All humans are equal, but there are certain professions or stages in life that we generally choose to accord additional respect to. For instance, senior citizens—we’re all going to get to that point. But then, there are also noble professions such as first responders or being in the military.
It’s why we tend not to be surprised when certain businesses offer discounts for active military and veterans, first responders, and the elderly. T-Mobile was one of those, offering trade-in discounts; however, the company has chosen to reduce those discounts and that’s led to a protest by T-Mobile employees.
T-Mobile Reduced The Trade-In Discount For First Responders, Military, And Senior Citizens
For the best understanding, let me explain how T-Mobile used to do things. If you were on a specific plan and chose to trade in a specific smartphone, you would get the exact same trade-in value as literally everyone else on that plan. That wasn’t too hard for anyone to understand. After all, it is the same phone, so it should theoretically be worth the same amount.
However, seemingly overnight, it was found that the discount you could get by trading in a specific device as a member of the military (active or veteran), a first responder, or someone over the age of 55 was reduced. Just to make sure you understand completely, trading in Phone A will get you $200 as a standard customer, but only $150 as a veteran or first responder.
In most cases, companies try to sweeten the deal for those categories of the population, offering discounts on the general pricing of the plan. That’s what T-Mobile does. However, it is very clear that this is an attempt to “recoup” the discounts being offered in the first place. T-Mobile cares more about its bottom line and isn’t afraid to show it, clearly.
T-Mobile Employees Are Planning To Stage A Walkout To Protest The Discount Change
Needless to say, most people—perhaps with the exception of the T-Mobile executives who approved this in the first place, frown on this change as it puts first responders, military, and senior citizens at a disadvantage compared to others. Whats the point of a discount on the plan if it comes with less where it can?
As a result, many T-Mobile workers, particularly those who themselves are veterans or first responders, have chosen to kick against this change. Over on Reddit, a group of employees have demanded that the company restores “full promotional eligibility for veterans and first responders”.
And the thing is, T-Mobile might really want to listen. Not only is there going to be public criticism, but the plan seems to be to stay a walk-out on November 29th, which happens to be Black Friday. As you must know, that’s bound to be an extremely good business day for any carrier and a walk-out on that day could be very bad news as far as profit goes.
Only time will tell what T-Mobile’s response to this will be, but if you ask me, there only seems to be one logical way for this to end. I just hope that the carrier recognizes that too.
