Month: September 2024

Image of a mint leaf on fire

Mint Under Fire

Christian

Last week, Nancy Clark, President of Verizon Value Markets, wrote on LinkedIn about one of the most aggressive promotions I’ve seen in this industry:

Yesterday, T-Mobile’s subsidiary Mint Mobile announced that if AT&T and Verizon customers switch to Mint Mobile, they can buy one three-month plan for $45 and get up to four additional lines at what they called ‘free.’ What they didn’t mention was that this only applied for the first three months and that there were added taxes and fees charged to the customer for each line.

At Visible, not only do we provide better value, but we do it 365 days a year. No gimmicks and no hidden fees. Today, we’re giving all T-Mobile single line customers the chance to bring their number over to Visible and get the Visible plan for $15 per month with a 5-year price guarantee, taxes and fees included…Give us a shot and use the code BYEBYETMO for this amazing offer.

Visible’s $15 per month pricing is awfully competitive, but the 5-year guarantee is more unusual.

Was Mint being as deceptive as Clark suggests? T-Mobile’s press release about Mint’s promo opens audaciously with this image: Image from T-Mobile's press release that includes Mint Mobile brand images and 'Switch from AT&T or Verizon and bring your family for free'

However, a sentence in the first paragraph of the press release clarifies the terms (emphasis mine):

Starting today, buy one Mint Mobile plan (PS plans start at $15/month) and get up to four additional lines at no cost for three months.

Mint tends to describe its promotions boldly with a headline, then walks back a bit when explaining promotions’ terms. At a recent conference, MobileX took a clever shot at Mint for this behavior:

Image listing cocktails MobileX was offering. Cocktails are described in ways that poke fun at MobileX's competitors.
“The after dinner bait-and-switch…just like having to pay $45 for a plan advertised as only costing $15, it may leave a bad taste in your mouth.”