T-Mobile Premium Retailer (TPR) stores are owned by a franchise or a dealer and not T-Mobile. The branding and signs look identical to a corporate owned T-Mobile store although the TPR is supposed to have a small sign that identified it as an "Authorized Retailer" or "Independent Retailer." These stores are allowed to sell the same wireless plans, phones, and accessories that the corporate stores can sell.
T-Mobile TPR stores have more leeway to scam customers
Because these stores are not owned by T-Mobile, the reps have been known to take unethical and possibly illegal actions against customers such as adding items to an order that weren't requested by the consumer. To be fair, some corporate owned stores have had issues like this as well, but it seems to take place more often in TPR locations. Customers walking into a TPR store seeking a new phone often end up paying for a case, screen protector, insurance, and battery charger along with the phone. Many times, the customer didn't give consent to add those accessories.
Early Monday morning, Reddit user squipysquip typed a post explaining that he had just quit his job as a rep for a T-Mobile TPR. His message was basically a warning to T-Mobile TPR customers. He wrote that because authorized retailers aren't directly T-Mobile, it allows these stores to get away with more nonsense directed against customers. The former T-Mobile TPR salesman listed the things he was forced to do in order to keep his job.
Adding unrequested items to consumers' bills seems to be a popular scam
The first item on his list reveals how he was forced to put items on customer's accounts. He wrote that this made him feel "absolutely horrible." He wrote, "Multiple times I was forced to put p360 (insurance), trackers, watches, tablets etc. etc. on people's accounts without telling them. I was encouraged to do this without them looking to just say "oh it comes with it!" I get bundling is a thing and a common practice, but this wasn't bundling this was squishing the customer for everything they had in their pocket and hoping they won't notice."
Screengrab from Luna Wireless website. | Image credit-Luna Wireless
The next thing he hated while working for the T-Mobile TPR was that behind closed doors he was told to have complete disregard for the customer. He says that he was told to act this way even to nice customers. By the way, the TPR store he worked in is owned by Luna Wireless. The latter owns over 450 T-Mobile stores in the eastern and central United States.
Have you ever been blatantly ripped off by your carrier?
Yes.
70%
Not that I could tell.
30%
His last point was specifically aimed at a manager he worked with although he believes that this manager's actions were an indictment on the whole company. The former rep accused his manager of stealing customers from him and not looking at his resume before hiring him. "This I feel like is a HUGE red flag," the Reddit subscriber typed. He went on to point out that despite his actions, the manager won numerous awards inside the firm and was number one in the area "despite the things he was doing."
After giving up the job at 3 am this morning, the former T-Mobile TPR rep had a big warning for customers. "So for those of you who go to an authorized retailer (Luna Wireless to be exact) be careful and keep an eye on your account."
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What is frightening is how many T-Mobile TRP reps say the same thing. The very first post following the one cited in the paragraphs above had a similar tale to tell, especially when it came to duping customers. This former T-Mobile TPR rep, who quit in October, uses the screen name A_R_I_A_ on Reddit and he wrote, "I worked for a tpr for tmob and it was exactly like this tbh. Especially the part about putting things on ppl’s accounts and not telling them, or wording it so they don’t know it’s a charge/credit each month and calling it free, or just outright not telling customers." The owner of the TPR he worked for was not named.
Customer care reps at call centers will also told to lie
He continued, "I never put something on anyone’s account without their permission after a convo about cost, benefit, any promos, bill changes, etc, BUT my stores assistant manager would put p360 on any customer’s lines that came in the store AND our main manager knew about it and specifically told her "do what you gotta do, I didn’t see anything" because his bonuses were based on our total store metrics. I reported both of them to the ethics line but literally nothing was done about it. Tmob in general has a lot of shady ppl working for it. I’m sure it’s the same anywhere, but I’ve worked a lot of different jobs/places and I’ve never seen "corruption" that bad before.
A customer care rep working at a call center who uses the name shwoomywoomy on the Reddit social media platform wrote that he would put in his resignation tonight. He was told not to tell customers what the monthly $18 charge for p360 insurance was for. If pressed, he was supposed to tell the customer that it was an EIP (equipment installment plan) charge for a phone being financed. They also told him to lie to customers by not mentioning unused lines so the subscriber wouldn't ask for the lines to be cancelled.
When dealing with any carrier store, whether a third-party authorized retailer or corporate owned location, it is best to stay aware of what you are paying for each month.
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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