be paying her a fortune to be their spokesperson again.

I have been happy with Tmobile for years, but lately their service and attitude have gone downhill. I am busy shopping for another carrier for my family.

I don't normally chime in on such topics but I hate to tell you that email vs paper bills is not any better for the environment. I work in the computer field so I can tell you for sure it takes allot of electricity to run these servers. Allot! Where do you think this electricity comes from? Most of the time coal power, which is far worse from the planet. Most paper is recycled anyway. Allot of people seem to think email is free, no there is still cost that goes along with it. Just something to think about.

I think it's wrong to charge for a paper bills. I have elderly parent's and has taken me a long time to get them to use a cell phone. They do not have a computer and will not get one for this reason. It is harder for the elderly to change there way's. So now that they are on fixed income a 1.50 is a big deal to them. Now they want to get rid of the cell phone. Thanks for helping !!!trying to teach them to change to the new world of technology. I am sure I am not the only one this is happening to. So I do think this is wrong and will be looking for a new provider That cares for the elderly. I also read someone else's complaint what about all the junk mail T mobil and others are sending we sure can do without that...

I have online billing I like E-Bills but T-Mobile still sends paper bills in the mail why??

As a T-Mobile customer who just resigned for 2 more years, it bothered me, but not enough to switch over. They still have cheaper calling plans than AT&T & Verizon (at least in my area). The airlines, for ex, already charge higher fees for paper ticket as opposed to e-tickets, so things are just trending that way. It's a go green initiative (green as in money).

I gotta agree with Rob Conner here: having to pay a fee just so you can see and be able to pay your larger bill is ridiculous. Yet another reason to add to my long list of reasons never to go back to T-Mobile.

I called T-Mobile re the charge on my bill and got the same lame excuse about "saving the environment." I assured the person with whom I was speaking that I would definitely cancel my T-M service as soon as my contract expires. Their service is crappy anyway!!

So if this continues will stores start charging people to get a copy of their receipt every time they buy something?

I find this whining amazing. You do realize you are living in the dark ages still? How about getting in to the next century? We are not asking you to catch up, but get a bit closer.

In Denmark the banks, under the auspices of the government run a digital emailing system - every citzen has a law given right to have an "electronic safety box" which is theirs for life, and they can ask goverment and companies to send them ebills there - all the papers they ever need are there until the user chooses to delete them. Companies save about 80% by doing bills electrically instead of having to print out paper.

But when we don't live in tin shacks with carrier pidgeons for communication, 95% have internet.

when i get my bill i will take away a 1.50 what are they going to do turn my kids crappy phone service off. i have verizon i rather pay a lot more for better service. i never signed anything about charging me a 1.50.

I'm also fed up with T-Mobile service and fees. This is absolutely ridiculous. I think that if T-Mobile is going to start charging for paper statements, they should give their customers the option to get out of their contracts. They literally charge for EVERYtTHING except for online account access. Change your number, limit a plan, make a payment over the phone and we all pay fees for these which I think should be part of the customer service agreement. We pay them good money to have crappy service, and now their adding on more fees? As many others will do, I will cancel my plan as soon as my contract is up in November! I highly doubt the extra $1.50 or $3.00 fee will make up for lost revenue due to cancellations. Some of us just have to learn from our mistakes, and hopefully they can too.

Well guys it seems there was a big stink made over being charged to get your bill. It seems that it is a MUCH bigger deal to pay for your bill than to BE PAID by the company for opting out of the bill. MAYBE, JUST MAYBE more people will opt out of paper bills for being charged than people who opt out to get paid. I personally was with ATT for a long time and not once signed for paperless even tho my bill was never opened and tossed in the trash every month. I paid online, but this made me switch and that's just fine the bill still gets tossed without opening it and I still pay online. Good for them for pushing it in a more effective manner.

Save a mailman's job. Get the paper bill.

Here's a way to make companies like this pay and pay hard. Everybody should pay exactly USD $0.01 more than their monthly bill. This forces the company to account for each and every overage -- and that costs money.

