T-Mobile reps and customers are upset over the latest change made by the company
T-Mobile reps are unhappy having to sound like a call center when speaking to customers on the phone.
T-Mobile reps upset over latest change. | Image by PhoneArena
It's bad enough that T-Mobile customers and reps have to deal with the transition to a digital Mobile Network Operator (MNO). Stores are closing, reps are unhappy, churn is poised to keep rising, and on top of all this, reps at corporate owned locations are writing on social media about something else that is bothering them.
T-Mobile will go all digital on August 1
For some reason, with the carrier's COO Jon Freier confirming that T-Mobile will officially go all-digital on August 1st, executives at the company have decided to have reps answer the phone with a script that many are complaining about. According to multiple social media posts, the new greeting when a rep takes a call is supposed to be this: "Thank you for calling T-Mobile where you find the best network and the best experience. This is____ how can I help you today?"
Some reps are questioning what the fuss is all about while others are already pushing back by sabotaging the message. As one T-Mobile salesperson wrote on Reddit, "I literally speed read the script as fast as humanly possible to emphasize the silliness of it all."
Some reps say that customers are hanging up on them after they say the new greeting
Another T-Mobile salesperson suggested that reps should sound like a robot and be what the company wants them to be. This same employee also said, "I’ve had more people hang up thinking I’m at a call center than I’ve ever seen with the other greetings."
If you're leaving T-Mobile, why are you doing it?
T-Mobile customers are also unhappy with the script. One customer, who writes under the "Ennrath" username on Reddit, said, "Just a shoutout to district managers and above that EVERYONE, employees and customers alike, hate the absurd new phone greeting and that testing stores so rigorously for compliance is going to cost them good employees, customers, and trust all around."
Yes, as a customer, I’ve heard other customers literally complain to store reps about it and laugh at how stupid they sound. It’s not about how answering the phone is easy or hard. It has to do with being genuine. And reading a drawn out script that doesn’t get listened to and wastes everyone’s time, isn’t genuine.
T-Mobile customer and Reddit subscriber Ennrath
One reason why T-Mobile reps are upset is that the whole greeting sounds like a script making the carrier sound like every other wireless provider. T-Mobile did make one change to the greeting by eliminating the phrase "including a 5-year price lock guarantee," which originally came just before the rep would reveal his name.
Other reps say that this is too small an issue to complain about
Some T-Mobile reps are speaking out about the greeting and making it known how unhappy they are with it. An equal number says that, while they don't like it either, they are willing to put up with it because it is too small of an issue to get upset about.
Why is T-Mobile doing this? One suggestion made by a Redditor was that T-Mobile is looking to weed out any non-compliant rep. If this is the case, the executives at corporate headquarters will probably find quite a few reps who aren't reading the script. One rep said online that "Literally one person in my store uses it."
No one at TMO who thought of this dumbass phone greeting actually believes it's helpful to customers. They just enjoy the power they have over their subordinates and want to see us dance like monkeys while punishing us if we don't.
T-Mobile rep and Reddit subscrber Crusty_Pancakes
This is what a T-Mobile rep told me today
When I called a T-Mobile COR store today, a rep said, "I don't know what they are trying to do," meaning company executives. He didn't use the greeting when I called, and he said that half of the salespeople in his store weren't using it. He also pointed out that the callers have an average attention span of seven seconds, meaning that many customers are tuning out before the entire greeting can be said.
Former T-Mobile CEO John Legere. | Image by T-Mobile
This rep also expressed a desire to see former CEO John Legere return to T-Mobile. The carrier's turnaround from dead last among the "Big 4" in the U.S. to its current position began the moment Legere was hired by the company in 2012. Not only did he create the Un-carrier personna for T-Mobile, but he also started the reward program, including T-Mobile Tuesdays and Netflix on us, that remain the best in the industry.
I bring up Legere because all of these changes, from the transition to even the changed greeting, is an attempt to fix something that wasn't broken. T-Mobile consistently reported the best numbers quarter-after-quarter and for some reason, leadership has deemed it necessary after Legere left to make changes that leave reps and customers scratching their heads.
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