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T-Mobile CEO John Legere stole my 2012 brand strategy and my 1987 hair

Michael Goldstein • January 21, 2014

You want to know what T-Mobile is going to say and do six months from now? Check out Ting six months ago.

Making Sense

Here’s Elliot launching Ting in February 2012:

“What people are forced to put up with from mobile service providers just doesn’t make sense. It’s too complicated, too opaque, too adversarial, too expensive and frankly too inhuman,’ said Elliot Noss, CEO of Tucows. ‘We’re changing that. Ting is a mobile service that makes sense.”

Here’s John re-launching T-Mobile in March 2013:

“This is an industry filled with ridiculously confusing contracts, limits on how much data you can use or when you can upgrade, and monthly bills that make little sense. As America’s Un-carrier, we are changing all of that and bringing common sense to wireless.”

Device Subsidies

Here’s me rejecting device subsidies in February 2012:

“When you get a subsidized or heavily subsidized device from one of the major providers and sign a long-term contract, you are absolutely paying for that device. The price, plus a significant premium, is buried in your monthly service…Please do not believe that any business (particularly one that has to offset huge marketing and network operating expenses) would ever give you a device for free.”

Here’s John revising T-Mobile’s 10+ year policy of subsidizing devices in January 2013:

“You are paying every penny for their phones. You are not getting a $99 phone. Anyone who thinks they are, come with me into the back. While you’re handcuffed, they go into your pockets and they take your money.”

ETF Reimbursement

In February 2013, we made headlines by giving away $100,000 in Ting credits to pay off early termination fees (ETFs). In September 2013, we announced our permanent policy to reimburse 25% of ETFs in the form of Ting credits. Here’s Andrew Moore-Crispin outlining our rationale for that policy:

“Early termination fees suck.”

In January 2014, John announced that he would pay out ETFs in the form of T-Mobile credits. Here’s John’s clever twist on Andrew’s commentary:

“This industry blows.”

Fashion

Here’s me rocking shoulder length hair, a sweet tan and and a hot pink shirt in 1987.

Come on, John, it’s been done.

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