And here's another one for those who like to be really cruel... at the end of the year, ask for a refund of your 12 cents by snail mail (costing a stamp of 50 cents, of course).

I can't believe some of the things I'm reading here. Folks, even though I'm not one of them, not everyone has a PC and internet access. This thought of billing T-Mobile customers (I am one) $1.50 for your paper bill "to save the earth" is asinine. The right way to go about it is to discount customers who use only online billing instead of making money off the less wealthy or fortunate. If these asses had an ounce of concern for the environment, why are we subjected to the printed garbage that comes with the bill? If they mean what they say, they need to cease the printing of any material, PERIOD.

It's purely about squeezing more money from customers for the same service and it's an utter disgrace. The execs at that company are too ignorant to realize people can see right through them. The only difference between them and the common criminal is their PhD. I believe they still print them on paper too, don't they?

Well as T-mobile costumers maybe we should start sending bills to these companies. I have to pay for my checks and online provider. So if they want to charge me for ever little thing, maybe we should charge them. Price of a stamp, letter, our time and check $2.50(money order). Or for paying bills online $3.00 for having to have online service and a bank account.

Hey guys, you can always try Prepaid from Virgin Mobile. Check us out at www.virginmobileusa.com. We offer an unlimited monthly talk plan for $49.99 and $10 more gets you unlimited messaging (that includes ALL messaging - text, IM, picture messaging and email). There are no annual contracts, no termination fees, no monthly bills and no penalties if you want to change plans. We also just launched the Rumor 2 by LG and offer other cool phones.

I hope this helps!

SA @ Virgin Mobile

For those people like me, if we have to sign up for the internet to see our T-mobile bill, then we should send the paper bill from our internet provider to T-mobile and ask them to pay for it.

My Mother Switched carriers yesterday 9/1/09 Her new carrier Centennial Wireless. Reason why switched because of the soon to be $1.50 paper bill charge. She doesn't have internet and the closest T-mobile store that we know of is 40 miles away from her home. She wouldn't be helping the environment driving 40 mile one way to pay her bill every month. Thankfully she never renewed her original contract.

So long T-mobile from a 6 year customer. I sure hope someone higher up CEO or Management from T-mobile reads these comments.

T-Mobile is using the stick approach. I personally like how Dish Network does it - if you agree to paperless billing and automatic bill pay (with a credit card) through them, you get five Cinemax movie stations for one cent per year.

As far as my cell phone goes, I use Tracfone and am very happy with my phone / price for calls.

GK: The way the world is now, I would rather be driving a horse and buggy.

As long as T-M0bile is beating A T T and Verison on plans guess I will just have to stick here but been here over 10 years

I have T-Mobile but no contract. They have not notified me of this change yet, but when they do, Guess What? At the tone, press # then Sand!

Sounds like a horse & buggy rider complaining about those stinky noisy cars.

Oh, great - if I opt for the electronic billing, they'll send me a text message each month to tell me the new e-bill is there? I don't have text service as part of my contract, so I get charged every time I get a text message. I will nto give out my bank account info for automatic payment, and won't pay utility bills wiht a credit card, so it'll cost me:
$0.20/text message
$0.02/envelope
So I'm "saving" $1.50 by going to e-bill, but spending another $0.22 - so they should credit me that much, as well.
Corporate greed at its finest - they know that most people will not bother to change their service for "just" $1.50/month.

I have been a T Mobile customer for many years. This insane decision to charge me for the privilege of being billed by T Mobile is the last straw. I will not be renewing once my current contract is over. I can't wait.

There is recycled paper first of all .
This elimnates a department for them (saving them
MONEY).
This reduces jobs and computers do not buy cars, houses, cellphones, or anything else to boost the economy or job situation.

Hughes net does the same thing. if you don't want your bill auto drafted from your checking account it is $5 a month to have it mailed

Yeah. Like I am going to buy that they are really concerned about saving trees. They are trying to cut cost by not sending bill's and forcing e-bills. Let's not mention that they are offshoring customer service to save a buck, as well.

