T-Mobile in-store repairers dismissed over a hasty Zoom call with Assurant
The in-store device repair employees that T-Mobile grandfathered from Sprint, as well as those who it hired afterwards in partnership with its insurance provider Assurant, have been laid off over a Zoom call on Monday.
At 9PM, they were told by Assurant, whose employees they technically are, that their services will no longer be needed as of 9AM the next day, after in-store repair services have been halted in T-Mobile stores for the past couple of weeks. They were offered to apply for positions as T-Mobile reps for compensation, though.
The plan might have been a long time coming, given the pause in repairs, but the employees were still used to provide help with the iPhone 14 launch services like transfers and then dismissed. According to Redditer Gmo93, T-Mobile's own Protection 360 service repair conditions remain intact:
No more service and repair locations for T-Mobile. Techs are gone sadly, I'll miss them at my location.
Everything with P360 stays the same.
Same process to filing claims and getting repairs done except that now instead of scheduling for a TMobile location, you'll schedule for a CPR location if there's one close to you.
AppleCare claims will be redirected through apple. $30 repairs for Samsung and other manufacturers, will still be offered but it will be at a CPR Location starting mid October they told us.
Everything with P360 stays the same.
Same process to filing claims and getting repairs done except that now instead of scheduling for a TMobile location, you'll schedule for a CPR location if there's one close to you.
AppleCare claims will be redirected through apple. $30 repairs for Samsung and other manufacturers, will still be offered but it will be at a CPR Location starting mid October they told us.
Not long ago, in-store repairs in Sprint shops were transferred to Assurion, from where Assurant took the business, but apparently its overly generous business plan which poached Assurion employees with promises for new equipment and bonuses, didn't survive the harsh economic sense reality of phone repairs.
Starting October, all those repair and general help services that were offered by Assurant technicians in T-Mobile stores will be moved to the admittedly limited "nationwide network of nearly 500 Cell Phone Repair (CPR) by Assurant locations" as per the new partnership agreement with T-Mobile.
As per Jon Freier, president of T-Mobile Consumer Group, nothing has really changed in regards to quick on-site repairs apart that Assurant repair centers are few and far between compared to T-Mobile stores:
T-Mobile customers deserve best-in-class experience and unbeatable service — and that's what we'll continue to deliver when they visit our T-Mobile stores. When customers need the fast, personalized device repairs they've come to expect from Protection, Assurant locations across the country will be ready to take care of them!
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Things that are NOT allowed: