Learn about adjustments and refunds.
Jump to:
Refund requests
You can request a refund for the deposit you paid at activation, as well as any credit balance or overpayment that may be made to your T-Mobile account. We refund deposits on final credit balances upon request, unless otherwise required by law. Interest is applied on deposits at the rate the law requires.
Note: If you have an outstanding balance, the deposit may be applied in any order to any amount you owe on any account. You also may be required to increase or replace your deposit amount.
If you'd like to request a refund, please contact T-Mobile Customer Service. You'll need to be an authorized user on the account, and you'll need to verify the following:
- The password for the account or the last four digits of the Social Security number that was used to activate the account
- The mobile number for the account
- The current billing address for the account
Note: Canceled accounts must wait 30 days before the credit balance can be refunded due to final charges that may post to the account. You can contact T-Mobile Customer Service to request a refund for any remaining credit balance.
Deposit refunds
You may request a return of your deposit after 12 months of active service with T-Mobile.
- During those 12 months, your account must remain in good standing.
- Your account must be current for the deposit to be refunded.
- It usually takes 2-3 days via electronic refund (preferred method due to time/cost) or 6-10 days via prepaid card once you have filed a request for the remaining credit balance to be refunded.
Credit balance & Over-payment refunds
- If your payment was made by check, electronic check, cash, money order, or through a sales office, your refund request will generally be processed within 1-2 business days.
- If you request a prepaid card refund, it will be sent in the mail 6-10 business days after your refund was processed.
- If you'd like a paper check instead of a prepaid card, you may request a check through Citibank after receiving the card in the mail.
Note: Check payments must wait 10 days before a refund can be requested to allow time for the payment to process through the bank. - If your payment was made by credit card or debit card, your refund request will generally be processed within 2-3 business days and will be reflected on your credit card or bank account within 1-3 business days.
- For debit or credit card payments, the refund will be sent back to the original account.
Note: Mailed refunds can only be sent to the responsible billing party.
Exception: Prepaid Service is non-refundable (even if returned during the return period), and no refunds or other compensation will be given for the unused airtime balances; lost or stolen prepaid cards; or coupons.
Credits & adjustments
What to expect when you're issued a credit or adjustment on your bill:
- You must still pay the total amount due on your bill to avoid fees and service interruption.
- Any credit or adjustment you receive for an invalid charge will appear on your next billing statement.
- You can find the credit listed in the Monthly Summary under Credits & Adjustments.
- The amount will be deducted from Total Current Charges.
Please see Understand your bill if you need more information about where your credit can be found. If T-Mobile makes a mistake on your bill, please let us know. We'll do everything we can to make it right.
Why a refund request might be declined
If you receive notice that your refund request was declined, we want to help you better understand why this may have happened. Here are reasons why your account might not be eligible for a refund:
| If you received the following text message... | You might have been declined because... |
|---|---|
| TMO Free Msg: You requested a refund of $xxx.xx. However, your account is not eligible for a refund. |
|
| TMO Free Msg: You recently requested a refund of $xxx.xx. However, your account is not eligible for a refund as a payment has been returned unpaid. | Your account isn't eligible for a refund due to a payment on your T-Mobile account being returned unpaid. Because the returned payment may have been the payment you requested to have refunded, we no longer have the funds to process the refund. If another payment was returned, your refund may have been declined as the returned payment reduced your credit balance; refunding the additional payment would cause your account to become past due. Please check the status of your recent T-Mobile payments with your financial institution. If you need further details on your returned payment, contact T-Mobile Customer Service. |
| Free TMO Msg: You requested a refund of $xxx.xx. However, your account is not eligible for a refund the credits issued will apply toward future billing. | Certain credit balances are not eligible for a refund. If your account balance is the result of courtesy, retention, rebate, or other credits not resulting from a direct T-Mobile financial error, these types of credits aren't eligible for a refund. These types of credits will remain on your account and apply toward your next bill. |
If you don't believe your account fits any of these situations, contact T-Mobile Customer Service for more information on why your refund was declined.