According to documents shared with BestMVNO, Boost Mobile dealers operating branded locations will face a chargeback/fine for store closures. Dealers closing a store for an entire day will face a $250 penalty, while those closing early will be fined up to $125. Store operators must gain approval from the Boost Team at least 7 days before a scheduled closure. Hours of store operation are strict and dealers must comply with being open during the following hours:
- Monday - Saturday: 10 am - 7 pm
- Sundays: 12-5 pm
Boost is requiring its stores to be opened ten minutes before the official store hours stated above and to stay open ten minutes after the posted hours all in the name of "customer service purposes."
One dealer told BestMVNO that they believe DISH intends to fine stores even if they are closed for a few minutes during the day for a restroom or other break. The dealer stated many stores aren't busy enough to have more than one employee so it could be extra hard for those particular locations.
Additionally, the documents state that Boost Mobile stores are only allowed to be closed on Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas unless otherwise communicated or approved ahead of time by Boost Mobile. The rigidity of the schedule and allowed days off could open up some legal trouble for DISH if they don't tread lightly, given that the allowed holidays only cater to a specific demographic.
Editor's Take: DISH's Stance Against Store Operators Looks Like A Huge Mistake
DISH's hard-lined stance against branded locations and retailers seems like a huge mistake. Sure, maintaining consistent operating hours across a brand is important for uniformity, but DISH's issues with Boost extend well beyond the hours their stores are open. DISH has lost wireless subscribers in nearly every quarter starting from the time it acquired Boost Mobile from T-Mobile in 2020. In 4q23, Echostar, now DISH's parent company, noted it had lost an additional 123k wireless subscribers lowering its sub count to 7.38 million. Aside from acquiring Boost Mobile, DISH also acquired the rights to Ting Mobile's brand name and subscribers, Gen Mobile, and the now-closed Republic Wireless. They also operate Boost Infinite. The 7.38 million subscriber count is across all brands. When DISH acquired Boost Mobile in 2020, Boost Mobile alone had over 9 million subscribers. So that's a lot of damage that DISH has since done to the brand and its wireless unit as a whole over the last four years.
Fix Your Other Problems First
If DISH wants to stop losing customers, they have plenty of other things they should work on first. Just last week, BestMVNO reported Boost Mobile's website was having issues. It is hard to sell phone plans online when you don't have this basic functionality working. Boost Mobile also only makes certain online plans available to new customers that may be much better offerings than what a current customer has. A current customer who can't switch to the better plan may simply switch providers.
BestMVNO has also heard from several dealers over the last couple of years of repeated issues like system outages that have brought systems down for an entire day. Outages that are independent of the ransomware attack DISH suffered last year.
There are many other random things Boost Mobile does that can potentially lead to subscriber losses. For one, Boost Mobile operates its own native network and also runs on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks. Customers who receive a T-Mobile SIM or AT&T SIM that would like to switch to a different network SIM that works better in their area have found it very hard to do so if they can even do it at all. Customers forced onto a network that doesn't suit their needs will simply switch to another provider.
Boost Mobile's website has a stipulation spelled out for customers interested in multi-line accounts. If you have a single-line account, you can't easily convert it into a multi-line account. The only way to convert to a multi-line plan is to set up a brand new multi-line account with new phone numbers for each customer. The situation is also the same in reverse. Multi-line accounts can't move back to single-line accounts without getting a brand-new phone number. Customers having the same phone number for years will surely be unhappy about the prospect of having to give them up and seek to look elsewhere for service.
If DISH wants to work on stopping subscriber losses, the last thing they should do is make life more difficult for dealers, especially when they have many other issues to resolve.