I have the honor of owning a T-Mobile cell phone. A few months ago, I received a note from them that they are increasing the Regulatory Programs Fee (RPF). They explain that RPF is a not a tax but a fee that helps them to “…recover the costs associated with funding and complying with a variety of government mandates.”
What a way of doing business. Why don’t they, and most of the other cell phone companies, simply add this to their cost structure?
Taxes and fees became a significant part of a cell phone bill, but cell phone companies prefer to hide those extra costs, in order to create an impression of a lower price for the service.
We have a different philosophy. We believe in transparency. We have no hidden fees or unexpected taxes, they are all included. Our price is final, and there will be no surprise charges for customers that decide to sign up with us.
It still does not mean that we provide a free service or that there are no terms or limits to our service, or that we will allow abusive customers. But we promise that there won’t be any surprises with your bill. Mistakes can always happen, but if we made a mistake we will fix it immediately.
We will let your loved ones surprise you.