National Advertising Division Recommends T-Mobile Discontinue or Modify “Price Lock” Claim for 5G Home Internet Service
New York, NY – June 17, 2024 – In a Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by AT&T Services, Inc., BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division recommended that T-Mobile US, Inc. discontinue its “Price Lock” claim for 5G home internet service or modify the claim to explain how T-Mobile’s “Price Lock” policy differs from a “price lock” which locks the price for the term of a service.
Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process designed for single-issue advertising cases brought to the National Advertising Division (NAD).
The challenged “Price Lock” claim appeared in print, online, and television advertising, including in a television commercial featuring actors Zach Braff, Donald Faison, and Jason Momoa performing a humorous musical number promoting the beneficial features of T-Mobile’s internet service.
In each of the challenged advertisements, the description of the “Price Lock” policy appears in text below the claim and states, with some variation, “Get your last month of service on us if we ever raise your internet rate.” NAD found that a disclosure that “Price Lock” does not lock the price but gives consumers one month of free service if certain conditions are met contradicts the main message of the “Price Lock” claim.
To avoid conveying a misleading message, NAD recommended that T-Mobile discontinue the “Price Lock” claim or modify it to explain, as part of the main claim, that “Price Lock” is a policy that promises customers a free month of home internet service if T-Mobile raises the monthly price and the consumer promptly notifies T-Mobile that they are cancelling their service.
In its advertiser statement, T-Mobile stated that it will comply with NAD’s decision although it believes that the challenged advertisements “appropriately communicate the generous terms of its Price Lock policy.”
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. Per NAD/NARB procedures, this release shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.
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