There has been an unwritten rule applicable to some cell plans: Your monthly rate will not go up as long as you keep your current plan. Certainly, this is not true for all plans and all companies, but many people have benefited from this traditionally.
As some companies began raising rates, in May 2022, T-Mobile, the “uncarrier,” introduced Price Lock to formalize their policy.
In January 2023, here is how T-Mobile advertised “Price Lock.”
Even the fine print was pretty straight forward.
*MOUSE PRINT:
If you were in most of their major plans, your monthly rate would stay put. Period.
Now, in 2024, T-Mobile decided to redefine what it means by “Price Lock” for new customers or people switching plans.
*MOUSE PRINT:
The policy now says if they raise your price and you decide to switch carriers, they will pay your final bill, as reported here.
So to answer the question posed in the headline of this story, “When is a price lock not a price lock?” Answer: When T-Mobile offers it.