Latest news with #JohnLegere
Phone Arena
02-06-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
T-Mobile subscribers about to receive plenty of freebies and a chance to win $90,000
T-Mobile is about to celebrate the 9th anniversary of its industry-leading T-Mobile Tuesdays rewards program by holding a "Thankiversary." The celebration kicks off tomorrow, which of course is a Tuesday (June 3rd), and T-Mobile subscribers are about to receive more of the perks that the program is known for. To customers of the nation's second-largest carrier, it will seem like T-Mobile Tuesdays on steroids. The T-Mobile Tuesdays program started back in 2016 when John Legere was CEO and over the ensuing years 1.2 billion items have been handed out. That includes 500 million dining deals, 56 million movie tickets, and 4.5 million Slurpees! To be clear, T-Mobile customers, Metro by T-Mobile subscribers, and small business customers will participate in the "Thankiversary." Starting tomorrow, T-Mobile will reward its customers by offering them a free Slurpee from 7-Eleven, a free Whopper Jr. with a $1 purchase at Burger King, buy one, get one 10-piece wings at Wingstop, and BOGO baked goods from Cinnabon. Getting to those places might use up some of the gas in your car, so T-Mobile will give you 25 cents a gallon off Shell gas (up to 20 gallons). When you're ready for some entertainment, you can see the John Wick spinoff Ballerina with $5 movie tickets through Atom Tickets. On June 24, you can score a $5 movie ticket to see F1 The Movie from Atom Tickets. T-Mobile is celebrating nine years of its T-Mobile Tuesdays reward program with perks and sweepstakes. | Image credit-T-Mobile Besides these freebies, there are nine big prizes that T-Mobile is offering customers who enter a sweepstakes starting June 3rd. Imagine winning one of these prizes: $90,000 in cash! Dream vacation for four to "just about anywhere" with up to $100,000 to cover flights and hotels. You'll also get extra cash to "live it up.". All-new all-electric 2025 Honda Prologue SUV. Four new Google Pixel 9a phones with a check to cover a full year of T-Mobile service for all four phones service for all four phones $1,000 to spend on Year of Shell gas on Us Year of Whopper Sandwiches at Burger King Year of Wingstop Year of concerts on Us On June 10th, T-Mobile customers can enter another sweepstakes for a chance to win VIP tickets to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. The flights and hotel will be on T-Mobile 's dime. Starting on June 24, enter yet another sweepstakes for a chance to win a trip to the 2025 FORMULA 1 Las Vegas Grand Prix with all expenses paid by T-Mobile . To claim your perks and enter the sweepstakes, check out the T-Life and Metro apps. Remember, the celebration begins on Tuesday, June 3rd. Switch to Total 5G+ Unlimited 3-Month plan or Total 5G Unlimited and get a free iPhone. We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Buy at Total Wireless
Phone Arena
25-05-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
T-Mobile TPR reportedly turns away customers seeking plans "not profitable enough"
You might not be old enough to remember when T-Mobile was dead last among the four major U.S. wireless carriers. Not only were they among the last of the majors to offer 3G service, they also were among the last to flip the switch turning on 4G LTE. The carrier was not relevant until September 2012 when John Legere was named president and CEO of T-Mobile in the U.S. Taking a customer-first approach, Legere did away with customer pain points such as subsidized phones and the two-year contracts that went with them. He gave T-Mobile the Uncarrier brand to differentiate it from the competition and helped T-Mobile offer zero-rated perks such as free streaming music and Netflix "on us." Legere also made fun of T-Mobile's competitors calling Verizon and AT&T "Dumb and Dumber," respectively. Who would have thought that taking care of customers would turn T-Mobile around? Legere did, obviously, and after acquiring Sprint and making other smaller acquisitions, T-Mobile became the most innovative and fastest-growing wireless provider in the U.S. But after Legere left following the closing of the Sprint deal, his former right-hand man Mike Sievert took over; while T-Mobile continues to report spectacular numbers every quarter, as you probably know, there has been a huge drop in customer service as the current regime has put more emphasis on certain metrics that reps must meet to keep their jobs. Current T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert (L) sits next to his predecessor, John Legere. | Image credit-T-Mobile Reps barely make any money for selling a new phone unless they also get the customer to add items such as a charger, a case, insurance, and a new line. Since the "suits" frown upon sales of a "naked" phone, a few rogue reps have felt the pressure to add accessories to customers' invoices without their consent. T-Mobile Mobile Experts have gone on social media to detail some of the ways that they trick consumers in order to hit their metrics requirements. As bad as it is in corporate-owned stores, things are worse with the carrier's TPR ( T-Mobile Premium Retailer) stores which are owned and operated by third-party companies with authorization to use the T-Mobile name. These stores look like they are owned and run by T-Mobile , but they are not and many of them have been accused of seriously shady sales tactics. Among the worse of the TPR locations have been those units owned by Arch Telecom. According to the Arch employee, the top brass doesn't want him or other reps to sell this plan because "it's not 'profitable' enough." For some working