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I get it till I don't. What I get: In-store activations and upgrades are time consuming in many cases. I think every time I've gone to a TMO store to upgrade a

I get it till I don't. What I get: In-store activations and upgrades are time consuming in many cases. I think every time I've gone to a TMO store to upgrade a phone for myself or a family member, at least one other person/group is there doing an activation that for reasons I cannot fathom takes at least from when I arrive at the store, wait 30-45 minutes, finally get handled, get activated... and that other person is -still- going. It's a huge time-sink. What I don't get: charging the full price for online activation, when you're not involving nearly as many employees. It will potentially backfire, I know if I'm paying 35$ whether I do it myself or have someone else do it for me, the value-prop changes and I might just go in and further load their stores.

strangattractor 4y ago
The employees of TMO store get commission on sales. It materially affects them when someone complains (like me) that I can do it for free online. At least that is the impression I got from the angry employee.
antihero 4y ago
What I don’t understand is how they haven’t seen this as friction to conversion and got rid of it entirely, you’re surely supposed to incentivise people to use your service right? Imagine if Amazon charged $35 to get an account!
- stardenburden 4y ago
  Worse, this is like Amazon charging you everytime you add a new address
- arcturus17 4y ago
  Maybe they bet that every other provider will start doing it, then the joke will be on you because what are you gonna do, not get a phone?
  - jaywalk 4y ago
    Every other provider (that is, Verizon and AT&T) has been doing this for years.
  - antihero 4y ago
    This is why MVNOs are a godsend. They definitely have been in the UK.
- quadrifoliate 4y ago
  My guess is that the existing players in the US are so entrenched and people are so used to paying these ridiculous fees that all the advertisements around being an "Uncarrier" didn't work out to be a competitive advantage for T-Mobile. At which point, some MBA came in with a revolutionary new plan to charge the same predatory fees and make N million / year.

strangattractor 4y ago

The employees of TMO store get commission on sales. It materially affects them when someone complains (like me) that I can do it for free online. At least that is the impression I got from the angry employee.

antihero 4y ago

What I don’t understand is how they haven’t seen this as friction to conversion and got rid of it entirely, you’re surely supposed to incentivise people to use your service right? Imagine if Amazon charged $35 to get an account!

stardenburden 4y ago
Worse, this is like Amazon charging you everytime you add a new address
arcturus17 4y ago
Maybe they bet that every other provider will start doing it, then the joke will be on you because what are you gonna do, not get a phone?
- jaywalk 4y ago
  Every other provider (that is, Verizon and AT&T) has been doing this for years.
- antihero 4y ago
  This is why MVNOs are a godsend. They definitely have been in the UK.
quadrifoliate 4y ago
My guess is that the existing players in the US are so entrenched and people are so used to paying these ridiculous fees that all the advertisements around being an "Uncarrier" didn't work out to be a competitive advantage for T-Mobile. At which point, some MBA came in with a revolutionary new plan to charge the same predatory fees and make N million / year.