Top T-Mobile rep says he's "seen more fraud here than anywhere else I've been so far"

If you browse through the T-Mobile sub-Reddit, you'll come across quite a few complaints from long-time T-Mobile employees who pine for the old days. Now admittedly I'm not a T-Mobile rep, but from what I can glean from these comments is that corporate is putting pressure on the sales team to meet certain metrics that are extremely hard to meet. And now one T-Mobile rep, who claims to be in the top 1% of the carrier's sales pros for six of the eight months that he has worked there has some shocking things to say about the company.

While this person is "fairly new" to T-Mobile, he is not new to the wireless business. So it means something when he says that while he has never done anything fraudulent, he adds, "I gotta be honest though, I've seen more fraud here than anywhere else I've been so far." Another T-Mobile rep in the same thread says that 80% of T-Mobile sales pros "do the right thing and do it the right way." As for the other 20%, this rep splits up problems between T-Mobile customers and "just shady folks" working for the carrier.

What brought about this Reddit Rant was the super salesman (the guy in the top 1%) who had a customer send his family members to two different stores (they live in a different state) to get their SIM card changed from Verizon to a T-Mobile SIM on an existing line. The first store added an extra line to the customer's account which was assumed to be a misunderstanding between "us, the customer, and the other rep."

The second family member went into another store for the same reason and "that rep false churned a voice AND data line which in turn is causing  promo issues. I'm sure this customer wishes they never switched to Tmobile. Can we all just agree to stop doing this."

Another T-Mobile rep explains what kind of pressure he is under. "My goals have increased about 30% year over year with an arbitrary spike of 150% last summer." This sales pro warns T-Mobile customers, "You'll see a LOT more dishonesty in the coming months from employees who are just trying to keep their jobs."

T-Mobile, like any public company, is closely watched and its quarterly numbers are examined by analysts for signs of growth. But things are much more serious when a T-Mobile employee posts on Reddit that "The company basically encourages this with unrealistic targets and expectations. It's not just 'greedy rep wants to make more money'--it's 'I will get chewed out by my RSM/DM if I don't hit this many postpaid activations today.'"

A T-Mobile customer joined the thread to say "I went to pick up a phone and someone added a line to my account at the most expensive price." Some T-Mobile reps have noted that they don't make that much money when they sell you a phone. The big commissions are doled out to reps who get customers to add new lines or purchase insurance for the devices bought from T-Mobile.

This is probably an issue that permeates the entire industry. If you go back through your wireless invoices, make sure that you haven't had lines added to your account that you didn't ask for. If you see a large jump in your wireless bill, examine the monthly invoices closely. And if there is an issue or you see something that looks fishy or doesn't pass the smell test, call the carrier's corporate headquarters. Don't be satisfied reporting this to the local store where you normally buy your phones because they would love to bury your complaint where it will never be found.