> T-Mobile is on one hell of a downward spiral. It's actually impressive.

Exactly. If the alternatives weren't worse in terms of costs and features I used, I'd have dumped them years ago. I had been on an ultra cheap grandfathered plan so no other carrier comes close, even with their price increase.

Last time I was there inhad a phone with a blank screen.

They made me do the transaction through the app guessing where to click on the screen.

Direct result of letting AT&T buy them.

I agree. I've been a T-Mobile customer since they were called VoiceStream. Up until [what feels like] five years ago, I LOVED them. Like, I almost felt an allegiance toward them, because they were one of the few cool companies that actually seemed to care about customer experience.

But, new leadership --> new direction, no more US call centers, the "forever plan" was bullshit... Now, I fucking hate them.

Although, I do have to admit, while I was spending time in the High Uintah mountains this past w

I wouldn't even consider them until I feel like they've made progress on their history of getting burgled and losing customer data.

> One of the advantages for actual stores is that the reps can attempt to up-sell a customer with a higher cost phone, or a higher cost plan, or additional services ("Would you like fries with that burger?"). Will the app be able to convince the customer they need to send T-Mobile more money?

It's completely imaginable that they'll throw enough nag screens at you during sign-up, upgrades, or any other interaction that someone without an iron will against dopamine rush reward systems will succumb to the "Be a bro, not a dud" messaging and such. In fact, some study within the company probably already predicted they could drive unenforced upgrades through popups better than sales people on the floor could, or this wouldn't be happening at all.

> One of the advantages for actual stores is that the reps can attempt to up-sell a customer with a higher cost phone, or a higher cost plan, or additional services ("Would you like fries with that burger?"). Will the app be able to convince the customer they need to send T-Mobile more money?

Ten million nag screens. An app doesn't care if you close a popup over and over.

It's the T-Mobile O&O stores that are getting phased out. There are many 3rd-party locations that will happily take your money on overpriced accessories and "insurance" in exchange for the in-person experience. The basic cellular service market in the US is price-compressed now so there are not a lot of services to up-sell.

And I can actually see if I like the phone before I buy it? A picture on the internet doesn't compare to an in-store experience. I've been to stores before I buy a phone online, but I'm interested in unlocked dual-SIM phones for when I travel, which are often not available in the US, but are on sites like Amazon.

Similar situation here. We were on United Celluar, then T Mobile bought them, then informed us the phone was too old to be supported.

So fine, we went to spectrum, purchased a new phone and plan there. The phone number was supposed to port to the new phone, but no.

It got lost in the shufffle between United Celluar and T Mobile. It took countless service calls, 3 in person visits to T Mobile and 2 to Spectrum and 16 days of being without a phone for them to get the new phone working with the correct number.

> ...when your brand new phone refuses to be activated on their network, even though you bought it from them> No activation = no connection = app is useless. Can't call them either because, you know, at that point the phone doesn't work.

> And yes, it has happened to me.

For T-Mobile, that works great. You have a customer who's paying you and you don't have to provide service for.

Of course, I guess the other assumption is you have access to another phone or something - either your spouse or your kid, or a work

That assumes you have a phone. Most of the time I'm in the store is because my phone is lost or broken.

I've been on google fi for... I dunno, probably at least a decade now? Maybe more. They just mail me a phone, I turn it on, and it figures everything out. I get a new phone ever 2 years or so. I couldn't tell you what the inside of a phone store looks like because I've never needed to go into one.

> They have the worst coverage of any major network by far AND are a PITA to deal with these days like they used to not be.

If you go into your phone settings and toggle the "5G only" switch, T-Mobile has the best network coverage in the USoA.

Granted, no sane person would use their phone like that. The correct usage is 4G + 5G. But it points at a fundamental truth: Each networks comes with their own set of strengts and weaknesses

> Why would you even consider them for anything other than maybe fixed wireless in a location where they actually have signal?

And here, you just answered yourself. If they have good (or the best) coverage in the areas where you dwell for a significant ammount of time (Home, Office, nearby shops, Gym, etc) , then it makes sense

To be fair, cellular data is really poor in quite a few places in America, when using ANY of the "second tier" reseller carriers. (Won't speak for other countries.)

EG. We have Spectrum Mobile right now (mostly due to a bundle deal with our broadband at home), and while voice calls work pretty much as expected, anywhere I go? The data is terrible! They say they're using Verizon's towers but it's obvious Verizon is throttling the heck out of them and/or only allowing them on SOME of the towers in a given area

T-Mobile: The phone service you inherit from your parents!

> Let's ignore for now the obvious issue of how you solve a problem with an app that requires the very device you have a problem with. How do they expect people to become new customers in the first place? The #1 reason I go to a cell provider's physical stores is to pick out a new phone, have it activated, and my current phone (if still functional) cloned to it. Are they seriously expecting 100% of new customers to be BYOD Verizon defectors? I have to suspect this is the "anchoring" opening bid in trying to sneak through a far less obnoxious change, hoping we'll all thank them rather than reaching for the tar and feathers when they announce whatever real change they're aiming for.

This is the change. They are treating the physical stores as cost centers—something to be eliminated. By moving everything to an app or online, they can reduce human involvement further by having AI take care of customer service and customer care. This is how AI is killing low-value jobs.

I ordered my last phone, moving the number to a new carrier, on my . . . desktop computer. If your phone is your only internet access, you have problems that aren't T-Mobile's fault.

As for cloning, I literally could not boot up the phone without being offered a fully automated process to bring everything over from the old phone. It just worked.

Brick & mortar store fronts aren't really needed for 99% of their business. The other 1%, of course, you need some poor drone standing in front of you to glare at

I'm usually the first to do retail-only but my first mobile phone was a flip phone on T-mobile, and I ordered it online through their website for $30 and it was shipped to me requiring a signature! I activated it by calling over my landline (haha), I can't remember if there was a way to do it over your new but still un-activated phone.

But I have had to go into their physical store when upgrading to an unlocked phone several times because each time I upgrade the sim card format appears to shrink. I guess

> It was to pay my final bill of $0.01 (not kidding)

This happened to me, too. None of the online bill pay methods worked, so I took my e-scooter to the nearest T-Mobile store and paid it. It's absolutely astonishing that they don't have their billing system check if the bill is less than their payment processing costs and to just void the last bill if that's the case.

> People order online, pick up, leave immediately.

This is my preferred way of dealing with quick service food/beverage establishments. I don't want the human experience of waiting in a queue behind other customers, or having to explain my order to someone who is just going to enter it into a computer anyway.