The “penny trick” reportedly helps reps from getting penalized for ringing up a customer without using T-Life
The problem is that the T-Life app is buggy, and if a customer comes in with a broken phone, or his phone is lost or stolen, he will have trouble getting a rep to help him. Lacking a working phone, the customer can’t access T-Life, and any rep who helps this customer will be risking his or her job by ringing up the customer. That’s because helping a customer without using the T-Life app lowers the rep’s T-Life percentage and could take him below the goal set by T-Mobile.
However, some reps believe that if a transaction is partially paid for in cash, T-Life cannot be used to complete a purchase, and the transaction will not count against the rep’s T-Life percentage. As a result, some reps made it known that customers should bring a penny into the store with them to help them pay partially in cash. However, paying for a new phone, accessory, or a new line using a penny or a dollar and a credit card will not give the rep handling the transaction a free pass when it comes to T-Life usage.
Some believe that as much as half the cost of a purchase must be paid in cash in order to prevent the salesman or saleswoman from getting penalized for not using T-Life. In addition, T-Mobile is aware of “the penny trick” and is keeping tabs on the reps who are getting involved in gaming the system. Reps caught doing this could end up punished by the company.
A whopping majority of you said that you would help T-Mobile reps avoid having to use T-Life
A poll we ran inside an article published at the beginning of this month asked whether you would pay cash to avoid having to use T-Life. Amazingly, slightly more than 85% of the 4,899 PhoneArena readers responding said that they would pay cash at T-Mobile to avoid using T-Life. 5.6% said that they would not pay cash just to bypass the use of the app, while 9.4% had no opinion.
What to make of T-Life and the future of T-Mobile
“Iconic Phones” is coming this Fall!
Good news everyone! Over the past year we’ve been working on an exciting passion project of ours and we’re thrilled to announce it will be ready to release in just a few short months.
