It's a bad look for AT&T as it shuts the 'AT&T Thanks' rewards program
Since John Legere took over as CEO of T-Mobile in 2012, the carrier has always been considered the most innovative and pro-consumer of the major carriers. Legere left in 2020 following the completion of the acquisition of Sprint, and was replaced by his right-hand man Mike Sievert who has kept the tradition except for a few odd hiccups here and there. While T-Mobile customers can no longer pay their invoice at their local store unless they want to be charged an extra $5, the carrier still offers the top customer reward program in T-Mobile Tuesdays.
Verizon has its Verizon Up rewards program (available from the My Verizon app) which is limited compared to T-Mobile Tuesdays, but at least it has a reward program. AT&T subscribers have lost the AT&T Thanks rewards program according to an AT&T community forum page (via LightReading). AT&T Thanks started back in 2016 just after T-Mobile Tuesdays was born and has been through several iterations. But based on a post from the ATTHelp account on the community forum site, the program is over.
AT&T kills off its customer rewards program
The post from ATTHelp reads, "Hi there, thank you for reaching out to AT&T community forums. To answer your question on AT&T Thanks, it was a limited time offer and is no longer offered. We appreciate you being part of AT&T, and we are always evaluating new offers for our customers." AT&T customers weren't pleased. "Really need to bring back at&t thank loyalty. It was a great incentive to try to win something every Friday. I mean T Mobile gives you something every Tues and you don't even have to win you just get it. At least we could win something once in while," wrote a subscriber.
LightReading questioned the carrier and AT&T wrote back saying, "We’re constantly looking at new ways to thank our customers in more unique and meaningful ways. In doing so, the AT&T Thanks program has evolved. For example, earlier this year, we surprised our customers in LA and Miami with the AT&T GameBall Experience giving away thousands of prizes including the latest Google Pixel phone, NBA merchandise and even $5,000 to reward their loyalty."
AT&T continued, "In addition, new and existing customers get our best deal on devices. We plan to continue to invest in these initiatives as well as provide access to sweepstakes and rewards such as our sponsored events and partner moments."
The optics here are not in AT&T's favor, although the wireless provider has been on a roll lately having added over 1 million net new postpaid phone subscribers over the last two quarters. But killing off the AT&T Thanks reward program might send the kind of message that could stop this momentum dead in its tracks.
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