at stores like this, it doesn't matter to them that seniors with low income are being turned away from buying a plan designed just for them. But the Redditor obviously doesn't think like some of his colleagues and management since he writes, "Never mind that many of these customers are seniors just trying to save money in this economy. Management would rather we push more expensive plans to hit inflated sales goals than do what's right for the customer." -Anonymous Arch Telecom rep on Reddit The post goes on to note that Arch has cut commissions even while reps are being forced to handle the "skyrocketing" numbers of customer complaints. Things look bleak for those reps working for this T-Mobile TPR and most likely others as well. Don't expect T-Mobile to force Arch and others to make any changes. As long as the stock holds at its current level, just 14% from the 52-week high, CEO Sievert and the T-Mobile Board have no incentive to clean things up despite many complaints from T-Mobile subscribers posting online.
Phone Arena
06-05-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Will T-Mobile's rags-to-riches story end up as a round trip?
Luckily for T-Mobile (although it didn't appear that way at the time), the FCC and DOJ didn't like the deal and both put the kibosh on the transaction. Why was this good for T-Mobile ? The little carrier that AT&T was going to acquire for $39 billion is now the fastest-growing wireless provider, valued at $288 billion. At the same time, it moved from being dead last among the four US majors to a solid number two behind only Verizon . Two events helped T-Mobile get where it is today. The first was the breakup package AT&T had to pay T-Mobile for failing to complete its deal. The latter walked away with a sweet haul consisting of $3 billion of AT&T 's cold cash and a seven-year roaming deal with AT&T covering 3G service. Once the package was put into place, T-Mobile 's coverage rose from 230 million Americans to 280 million. In March 2011 AT&T offered to buy T-Mobile for $39 billion. | Image credit-PhoneArena But the most important change made by T-Mobile took place in the executive suite in September 2012. That was when a 32-year telecom veteran named John Legere took over the CEO job from interim CEO Jim Alling. All Legere did was turn T-Mobile around with his brash personality. Legere hardly looked the part of a wireless industry executive with his long hair. He came to work wearing T-Mobile t-shirts and sneakers. But he knew how to take care of customers by understanding the things that they wanted and wouldn't stand for. He quickly established that T-Mobile was not like the other guys by slapping the Un-carrier name on the company. He also got rid of the two-year contracts and subsidized phones that were slowing down subscriber growth in the industry. In 2019, Legere was named Wireless CEO of the Year by Glassdoor for the fourth consecutive year. That year, he also was ranked as the fourth best CEO in all industries. Years after he left T-Mobile following the acquisition of Sprint, several articles took aim at the executive for his stance against unions and for possibly fibbing to the FCC and DOJ about its plans to expand stores and keep the payroll steady in the face of the Sprint deal. But here's the thing. Since being replaced by Legere's right hand man Mike Sievert, T-Mobile has seen its pro-consumer Un-carrier reputation shrivel up and die. Sure, the carrier continues to put up some amazing numbers quarter after quarter but if you speak to T-Mobile reps, you understand that they are under the whip constantly. The sales crew must meet certain metrics each month to keep their jobs and this puts them under extraordinary pressure to add lines, sell accessories and device insurance even when the customer doesn't want any of these things. There is no denying that under Sievert, the executive team's focus has shifted from killing customer pain points to getting the stock to new highs. Consider the carrier's recent move to launch the Experience More and Experience Beyond plans. While T-Mobile advertises the new plans as costing $5 less per line than the previous Go5G plans they replaced, the reality is different. The new plans no longer exclude taxes and fees which was an Un-carrier move announced by T-Mobile back in 2017. Roger Entner, founder of Recon Analytics, a telecomm analysis and consulting firm, says, "The Un-carrier is dying a slow death and still waiting for an EMT." With numerous acquisitions including Sprint, Mint Mobile, and the proposed purchase of some of UScellular's wireless operations, T-Mobile is no longer the underdog and is now a wireless behemoth. As Jeff Moore, principal of Wave 7 Research points out, T-Mobile has had a total of 14 Un-carrier events, each one designed to help its customers. Since 2017, T-Mobile has hosted only one Un-carrier event and it has held none over the last five years. And some of the excuses the carrier gives for its new anti-consumer actions are just not believable. For example, a T-Mobile spokesperson told Fierce Wireless that it stopped offering plans with "taxes and fees included" because the carrier received feedback from customers saying that it was just too confusing. Yes, paying $0 for fees and taxes always throws me off (read that in a sarcastic tone). Not all analysts believe that T-Mobile is fading. The carrier is still arguably the 5G King in the US and its 5G data speeds trounce the figures put up by Verizon and AT&T . But there are plenty of subscribers and reps who will tell you that they long for the good old days when a brash John Legere would insult the competition and announce new Un-carrier perks that attracted new subscribers.
