T-Mobile authorized retail location owned by Wireless Vision
The dealer explained that this decline is not fair to owners of independent T-Mobile locations because their expenses (such as rent, payrolls, and other operating expenses) must be paid on time and in full. As the dealer wrote, “Quirky, right? I tried explaining to my landlord and the utility companies about our innovative slow-release payment plan, suggesting we spread this month’s due over the next year. Oddly, they seemed uninterested in being avant-garde financial pioneers.”
Making matters worse, these dealers will now get compensated using a 12-month retention plan. This led the same dealer to write in his tweet, “Nothing says ‘We value you’ quite like holding back what one has earned, essentially giving a whole new meaning to ‘deferred gratification’. It’s a bold move, turning payroll into a long-term savings plan we never asked for. Who needs cash flow when you can have a financial trickle, right?” The tweet was signed, “A very concern[ed] Authorized Retailer.
The optics of this battle do not look good for T-Mobile executives all the way up to CEO Mike Sievert. Of course, we are hearing just one side of the story but it makes T-Mobile appear the same as how it used to portray its competitors in the Legere days: corporate, money-hungry, and unfair.