Editor,
Human Resources negotiated staff discounts with various cell-phone companies, including T-Mobile.
This seems like a no-brainer, so I went ahead and applied for the discount on my phone plan a few months ago. But in talking to the T-Mobile customer support people, I found out they counted this as an “upgrade” to my plan and reset the clock on my contract.
I’m now locked into a new two-year contract with T-Mobile.
Before getting that discount, I was out of contract with them and could have cancelled my service at any time without penalty.
Now it would cost me a $200 cancellation fee to leave T-Mobile and move to another vendor.
I don’t blame HR at all. It thought it was doing something good for the UNM staff, but it turns out, HR was really doing T-Mobile a huge favor, locking me into a new contract I never wanted.
If you are a staff member and a T-Mobile customer, I’d advise you not to get this discount. It isn’t worth the hidden cost. And maybe HR could add a warning to its web page, too.
David Wilson
UNM staff
