diff --git a/src/Service/MQTTClient.php b/src/Service/MQTTClient.php
index 8beebde5..12973116 100644
--- a/src/Service/MQTTClient.php
+++ b/src/Service/MQTTClient.php
@@ -43,18 +43,26 @@ class MQTTClient
 
         $new_sessions = [];
         $cust_user = $job_order->getCustomer()->getCustomerUser();
-        if (!empty($cust_user)) {
+        if ($cust_user->isEmpty()) {
             $new_sessions = $cust_user->getMobileSessions();
         }
 
-        $sessions = array_merge($legacy_sessions, $new_sessions); // TODO: make this more elegant since getPhoneNumber() might differ later on
+        // TODO: make this more elegant. looping through each instead of merging the two because doctrine returns PersistentCollection if empty, and array if not
+        $sessions = [];
+        foreach ($legacy_sessions as $sess) {
+            $sessions[] = $sess;
+        }
 
-        if (count($sessions) == 0)
+        foreach ($new_sessions as $sess) {
+            $sessions[] = $sess;
+        }
+
+        if (empty($sessions))
         {
             error_log("no sessions to send mqtt event to");
             return;
         }
-        
+
         $channels = [];
 
         // send to every customer session