John Legere has a well-deserved reputation for being an eccentric CEO. After spells at AT&T and Dell, he's now the top dog at America's third largest carrier, T-Mobile. His latest crazy scheme to pull US customers away from other networks is wonderfully simple: His company will pay off your smartphone in its entirety if you switch over from Verizon.

The offer is exclusive to owners of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL (plus several iPhone models) and will be honored regardless of how much is still left to pay. In an impassioned video plea (see below), Legere himself points out that Verizon's network has been "tanking hard" since it launched its unlimited plans, while T-Mobile's own has gone from strength to strength. He urges you to see sense and #GetOutoftheRed.

According to T-Mobile, 23 million Verizon customers would like to switch but feel trapped by the hefty contracts they're obliged to adhere to. It's the company's hope that this barmy offer will persuade a fair few of them to up sticks and head over to T-Mobile. The benefits they talk up include a prioritization threshold of 32GB (10GB higher than Verizon) plus a limited-time offer of two additional lines of service for the price of one, available for customers on the unlimited T-Mobile ONE tariff.

For the finer details about this offer, see T-Mobile's Q&A page. Additionally, Legere has promised 2 further announcements as part of the carrier's summer celebrations, so watch this space...