T-Mobile CEO John Legere Launches Petition To Shame Competition Into Dropping Overage Fees
T-Mobile CEO John Legere is a bit of an acquired taste. Think of beer -- most people either love a good bottle of suds or find it repulsive. So it goes with Legere, though no matter which side of the fence you fall on, credit the outspoken chief with shaking up the wireless industry. His latest antic? Shaming competing carriers into eliminating the practice of overage fees.
More than just lip service, T-Mobile practiced what it's currently preaching a year ago when Legere announced the end of overage fees on his own network, and then followed suit with a Change.org petition to get other carriers to follow his company's lead.
"Overage fees are flat out wrong," Legere stated in the petition. "Agree with me? Join me in putting this challenge to all the major national carriers by signing my petition."
Here we are a year later and Legere is lamenting that his publicity stunt didn't work. Yes, I'm calling it a publicity stunt, because let's face it, this is great PR for T-Mobile. I'm not downplaying his sincerity, nor am I dissing his cause -- overage fees suck, plain and simple. I'm just calling a spade a spade.
As to the petition, it's amassed nearly 200,000 signatures from consumers across the U.S., yet nothing's changed. In fact, it's estimated that overage fees tallied $1.5 billion last year. So, Legere is looking to "take our message to the next level and let these guys know that we won't stop!"
Here's the deal -- if the petition reaches 250,000 signatures, Legere promises to go bonkers with a message that competitors can't ignore. Maybe a nasty message written in the sky above AT&T's headquarters or a giant greeting card delivered to Verizon. There will be more ideas, and you'll get to vote on Twitter.
Sound like a plan? Then head to Change.org/AbolishOverages and drop your John Hancock.
More than just lip service, T-Mobile practiced what it's currently preaching a year ago when Legere announced the end of overage fees on his own network, and then followed suit with a Change.org petition to get other carriers to follow his company's lead.
"Overage fees are flat out wrong," Legere stated in the petition. "Agree with me? Join me in putting this challenge to all the major national carriers by signing my petition."
Here we are a year later and Legere is lamenting that his publicity stunt didn't work. Yes, I'm calling it a publicity stunt, because let's face it, this is great PR for T-Mobile. I'm not downplaying his sincerity, nor am I dissing his cause -- overage fees suck, plain and simple. I'm just calling a spade a spade.
As to the petition, it's amassed nearly 200,000 signatures from consumers across the U.S., yet nothing's changed. In fact, it's estimated that overage fees tallied $1.5 billion last year. So, Legere is looking to "take our message to the next level and let these guys know that we won't stop!"
Here's the deal -- if the petition reaches 250,000 signatures, Legere promises to go bonkers with a message that competitors can't ignore. Maybe a nasty message written in the sky above AT&T's headquarters or a giant greeting card delivered to Verizon. There will be more ideas, and you'll get to vote on Twitter.
Sound like a plan? Then head to Change.org/AbolishOverages and drop your John Hancock.
