Almost everyone is blaming Mike Sievert for T-Mobile's downfall... wait, what downfall?!

The results of one of our recent polls following Mike Sievert's replacement with Srini Gopalan as T-Mobile CEO are pretty damning - nearly all PhoneArena readers believe the guy who took over the "Un-carrier's" reins from John Legere back in May 2020 is partially or completely culpable for the mobile network operator's issues and controversies these last few years.

But is it really fair to point the finger in just one direction ahead of a management change that was rumored for quite some time? And perhaps more importantly, exactly what are all blaming Sievert for?

If you think John Legere wouldn't have raised your rates, you're being naive

Look, there's no denying that the charismatic businessman and former competitive runner who steered the Magenta ship through many storms and a long period of almost continuously sunny weather between 2012 and 2020 radically changed T-Mobile's fate, elevating its industry status from underdog to trendsetter.

John Legere is still hailed as a hero and regretted by many T-Mobile customers. | Image Credit -- T-Mobile

But as hard as John Legere's mission clearly was, Mike Sievert had to navigate a far more turbulent time for US wireless service providers, and, well, the nation and the entire world as a whole.

T-Mobile could have obviously survived without increasing the monthly prices of so many of its subscribers... multiple times over the past couple of years, but those were not solely Sievert's decisions. Shareholders were undoubtedly pressuring for their profits to continue growing even during a pandemic and financially challenging time for so many people, while a Board of Directors naturally approved every (big) move you may have found controversial of late.

Do you blame Mike Sievert for T-Mobile's controversial decisions?

Yes, completely

63.84%

Yes, partially

27.33%

No, I don't

8.83%

Granted, I believe Legere could have done a better job of "masking" and communicating some of T-Mo's most uninspired decisions since 2020 (including and perhaps especially the whole "all-in-one" T-Mobile app debacle), but I don't really think any of the seismic changes that caused outrage and destroyed the "Un-carrier's" maverick reputation could have been avoided.

This is simply the state of the ruthless wireless business in the US today, and if anything, John Legere deserves praise for leaving the ship at the perfect time to maintain his "man of the people" mystique.

Brace yourselves for even worse days!

If you think things are bad right now, I'm sorry to tell you that your situation is likely to get worse and your monthly rates higher under Srini Gopalan.

What the 93.5 percent of our readers who voted in that poll from a couple of days ago to lay the blame for T-Mobile's controversies entirely or partially at Mike Sievert's feet seem to forget is that Sievert actually kept a lot of Legere's best deals and practices going all this time.

What's your number one problem with Mike Sievert?

The price hikes

37.71%

The T-Life disaster

21.14%

The declining customer service quality

14.86%

The lack of communication on controversial topics

6.86%

The lack of charisma

5.14%

I don't really have a problem with the guy

14.29%

I'm talking things like free Netflix (with asterisks, of course), free lines every few months or so, free network trials, and yes, even the T-Mobile Tuesdays program, which appears to be going through a resurgence of sorts after a complete fall from grace a couple of years back.

Sievert also added free Apple TV and Hulu to your Netflix streaming perks, and although they're clearly not as affordable as they used to be, T-Mobile's best plans are still objectively better and/or cheaper than the competition's.

T-Mobile COO and future CEO Srini Gopalan

I don't think Srini Gopalan will be a better T-Mobile CEO than Mike Sievert, but he could always be a worse one. | Image Credit -- T-Mobile

Now, I'm not saying that Srini Gopalan is going to change all these things for the worse, but as long as T-Mo's customer figures continue to grow, there's definitely a chance that will happen. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that, if you're truly dissatisfied with Mike Sievert's work as T-Mobile CEO, you should leave the carrier and find a better option. Can't find one? Then you can't really be that dissatisfied, now, can you?

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