T-Mobile has been accused of “slamming” its customers by pressuring them to buy accessories
T-Mobile sets goals for its reps that create a culture that doesn’t put customers first. | Image credit-Reddit
The other day I received a letter from someone who is now involved with a Metro by T-Mobile store. To keep this person anonymous, I will keep information about this person to a minimum and as a result, I don’t want to reveal how this person is involved (but let’s just say that he is not a rep). He wrote me to say that he believes he is being forced by T-Mobile to add features to customers’ accounts whether they want them or not. That’s the practice that we know as “slamming.”
This person writes that even though T-Mobile claims they are not slamming customers, if the Metro Store he is associated with doesn’t get customers to add features, it receives letters from “multiple chains of authority” asking for improvement in the upcoming months. The problem is that the store sells phones at a loss or breakeven so selling accessories is the key to getting the store in the black. Since most accessories are sold at the time a new phone is purchased, you can see why there is pressure to get a consumer buying only a phone to add things like a case, a charger, or insurance.
T-Mobile also has ways to see how well a Metro by T-Mobile store is doing compared to other locations by measuring overall revenue based on T-Mobile‘s goal for the store. Also used are other metrics such as tablet volume, home internet sales, feature revenue, and the amount of insurance added to upgrades. It’s important to keep customers active which is why T-Mobile keeps track of 95 and 155 day retentions. Stores are red-flagged for high levels of churn or non usage.
Some of this can be written off to doing business as usual. However, when we get to situations where customers are “slammed” and pressured to buy accessories or features, or they are forbidden to buy a phone without adding accessories or features, that’s where we go from doing business as usual to being shady. And when reps add accessories and services to a customer’s account without their consent, that’s when we we move from shady to illegal.
What can T-Mobile do to make customers feel more confident about making in-store purchases?
The person involved in the aforementioned Metro store tells me that he does not believe in these practices and he says that when he pushes back, T-Mobile acts as though they plan on shutting this Metro by T-Mobile location. He also says that they are looking for ways to remove him from his current position.
It is time for T-Mobile to step up to the plate and be the UnCarrier once again by giving customers the confidence that they are not getting ripped off. It will be hard and it will take time, but the carrier needs to revise the compensation system in the industry. Reps will be happy as they won’t face the pressure to sell accessories to customers who don’t want them. Even better, customers won’t have to worry about whether a rep added a new line, a charger, and insurance to their account without agreeing to these purchases. Otherwise, we will continue to hear the same story over and over again.