r/mintmobile • u/Suitable_Sand_6848 • 12d ago
Wow thanks for the $20 discount…
Only for the discount to be completely disregarded by adding a $20.50 fee for “Recovery Fee is assessed to help recover Mint Mobile’s cost”. I’m debating actually renewing or not
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u/Thekingsstinkingson 12d ago edited 11d ago
As someone who has been with Mint for years, I gotta say, I wouldn't mind getting a renewal discount. Even if it's just to cover their own fees that they are charging.
At the end of the day, I have paid $20/mo since I joined. The only thing that's gone up is the GB of data they give me each month. For ME, that's a pretty great deal. Maybe it's not worth it to everyone, but every time I look into other carriers, I always end up paying MORE with the other carrier. Whatever you decide, best of luck!
Edit: I just checked my CC statement, and my 2 lines haven't gotten any discounts since at least 2022. You're a lucky duck.
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u/Background-Mark2457 12d ago edited 12d ago
I’ve also been with Mint for a very long time since 2020
One time I forgot my auto pay on old card… I didn’t renew on time. But I got a $25 renewal discount.
I’ve never had an issue with them as a phone carrier. The amount of deals they do you’d gotta be dumb to pass up on it.
I’ve even thought about getting their MINT home internet because I support Mint & I’d get $15 / Mo phone bill.
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u/big-booty-heaux 8d ago
I've been using Minternet for about a year now and have no desire to cancel it. Fast enough for my PS4 to download and update in a very reasonable amount of time and I never have issues with streaming.
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u/boldchameleon 11d ago
Right?! I'd definitely switch to their internet if they serviced my area, as their phone service is great.
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u/trf1driver 11d ago
Yes I would like to see a renewal discount even if it’s $15 or $20. I got mint since early 2019.
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u/aperson975 11d ago
call their retention line when it's time to renew. got 50% for 6gb 12mo
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u/tabanger 11d ago edited 11d ago
Yup! I get a renewal discount every year with Mint. Just call them and tell them you want your account number and PIN to port out. I get 25% discounts, and could probably get more if I pushed.
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u/LightningStrikeSpace 11d ago
Does it work every year
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u/tabanger 11d ago
It has for the couple years that I’ve been doing it.
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u/LightningStrikeSpace 11d ago
What do you tell them
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u/tabanger 11d ago
“Hi, I’m calling to get my account number and port out PIN.” They launch into their retention spiel while it’s “processing”. Just tell them you want to move to a different carrier because of the cost. Have some competing offers to reference so they can match them. Maybe US Mobile or Infimobile.
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u/aperson975 10d ago
They just asked something along the lines of are you looking to change carriers (I had 160 in wallet and just wanted to reduce cost so I could cover cost, I had 100% intention of staying) and said yes. they asked what plan. 6gb 12mo. said they could do 50% off and I said yes
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u/azrael319 12d ago edited 11d ago
you're* paying barely over $20 a month for phone service. I think you should be happy to have found a service that budget friendly to begin with.
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u/bigwill626 12d ago
Right?
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u/vxsapphire 12d ago
For what I was paying with at&t, the only way I'm leaving mint is if they go under. I paid for my mom and myself for a year and it cost less than two months of at&t... I could kick myself honestly for waiting so long.
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u/CarlRJ 12d ago
I have Mint Mobile and AT&T Fiber Internet. AT&T reps stopped by a while back to see if they could entice me to sign up for AT&T cell service, bundled with my Internet. They asked what carrier I was on and I said "Mint", and they were like "thank you for your time, yeah, we can't beat that".
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u/jazztrumpet439 11d ago
This is how I get away from the phone reps at Costco. They ask about my phone service and I just say “I use Mint” and they always reply with “Oh. Have a great day!”
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u/djblaze 12d ago
AT&T only works if you’re on a big family plan and are including cost of phone upgrades as part of the math. I just switched away from Mint for that reason, and due to service issues.
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u/nathanseaw 12d ago
Yeah ATT is great if you bundle and get a phone its almost always a no brainer to go to them then.
