Buying a new phone from a T-Mobile store these days is a different experience than what you might be used to. The company's executives have had a grand scheme to convert T-Mobile into a digital Mobile Network Operator (MNO) with subscribers turning to the T-Life app to manage all aspects of their dealings with T-Mobile. Whether you're adding new lines, upgrading to a new phone, making your monthly payment or buying an accessory, soon everything will probably have to go through the T-Life app. Part of the problem is that the app itself has been known to have problems.
There is speculation that T-Mobile will soon shut its third-party retail (TPR) locations
Eventually, T-Mobile will close its stores (already there is speculation that the third party TPR locations will soon be shuttered), layoff most reps, and turn the company into a leaner and meaner profit machine which could lead to a higher stock price. This won't help customers but could fatten wallets belonging to the carrier's top executives.
Should you be forced to use the T-Life app when making a purchase at a T-Mobile store?
Yes. The carrier has the right to demand it.
0%
No. This is not a pro-customer move.
100%
On social media, a former T-Mobile employee who was a Mobile Expert for 10 years explained what it is like today to purchase a device from a T-Mobile store. This Redditor, with the username carlactln0425, wrote that he visited a T-Mobile store to buy a new phone for his brother. He was dismayed to find that everything is self-service.
The T-Life app is buggy and laggy
As he explains, "When we were checked in the floor coach asked if I had the T-life app and I told him I did… he went on to tell me that we have to use the app to purchase anything. When we were being helped, the Mobile Expert, he basically told me to check my T-life app to see if they have any of the phones in stock and to purchase everything. I looked up the device that he [my brother] wanted and proceeded to check out on the app. The App was slow in store and kept crashing."
The T-Life listing in the App Store. | Image credit-PhoneArena
The problems with the T-Life app that he mentioned, the slow speed and the app crashing, are problems that T-Mobile customers have specifically mentioned are issues with the app. And here's the kicker folks. The customer/former ME who wrote the post said that he asked the rep helping him what happens if someone coming into the store to make a purchase doesn't have the T-Life app. The rep told him that under that scenario, the customer would not be able to purchase anything.
T-Mobile subscribers have had trouble buying a new phone from the carrier's stores for years now, even before the T-Life app was launched. Just a couple of years ago, some T-Mobile reps refused to sell new phones to customers unless the purchase also included accessories such as insurance, a screen protector, a case, and a power block. As you probably know, T-Mobile's ME have monthly performance goals that they have to meet known as their metrics. Failure to meet these goals can lead to dismissal.
The metrics don't seem to be much of a problem anymore because of the requirement that the T-Life app be used on all transactions. But the app, as noted, presents its own set of problems. A current T-Mobile ME wrote to the guy who posted about his in-store shopping experience giving him his feelings on the matter. "Your experience is unfortunately a byproduct of the pressure upper management is placing on store managers to keep [T-Life] usage above a certain percentage. T-Life is supposed to be the new tool we use to transact with customers not interact [with them]."
The Un-carrier's transition is not customer-friendly
Along the way, T-Mobile's transformation into a digital carrier has forced it to be less customer friendly as new policies and regulations are put in place designed to make the transition to digital go a lot smoother. For example, one policy being changed covers all warranty replacements which now have to be picked up in the store and not shipped to a customer's home. Once the customer receives the warranty replacement, he then ships back the old phone.
The wheels are in motion and the carrier that was once so pro-customer it was known as the Un-carrier, is now about to make it harder for older and less tech savvy customers to accomplish their goals and complete their tasks when shopping for a new phone and accompanying service. It's sad and is being done for the sake of the almighty dollar.
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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.
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