T-Mobile Must Drop Misleading “Savings” Ads After Watchdog Review

Companies love advertising their products as being the best, or their services as being the cheapest, or that you can get the most savings. But more often than not, we have to wonder, is it true? Unfortunately for T-Mobile, it is being asked to drop its ads boasting about savings.

T-Mobile asked to drop savings ads

According to the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), it recommends that T-Mobile drop ads that talk about savings. You might think that this was following a complaint from customers, but it actually comes from none other than Verizon, T-Mobile’s competitor.

The ads in question are T-Mobile’s “Families can switch and save 20% vs. the other big guys’ plans plus streaming services” and “Switch and save versus AT&T and Verizon’s comparable plans plus streaming.” NARB claims that it is unclear how these supposed savings are calculated.

“NAD determined that, despite T-Mobile having modified the savings claims to explicitly reference streaming services, one message that continues to be conveyed is that consumers who switch to T-Mobile from Verizon can save 20%, and that those savings are achieved through plan costs alone. NAD found that consumers are not likely to expect the value of ancillary benefits to be included in a savings comparison.”

However, T-Mobile disputes the NAD’s findings. The carrier also says it plans to appeal the recommendation.

The alleged discount

So, are customers actually saving money? Yes and no. What T-Mobile has done is that its initial ad claimed customers could expect 20% savings. However, what it doesn’t really say is that these supposed savings come from bundling its streaming services in the package. It then compares the price against its competitors.

The issue is that most people would logically assume that these are straight-up savings. However, it turns out the savings apply considering you bundle additional streaming services and comparing prices with the competition. T-Mobile attempted to correct the error by adding the phrase “plus streaming,” but the National Advertising Division (NAD) felt that it wasn’t enough.

T-Mobile also tried to make more changes with more explicit references. But ultimately, the NARB agreed with the NAD that these changes weren’t enough. That doesn’t mean that you won’t save money. If you plan to go for the mobile plan with full streaming, then yes, you could save some dollars. But if you’re just looking for a mobile plan, then maybe not.