What happened to T-Mobile? The wireless provider, which once attacked Verizon and AT&T, calling them “morons and idiots,” is now part of a larger problem shaking the U.S. wireless industry. And it all started when John Legere, who was named the best U.S. wireless CEO for five consecutive years by Glassdoor, left the company. All Legere did was take T-Mobile from its dismal fourth place among the top four U.S. wireless providers to the fastest-growing and most innovative U.S. carrier. When Legere left after completing the $26 billion acquisition of Sprint, T-Mobile was second only to Verizon among the top U.S. providers. Legere handed the CEO job over to his longtime right-hand man, Mike Siebert, and it was expected that Siebert would run T-Mobile in the same way that Legere had done from September 2012 to early April 2020. But in a conversation I had with a T-Mobile employee last week, verified online, it seems something has changed since Siebert replaced Rougere: “I’ve been a customer for 3 years, never been late on a payment. I lost my iPhone in the river and needed a new one. I was told at 3 different T-Mobile stores that ‘we only have 1 iPhone left’ and ‘we can’t sell it to you without a phone case, screen protector, charger and 360° protection.'”
How the hell is T-Mobile allowed to do this? I don’t need that overpriced crap. I quit T-Mobile and switched to another carrier. When I went to T-Mobile to pay for my lost phone I asked the employee “what the hell” and he said “if we sell phones without this stuff we will be penalized. It’s our company’s control” It’s so crazy that I tried to buy a phone at a cell phone store and they told me no.” – Former T-Mobile customer
Under Legere, the company’s focus has shifted from putting customers first and resolving their pain points to pressuring salespeople to squeeze every penny possible out of their customers and keep growing revenue, which has led to a rise in the stock price. With salespeople under pressure to hit certain sales and performance metrics, some are turning to shady methods to make ends meet.
Some reps are adding new lines to customer accounts that customers did not request, and adding insurance to new and existing phones that customers did not request. Last December, we reported that T-Mobile reps would not sell customers a new phone unless they purchased accessories for that phone. This is not an isolated incident, and it will continue to happen. A consumer posted on social media about quitting T-Mobile after three years, after paying all bills on time. When I went to three T-Mobile stores to replace my iPhone that sank in a lake, I was told that each store only had one iPhone left. Reps at each store told customers that they would not sell me the remaining iPhone unless I purchased a bundle that included a case, screen protector, 360 protection (p360), and charger.
“Yes, recently I’ve been told strictly not to do naked upgrades. He told a customer yesterday that someone sold him the phone he thought I had and wanted him to go home. They don’t like me helping them and making calls for them. Or helping them with apps and telling them how to use them. For example, I’m good at customer service so I generate repeat customers who come back to buy what they need by adding lines. I don’t add anything to their plan and don’t let them know. Last month I was over 40 VAF but only got 38 percent p360. My coworker added a p360 without telling anyone and it dropped a lot.” -Reddit user Aggressive-Gur9501
The responses from T-Mobile reps on the same platform say it all. One said he just sold two phones to a customer who didn’t add any accessories. He noted that the fee for the transaction was $10, an amount that doesn’t impact the damage the transaction does to his metrics at all. He added that T-Mobile reps are penalized for customers who don’t add accessories when they buy a new phone.
Another T-Mobile rep in the Midwest said that if a customer leaves a store with a new phone and doesn’t add any accessories, they should call the district manager in their area to explain why that happened.
As I said before, this is a great opportunity for T-Mobile to shake up their system by relieving some of their reps of the pressure to do shady things to meet standards. Let’s make this the next non-carrier move by T-Mobile. Remember, this is the carrier that brought many pioneers to the industry and singlehandedly ended the practice of offering consumers 2-year contracts in exchange for subsidized phones. Something needs to be done to restore trust, not just for T-Mobile, but for the entire industry.
