T-Mobile (TMUS) , one of the largest phone carriers in the U.S., has struggled to retain loyal customers over the past few months as phone bills have become more expensive nationwide.
After T-Mobile ushered in higher prices for its older phone plans earlier this year, its customers started jumping ship at an alarming rate.
According to the company’s second-quarter earnings report for 2025, its postpaid phone churn (the number of customers who cut their phone service) spiked by 10 basis points year-over-year.
T-Mobile is also battling increased competition from rival phone carriers such as Verizon and AT&T, which have been rolling out an increased number of perks and deals to attract customers.
In addition, T-Mobile is losing customers to cable companies, which are welcoming new phone customers in record numbers through deals that offer bundled phone, internet, and TV services.
According to a recent survey from WhistleOut, the average cost of an unlimited data plan for American families is $244 a month, and 58% of Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T customers are considering switching to a different carrier as prices go up.
The survey also found that all three carriers risk losing 230 million customers combined because of high mobile plan pricing.
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T-Mobile customers sound alarm on a major problem
As consumers nationwide weigh their options for phone carriers to do business with, T-Mobile has angered some customers by making the process of canceling lines more complicated than necessary.
According to recent posts on social media platform Reddit, some T-Mobile customers claim they have had to argue with customer service representatives lately to cancel lines for devices such as smartwatches and iPads.
“I’ve been with TMO for 4 years now and I tried to disconnect my very old smart watch. You cannot do it in store, in the t-life app, or in chat. It has to be a phone call and the rep just kept running me around in circles trying to prevent me cancelling a $10 a month charge. When she finally relented she told me she could not cancel it and had to get a supervisor involved. It took 45 minutes of arguing. WTF, tmobile. It’s like we’re back in 1990 trying to cancel our cable bill FFS. Be better or I’m gone,” wrote one customer on Reddit.
Related: T-Mobile plans a harsh change for customers after new CEO starts
“I’m on Magenta Military (still!) with 6 voice lines and two connected devices. Canceling one of the devices (it’s an iPad) has been a nightmare- my bill went up to $210 from $170. CS is so shady and was told many times ‘oh no sir don’t worry about it’ – well, I was right to worry. I doubt any other carrier can come close to my deal so I’m likely stuck with it, even with the unexpected $40 price jump,” wrote another customer.
“Am an employee and same thing happened, trying to cancel 2 watch line and a voice line took some arguing. The customer service rep kept trying to convince to convert them into a cheaper line instead and i told her this is my account and are my expenses get rid of what am asking you to do. Eventually she ended up doing it but it took almost an hour of talking like am an employee why you trynna convince to keep something i dont have to,” wrote a T-Mobile employee who is also a customer.
T-Mobile customers should brace themselves for a huge change
As T-Mobile’s retention tactics frustrate customers, the phone carrier is quietly planning to make its T-Life app a bigger part of account management.
Last week, leaked documents shared on Reddit revealed that T-Mobile plans to make customers 100% dependent on its T-Life app to handle upgrades, new lines, account activations, etc., by January 2026.
So, customers may soon depend much less on customer service representatives to make crucial changes to their accounts.
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The move comes as T-Mobile plans to replace CEO Mike Sievert with current Chief Operating Officer Srini Gopalan, effective Nov. 1. Sievert will move on to the newly created position of vice chair of the company.
“Srini has been an incredible partner in shaping the future of T-Mobile as well as instrumental in leading our record growth this year and driving initiatives to serve customers in new ways and win them for life,” said Sievert in a press release. “One fact has become crystal clear: Srini is ready to lead.”
T-Mobile is doubling down on its goal of becoming a “digital-first company,” an initiative that Gopalan will pioneer.
“The company has gone to pains over the last few months to emphasize that Srini remains focused on being an industry disruptor rather than an incumbent, and we expect them to continue to push that narrative,” wrote analysts at New Street Research in an analyst note.
Related: AT&T’s harsh new policy for employees hits a snag
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