T-Mobile rep says he convinces some consumers not to buy phones from him

You would think that a T-Mobile rep would want to sell as many phones as possible to a consumer. But the truth of the matter is that selling phones will not put more food on the table for the rep's family unless the sale is accompanied by a few extras. A Reddit subscriber with the user name "jaexone" says that he works for T-Mobile and as he explains, "If I don’t sell every phone with a rate plan change, a smartwatch, insurance, a case, and screen protector, then my metrics will be affected negatively."

So what's a rep to do? According to this T-Mobile employee, if he knows that you aren't buying anything from him but a phone, "I will do everything in my power to avoid selling you a phone once I know you are not getting anything else with your purchase." So what does this representative, who works for one of the three major U.S. wireless carriers, say you should do when you want to buy just a new phone? "So please, if you just want to buy the phone, always purchase directly from the manufacturer. Don’t blame me. The company is structured this way," he says.

Some Reddit subscribers got the point. For example, subscriber "cenasmgame" said, "I was going to get my current S24+ from T-Mobile through online, but when I went to checkout there was like a $15 service fee or activation fee or something, so I said f*** that and ordered through Samsung directly to avoid the like $15 bucks, which was a great move because they gave me like $100 in credit to get free accessories for my phone. All in all, would buy directly every time from now on."

Part of the problem is that reps, not just at T-Mobile, are pressured to meet certain sales goals (metrics) or else face termination. One Reddit user, with the user name ORToCO, didn't mention the wireless firm he works for. But he did say, "My manager would tell me to just add the insurance even if they didn't ask for it and then either they won't remember they declined it or won't notice it at least 50% of the time not that this is ethical or even legal or recommendable but that's how they teach people to keep their metrics up."

And this is the current state of the wireless industry. If you're not billed for lines or insurance that you didn't ask for, you have to worry about a rogue rep setting you up for a SIM swap.