Miami Herald
19-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
T-Mobile COO shares where the company can ‘do better'
Under longtime CEO John Legere, T-Mobile often seemed like a company engaged in a fight its opponents did not want to be part of. Legere, at least at the start of his tenure, was running the last-place wireless phone carrier. He slowly built his customer base by calling out his rivals for all the terrible things they did to their customers. Related: Comcast hopes to win back fleeing customers with generous offer Prior to T-Mobile becoming an upstart player, AT&T and Verizon essentially shared a monopoly. Neither company wanted to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs, so they were unwilling to do things like drop overage charges or get rid of contracts. T-Mobile essentially had nothing to lose. Legere slowly got rid of all the things consumers did not like about their cell phone provider. He made his company consumer-friendly, and that actually forced AT&T and Verizon to do the same. Legere would likely go down as a member of the CEO Hall of Fame, if such a thing ever existed. When he left the company, it created a bit of a void. T-Mobile had always been a personality-driven business, and current CEO Mike Sievert does not share his predecessor's flair for performance. That doesn't mean he's not a good CEO, but T-Mobile no longer racks up the free publicity it used to earn. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter It also seems to have lost a bit of its identity. The company's new COO, however, might be willing to take up some of that space. He has only been with the company for about a month, and his first statement has a "guns blazing" feel reminiscent of - albeit less bombastic than - Legere's style. Srini Gopalan has only served as T-Mobile (TMUS) COO for about a month, but he represents a major change for the company. Most top-tier T-Mobile executives have come from within the company, but the new COO is an outsider who has to learn the brand. That means learning the T-Mobile culture, something he has thrown himself into. He shared a lengthy LinkedIn post about his early thoughts on the company. "I had the unique opportunity to spend a few days on the ground in Maui at our annual PEAK event - T-Mobile's most prestigious award celebration - where we honored the top .3% of employees. T-Mobile takes recognition seriously (while having a lot of fun!), and it was so inspiring to be a part of it all," he said. The event was also a learning experience for Gopalan. "I left Maui with a huge sense of pride in belonging to a culture that takes the time to reward its top performers in such a big way, but also with some great insights from the connections I made with this exceptional group that is so passionate about driving this business forward and helping identify where we can do better," he added. Retail stories: AT&T quietly issues stern warning to customersSam's Club makes a big change to a beloved membership perkGameStop announces risky move amid store closures His early experiences have been encouraging. "My early observation is that this team has not only a keen ability to address challenges right in front of them, but is also thinking ahead to what's next. That mix of urgency and vision is rare, and it's what sets this team apart. I'm excited to continue learning and, at the same time, already seeing areas where I can be an enabler," he shared. Gopalan believes his job is to keep the focus on customers. "My job is not to simply pull together things that people who report to me do. Instead, I aim to add bandwidth by helping to look left to right across the organization and finding opportunities to bring technology and digital together. That means tapping into our understanding of what customers want to create even better experiences for them. Playing this role is not new to me, and I'm excited to keep digging in," he posted. Gopalan believes that T-Mobile has the right people in place and just needs to build on what it's already doing. "I'm building on a great foundation. I've seen organizations before where the first big focus when coming new into a company needs to be about getting everyone focused on thinking about customers first. Fortunately, this is already deeply embedded in our unique Un-carrier culture. So instead, we can focus on how we take the next steps in this Un-carrier journey. There's so much to accomplish with this incredible team in the months and years ahead, moving from being a challenger to becoming a champion," he added. Related: PepsiCo makes swift move to avoid major boycott from consumers The new COO believes it's important to have big goals and engage in an endless cycle of improvement. He also made it clear that the wireless carrier has to keep pushing industry boundaries. "T-Mobile has massive aspirations - big initiatives that require us to keep rewriting the rules of this industry - and what better time to do that than now, when we're already building on a foundation of success? I'm looking forward to working with this amazing team to unlock what's next for customers across the country and keep pushing the bounds, for them, to make things better. Let's go," he added. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
