T-Mobile held a press conference today announcing a new "Team of Experts" service, which is the company's next "Un-carrier" move that's taking aim at the poor customer service performance of rivals like AT&T, Comcast, and Verizon. During the hour-long conference, T-Mobile CEO John Legere and EVP of Customer Care Callie Field explained that customer service is "the biggest pain point" in the telecom industry today.
Team of Experts aims to nullify that customer frustration by introducing a tight-knit team that is dedicated solely to each individual user, and others in their city, with no robots or automated phone menus to navigate around. The company hopes to make Team of Experts feel more personal than traditional customer service, and even allows you to see a photo of your team in the T-Mobile iOS app.
When you call or message T-Mobile, the company will put you straight through to a member of your team. If you open an issue and have to contact T-Mobile again, the same team will still be covering the matter, making it easy to keep track of ongoing service requests and fixes.
“Team of Experts isn’t just better customer service. It’s an entirely new way of thinking about customers … one that puts your happiness at the center of everything we do,” said Callie Field, EVP of Customer Care at T-Mobile. “Some brands attempt to give high-dollar customers the kind of treatment we give everyone with Team of Experts. Because at T-Mobile, we think just being our customer makes you a rock star. Team of Experts is ‘one percenter’ treatment for the rest of us!”
Team of Experts will be available 24/7, and you can schedule calls to let the team know when you're available. In the future, T-Mobile will also support Alexa and Google Assistant prompts that can set up Team of Experts calls.
Notably, the new customer service feature is also launching with asynchronous messaging for all T-Mobile customers in both the T-Mobile app and in Apple's Messages app thanks to Business Chat. This means you can easily launch Messages on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, text your Team of Experts with an issue, and let them get to work on it, all without having to call.
Team of Experts is live beginning today for T-Mobile postpaid customers as a free addition to their accounts. The company says that the best way to reach the team via phone call is to dial 611 from a T-Mobile phone.
The company also had a few music-related announcements, including the reveal that T-Mobile customers will get a free subscription to Pandora Plus for an entire year. Users will be able to get a code to unlock their free Pandora Plus subscription in the T-Mobile Tuesdays iOS and Android app on August 28.
T-Mobile is also partnering with Live Nation so that T-Mobile customers can get last-minute reserved tickets to sold out shows "at first day prices." On LiveNation.com, users will be able to look for a T-Mobile Reserved Seats icon starting 30 days before select shows, confirm their T-Mobile account, and get access to the event. Discounted tickets will also be available starting August 21 in the T-Mobile Tuesdays app for concerts including Charlie Puth, Wiz Khalifa, and more.
There was no mention of T-Mobile's upcoming OTT streaming television service during today's press conference, which is supposed to launch in 2018.
Top Rated Comments
I was really impressed with the way she fixed everything, refunding some money, and sent some free equipment to help with reception in our basement on my wife's iPhone SE—but I also wondered if her statements about improvements were just some B.S. to make me feel better. However, I remember her being fairly specific and honest with me about their then-current shortcomings. I wonder if she was referring to the beginnings of this program? If so I'm glad I stuck around. The coverage has been improving as well and the speeds are pretty good and the price is the best part. I think T-Mobile is well on it's way to becoming the #1 carrier in the U.S. and I think they deserve every bit of their success for improving the customer experience from top to bottom. They're not perfect but the improvements have been enormous and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon.
Since you're not in the press, a press conference isn't aimed at you. It's a conference for.... wait for it... the press.
Seconded. And yes, that must have been the beginnings. Hang tight, it really is several magnitudes of improvement over the old system where you have no idea who you're going to talk to or whether they'll help you or not.