Cell companies in particular have the horrible reputation of screwing things up that are done electronically. I have colleagues who are still fighting about getting their automatic payments to their cell straight. They have either lost, over charged, or something else to that fact.

What needs to happen is some quality assurance. Show me a company that stands behind its word, and I will be a loyal customer.

Wake up America!

Plain and simple: T-Mobile has found both a new revenue stream and a cost savings. If you read the fine print regarding the charge it says that the cost of the fee may exceed the cost of providing the service. And for those who won't pay for paper billing T-mobile apparently will save $-.46 a month or so.

Perhaps we should all get e-bills and mail paper checks.

Bottom line-I WANT MY PAPER. Not something I must go online for. Enough time is spent reading news, checking pay bill, email and all. I'm considering going back to writing checks, letters and all that stuff because it seems more personnel and perhaps more time for other things. Oh yes the $700-1000.00 saved could be used for family outings helping the economy by buying items not services etc..just a thought--not from a dinosaur..just want to get back to seeing people in person and all those good things..
What do you thing?

Guys where is ur problem? In Germany (where T-Mobile is from) it's not a problem at all. You normally can access the internet with an mobile (I think in the states, too) and if u don't want that, try a prepaid, there's no bill.

Been with T-mobile for over 10 years they merged with voice stream started out in Lanett Alabama or West Point Ga, I didn't like the $1.50 but before you bust a gut see who has the best deals on cell phone plans T-Mobile has them all beat I've put a lot of research because my contract expires on 9-11-09 and I don't want to spend more money

The company that owns my auto loan keeps asking me to sign up to get my bills via email. But if I pay my loan online through their site, they charge me a $5.00 fee. Why should I help them cut their mail costs if they're not willing to provide me with a way to pay online for a reasonable fee? It doesn't take $5.00 to process an electronic payment. My bank does it for me for free.

you people crying and calling for lawsuits are completely rediculous. look it's just $1.50, that is nothing. a cell phone is not a necessity. and trying to say that people are already suffering enough is rediculous also. if you have cell phone your not doing so bad. if you were really worried about saving money you wouldnt have one at all. and demonizing TMobile over making a profit off this is rediculous...THEY ARE A BUSINESS...THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO MAKE PROFITS. Ive never met a businessman who has said let me see how much money I cant make today. They offer a service that you dont have to have but you want it. So quit whining about $1.50 increase in your cell phone bill when you could obviously do it online but are too lazy to do so. And quit bringing the economy into it...people really suffering are worried about where they are going to live and how theyre going to eat...not a $1.50 charge on theyre cell phone bill.

Americans are stupid and gullible. First, we have two completely incompatible networks (CDMA and GSM). This is ridiculous. Second, we're just about the only country in the free world that allows carriers to double-dip. We get charged to send AND to receive calls and texts. If you are a T-Mobile customer and make a call to another T-Mobile customer, you are BOTH charged for the same call. That's crap. Third, subsidized phones, exclusive phone/carrier relationships, and lengthy contracts. Let me just pay the price I can afford for the phone I want, then choose the carrier I want.

I'm American, but am currently living abroad and it's so, so, SO much different here. All phones and all carriers are on the GSM network. Therefore, you simply choose your carrier, get a SIM card and away you go. Every carrier offers postpaid or prepaid plans. There is no such thing as a "locked phone." I use prepaid and simply top-up my phone every month (I pay about US$7-8 a month for my usage amount). You only pay for calls and texts that you initiate, as is the case in virtually all of Asia and Europe.

Americans need to rise up and stop letting themselves get schtupped by the mobile phone companies and their lobbyists who are buying away their rights in Washington.

If this was all about "saving the environment" why is T-Mobile still sending out junk mail? I am not one of their subscribers, and never will be. Yet, they continue to send me flyers in the mail. Let's face it, they are merely embracing the new trend of using fees to raise profits. As consumers we need to say, enough is enough.

as a tmobile customer (unfortunately) i was also outraged at this new 'rule.' i've been so dissatisfied with tmobile for the 2 yrs i've been with them that i can hardly wait til nov when my contract is up with them & i can cancel my service with them forever. its wrong all the way around to charge customers for paper billing. alot of people don't have internet access. living in a hurricane katrina affected area i learned the value in many ways to having a paper billing statement. tmobile is just looking for another of its many ways to screw their customers as usual.

