T-Mobile subscriber longs for the old days when Legere ran the firm

We've seen many T-Mobile subscribers complaining that the "un-carrier" is no longer special and that it treats its subscribers no differently than AT&T and Verizon treat theirs. For many of these people, there is an event that occurred resulting in the wireless firm becoming less focused on subscribers and more interested in taking care of stockholders. That would be the departure of CEO John Legere right as T-Mobile was closing on its $26.5 billion purchase of Sprint.

Things were different when T-Mobile was run by Legere who was the opposite of most CEOs in a good way. With his long hair extending past his shoulders, Legere looked more like a rock star than the executive named the best CEO in wireless for five consecutive years. Never one for wearing a suit and a tie during his tenure at T-Mobile, John's daily wardrobe consisted of a magenta T-Mobile tee shirt, a T-Mobile jacket, and sneakers.

Legere could get away with dressing like this because he helped take T-Mobile from dead last among the four major U.S. carriers to become the fastest growing and most innovative among them. He constantly made fun of  Verizon and AT&T calling them "dumb and dumber" and he even got into a heated Twitter battle with Donald Trump before the latter rode down the golden escalator to announce that he was running for president.

Legere also appeared to be knowledgeable about phones unlike other CEOs in the wireless industry. And under Legere, T-Mobile got rid of subsidized phone sales and the two-year contract. He introduced Music Freedom, free streaming music that was zero-rated (usage didn't count toward subscribers' data plans), free Netflix on Us, and launched the T-Mobile Tuesdays rewards program that is arguably the best in the industry.

Under Legere's leadership, T-Mobile identified Sprint's 2.5GHz mid-range spectrum as a way to get a head start on 5G. AT&T and Verizon were building out their 5G networks using mmWave airwaves before coming to their senses. Verizon and AT&T eventually spent a mint on C-band spectrum to copy T-Mobile's early 5G success.

I've spoken with several current and former T-Mobile reps who tell me that things changed for the worse when T-Mobile selected Mike Sievert to replace Legere as CEO. The focus has shifted to the stockholders from subscribers and demanding that reps meet certain metrics is forcing many of them to add new lines, accessories, insurance, and trackers to customer's accounts without their permission. In other words, since Sievert replaced Legere, there is no more un-carrier as T-Mobile is now no different than AT&T and Verizon.

What makes this change so strange is that Sievert spent years as Legere's right-hand man. But it is clear that at T-Mobile the focus has changed. And it is understandable to a point. T-Mobile's shares, at $223.21, are up nearly 62% year-over-year compared to 43% and 39% for AT&T and Verizon respectively. But what happened to the "un-carrier" where the customers came first?

Legere used to speak about coming up with new ideas to give subscribers relief from their pain points. Now, under Sievert, a T-Mobile customer can't walk into a store, third-party, or corporate and just buy a phone without having to hear the gaslighting. Reps will say to the customer that the model he wants is not in stock. But if they agree to add a new line, a charger, a case, insurance, and more, lo and behold, the phone the customer wants has been found buried in the back. There are too many cases where these accessories have been added to an invoice without the customer's approval. 

It used to be fun to write about T-Mobile under Legere because you never knew what pro-consumer innovations were coming next. But as Reddit subscriber DazzlingAlfalfa3632 noted, these days T-Mobile has become what Legere used to make fun of. T-Mobile is now a clone of "dumb and dumber" that is no longer the customer friendly un-carrier that it used to be.