This is baffling to some customers – not least because the whole point of visiting a store is to receive assistance from staff, but also because T Life still has some rough edges.
T-Mobile has been encouraging employees to use customers’ T-Life app for transactions for quite some time. The company reportedly offered a bonus for adherence to the practice, and employees were reportedly reprimanded for not meeting targets.
T-Mobile requires customers visiting its stores to use the T Life app.
The carrier has gotten stricter about this policy now. Apparently, employees can lose 50 percent of their commission if they don’t use T Life for transactions. Reddit user tva_raylan – who appears to be a T-Mobile employee – has advice for those who don’t want to use the app.
Starting today, all COR and TPR stores need to be at 60% usage for T-Life for adding voice, watch, and tablet lines and device upgrades.
If you want the old retail experience, the only way we can be in compliance and use our “legacy” tools is by taking your required payment in cash.
tva_raylan, Reddit user, April 2025
While stores vary in how much they choose to do through the app, with some exempting bring-your-own-device (BYOD) transactions and watch and tablet lines, ultimately they will all likely require you to use the app for most of the things.
Thus, if you don’t want to be compelled to use the app, it’s best to carry cash when you visit a T-Mobile location. That’s because the T Life app doesn’t let you use cash. Otherwise, store reps will have no choice but to ask you to use T Life.