Is T-Mobile doing this to help the environment or to make money off of the fact that most people are too lazy to sign up for electronic statements? Simple answer:

If the company's goal was to eliminate paper waste, it would offer people an incentive (say $2.00 off your bill) to switch to online statements.

If the company's goal is to make money off of lazy people, it creates a penalty (say $2.00 tacked onto your bill) for doing absolutely nothing at all.

Uh-oh. I guess we know the truth.

what about the mailman??? If he doesn't have letters or bills to deliver, he will be with not job. Did someone thought about that??
ah..where are the 1,800,000 trees that we save??

Actually Karl Marx said:

"The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope."

Not, "We'll be sold the rope from which we'll hang!"

create a crack in contractual law and the laws fall.

I work for a car dealership. When we decided to cut operating costs, we just DID it. We changed our lighting, rebuilt our car wash, started looking into solar energy (we have a HUGE roof area) and alternative climate control. All of this was done without charging the clients or removing their services. Admittedly... all of these changes save us quite a bit of money, but we certainly passing a bill on to the people who pay us.

Watch the bills closely - where ever they are from. If you stand in line at McDonalds for a #1 "extra value meal", make sure you get the receipt. All too often if the meal is supposed to be $5.19, they itemize it as a sandwich and fries for $3.60, and a drink for $1.89. If you're not watching closely the cost of the meal went up by both the overcharge and the tax on the overcharge. (Of course, even a manager passes the blame to the computer that seems to be mis-programmed. How many times a day does that same fraud go un-caught?)
So, if you use a cell phone to call ahead to place your order, would they charge an additional $1.50 for the receipt?

I encountered the opposite dilemma.........my utility company has now implemented a fee for using online payment! All this electronic billing makes me wonder about the effects on the postal service, the paper industry. Maybe we should say no to on line billing and payments, despite its seeming convenience.

I don't think T-Mobile considered how badly this could affect the economy. If they don't need to stuff bills into envelopes, they that's a group of people who are going to be laid off from T-Mobile itself. Not to mention how they won't need to buy as many envelopes, causing the paper supply company to probably lay off some people. Or the fact that the US Postal Service is already struggling, and now that's how many less pieces of mail they'll have to deliver, causing them to lay off carriers. And $1.50/month?! I can buy a whole freakin' reem of paper for $3 and a box of envelopes for $1. They're not looking to save the environment. They're looking at ways to cut costs and pay the execs more money.

I am a T-mobile customer and I don't buy for one second that they give a crap about the planet. However, I do and I signed a up a long time ago for paperless billing and it's pretty simple peeps. they give you and itemized bill that you can access online and it's easy to set up an online account. All you need is your mobile #. They also send you a reminder on your phone that the biling cycle is coming. And they offer direct draft as well. NO PAPER! :)I don't think any corporation really cares about anything but themselves. It up to US to make the difference and not whine like a baby about it!

To be prefectly blunt, a paper bill of any sort should be free (perhaps with the detailed bill as an 'opt-in' choice). Companies should provide a CREDIT to customers that choose to go paperless. Some people cannot go paperless, and providing a conventional bill not only essential, but should not require purchasing additional services. Companies are STUPID for not building the expense into the service cost, and then looking like a hero for promoting an environmentally sound choice with a discount.

So T-Mobile wants to charge this fee to the customer for "saving the environment." What I think is that it's "saving T-Mobile money" and screwing their customers!! I very much doubt their customers will see any discounts or incentives!!! GRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Bills online? What a concept!?! Wow, T-Mobile is driving us (some kicking and screaming) to be innovative and environmentally responsible. That's how it's done folks.

