T-Mobile CEO John Legere chimes in on AT&T customer service scandal

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is like some kind of pink panther stalking its pray. He has been known to attack all competing carriers, but is especially fond of trolling AT&T whenever possible. His comical and sarcastic humor is what keeps us following his social media adventures, so you can be sure all eyes were pointed towards the CEO’s Twitter account today, as AT&T went through one of the largest customer service scandals we have seen in a while.

The LA Times uncovered a story about 35-year old Alfred Valrie, who experienced first-hand what it was like to send AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson a simple, innocent suggestion to improve his services by offering unlimited data for DSL users and 1,000 text messages for $10 a month (or 500 for $7). Instead of a simple “thanks”, the response to Alfred’s proposal came in the form of a letter from AT&T’s legal team.

“AT&T has a policy of not entertaining unsolicited offers to adopt, analyze, develop, license or purchase third-party intellectual property … from members of the general public…. Therefore, we respectfully decline to consider your suggestion.” -AT&T legal team

It seems there’s a reason for such cold responses to customer suggestions. After LA Times reached out to AT&T, assuming it was all some sort of mistake, he received an answer that confirmed the carrier’s position.

“In the past, we’ve had customers send us unsolicited ideas and then later threaten to take legal action, claiming we stole their ideas,” she explained. “That’s why our responses have been a bit formal and legalistic. It’s so we can protect ourselves.” -AT&T

John Legere’s response

Of course, the change in tone didn’t stop John Legere from chiming in. T-Mobile released a press release (such elaborated trolling!) shaming AT&T for the way in which they would approach a simple concern from a lifelong customer.

In this response, T-Mobile tells consumers they are always welcome to contact their CEO at John.Legere@T-Mobile.com with all their issues, comments, suggestions or complaints. But of course, Magenta didn’t stop there. They are also welcoming AT&T subscribers to send an email to IdeasForRandall@T-Mobile.com, telling them what the carrier could to to improve its services. You can also use #IdeasforRandall on Twitter and mention @JohnLegere

T-Mobile will then list all the issues they have already fixed and send them to Randall… along with his lawyers.

“It absolutely amazes me that Randall would tell a lifelong customer to basically go away and talk to my lawyers. I interact with customers on a daily basis so I can hear their ideas firsthand. It’s called living in the 21st century.” -John Legere, CEO at T-Mobile

Wrapping up

So there you have it, guys! We have had our fair share of carrier drama today; once again, courtesy of almighty John Legere. Go have fun on Twitter with him and hit the comments to let us know what you think about this whole PR pandemonium. How would you feel if your carrier reacted like this to an innocent letter?