Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- T-Mobile will no longer carry its free Tuesday goodies at third-party stores starting September 17.
- You can still get freebies, you’ll just need to go to the nearest corporate location.
- The move is likely a combination of cutting costs and due to the fact that third-party vendors were using shady business practices to get those coming in for freebies to give them account details in order to push new services and upgrades to unsuspecting customers.
T-Mobile Tuesdays used to mean something for subscribers, but that’s less true these days, as reflected by T-Mobile’s recent rebranding of the app to just T Life and the removal of some of its better deals. If you were already worried that the days of freebies and extras were over, you’ll be less than happy to learn that T-Mobile is also making changes to the physical giveaways it used to offer in stores.
Although T-Mobile continues to give away free items every Tuesday, it’s no longer offering this promotion at every location. As first seen on Reddit and later collaborated by a new internal document shared with The Mobile Report, third-party locations will no longer get the weekly items starting September 17.
Those who want to pick up the free gear and goodies will have to visit a corporate-owned store instead. To check if a store is corporate-owned, you can use the location finder tool, which allows you to hover over the locations to see whether it’s labeled as a “T-Mobile Store” or a “T-Mobile Authorized Retailer.” You’ll want to look for the former.
T-Mobile’s T Life app also mentions that your next freebie (a flashlight) “might be at a different store on Tuesday,” but there’s no clear explanation for this change. Several factors may be at play. First, it could be a cost-cutting measure. Sending stock to fewer stores reduces shipping and handling costs and likely lowers demand, as not everyone has a corporate store nearby.
While saving money seems to be a likely reason, there may also be issues surrounding third-party stores that lead T-Mobile to make this change. Recently, we’ve heard reports of third-party locations asking customers for their account details and other personal information in exchange for freebies, and then using that information to push unnecessary upgrades or services. It’s possible T-Mobile made this move in response to these practices, though that’s just speculation.
We have reached out to T-Mobile for further comment and will update this article if and when we hear back. Regardless, for those without access to a corporate store, the days of physical freebies may now be over.[/alert]
English (US) ·