The biggest problem people should be worried about is security online. this would be one of the biggest I would raise along with the others. Paper mail is secured and protected by the US Gov until it reaches your home, this is not the case with anything online. With the internet not being safe and with identity theft being a norm because of info stored on your pc this just adds to your worries.

I have been with tmobile since August 2002. They are doing this to help business not hurt it. It cost the company a lot to mail bills all over the US. I use bill pay for just about everything. Tmobile is doing this to help protect customers and reduce business costs. Tmobile has changed their customer service hours as well. Helping the environment is a bonus.
I have known a bank in Indiana to charge customers for using their PIN numbers as a debit. They would charge .75!!. I agree looking at a detailed bill is important. Verizon was charging my father taxes from IN and AZ, but you can view a lot through the tmobile website. Who wouldn't want to save a couple dollars and help our planet. It also helps save money on buying checks. They can cost as much as $12 for one box.

Verizon said that they save $600,000/year for every 100,000 customers that enroll in online bill pay. That breaks down to $.50/month saved per customer. Why is T-Mobile charging $1.50? Looks like they'll not just save $6 per year per customer, they'll actually make a profit of $12 a year per customer. They'll report back to their shareholders a profit of $1.2 million a year for every 100,000 customers who don't enroll! How does that help trees?

Another thing is, if Verizon would get my bill correct so I didn't have to constantly refer back to it with them on the phone, I would no longer need a printed bill.

I'm sure I'm not the only person with billing problems. After all, I have to stay on hold for so long while trying to talk to a billing representative. Busy department.

Guys i have worked in the cell phone bussiness for 5 years. Charging for a bill is normal. Most companies are doing this now. Soon you will see electric companies and water companies do the same. Honestly, it is only cost beneficial for the company. They could absorb the cost. So the question you should really ask is "What kind of customer service am i paying for?"

It's funny that T Mobile can send an advertisement about a new phone on your cell phone but not a free message about your phone bill. I say run, run, run to a new provider when your contract is up. I'm so glad I read about this - very tricky T-Mobile.

Why is this an issue?

I've been using T-Mobile for years and sure, I've had issues here and there with them. But this so totally is not an issue.

T-Mobile gives you options so you can keep track of your minutes each month from your phone even without having a data service. And if you're buying stuff from T-Zone, then you should be keeping track of your own expenditures anyways.

Honestly I find the paper bill useless. I get them and immediately dispose of them. A visit to the T-Mobile website will tell you how much you owe and how you can pay it right then and there. As long as you're the primary name on the account, you can find out more detailed information about your bill as well.

Banks do the same exact thing, they charge you for paper statements and the online statements are free. If you really, honestly need a piece of paper that bad then fork over the $1.50. It is a waste of resources in this age of technology. Especially when most phones have abilities comprabable to a low-end notebook or netbook.

If you need some paper documentation that bad? Bust open Excel and start keeping your own records. That's what I do, and it works! Gasp.

Besides saving money on the printing/mailing service, these companies have another reason for wanting to switch to e-bills - distancing the consumer from the cost of a service. If you recieve a real bill in the mail you are more likely to review its details, go over them with your family, or look to save on future bills. Many people have auto-deduction in concert with their e-bill. The costs may vary each month, but the incentive to look at the detail goes away. That's due to overall human laziness, but is a definite reality.

Just look at the difference in spending between those people who pay in cash/write checks and those people who use debit/credit cards. Study after study shows that those who switch to cards and distance themselves from the cash process spend hundreds of dollars more a month. (Casinos due the same thing now with credits instead of cash in the machines)

Ok, so let me see if I've got this right.

The article states that Verizon (should be little difference between service providers) saves about $600,000 each year for every 100,000 customers who go paperless. Therefore, that's $6/year per customer. Now they are charging $1.50 per month for paper bills. 12 months times $1.5 per bill equals $18 year "saved". That's 3 times the cost recouped, or 12 dollars profit more each year from each customer. $12 profit times 100,000 customers equals $1.2 millions Nice increase in profit!

Looks like the only "going green" they're doing is lining their pockets with it.

