Charter Communications has launched a new customer incentive that offers to “pay” the remaining balance on a device and service bill when subscribers switch to Spectrum Mobile.
Customers who switch to Spectrum Mobile won’t actually get up to $2,500 in cash to pay off the balances at their old wireless provider, but they will get Visa gift cards (or bill credits, we’re still a little hazy on the details — see editor’s note at the bottom of this story) that are equal to the amount of service and device installment fees associated with the switch.
As with most incentives, there are a few strings attached: The deal is only available to customers who have Spectrum Internet service, and customers must buy at least three lines of Spectrum Mobile in order to get the deal. The credits also won’t apply unless customers transfer their existing phone numbers from their old wireless provider to Spectrum Mobile, and the deal doesn’t extend to early termination fees that might be charged by a wireless company.
Still, customers who are looking for a clean break from their old phone company and who have the cash to pay their own device installment balances and early termination fees — and who have both Spectrum Internet and are willing to transfer at least three phone numbers to Spectrum Mobile — can save some money by taking advantage of Spectrum Mobile’s low-cost phone plans that offer generous talk, text and data buckets.
How much money will they save? That’s hard to nail down. Spectrum Mobile’s webpage for the offer offers a price chart that shows the per-line cost when customers buy two lines of service — even though three lines of service are required to get the deal. A per-line price chart couldn’t be found when The Desk looked for it, nor did the Spectrum Mobile webpage contain a “Broadband Nutrition Label” as required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which made it even harder to nail down specific details about the deal, including how much customers will actually pay for three lines of service.
Spectrum Internet customers who are interested in learning more about the deal can click or tap here.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated from an earlier version based on an email sent by a Charter spokesperson, who noted the reimbursement is through Visa gift cards disbursed to customers who take advantage of the “switch” offer. Another section of the website indicates that the reimbursement is via credits, and we’ve asked for clarification on the language.
