I really don't care about the environmental aspect (I don't care too much about environmental issues), but I don't see the big deal in this. My bank has done something like this for a while, same story with my credit card (i.e. charging a rate if you pay your bill or do your banking in a certain way). I just think it's going to have to be something people take into account when they sign up for the service, or when they decide whether to continue a service.

Yeah, I don't see the big deal in this either, but I am pretty concerned with environmental issues. If you feel uncomfortable paying online, there's always the option of going to T-Mobile to pay it, paying the $1.50, or paying by phone. I'm sure they will make concessions for senior citizens or disabled persons on a case-by-case basis.

I don't receive paper bills for anything these days. My rent is automatically deducted from my bank account, and I do virtually all of my banking and bill-paying online. Part of it's my little way of reducing my carbon footprint, and part of it is just wanting to avoid all the paper. Ewww.

I'm not being flippant here: Why should you be able to choose how you pay and not have to pay extra depending on how you pay? All kinds of service providers do that all the time -- require you to pay extra if you use a check or (especially) a credit card (or give you a discount if you pay cash). Almost every company I deal with charges extra if you pay from your checking account by phone -- there is an extra cost to the company that gets passed along to the customer.

If you don't like it, you take your business elsewhere.

Meanwhile, I'm with Munchkin -- the only paper bills I receive now are from the companies that don't give me the option of e-bills. If I need a paper copy, I can always print it off.

I've started to get more into the online bill-paying as well. It's nice to get the confirmations sent to my email, and it makes for easy transitioning to my budgeting (which I do on Excel anyway). Plus, it gives my shredder a bit of a break.

Even my law school has stopped sending paper bills and is doing only e-billing.

Plus, companies really don't owe us that option as consumers. As a consumer, if you want to protest, you can take your business elsewhere (especially with something like a cell phone plan).

if enough customers flooded their customer service lines with these complaints (im not talking just a few a day, but i mean ring their lines off the hook over this), im sure TMobile would back down.

but long gone are the days of the customer always being right.

Thank goodness. There are lots of times when the customer doesn't know what he/she is talking about.