T-Mobile customers who need extra time to pay their bills will soon have only one option: the T-Life app. Starting October 30th, the carrier is eliminating all other ways to set up payment arrangements, forcing customers to use its mobile app instead of calling customer service, visiting a retail store, or using the automated phone system.
According to The Mobile Report, internal sources confirmed the change takes effect Thursday, and it comes right on the heels of T-Mobile’s recent move to restrict credit card payments for customers who want to keep their autopay discount.
Payment arrangements let customers who’ve fallen behind on their bills schedule a later payment date to avoid having their service shut off. While it doesn’t change late fees or when the bill was originally due, it gives people breathing room when money is tight. The option has always been available through multiple channels, though T-Mobile already charges extra if you need help from a real person—$10 over the phone or $5 in a store.
The change means customers who aren’t comfortable using apps will need to learn, and family members might find themselves walking older relatives through the T-Life app interface. The app bundles everything from phone upgrades to bill payments into one platform, and while that’s convenient for tech-savvy users, critics point out that the app has had reliability issues.
For those who need to set up a payment arrangement, the feature lives in the app’s billing section under the “Manage” tab. Only accounts less than 30 days past due are eligible, and any balance older than that needs to be paid first. The shift to app-only payment arrangements is part of T-Mobile’s broader push to funnel customers toward self-service options and away from traditional support channels.
Source: The Mobile Report