T-Mobile is pushing its employees to embrace digital tools, but a recent situation highlights just how uncomfortable that transition is becoming for the people working on the front lines.

A T-Mobile sales representative shared his frustration on Reddit after his manager took away his company iPad. The reason? He used the T-Life app in only 84% of his interactions, falling short of T-Mobile’s 100% target.

According to Phone Arena, this incident reveals a growing tension within T-Mobile as the company transforms itself into a primarily digital operation. The T-Life app is supposed to eventually replace most in-person services, handling everything from phone upgrades and accessory sales to activating new lines and processing payments. 

For T-Mobile, this shift promises to reduce operational costs by closing physical stores, cutting staff, and eliminating sales commissions. 

But here’s where things get problematic. Some of the customers who didn’t use T-Life had broken phones that couldn’t run the application at all. That creates a catch-22: customers can’t use the app to complete a transaction, so the rep’s performance metric suffers even though he’s not entirely at fault.

This situation echoes an even more troubling incident from last year, when a T-Mobile rep refused to help a customer purchase a new phone because the customer’s existing device was broken and couldn’t connect to T-Life. Rather than assist the customer, the rep chose to protect his performance scores.

That kind of customer service refusal could land T-Mobile in regulatory trouble. The FCC has shown it’s willing to take action against telecom companies that don’t adequately serve customers, and current FCC chairman Brendan Carr has proven he doesn’t hesitate to enforce those rules.

T-Mobile’s new CEO, Srini Gopalan, who took over in November, appears committed to accelerating the company’s digital transformation. However, industry observers are questioning whether now is the right moment for such a massive shift, especially given how it’s already affecting both employees and customers. The company that once earned its reputation by putting customers first appears to be prioritizing efficiency and profits instead.

Source: Phone Arena