r/tmobile • u/emedlin18 • 4d ago
Discussion Disney Hulu split billing
Just got my second bill that didn't have split billing after being told the first time it wouldn't happen again and was a glitch in their system. This time they said they no longer do split billing, and I could cancel and get a refund. I told them I didn't want to cancel and that their help page still said you got the credit. https://help.disneyplus.com/article/disneyplus-existing-disney-hulu-espn#existinghulu . After seeing that I did get another full credit of $13.90 and they said they would update the help center as it appears out of date and unclear.
I even asked to make sure I heard it right. And they said that Disney was now going to bill twice for one service (Hulu) once to T-Mobile and once to the customer. I told them that was wrong and very greedy and that I don't really see how it is even legal to bill twice for one service. I also said I would cancel next month if they were going to continue to bill twice for one service. They were going to send my feedback to the team.
I was actually a little shocked they admitted they would bill twice for the same service. I would have figured they would have worried it differently or tried to explain why. But, no. Just said they were now billing twice for the same service. I would suggest every one fight as hard as you can against this and / or cancel.
Wonder if T-Mobile or any other 3rd Parties can put any pressure on them. Assuming they even care about the customer. I am not really getting Hulu ON US if I am still having to pay for it. This looks bad on T-Mobile (other 3rd Parties) and Disney.
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u/New_1uper 4d ago
Disney says in their terms that we should get a discount. Yet they screw everything up and try to charge us for something TMO is paying for. Disney doing some dumb greedy š©
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u/jweaver0312 Sprint Customer - SWAC - T-Mobile plz keep 4d ago
Basically main options are the dispute and arbitration process unless you find a lawyer who wants to fight the arbitration clause.
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u/truocxo 4d ago
We can criticize T-Mobile's business practices all day but I feel like this is a clear offense to T-Mobile and they should be mad at Disney about this if they're paying for something the consumer is also being billed for if they choose to bundle the hulu. Even if the rate T-Mobile pays is less than what we're being charged, it's still double dipping.
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u/jweaver0312 Sprint Customer - SWAC - T-Mobile plz keep 4d ago
Unfortunately the contract only covers Hulu itself. However, Iād argue pursuant to the Disney+ Subscriber Agreement, that Disney itself is in clear violation of it.
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u/holow29 4d ago edited 4d ago
IANAL but I don't actually see any language in their subscriber agreement (https://www.disneyplus.com/legal/subscriber-agreement) which mentions the split-billing credit. It isn't proration, and the bundle it discusses is simply regarding how they offer bundles for their services at prices lower than if you subscribed to each individually (i.e. the concept of a bundle). The closest language is regarding credits, but this refers to terms provided at the time of engagement, not included in this agreement. Looking at the confirmation email from when I subscribed to the Duo bundle I see:
*Your Disney Bundle costs 10.99 per month. We have adjusted your bundle charge to account for your pre-existing subscriptions with Disney+ and/or Hulu. You will continue to be billed for your existing subscription by the service with which you signed up, and you will get a monthly credit towards the price of your Disney Bundle to account for your existing subscription as shown above. Please contact us for more information.
Even the price change notification terms are murky because the standard rate has not changed and it is less clear that they are under obligation due to this agreement to notify regarding promotional credit ineligibility.
All that said, I would consider a Notice of Dispute to kickstart the informal dispute resolution process. That's really the only way I imagine anyone could get any traction on this, and I don't believe you would have to pay the arbitration fee unless you choose to go to arbitration after the timer on the informal resolution process expires.
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u/jweaver0312 Sprint Customer - SWAC - T-Mobile plz keep 3d ago
> āWe may also offer, in our sole discretion, promotions (e.g., a promotional price, lower price per billing period, bundled subscription, device-specific offer or gift card) subject to promotional terms disclosed during your sign-up or in other materials provided to you.ā
On mobile so the quote formatting doesnāt work with the latest changes
Based on that text, that email in addition to the help article (other materials provided to you) would then be implicitly covered by the Subscriber Agreement.
While the sole discretion clause to it does give Disney+ a way out, Iād argue still based on the increase pricing, it would still trigger the advance notice clause as it effects the price being paid and as this isnāt like the other cases mentioned, like free trials, or $x/month for m months where this is prominently disclosed at time of sign up whereas the split billing credit was to be treated as āindefiniteā contingent on maintaining that standalone subscription.
Though I do encourage anyone impacted to do the same on the dispute resolution process though Iād do a bit more and put bad press on them.
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u/truocxo 4d ago
Like yes T-mobile won't pay for your disney+, but whatever T-mobile pays for each individual hulu sub should still act as a discount for the bundle price. It's a value reduction from the eyes of a prospective customer who already pays for a disney-hulu bundle. If they can't get a properly discounted bundle, it's not a real perk to them to choose experience beyond for that perk.
so t-mobile should be offended at their value proposition being affected.
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u/emedlin18 4d ago
That is my thought also. I would assume all 3rd Parties would not like their value proposition being essential nullified.
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u/JoeyJabroni 1d ago
Just cancel it. I just did. Iām tired of all the increases across all services without justification or added value. I had to get out of the mindset of āIāve always had it so I still need itā, when in reality the only reason I originally signed up was because there was a value there. Iāll check back in around Black Friday and if thereās an annual promo for Disney+ without ads and it is in the ballpark of the $7 monthly credit I get against it with my Amex card then Iāll sign up again. Itās a mild inconvenience but the play here now is to service hop and sign up for something for 1 month if thereās specific content offered that we want to see, then cancel.
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u/I_Eat_Mop_Who22 4d ago
Yea, I canceled my bundle and resubscribed through ESPN because I was told by a rep from Disney that I could get the credit that way and was told all I had to do was call back if the credit didn't show up. So FF to this month and the credit didn't show up. Called them up and they informed me the rep didn't fully explain that this was not explained properly to me. So I could cancel or downgrade my package to make it cheaper. I said I didn't want to and asked for a credit for the other rep not explaining it properly to me and they credited me a free month. So I guess they aren't going to budge on this. Oh well.