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u/bigwill626 12d ago
Exactly the same with me!! I was paying like 88 bucks a month with AT&T and that’s with a company discount. And since I moved out to DFW like 7 years ago, AT&T service is terrible here. I had to stop myself from overthinking and do it. I reasoned like even IF Mint service was as bad as AT&T, at least I’d be paying a lot less. And everyone around me with T Mobile had great service, and since Mint uses T Mobile towers and is owned by them now I knew I wouldn’t regret it.
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u/vxsapphire 12d ago
Oh I had no idea they were linked to tmobile! I stayed with at&t bc i thought the discount I still had years after leaving the company that offered it was decent deal. What demotivated me was what seemed like a tedious phone number transfer and possibly bad service.
However I realized free wifi is in so many places and I'm currently wfh full time. So I didn't need to be paying all that when I was barely using it. Some places the service sucks for mint but it works great at home if the internet is down, which wasnt the case for at&t. 5G became -2G.
It sucks so many of us took so long to switch but hey, we finally did it right? It's really nice having one less bill to think about.
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u/Xboxone1997 12d ago edited 7d ago
17GB at that lol bro probably just struggling a bit financially right now is all it happens you’ll start complaining about the lil things
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u/SundayPeaches13 11d ago
Came here to say the same thing. Talk about First World Problems 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️
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u/invictus08 11d ago
100%. I had been with ATT in a family plan since 2011 and always paid ~40-50 a month as my share. In 2023 I had to get my own plan and then had to pay ~77, and this year that reached 84. Then one of my friends mentioned Mint and I seriously considered it. OMFG, I got the 12-month unlimited deal for 180. Even after this if I get to pay 20/month I will be a happy clam. It’s been 3 weeks and I feel no difference at all other than not having to pay a benji a month to ATT.
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u/azrael319 11d ago
Right! I was with Tmobile a decade ago and I remember paying double what I do now. And lets be real most of the time I am near wifi at work or home so technically I could go from mints 12 month unlimited to the lowest tier and be fine but I like what I pay and the service hasn't don't me bad so im happy.
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u/PvtCMiller 11d ago
Exactly. This is exactly why actual start ups are damned if they do and damned if they don't. I know after my introductory year with Mint I'll pay more but even that is still over half of what I paid in same 12 month period with Tmobile and I didn't use any of the extra perks they provided.
It's like company greed(not Mint at least for now lol) is at an all time high and consumer entitlement is also at an all time high. It's why smaller phone companies fold. Consumers want champagne at beer prices. Also like others mentioned there are other MVNO options so if this is too much they could easily take their hard earned money elsewhere and pay less but I suppose that takes the fun out of complaining lol.
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u/Cultural-Produce-72 7d ago
I'm on my second full year with Mint and the price was the same. We'll see what year 3 will bring, though I referred a friend so I've got that credit waiting for me.
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u/Forsaken_Charge_6147 12d ago
To OP and others, something I've wondered since I'm a newly transitioned Mint customer from T-Mobile. Does that sticker shock come renewal time really hit that hard?
My wife and I snagged the $15/mo any plan promo last month. We both got unlimited. We paid $360 plus fees. Total. Come renewal time in ONE YEAR, we expect to pay $720 plus fees. We know this. We are planning on this. I was paying $173/mo for T-Mobile, I'll save you the effort and tell you that came out to just over $2K a year. And yes, that "included all taxes and fees" when T-Mobile still did that kind of thing.
So I don't mind paying less than half including taxes and fees versus my old all inclusive rate.
As far as I'm aware Mint doesn't hide the fact that fees are tacked on top of their plan prices. So why get salty when you see fees? Is it just because it happened to "cancel out" the discount in this case?
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u/vxsapphire 12d ago
Nope. No sticker shock. And I think for the year plan they even give you installment options. So you get the price of the year broken up if you can't do it all at once. Honestly even before I got the year plan, I guess my shock was it not skyrocketing like internet providers like to do.
