Comments on: Sprint breaks up with high-maintenance customers

Wireless carrier sends Dear John letters to customers who it says call the customer support line too often.

[erikrn]

Article and Sprint's Cus Serv Stink

That article was pitiful and one sided. I'm all for companies getting rid of high maintenance customers. It really is the 80/20 rule with them. There is no reason the average person can't sit down and figure out their phone and billing, but they are just lazy and like to give people grief. On the other hand, if some Sprint management genius is sitting in his/her office and thinking this is going to make them a better company and solve their cruddy customer service, they need to be fired and quick.

[downshift]

OMG!

"There is no reason the average person can't sit down and figure out their phone and billing, but they are just lazy and like to give people grief."

This is such a sad statement....not all repeat callers are incapable of reading their bill. Most billing errors are due to the billing software the company uses or the coding of plans on the accounts....which means that it is human error! Computers are only as smart as the people that program them (also means making the software).

[metrix001]

Sprint breaks up with high-maintenance customers

see http://hotshadow.com/Sprint_breaks_up.aspx

[wayne95125]

Read the Byline

The author of this story is a hack. She is notorious for reporting
half truths in order to sensationalize a story. For the record Sprint
sucks. But the business decision to dump chronic complainers is
understandable. Anyone who has worked in the service industry
knows this.

[IsLNdbOi]

They still should have...

I was one of the ones terminated for calling CS. It is not my fault that they couldn't hold up their end of the contract. The plan I signed up for explicitly said that it included unlimited text messaging. Then they start charging me for that. So that's why I call them, to have them fix that. They do it every month (charge me for the unlimited texting) and I have to call them every month to fix it. Sometimes I have to call day after day until someone fixes the problem. I did nothing wrong. I paid my bills and always paid early. I even tried going into a Sprint store once instead of calling in, but as soon as I was done telling the store agent my story their reply was that I should use *2 on my handset and call customer service which is what I had been doing all along.

[brandk3]

Rude Nextel/Sprint Customer Service

I recently called to discuss my sudden rise of my bill since
January 07 from $190 to whopping $360. I also advised the first
customer service agent that I was not happy with the choppy
sporadic service and that I would like for them to offer me a
solution including termination without fee of my contract which
expires in about 7 days (July 10, 2007). I was told that I was
lying and the customer service rep was intent on "holding" me to
the termination fee of $200 per phone (2 phones=$400). She
told me "you will pay, its in your contract".

I had enough and demanded to speak to her superior and she
said, "you'll still pay the termination fee". I told this rude rep
that I was done with her and to get her boss so that I may speak
to someone who knew what they were doing.

Once I got the "boss", she was defensive, more rude, and
unhelpful and insisted that I used the phone enough and that
based on their data, I was having no problems. Then once I
asked about the suden 100% rise in my bill, she instead of
offering a solution said, it is probably because you are using the
phone too much and that proves my point of me having
adequate coverage. I asked this person to transfer me to
someone higher up and she rudely said, "there is no one else,
and frankly, I don't think you'll get anywhere". To which I
replied, "you mean you are it or you just don't want to help me?".
She said "would that be all? How can I help you with other
things?".

I will never use nextel or sprint again and will do everything I
can to post blogs, message boards, and oh yeah, they will be
hearing from my attorney as well. I will continue to agitate them
and tie up their resources because that is what they deserve. I
hope they go out of business. There are far better carriers
available than Sprint.

[downshift]

Try this .....

http://www.nextelsucks.org/

[dwimmer38]

Finally

It's about time that Sprint got rid of the spoiled selfish whiners. I think it's time that other companies (especially computer makers) started doing the same.

[Maelstorm]

They Can't

Computer makers can't. The problem is the warranty. They are required by law to honor it. Now if the customer does something stupid, that's one thing. But if a part fails during the warranty period, the manufacturer is responsible.

Personally, I build my own computers. That way I know what parts were used, and if something fails, I know who to call.

[downshift]

ISP 's also

AOL needs to take the lead in this!

[vanillacokehead]

dumped Sprint nearly two years ago; don't miss them at all.

