Angry T-Mobile customers have filed a class-action lawsuit over the carrier’s decision to raise prices on plans advertised as having a lifetime price guarantee.

“Based on T-Mobile’s representations that the rates offered for certain plans were guaranteed for life or for as long as the customer wished to maintain that plan, each Plaintiff and Class Members agreed to those plans for cellular telephone service wireless from T-Mobile,” states the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. “However, in May 2024, T-Mobile unilaterally removed these legacy phone plans and switched Plaintiffs and the Class to more expensive plans without their consent.”

The complaint, filed July 12, has four named plaintiffs who live in New Jersey, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania. They seek to represent a class of all U.S. residents “who entered into a T-Mobile One, Simple Choice, Magenta, Magenta Max, Magenta 55+, Magenta Amplified, or Magenta Military plan with T-Mobile that included a term of promised life. price guarantee, but their price was increased without their consent and in violation of the promises made by T-Mobile and relied upon by the plaintiffs and the proposed class.

The complaint seeks “restitution of all amounts obtained by Defendant as a result of its violation,” plus interest. She also seeks statutory and punitive damages, as well as an injunction to prevent further “unlawful, illegal, fraudulent, deceptive and unfair conduct.”

“T-Mobile will never change the price you pay”

The lawsuit’s allegations will be familiar to those who have read our previous articles on recent price increases of up to $5 per line. In January 2017, T-Mobile issued a press release announcing the promise to “terminate contract” for T-Mobile One plans. “Now T-Mobile One customers keep their price until THEY decide to change it. T-Mobile will never change the price you pay for your T-Mobile One plan,” the company said at the time.

The price guarantee was also touted by then-CEO John Legere at a press event in Las Vegas. But regardless of the announcement, T-Mobile revealed a significant caveat that essentially negated the promise. T-Mobile said in an FAQ on its website that the only guarantee is that T-Mobile will pay your last month’s bill if the carrier raises the price and you decide to cancel.

Many customers saw the important lifetime price guarantee, but not T-Mobile’s contradiction of that promise, and signed up for plans thinking their prices would never be increased. The “Opt-Out Promise” was offered on certain packages between January 5, 2017 and April 27, 2022.

T-Mobile began offering a different warranty called Price Lock on April 28, 2022. It was originally more robust than the Un-contract, and customers who got it were apparently unaffected by the price increases this year.