Verizon has countered a recent offer from T-Mobile subsidiary Mint Mobile with its own promotional campaign that apparently comes with a 5-year price guarantee.

Anyone using T-Mobile’s postpaid service in the United States is being tempted to switch to Verizon’s Visible service in exchange for a lower per-line fee of $15/month. The offer includes taxes and fees and comes with a supposed 5-year price guarantee, but you must bring your own device and commit to an entire year of service. In comparison, Mint is offering $15/month (taxes and fees excluded) with free lines in a time-limited three-month promotional campaign. The campaign is aimed squarely at AT&T and Verizon switchers who bring their own devices and port their numbers over to Mint.

Verizon points out that T-Mobile’s deal could result in up to $600 in service charges after three months. “This offer is only valid for the first three months, after which all lines will roll over to the retail price of $40,” reads Verizon’s press release. In other words, Mint will slap you with fees for your free lines after your three-month promotional period expires, which could amount to $600 for five lines, plus taxes and fees.

“If you read the fine print, by month four, you’ll be charged $120 per line if you sign up for their ‘unlimited’ plan (which by the way, is actually a 40 GB data plan that then slows down).” Mint and Visible are low-cost mobile virtual network operators owned by T-Mobile and Verizon, respectively, offering prepaid plans with physical SIMS and eSIMs. Visible’s 5G annual plan can save you money if you commit to an entire year of service. For those interested, HTG has a roundup comparing offerings from Mint Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

We wholeheartedly recommend taking claims of price guarantees with a few pinches of salt. Wireless carriers have proved time and again that we can’t trust them, because they always find some legal loophole to avoid making good on their price promises. T-Mobile established its lifetime price guarantee in 2017 as a pillar of its “Un-Carrier” marketing campaign. But the carrier is now facing a class action lawsuit, with plaintiffs alleging that the lifetime price guarantee was misleading, calling it a lie.

Verizon is guilty of changing prices, too, as its name appears on a $100 million class-action settlement over imposing so-called “telco recovery charges” on some subscribers. The company simply added an “administrative charge” to monthly bills that resulted in “higher monthly rates than advertised and promised,” according to the complaint cited by Forbes.

If you’re interested in Verizon’s offer, use the promotional code BYEBYETMO at visible.com and port-in your T-Mobile postpaid number within 30 days.

Source: Verizon