This crap they're pulling doesn't surprise me at all. I moved my cell service from Sprint to T-Mobile and was set up with Sprint's online account management. As soon as my number was ported over to T-Mobile, Sprint immediately canceled my online account management and didn't even have the sense to mail me a final bill since I couldn't access my account online anymore. I finally had to call Sprint Customer "Solutions" to get my final balance and when I asked if they could mail me a final bill, they told me they could - for a $5 charge.

Granted, what Sprint did to these customers was pretty lame. Consider, though, that they're probably doing these customers a favor by giving them the opportunity to go to a wireless provider that very likely runs circles around Sprint in terms of providing quality customer service. Hell, my five-year-old daughter could probably provide better customer service than anyone at Sprint ever could.

As far as I'm concerned, Sprint's Customer "Solutions" are about as useful as mammary glands on a bull.

[Methuss]

Sprint is horrible

Had their service for five years before I finally dumped them due to poor quality of service. Conveniently they "forgot" I had paid a security deposit and 2 months in advance when I initially signed up. They continued to bill me for service for 2 months after I had terminated service in writing and had the audacity to send a collector after me after cashing an endorsement restricted check for the final balance minus what they owed me (this is legally binding by-the-way). Even today, five years later, and after getting the Illinois Commerce Commission involved I am occasionally having to fend off a collector that contacts me about this fraudulent balance.

Just stay away. They have chimps runnign their billing and accounting offices.

[CeeAyy]

Bad timing

The bad publicity that this practice has started to create may not
be in the best interest of Sprint considering how many people
are currently considering a switch to another company. Good
business decisions are about more than the immediate dollar
return.

After watching a friend sit on hold for 40 plus minutes and still
not get help, I decided that I would NEVER use Sprint without
something changing on their behalf. Now, if they had some
incredible phone that I couldn't live without, then I MIGHT
consider using them. Right now that is my dilema with AT&T. I
am not too happy with them either. Their coverage in my area
used to be really bad.

[ms5willis]

Customer Service English Sucks

They should be paying the customer a cancel fee, everytime you call you are put on hold, then get someone you can't understand.

[downshift]

English Customer Service

This is as I said before, due to outsourcing. It is cheaper to have call centers in India, Pakistan, Phillipines, etc. They are paid so much less than the average American rep.

Before Nextel merged with Sprint, Nextel had closed all the company owned call centers turning over those operations to outsourced companies. (Third party call centers) Those companies in turn sent the operations overseas, closing their American sites.

Why pay an American $10-13 per hour when you can pay someone else less than $5? What a huge savings in the customer care department, huh?

[ElMocoLoco]

Sprint Customer Service might stink, but...

As a former employee of Sprint for 12 years, working in one capacity or another on the call center services platform (both in IT and Operations, and as an agent on the phone and as a manager), I certainly believe that in some cases you need to let the customers go.

While working at Sprint, we had customers who for some reason or another decided they would call into Sprint Customer Service repeatedly. By repeatedly I mean every evening, at least 5 times, sometimes more. They would complain about the poor service at length, expect to get a credit, and then do the same thing again on the next call. And the next. And the next. They called so frequently the agents on the phone would "know" the customer by name (although collectively Sprint had hundreds of agents). The also felt helpless to do anything more than get yelled at for an extended length of time by someone who already knew what they could and couldn't do for them. Although they would sometimes hang-up on these customers after being berated by them, they were risking their job because Sprint does have a strict policy of not hanging up unless the customer is personally abusive.

Here are a few common scenarios: Within Sprint's Prepaid Customer Service, some customers called in so much they had more credit than what they actually paid for the card. For example, a customer would buy a $10 prepaid calling card, call Customer Service after each call they made complaining about the service, and get a 5 minute credit after 2 minutes of card usage. This would result in a card loaded with $20 or $30 or more. These customers came to know that yelling, and harassing the agent for a few moments would likely get them free minutes and they had no shame in doing it.

