Some T-Mobile reps lost their monthly cash bonus due to T-Life
Some T-Mobile reps are no longer proud of working for T-Mobile.
The continuing battle over T-Mobile management demanding that reps use the T-Life app is really getting to one T-Mobile District Manager (DM). A DM just wrote on Reddit that his entire district is losing the special cash bonus that is known as "spiffs" for the month of July. Why? Well, it seems that the reps in this district were not in compliance with the required usage of the T-Life app.
Forcing its reps to reach monthly performance targets leads reps to do questionable things
It's bad enough that T-Mobile has monthly goals called "metrics" that lead reps to do illegal things like add extra lines, insurance, chargers, cases, screen protectors, insurance, and more to customers' invoices without consent. Now, the carrier seems to be planning to lay off reps, close retail stores, and have customers use T-Life to handle all transactions. Right now, depending on the region, we've heard that T-Mobile salespeople are supposed to use T-Life on 60% to as many as 90% of their transactions.
Screenshot of the controversial T-Life app. | Image credit-PhoneArena
The DM who posted his plight on Reddit asked, "How are we supposed to explain to our Reps that because of a lack of usage of an app that barely worked on the sales end in July (and still barely now) they're going to lose upwards of a couple hundred dollars with ZERO notice that this was a possibility??"
We've criticized the use of metrics before, and if you believe that none of this matters to you because the customer isn't getting hurt, guess again. Some customers with a lost or stolen phone weren't allowed to get a replacement phone since they couldn't access T-Life with a broken device, and that led T-Mobile to make a change recently.
Now, T-Mobile subscribers who enter a store with a lost or broken phone are given a new handset that is unsealed before it is paid for, with the rep praying that the customer has equipment credit or enough money to pay for a down payment. The rep enters all of the customer's personal info on the new phone so it can be used to install the T-Life app, and the replacement phone order can be done with the app just so the rep and the store, and even the district, meet their T-Life usage goal.
To say that this is getting out of hand would be an understatement. One rep working at a third-party authorized retailer wrote that his store made it clear that T-Mobile metrics come before sales. That means meeting the month's performance goals is more important than taking care of a customer unless you consider adding accessories and/or new lines to a customer's order without consent to be "taking care of the customer."
Some reps have been saying that they have the power, not management. One rep even suggested that T-Mobile salespeople engage in a walkout. This rep wrote, "All it takes is the threat of an organized walkout to get that pay back and an extra percentage on top of it. It would require 70% or higher to walk out to send a clear message that enough is enough. If 100% walked out, it would take less than 48 hours for them to concede and pay everyone what was rightfully theirs to begin with."
T-Mobile is no longer driven by employee happiness, says 15-year T-Mobile veteran
Every current and former T-Mobile employee that I've had the pleasure to speak with tells me that they miss the days when John Legere was President and CEO of T-Mobile. His real customer-first style took T-Mobile from its position as a moribund last-place carrier and made it the Un-Carrier, the most innovative and fastest-growing wireless operator in the U.S.
Another T-Mobile employee with 15 years of working for the company under his belt wrote, "I used to be super proud to work for T-Mobile, and I'd advocate for them inside and outside of work. I have 15 years of experience working for T-Mobile, even found work managing a TPR store after T-Mobile replaced my senior Trainer position with online AI learning. Idk what has taken me so long to realize that T-Mobile is no longer employee happiness driven."
Writing to his fellow T-Mobile employees, he adds, "I appreciate the John Legere days, which are never coming back, so reality is, get out before you're left out. T-Life should not be a metric until it's fully functional, period."
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