Attorney General James Secures Reimbursements for T-Mobile Customers Whose Rates Were Unjustly Raised

October 20, 2026

NEW YORK - New York Attorney General Letitia James today secured more than $38 million in value for New Yorkers from T-Mobile USA, Inc. (T-Mobile) after the wireless service provider pledged in 2017 to never raise the price for certain cellular plans, only to backtrack on that promise. The Office of the Attorney General's (OAG) investigation found that from 2017 to 2019, T-Mobile advertised "Price Guarantee Plans" to its 4G customers, promising to "never change the price you pay." However, in 2024, T-Mobile changed course and began raising the price of these plans by approximately $5 per phone line. New Yorkers enrolled in approximately 252,957 of these Price Guarantee Plans saw their phone bills increase. As a result of OAG's investigation, T-Mobile will pay nearly $100,000 and provide opportunities for impacted consumers to receive reimbursements and a freeze on price hikes after their cellphone bills went up under the Price Guarantee Plan.

"New Yorkers deserve clear and honest prices, not misleading offers with hidden fine print," said Attorney General James. "T-Mobile misled hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers by promising that it would never raise prices on their cellphone plans, only to do exactly that just a few years later. Consumers shouldn't have to pay the price for a misleading sale. My office is getting New Yorkers their money back."

T-Mobile launched its Price Guarantee Plans in 2017 with press releases and an interview with its CEO in which the company explicitly promised consumers that rates would never go up and that their offer effectively "abolishes price hikes." However, T-Mobile hid terms in fine print on its website that supposedly gave it the right to raise customers' rates. New York law is clear that using hidden or fine print disclaimers, or contradictory and confusing language, is not an excuse for companies to mislead and deceive consumers.

As a result of OAG's investigation, T-Mobile must now provide options to receive reimbursements and other benefits to consumers who signed up for Price Guarantee Plans. Consumers identified by T-Mobile to be on 4G phones can either cancel their T-Mobile plan and receive a refund for their last month's payment plus a $25 gift card, or stay with T-Mobile and receive a new $250 5G phone for free or a $150 credit toward a more expensive model. If consumers choose to stay with T-Mobile, the company will not raise their phone plan costs until at least 2029. For all other affected consumers, including those who have upgraded to 5G, T-Mobile must provide the opportunity to cancel their plans and receive their last month's payment back or continue with T-Mobile with the same guarantee that plans stay at the same price until 2029. These reimbursement options are expected to provide more than $38 million in value to affected consumers.

T-Mobile must also abide by all current and future price guarantees and must clearly disclose any limitations on such promises to consumers. In addition, T-Mobile will pay $98,000 to New York.

Attorney General James is a leader in protecting New Yorkers from unfair fees and price hikes. In September, Attorney General James recovered more than $1 million in refunds for New Yorkers from two Westchester car dealerships after they overcharged consumers by adding junk fees. In June, Attorney General James secured refunds for junk fees that Nissan dealers throughout the state charged customers. Also in June, Attorney General James secured approximately 4.9 million free eggs for New York food banks after stopping a price fixing scheme among some of the nation's top egg producers. In January, Attorney General James helped secure $425 million for Capital One customers who were misled and cheated out of higher interest rate payments for years.

The investigation and settlement discussions were led by Assistant Attorney General Noah Popp and Senior Enforcement Counsel Kate Matuschak of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Laura J. Levine and Bureau Chief Jane M. Azia. The Consumer Frauds Bureau is part of the Division of Economic Justice, which is led by Chief Deputy Attorney General Chris D'Angelo and overseen by First Deputy Attorney General Meghan Faux.