Under CEO John Legere, who was CEO of T-Mobile from September 2012 through April 1st, 2020, T-Mobile was a customer caring, innovative, fast growing, wireless powerhouse. When Legere took over the Chief Executive position at T-Mobile, the carrier was a mess. The churn rate for the first quarter of 2012 was an incredibly high 2.5%. This is the percentage of T-Mobile subscribers who left the carrier during that quarter and switched to another wireless provider.
T-Mobile has changed since John Legere left
Legere put customers first, and this led him and his executive team (which included current CEO Mike Sievert) to come up with the Uncarrier branding to show how T-Mobile was different than Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. After Legere left and Sievert took over in 2020, customers were no longer put first and T-Mobile was no longer any different than its rivals. Customer satisfaction, the most important thing under Legere, was replaced in importance by the daily change in T-Mobile's stock price once Sievert took over.
Is T-Mobile still the Uncarrier?
No. Since Legere left, it is as shady as the others.
60%
Yes. It's still customer-first at T-Mobile.
20%
I honestly don't know.
20%
T-Mobile reps were given ridiculous performance goals to meet each month that were so impossible, several had to rip-off consumers by adding bogus purchases of additional lines, insurance, accessories (like cases, battery chargers and screen protectors) without the customer's consent just so they wouldn't lose their jobs. Yes, as one T-Mobile subscriber wrote on Reddit, "I think the Uncarrier is dead."
Former T-Mobile CEO John Legere hosting an Uncarrier event. | Image credit-T-Mobile
The latest story that prompted that response came from a social media post by a T-Mobile customer who had ported over his number from AT&T to take advantage of the lower price he would pay for wireless service during an extended trip out of the U.S. Switching to T-Mobile would also allow him to replace his phone with a new iPhone 16 Pro on T-Mobile. When he arrived in Portugal, a country on T-Mobile's roaming list, he was stuck at 2G speeds for days. Calling technical support to complain, the subscriber was told that network congestion was the problem.
"T-Mobile is genuinely the most corporate money hungry company on the planet. They feed their reps lies, and push unrealistic goals with outrageous expectations, they genuinely promote shady selling also. Not to even mention the going back on their word about price locks, adding taxes back to Tax Inclusive plans, and just making it so much more difficult to access your information as a customer. The T-Life app is a sham and gives no one any real access or power over their account. People will start to leave and they will fall back down to bottom of the barrel eventually. It’s all just a matter of time."
-Reddit subscriber Michaelkunze
That this was a big fat lie was proven when a friend arrived in Portugal days later with an iPhone 13 mini. She was also a T-Mobile subscriber and with their phones placed side-by-side, her iPhone 13 mini was receiving 5G data speeds while his iPhone 16 Pro was still wallowing in 2G. After a call he was on in Portugal was dropped three times, he decided enough was enough.
The carrier changes its story and threatens taking the customer to collections
The gentleman canceled his T-Mobile service and returned the iPhone 16 Pro he had received from T-Mobile. The carrier gave him a few extra days to allow him to handle all of this upon his return to the U.S. At the same time, he opened an account with Visible and reactivated his previously retired iPhone 14 Pro. He got what should have been his last T-Mobile bill in August and paid it. After receiving a letter from a debt collector, the "victim" called T-Mobile again but this time he was told a completely different story.
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During the last call he had with T-Mobile, the customer was threatened by the wireless provider who told him they would send his account to collections if he didn't pay the whole bill. Wanting to put the whole thing behind him, the payment was made.
Another T-Mobile subscriber had a similar story to tell
The former T-Mobile subscriber had this to say about his experience. "For a company that markets itself as more caring than the rest, I hoped to find a middle ground where we're all happy. I gave T-Mobile plenty of opportunity to help and make it right. Instead, T-Mobile used its leverage to extract $85 from me and has lost any recommendation of my own and my business forever. Still, I'm a drop in the bucket for a $300B company."
This apparently was not a one-off experience for T-Mobile subscribers as another post on Reddit revealed. "I went to a very populated area in Colombia last year and was assured TWICE after calling in that I’d have service and coverage at no additional cost. When I got there my phone never connected or worked at all except for on WiFi. I didn’t have a translator app or GPS or anything for almost a month. Thanks T Mobile."
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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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