Within Sprint's long distance call center, sometimes customers would have a legitimate complaint (I did, in fact, and it wasn't resolved for 3 month, and I worked at the company!). Honestly, if I were in the customer's shoes, I might agree. But when Sprint told them: "This is our policy and is the best we can do" (usually with a nice credit applied to the account), the customer became angry and decided to waste Sprint's time as he or she perceived Sprint had done with him/her. And so it would begin. Incessant calls to the agents, frequent escalation to supervisors, and generally just harassment because the issue had already been resolved (just not to the customer's satisfaction). These calls were expensive to Sprint, but even more damaging, quite honestly, is the demoralizing affect on the Sprint employees who cannot help someone while Sprint allows the person to continue to be a customer.

The customers who posted these emails for all to see are free to say whatever they like, while for privacy reasons, and common business courtesy, Sprint Nextel is not. However, if I were a betting man, if I were given access to these customers records, I will bet they rarely paid their bill on time, used the service extensively, called customer service repeatedly as a means to continue not paying their bill, and generally never intended to make a good faith effort to be a good customer. Why am I so sure? Because as the article itself states "it seems crazy that a company that's already having a hard time keeping subscribers would be willing terminate contracts." These are bottom feeders that will continue to make it hard for Sprint to bring up their admittedly poor customer service.

As an FYI, I have not worked for Sprint for over a year and a half, and left on good terms. I do not have any access or inside knowledge on any of the customers who received these emails so again, this is all my opinion.

[TransplantGuy]

Thank you...

...for the first sensible, non-emotional comment. There are two sides to every story, and you've clearly stated the other side.

I've been in the PC industry for over 30 years, probably longer than most of those reading this have been on the planet. I've dealt with customers good and bad, but always tried to treat them with respect.

However, there are cases when a customer's demands become so unreasonable that it is prudent to gently suggest to them that our company cannot meet their needs to the extent they'd like. They'll ask for hand-holding rather than RTFM, and then refuse to pay the support bill, even though they've contracted for support at $$ per hour. They'll pay late, or only after you've sent them three or four notices of late payment. They'll refuse to pay late charges they've incurred (which screws up accounting as well).

People will be people, and there will always be some percentage with poor ethical standards who aren't ashamed to try to steal, whether it be time or whatever, in any business.

If you don't believe this, hang out by the "returns" desk of your local Wal-Mart or similar. Watch for those who return something they've obviously used extensively, then returned since they no longer need it.

I'm more amazed at the chutzpah of people every day.

BTW, I've had Cingular before they were ATT, all the way back to their "Cellular One" days. Never had a problem, and I just renewed a 2-yr contract because of that and the courtesy they extend when I've called their CSRs.

[downshift]

I only halfway agree

I worked for Nextel 3 yrs (before the merger and was outsourced after the Nascar sponsorship).

I agree that some of the customers are completely obnoxious wanting nothing more than a free ride. They learn how to get the credits by REPEATEDLY calling in with issues that cannot be adequately resolved.

This demonstrates abuse of the system.....it involves such a bigger picture as in those that abuse the welfare system. Or how about those that will buy a new item from Wal-Mart (clothing, appliances,etc.) then take it back after using it for a single purpose? There will always be those type of people in any situation you face. Just as in the nosy neighbor; who deems it upon himself to watch your homelife. The co-worker who constantly scrutinizes your job ability...etc.

In the call center environment it is never appropriate to disconnect a call. I can't tell you how many times my Avaya cable just fell out of the jack! Sometimes I even accidently hit the wrong button for hold.

It also should be noted that most call centers have an average handle time (AHT). If the AHT isn't met then you are in jeopardy of losing your job. It doesn't matter what you had to do to resolve the issue or even if it was resolved. This is just another service that the call center environment provides.....stress of job performance & security to get the caller OFF the phone!

That is the reason for so many repeat calls... the issue wasn't resolved the 1st time. It would save everyone time, money and frustration by making sure that the issue is handled the 1st time---this is called "one call resolution". Do we know of any companies that employ this practice now? VZW used to say they do, but alas that is not always the case.

So the actual point of my rant is the condescending manner by the call center management which in turn governs how the rep will be able to perform the job duties. The policies, regulations, and AHT is the cause of all of this. The CSR's hands are tied and the customer is the one that pays for it.