Looks like they are setting this old world up to grease a fat pigs A**!! More to come just live a little longer :)

I have never been on the internet, and I never will

I would assume (I may be wrong though) that if you don't have internet access, I doubt you would use texting. Anyway, I remember reading this a while back. I don't mind getting my statements online, I do it for all of the bills I can...saves me from having to go through it later and shred it.

Who cares. It's a business. They want to cut costs any way they can. If you don't like it, don't do business with them. I've been with T-Mobile for over 10 years. I love them. Their customer service is outstanding.

Last year I was the primary account holder on my Verizon account and when my husband payed the bill one time online, they set it up on online billing. Problem was I didn't notice until I a disconect call on my home phone. He was overseas at the time and evertime I call verizon, they said they had to talk to hime because they somehow put hime as the primary. All said and done it took 4 months to sort out and we were getting the bill, however, it was automatically placed in my husbands spam folder without him knowing. Verizon took another 3 months after that to refund my late fees and to this day I still have no control over my account.

Chuckle! What did you think they meant by "Mobile Makeover".

If T-Mobile tried to send detailed bills as text messages, it would take dozens of texts to send the entire bill. Do you really want to read dozens of texts filled with call after call and message after message? People already complain about getting texts on their phones that they did not request. Can you imagine the uproar if customers received well over 20 messages with their bill details?

The savings on paper bills will be put towards improving the system, adding more towers, and making new phones more affordable. It's a small price to pay for improved service on the network that's already the most affordable.

Simple math.

$600,000 per year/100,000 customers = $6/year/customer

$1.30/customer/month*12months/year = $15.60/customer/year

Income-expenses=profit, so...
Addl. profit of $9.60/customer/year.

Are T-Mobile stocks rising yet?

In an effort to try to force people to use the internet to pay bills, some companies, including BellSouth, charged for telephone billing assistance. I am blind and their website was not working with my screenreading equipment and I really had to fight them not to charge me. Having said that, the software needed to convert text to speech on my computer costs around $1000. I am fortunate that I have a job and can purchase what I need, but to charge people in similar situations when they may be unable to access the internet is just wrong. Further, 99.9% of cell phones do not have text to speech software (another several hundred dollar add-on) so texting the bill, while a good idea for some, would not help me a bit. GRRRR, at least I don't have TMobile

I thought they had to send a bill if they wanted payment.

The problem with online version is that they start off allowing one to view the entire acount and then narrow it down to six months. Verizon and Virgin Mobile have both done this making it problematic if one has a ongoing billing dispute the practice is unfair.

My concern is identity theft. If consumers are forced to conduct all business online, who is to blame when a hacker steals the info from T-Mobile? Thus, T-Mobile is forcing the consumer to pay $1.50, or go online and face whatever uncertainty may exist regarding privacy matter. That sucks.

Chris Tualatin said he was a customer with Voice Stream, I was a customer before they merged been with them for over 10 years, believe me they don't give a flip about you as a customer and still trying to get the corect font on my contact list, they sent me a new phone didn't ask what I wanted and yes we had a round over the $1.50 I'am over 75 and quite slow on the lap top, but thee good news cm ccontract expires on 9-11-09 you can figure out the rest.

I wouldn't have a problem with it if the $1.50 was actually going to say Greenpeace or to actual planting of trees but we all know that the fee is going right to their bottom line.

If Tmobile saves so much money by doing electonic bills, then they should pass that savings on to the customer. Instead of charging for paper bills (which is wrong), they should give a 1.50 discount for people getting electronic bills. THAT would motivate people to go green.

Charging people more when the company is actually saving money is unethical. It's pretty obvious. It's pretty bad.

We should all band together and reverse charge them a consumer bill reading credit fee.

OMG...an intelligent person in Lafayette, Alabama. Great reasoning Chuck!

And, for that matter, I say let us begin a protest to ALL businesses who charge a late fee for paying late...be thankful that you are getting paid at all given this poor economy.

And my personal pet peeve...bank NSF charges for overdrafts. Those should have died with the Edsel. Banks are only making more money off of what one does NOT already have in the bank...my former credit union hit my account for a $25 OD charge for purchasing a $1 soda...and the money was in there! And overdraft convenience fees? It's better to just have the money there in the first place.

