Back in January, T-Mobile rolled out a new “Hulu On Us” benefit to customers on the company’s premium Go5G Next plan.
Not only were Go5G Next users eligible, but existing customers who were hit by the wildly unpopular Netflix with Ads migration were also offered Hulu “On Us” for either 6 months or “indefinitely” depending on their Netflix package.
After much confusion, it was determined that customers on any T-Mobile plan that included Netflix Basic “On Us” prior to January 5th would receive 6 months of Hulu with Ads “On Us”, and anyone with a plan that had included Netflix Standard “On Us” would receive Hulu with Ads indefinitely.
Those that received the 6-month offer have already used up their benefit. However, customers that received the full fat “On Us” Hulu, including newer Go5G Next customers, are still currently receiving their first year of free Hulu. Those customers might be wondering if T-Mobile is still going to foot the bill after the price increases.
Is Hulu still free?
Disney announced last month that prices on basically every plan and service, including Hulu, will be increasing by as much as 25% on October 17th.
Adding to the confusion, Hulu sent emails to all affected customers indicating a price increase was coming, even to T-Mobile customers. As seen below, there is absolutely no indication that T-Mobile “On Us” customers would be spared from the capitalist greed.
However, at the bottom of that email in very small print, you’ll see this notice:
“Price changes will not impact any pending service credits” is the key line here. This means that, even though the price is increasing, it won’t change the existing credit already on your account.
In addition, customers can sign into their Hulu accounts online and check the “Your Subscription” section of the Account page. Even this page shows a scary message about the price increase, but farther down under the plan name you’ll see a message that says something along the lines of “You have this included with your promotion”, as shown below.
Of course, the end date will vary depending on when you redeemed your Hulu benefit.
What happens after a year?
T-Mobile promised that Hulu “On Us” was a permanent benefit, not just a one-year promo. The redemption for the promo, however, was a promo code issued by T-Mobile and redeemed on Hulu that gave one year of service for free. So what happens after that?
Well, we don’t really know, but we can make some guesses.
The first possibility is the company integrates Hulu billing directly into the T-Mobile bill, just like how Netflix works. This would mean customers would “connect” their Hulu accounts to their T-Mobile accounts, and T-Mobile would “charge” you the monthly cost on your bill (but also credit it off).
The second, and most likely outcome in our opinion, is that T-Mobile will simply issue new codes to grant another year of service. Customers will probably request a new promo code just like last time and redeem it in their Hulu accounts.
Either way, action will be required for all customers currently receiving Hulu “On Us” via T-Mobile. If you have free Hulu, you’ll want to make note of the pending end date on your Hulu account and keep an eye out for T-Mobile to share details of further redemption.