[haygooda]

NEXTEL CONTRACTS

I was a nextel customer for 10 years, out of the 10 years, I have had more problems in the last 2 years then ever before. They try to over bill you, they don't give you the service package you sign up for, and when you mange to get them to change it they change you contract for 2 more years with out you knowing it. Sence Nextel went with Sprint they have really went down hill. I work in the Pentagon I'm in the process of filling charges to day with the department of justic. Anyone wants to contact me may do so.

[nettechguy]

Spell check!

If you work in the Pentagon, you'd think you'd know how to properly spell. Justic and mange are not the words you are looking for. Please, if anything, use spell check!

This is no excuse for poor spelling and grammar!

[innovativetransport]

YES!!!!!

My husband has lost a devastating amount of business because of the Nextel network being so poor. We tried to work with them and bought new equipment which has renewed our contract. When that didn't solve the issue, we now have to pay $200 per phone to cancel the contract. This is a small business and has almost ruined the business.

[sailnoff]

Winds of Change......NOT blowing for SPRINT

I have been in The Navy since 97' and seen companies like Primco (now Verizon)go from the 1st choice among new recruits out of bootcamp to virtually last. Sprint has ALWAYS been in close competition with THEN AT&T. The downfall of ALL the carriers was not billing it's new young recruits on time or even at all. I have seen so many guys get burned by forgetting they have yet to pay for there monthly bill and see a $600 - $800 bill due notice. Sprint was one of the worst when it came to fixing these errors which most of the bills inflation was due to late fees!!. So WHO CARES if SPRINT has the #1 DATA speed and coverage IF you can't get your billing issues corrected!! EVERY company has connection ISSUE but NOT every company has ACCOUNTING ISSUES! Fix accounting and then you won't have to drop legit customers for using Customer Service!

P.S. I use the Sprint Data card but use T-Mobile for everything else Cell related

[nickamoreno]

How many times do you have to call?

I only wish I would have received one of these letters from Sprint. For years I called monthly to complain about their "system errors" in which my phone was disconnected monthly for non-payment. Each month, Sprint would give me a their usual scripted "we apologize for the error" line. After 4 years, of dealing with billing errors, system issues and horrible customer service, I made the switch to T-Mobile. I pay a couple bucks more a month but T-Mobile's customer service is worth it. Funny thing is Sprint seriously thought they would be able to keep me when I called to let them know that I would not be renewing with them. FAT CHANCE SPRINT!!!

[dbriere]

Good for Sprint!

While I'm probably in the minority, I say "Good for Sprint." Sprint's trying first and foremost to be profitable -- subscriber numbers are a means to get there, but only if the subscribers are profitable. There's no requirement that you have to deal with problematic customers. Sprint's trying to stem its losses and one way is to get rid of deadbeat and problem customers. All carriers do this. If they were not doing this, then I'd urge you to rake them over the coals. But they are, and it's a good thing.

I read in one business "advice" book years ago that said if you want to be a successful company, be prepared to get rid of the bottom 15% of your base EACH YEAR (this was a book on successful consultancies). However, I think the concept is sound, if the number inflated, for a telco.

Sprint made good on these customers as far as it could -- they zeroed out their bill. They gave them time to move. At worst the customer is looking at having to get another phone if the new carrier won't accept their current phone. But it's a lesson to all -- you can only push so far with any company in any industry before someone says, "Here's your money back, we don't want to serve you." There's nothing wrong with that. Companies have the right to walk too.

[docbill]

Made good. Not!

How about those people who purchased expensive phones that only work on the Sprint network. How has Sprint made good? How about people over charged, trying to get their bill's correct. How has Sprint made good?

I would say this is completely reprehensible, especially after hearing how they count one call as 10 or more because they have to transfer the call to route it correctly.

How about first trying to work with the customer. Something like, "Dear customer, We have notice a very high number of calls to customer service from you in the past ... days. More than likely there is a problem that you have been having difficulty resolving. We have setup a special number for you to help resolve this situation 888-555-1212. If you feel the problem can not be resolved, you may at your option cancel your account at this time with no termination fee and no amount owing on your finial bill."