Boycott ALL corporate entities until they start treating the consumer as a human being, and not just another profit margin.

Every customer of every company should be entitled to a monthly paper trail invoice. A lot of people know how to talk on the phone, but do not know how to operate a computer. This also cuts jobs from the U.S. Postal service as well as increasing the cost of postage stamps. I want my M-TV and I want my paper bill!

The best thing to do is change carriers, they'll get the message.

I love e-billing as opposed to paper billing but here's a good one. I cancelled my Capitol One card after they tried to raise my interest rates.

I USED to be on their paperless billing but because I closed my account - they will only send me paper billing.

Of course inside the envelope is their hoopla about what a convenience it would be if I changed to e-billing. Which I tried to do. And I cannot because I closed my account.

So now that I know companies are going to start "charging" for paper billing - I'll be closely watching for any fees - which will be promptly not paid.

I am a TMobile customer, I hadnt heard anything about this til I read the article. Figures, TMobile isnt doing a very good job of communicating this little change, are they? So now, I am expected to maintain my email account, and promptly receive, print out & pay my bill when it arrives? What about those of us who check our emails when we want to? What about those junk filters that might just delete the bill? I think this reeks of corruption, TMobile will just rake in late fees for those who "miss" a bill.... figures. I have had this carrier 9 years, guess its time to find another one.

It says right on the slip of paper "... The charges may exceed our cost to provide these services....

Yes, that's what they plan on doing and don't let them tell you otherwise! Besides, like the gentleman listed in this story, NOT EVERYONE HAS A COMPUTER, can afford to own one, let alone the supplies for toner and paper (again), electric bill, and cable provider fees. And now with the recession still here and all these people out of work, Big Telcom companies are to charge their subscribers extra - I say switch to the company that gives a rebate for online billing and leave that low-life T-Mobile to charge for two sheets of recycled paper, in a recycled envelope, that hardly arrives on time as it is.

The Banking Industry has a lot of fun with online statements. Check yours every day and watch how the time sequencing gets shuffled around to maximise overdraft fees. Our Credit Union does it all the time. Yes, Credit Unions are banks, if it quacks like a duck... But let's hail Senator Hatch from Utah for his many years of service to this great country, and his colleagues on the Senate Banking Committee for allowing banks & credit card companies to screw us daily. Let's hail all the lifelong encumbents from both sides of the aisle and the idiots who re-elect them, over and over again. The only thing most Americans aren't afraid to change is their underwear, and we're getting what we deserve for being too chicken-schlitz to exercise our right to vote them out of office. Home of the brave...my ass.

Unfortunately, this is probably our future before us. The reality is that costs increase and companies will always pass those costs along to the consumer. T-Mobile probably did a foolish thing though, in structuring this cost increase as they did rather than increasing the charge for their plans. That's their only real alternative. The "green" argument is bogus, as many have said. This is all about profit, as anyone can see. However what really disturbs me is the fact that so many seem so angry over this, but unwilling to take the steps necessary to change it. First, no bill equals no payment. When I get a bill, I'll pay. Second, if they cut me off I'll go elsewhere. And if I can't find a company who will do an honest and intelligent business I'll do without that service. Although I really love my iPhone (guess who my carrier is), Cell phones are not a necessity; our society and economy survived for a long time without them. As long as we are willing to "take it," we will continue to be victimized by companies of every description "because they can." The bottom line is, I sign the check. I choose what I will pay and what I won't. I decide what I will put up with, and what I won't. It's time more people refused to be a victim.

I use T-Mobile, and, as some the readers here have noted, I wasn't aware of the change either. I don't mind changing to ebills since a lot of my other bills are done that way. I use Vonage at home just to avoid the AT&Ts of the world. Better phone service than I was used to and seriously cheap if you call a lot. I still like T-Mobile so I'll probably stay for now. Folks are right about Bank of America though. Biggest rip-off artists on the planet.

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