Forbes
26-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Opening A Retail Business? Avoid These 3 Mistakes
Brett Beveridge is the Founder and CEO of T-ROC Global. The retail industry has undergone a seismic shift since the 1980s and 90s, as evidenced by the closing of some major retail chains. Technology has completely transformed the way businesses operate—but while that means there is room for growth, many retail businesses still fail. Companies that strike the right balance between investing in technology and managing labor costs and market trends are thriving. However, many entrepreneurs entering the retail space today make critical mistakes that can jeopardize their success before they even begin. In no particular order, here are three of the most common pitfalls and tips for how to avoid them. The retail landscape is constantly evolving. Consumer behavior, economic conditions and industry trends shift rapidly, and failing to stay ahead of them is a recipe for disaster. Some business owners fall into the trap of relying solely on past success—the 'cash cow' approach—without adapting to changing consumer expectations. But brands that ignore trends risk losing relevance and customer loyalty. Brand damage is real, and once customers lose faith in your business, they will go elsewhere. So how can retail entrepreneurs stay on top of trends? • Engage in industry participation. Stay involved in your sector by attending conferences, networking with industry leaders and studying competitors. • Leverage technology for insights. Tools like Google Trends, AI-driven analytics and market research reports from consulting firms can offer valuable real-time data. • Listen to your employees and customers. Your frontline workers interact with customers daily, at the cash registers, in the aisles or online. They see firsthand what frustrates or delights them. Tap into their insights to refine your offerings and improve the customer experience. Take a page from leaders like John Legere, former CEO of T-Mobile, who built a huge brand by directly addressing customer pain points. When you listen to your audience and adapt accordingly, you position your business for long-term success. One of the biggest mistakes retail entrepreneurs make is trying to do everything themselves. While passion and hands-on involvement are essential, failing to recognize where you lack expertise can slow you down and cost you money. Think of your business operations in two buckets: 1. Core competencies: The aspects of your business that make it unique and define your value proposition. These should remain in-house. 2. Non-core functions: Tasks that can be done more efficiently and at a higher level of expertise by outsourcing. For instance, if digital marketing isn't your strong suit, you should hire an agency that specializes in driving traffic and conversions. If inventory management is eating up too much of your time, consider outsourcing supply chain logistics to an expert. This approach allows you to focus on growing your business while ensuring that critical areas are handled by professionals who specialize in them. When something starts to inhibit your growth or starts pulling you away from your core strengths, don't be afraid to seek external help. Partnering with the right team can make a world of difference in your success. The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology in retail is no longer optional—but many entrepreneurs hesitate to embrace it. Fear of the unknown, budget constraints and resistance to change all likely play a role in the hesitation. Even leaders of large, established retailers experience "analysis paralysis" when trying to determine which technologies to adopt. The reality is that AI and data analytics are here to stay. While it's true that whatever you invest in today might be obsolete tomorrow, avoiding technology altogether is not the solution. Entrepreneurs must be strategic, focusing on tools that enhance customer experience, improve operational efficiency and provide actionable insights. If you're hesitant to utilize new technology, start small. Use AI-driven customer service chatbots, implement predictive analytics for inventory management or leverage data insights to personalize marketing efforts. The key is to have a strategy that aligns with your budget while keeping an eye on emerging technologies that can enhance your operations. Starting a retail business can be daunting, no matter where you are in life. Fear is natural, but with confidence, strategy and the right approach, success is within reach. The key to thriving in retail is surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals who share your vision and values. Successful entrepreneurs understand that while the retail landscape is competitive, those who innovate, outsource wisely and stay on top of market trends will always have an edge. If you're thinking about launching a retail business, remember to never stop learning. The future of retail belongs to those who are willing to adapt, and those who take action despite uncertainty. Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Do I qualify?
