I had one of those deals for 3 phones. I was paying $272 a month all in. Once I paid off the phones, I switched to an MVNO on the same carrier. I get the same level of service for $105 per month. My "free" phones cost me $168 x 24 months = $4032 for phones that cost about $3000 combined at retail pricing.
If it was Public Mobile, they really did their long-time customers dirty because of their points system change. I used to pay $27/month because of referrals and loyalty, and now it’s back up to ~$39 because their new system forces you to actively redeem your points.
I’m switching over to Lucky when I have the mindspace to do it.
Never again.