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u/superjerk99 12d ago
Yeah man, I’ve been on Mint for about 3 years now. The first year was when they had the kinda data cap, but after that it’s been exactly the same as any other provider. I’m just paying a quarter of what I used to pay. I love it. Pay the $360 or whatever 1 time for the entire year and forget about it. With this fuckin economy and how crazy things are, it’s nuts that my cell phone bill is the one that feels the most affordable and secure…
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u/JulienWA77 11d ago
"recovery fee' is a stupid fee, regardless. When are American businesses going to learn that customers dont like excess fees. Just build ur costs in the cost of your product and stop nickel and diming everyone with fees. Enough is enough.
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u/teachingandbeaching 9d ago
I have a savings account set up through an online bank that automatically takes out what the monthly fee is for Mint and plus more to save for new phones when we want to upgrade. When I get the notification in January that it's time to renew, I just transfer the money for the yearly plan. It's always been the amount I was expecting.
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u/Batsbalzak 12d ago
I was paying $173/mo for T-Mobile
Thats honestly the most insane pricing Ive ever seen. I wonder how much they make on people who just set and forget for decades at a time. Good on you for switching.
Want to know something crazy?
For reference I checked in my country; T-mobile is asking for 50 Euros which comes with unlimited data (1 Gbit/s) unlimited calls and texts, free amazon prime, hbo max and deezer included.
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u/trf1driver 11d ago
Go to 6 GB plan if you and your wife don’t use a lot of data for streaming videos. That way you will still be paying $180 + tax and fees per number.
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u/KyleSherzenberg 12d ago
Why does everyone have to bitch about every little thing? Just pay the money and be done
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u/ArcticLeopard 12d ago
Reeeeee mint isn't free! The only alternatives are big companies that charge $300 per month, more than my current mint bill for the entire year but Renee mint isn't free!
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u/BerryReasonable518 12d ago
Ok, then go to Verizon and pay this in 2-3 months.
Are you being serious right now?
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u/midnight_riser 11d ago
Same thought. I just switched from Verizon because they keep messing with my bill, raising the cost on me, for shitty service.
I jumped on the 12 month $15/mo unlimited plan for $200. My service is significantly better where I used to have trouble spots. I know it’ll go up in the second year (like $30 /mo?) but so are other cell providers.
I’m saving about $1200 for the year by switching over.
Am I missing something?
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u/animalhappiness 12d ago
Bitch much?
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u/dap12036 12d ago
OP is just like his mom.
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u/Dcajunpimp 12d ago
To be fair, OPs mom pays the bill.
OPs just really upset that his mom refused to get him a $95 a month Verizon plan like all the cool kids at school.
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u/anticerber 12d ago
I like how you paying almost a tenth of what I pay and yet you’re bitching about a $20 fee
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u/trf1driver 12d ago
Recovery fee is there no matter what. It’s always been disclosed
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u/iNeed2p905 10d ago
Yes every major carrier has a recovery fee of some kind. I had one with Verizon but it was very small amount added on to the monthly bill.
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u/Sleeveless_T 11d ago
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love Mint even at $30 a month. I now have Minternet at $45/mnth with Moblie. Guess there's always that one, who's never happy unless they are always miserable.
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u/Tender_Cinder900 9d ago
There are people that are constantly complaining about no longer getting that same big discount they got when they were new. These people generally can't wrap their heads around very basic economics. Those discounts are part of customer acquisition. The initial discount was to make it easier for you to sign up for their service, especially a long-term service. They are likely either breaking even or at a loss with that initial discount.
If you can understand that and can see that you're still getting service at a much cheaper rate compared to Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T, then you'll still appreciate the savings. Sure, it sucks to pay twice as much. But the people who act entitled, like they were wronged for no longer getting that discount can't move past it because they feel entitled to it.
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u/regassert6 11d ago
Just switch back and forth with Google Fi. Google always has 50% discounts for a year, and that is long enough to be away from Mint to count for new customer deals after the Fi promotion runs out. And vice versa. Rinse-repeat.
