Yesterday, The Mobile Report posted an article detailing an employee of Arch Telecom’s experience working for the company. Arch Telecom is a T-Mobile authorized retailer, which means they are a private third party company that sells under the T-Mobile name.
In the two posts, reddit user u/whitexscvlex said a great deal about Arch Telecom leadership. They detailed toxic working conditions, including upper management embarrassing low performers in a third-party chat app called GroupMe. They shared that there were employees knowingly misleading customers to add additional services to accounts without customers knowing.
The user shared a follow-up conversation with a higher leader asking for the posts to be removed, which u/whitexscvlex declined.
Since then, multiple sites, including phone arena, have also reported on the posts. This has led to a response from Arch Telecom, and even more reactions from employees.
Arch Telecom Responds to Allegations
In an all-employee communication today, Arch Telecom leadership made an official statement. A source says that T-Mobile’s Senior Director for Authorized Retail Accounts, the Account Manager for Dealer Channel, and the VP of Dealer Accounts were also CC’d on the email.
In the email, Arch Telecom admits non-ethical transactions are occurring within their doors. They claim to have observed ‘instances where receipts and/or accounts do not match customer’s transactional experiences and expectations delivered in-store“.
The Mobile Report has received a copy of the full communication, shown below.
First, Arch Telecom discusses amazing sales performance. They wrongfully make the assumption that all sales performance has been attained the right way. Based on an overwhelming response from employees in multiple reddit threads, that is simply not the case.
The company then makes some things very clear about their overall sales message of doing it the right way:
- Features added to accounts need to be clearly disclosed to the customer
- Cannot add “beyond the smartphone” lines to accounts if a promotion doesn’t specifically require it
- Break down every charge with transparency and clarity when they are bundled together
They go on to outline employee options for reporting unethical sales practices via email and phone. Some lines have been clearly drawn, but it seems Arch Telecom will have to do more than send an email to incite a major culture change.
Employees Continue To See Arch Management Scramble
A trusted source from Arch Telecom has made a statement to us here at The Mobile Report since the email. The GroupMe chats, which Arch Telecom does not directly address in the email, have apparently been wiped.
Employees were allegedly also pressured to access these chats while not on the clock. In an attempt to avoid any potential proof of toxic workplace culture or even a potential labor concern, it appears a blanket erasure of GroupMe messages was done.
We’ve confirmed that GroupMe was a part of both the Store Manager and Mobile Expert expectations paperwork employees must sign off on.
The serious issues plaguing Arch Telecom Employees
Insiders have also told The Mobile Report there are other concerns they hope to see addressed.
“All stack ranking systems” are apparently used for commission payout tiers. This is where management compares performance of an individual employee with that of the entire workforce instead of against the individual performance metrics that are in place. Apparently, this a major contributor to toxic sales culture.
In addition, coaching to push specific high-dollar products over true customer needs is common. According to our source, one example is that Arch Telecom expects a high percentage of “Premium BTS” with every transaction. Stores must sell at least one T-Mobile Home Internet, smartwatch, tablet, or >$50 Mobile Hotspot plan for every four devices sold.
Employees are also required to make humiliating “money calls” to district leadership when customers aren’t buying “Premium BTS”, in an attempt to get “advice” on how to convince the customer otherwise.
Leaders are apparently not properly trained to manage labor too, which is leading to critical understaffing.
There are a few rare positives, though. Employees had good things to say about the apparent AI-powered customer traffic system, where conversion isn’t impacted by repeat visitors, employees, or parcel service personnel (like UPS).
Of course, all of the above is via word of mouth from employees. We trust the sources, but we can’t claim 100% accuracy either.
More than just Arch Telecom?
It’s clear some changes need to be made, but who is at fault? Is this just a one-off? Is Arch Telecom the only bad apple? Maybe not.
We’ve heard reports that other Authorized Retailers (third party stores) are just as bad as Arch Telecom. Even corporate employees have reached out to share that similar shady practices are encouraged even in T-Mobile-owned stores.
What’s the solution? There may not be one. T-Mobile is a for-profit company, just like every other major carrier. This, inevitably, results in profit being the main goal. Remember, T-Mobile is the company that just raised prices on customers after promising them years ago that would never happen.
There are comments online that suggest other carriers, especially the other big two Verizon and AT&T, have similar issues with cramming and lying to customers, so it’s not just T-Mobile here.
The best solution, as far as we can tell, is to suggest customers keep a very close eye on every transaction they make, no matter which store and what carrier they’re with.