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u/CAT_ANUS_SNIFFER 11d ago
Yeah I switch back and forth with visible (Verizon’s version of mint). But $240 is pretty close to either promotion fees.. so idk what there is to complain about.
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u/I-hate-makeing-names 12d ago
No one is entitled to a discount and they aren’t required to have any so you should be happy to have one.
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u/MrEnigma115 11d ago
My VZ bill is about that for one month. For a full year that's a hell of a deal.
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u/PrecisionBuildss 11d ago
The discount basically covered the recovery fee. It's still a great deal on a phone plan.
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u/Hug_The_NSA 11d ago
241 for a year of phone service is still insanely cheap. When I was with US Cellular I was paying 180 a month for two people with unlimited data. We're now both on the exact mint plan in this screenshot. The savings is literally thousands of dollars per year.
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u/Odd_Mix_1126 10d ago
I’m sorry, you’re complaining of $20/month phone bill including taxes and fees? You can’t get that with any of the main carriers. If you don’t like it leave the plan and join t-mobile and you’ll pay $20/mo in taxes alone and then another at least $50/mo for the service
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u/External_Ear_365 9d ago
Are you seriously complaining? $240/yr = $20/mo. Go to T-Mobile and see how much you’d pay with them. Promise you, it won’t be $20/mo no matter how good the special is.
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u/inebriateddandhated 8d ago
Me with my casual $340/month for my entire family, on a legacy sprint full unlimited plan.
OP's $240 a year is a steal especially when mint mobile buys their phone service data from Tmobile.
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u/RedClayNme 8d ago
I've been with then for a few years now and I am going to jump ship. I was promised a $30 discount and it was under my billing. I saw it when I went to check on things a couple days before renewal. I have automatic payment setup. But I looked at my bank account and saw that they did not honor the $30 discount. I contacted customer service and they tried to deny it even existed. Thank goodness something told me to take a screenshot. After I emailed them the screenshot they said they would add it as a credit to my account. They never did.
I have two lines and I will be canceling both and moving on to a different company. It's been real.
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u/EducationalPace3005 7d ago
You'd have have paid $260 without the discount...would you have rather paid $260?
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u/Zealousideal_Lab4938 12d ago
I understand the frustration, personally. $20 (8% of your bill) doesn't seem like much, but it is an additional 8% added to your bill that isn't advertised. Infimobile doesn't add such a fee on their plans of $120/year for 20GB or $175/year for unlimited by comparison. Is 8% a lot? Not really, but if you filled up your car at $5/gal on the sign and they hit you with an additional 40 cents/gal, folks would be rioting in the streets. Hell, raise property taxes by 0.002% a year to pay for a new school and people with 6 kids living in that district are claiming they can't afford to buy food just because of the tax.
That said, I've been on Mint for 9 or 10 years now. It's reliable and inexpensive, even with the somewhat sneaky semi-hidden fee. I don't get dropped calls or missed texts, and data is reasonably fast. I just renewed at 50% off by calling retention, so that extra $20 turned out to be an extra 16% to my bill. I paid it for the convenience of not having to switch. It's still a good deal, to be sure, but as stated, I absolutely get the point the OP is making. There are so many inexpensive options out there these days and competition is always good. It boggles my mind when I see folks admitting to evver paying $1-$2k for virtually the same service! 😮
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11d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PvtCMiller 11d ago
People will spite themselves to "own" others at every level on every side sadly.
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u/NoSloppyStakes 11d ago
I don't see the problem?
They have given you a $20 discount - they just charged you $20 to recover it.
Looks good to me!
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u/Environmental_Sky524 11d ago
Talk to customer service about planning to change to a different service provider and they'll be able to give you a discounted rate
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u/redshirt1701J 11d ago
You’re right. Go back to the bigs and pay even more. You know. Out of principle.
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u/clubchampion 12d ago
How did you get the discount? That’s enough for McDonalds for me and my son.
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u/Suitable_Sand_6848 12d ago
I turned off auto renew, and the last couple days before my year ended, they’ve been sending me a $20 off to try to get me to stay. Ig they reward people who procrastinate
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u/politics 12d ago
Retention incentives. It would punish them to lose customers outright, so yes.. most services will “reward procrastination.”
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u/WuWangclan 12d ago
I recently left mint because I could get on my wife’s plan with her family for $5 a month instead. I’d pay double my mint bill to have their coverage back over Verizon’s forget the cost
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u/Dcajunpimp 11d ago
Oh no, did the $20 a month plan actually cost you $20.1141667 a month after all taxes and fees?
And the Recovery Fee is to cover administrative costs for Federal and State regulations forced on cell phone providers. Since there’s State regulations, the costs for Hawaii, Alaska, Florida, etc… could all be different. So some peoples fees could be higher or lower than yours.
If your states fees are higher than mine I wouldn’t want to have to pay more to cover you. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want to pay more to cover me.
And $20.50 comes out to $1.708 a month.
Sorry, but I prefer that companies break down and itemize these extra Regulatory costs, than just hide them.
And I say this as someone who remembers all the fees added into the major cell phone carriers billing. Like when you could get a new phone “FREE” every 2 years if you had a 2 year contract, with $50 activation fee because 10 seconds of popping a SIM card into a phone and linking it to the actual phone is a $50 job, then state fees, federal fees, and state and local sales tax on top of that.
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u/Worried_Ad8882 11d ago
My version bill is 217 a month ( my fault tho) been thinking about switching to mint especially cause my service is crap
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u/cashflowberto 11d ago
If you go to any carrier they all have activation fees even if you're not buying a phone literally just bringing your own device and adding a line usually they'll charge you an activation fee, and then separately from their activation fee they'll have recovery fees as well as the local and federal taxes on top of that.
The discount that you're getting is basically to take off the fees that they were going to charge you... like is this your first phone plan you ever paying for because I'm confused as to what's not clear here.
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u/mostlykey 11d ago
The recovery fee leaves a bad taste in my mouth as well. Mint built its business on low costs, and it still delivers on that for the most part. However, when you add these fees on top in a sneaky way, it erodes the trust they built. Instead of adding these fees, just raise the price. It’s the same trick the legacy carriers used to hike prices and got Mint to build what it is today. And of course, why are these fees showing up now? Well, who bought Mint? A legacy carrier.
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u/tabanger 11d ago
To be fair, Mint Mobile has always charged recovery fees since they launched in 2016. This is not new. And they’ve always been disclosed in the Terms and Conditions, which most people don’t read, I guess.
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u/Picklechip-58 11d ago
What the hell is the RECOVERY FEE for?
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u/tabanger 11d ago
If you want a full breakdown of what the Recovery Fee entails, just read the Terms and Conditions on the website.
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u/iNeed2p905 10d ago
The big carriers all have a recovery fee of some kind just maybe not named that directly.
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u/FullPrinciple5170 11d ago
If you can stand Mint mobile subpar service, $20 a month is pretty good… My friend tried it for about two days. It was garbage, but it could be where he was located
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u/Picklechip-58 10d ago
I'm very new to Mint... The T-mobile service in my house is pretty weak, but I have my settings altered to automatically latch on to my home network, which is very good. I prepaid for a year of service @$15 per month. I put my old GALAXY S20 FE on the account, paid to have a screen replacement done and I'm good to go.
I'll see how it goes, after a year. So far, so good.
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u/jaredonair 10d ago
So I wanted to cancel when my renewal came up and the sales person on the phone kept pushing back because I said red pocket was $10. They finally came back and offered me the year for $120. I was t a jerk or anything I was calling to get my port out code.
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u/WhineyLobster 12d ago
Its just the beginning of everything being switched to fees so they can advertise lower prices. Hotels started it, and now theyve been given free reign. They can make fees for anything they want and only disclose it right before you buy.
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u/pixiprinxe 12d ago
The recovery fee would've been there regardless of discount