For the most part, this would have accomplished the same thing, as most people having repeated problems would probably have chosen to cancel their account.

Bill

[treet007]

I would agree with you, but...

Since Sprint has not providing any policy on what they consider "high maintenance customer", they can arbitrarily make a decision who they want to dump. That is called discrimination, and it is illegal.

I actually turned off IP services and just accepted basic call service. I have had problems with spammed text messages from Nextel sales when I was with Nexel, and I decided not to call Nextel customer service by simply turning off IP services. So I can understand how customers would have to constantly call customer service for resolution due to problems from Sprint Nextel (including hang-ups while on hold with their customer service).

By the end of this year, I plan to cancel my Sprint cell service and go with another vendor before I use IP services.

[hurleysurf101]

Sprint Customer Service AND cell phone service SUCKS

To all of the Sprint Customer Service agents (former and/or current) who are whining that their jobs were made difficult by providing support to overly needy and incessant customers...guess what? That is/was your job...to SERVE the CUSTOMERS as long as it is in the domain of services that Sprint says it will honor (such as not screwing up a user's billing statement). Sprint has every right to terminate a customer's contract for whatever reason they feel like...like running scared and cutting costs. Business news flash for Spring: you CANNOT be profitable or succeed by cutting costs...you actually have to (gasp!) EARN and IMPROVE the areas in which you're weak. That means: better service infrastructure, technology, and freaking competent customer service reps...upping the quality and efficiency of the reps will mean less (not none, but FEWER) complaints and wasted service charges. Fire your bad reps, not your customers. There is so much wrong with this from a business stand point it's mind boggling. There is a reason I stopped using Sprint 4 years ago...and when I gave them a second chance 2 years ago (not my first choice...they were the only service I could get in a lead-lined wall building because they put a tower on top of this building), I immediately switched to T-Mobile within the 14 day trial period (which they almost tried to stiff me on) because their customer service and service in general was SO BAD AND THE REPS WERE SO INCOMPETENT AND INEFFICIENT...Sprint, you suck.

[downshift]

IGNORANCE

Just to provide you with correct information I will repeat what I have previously stated:

Most call centers have an average handle time (AHT). If the AHT isn't met then you are in jeopardy of losing your job. It doesn't matter what you had to do to resolve the issue or even if it was resolved. This is just another service that the call center environment provides.....stress of job performance & security to get the caller OFF the phone!

Getting the caller OFF THE PHONE is the main objective NOT CUSTOMER SATISFACTION ---time is money and money is time.

The policies, regulations, and AHT is the cause of all of this. The CSR's hands are tied and the customer is the one that pays for it.

[bfried7]

Sprints first customer

I am Sprints very first customer. On the first day that the Sprint Store opened on Rt 17 in NJ, I was the first one in. I could pick any phone number I wanted. I bought five phones all ending in 000. Over the years I was a diehard supporter, and Sprint constantly improved. Their downfall began around the time they bought out Nextel. I consider myself an expert at calling customer service. I could go on and on forever on how poor their customer service is.,but its not their fault. I finally figured it out what the problem is. The person you talk to can promise you the world, make changes, fix errors ect. but they have no power to do anything. The only people who are in control of Sprint are the programmers. The computers override all decisions. Its total stupidly, someone pull the plug. Unfortunately it?s going to be all their customers. I have already made my plans to get out. They need a radical change, like unlimited calls for a reasonable flat rate.

[etherealremnant]

Sprint doesn't have bad coverage... its better than verizon!

I don't think that your note about Sprint having poor coverage is accurate or fair. Their customer service sucks, yeah, but as a current customer, I can honestly tell you that I never drop calls on my Sprint service and the only place I have no service would be the very same places that nobody else has any service either.

I dropped frequent calls on T-Mobile and my Verizon trial didn't work out so well - I was unable to use my phone at my apartment, when I could on any other carrier. All my friends with Verizon can't use it here.

I'm not surprised Sprint is cutting lose the customers that tie up their lines. Some of them probably did have billing issues but I'm willing to bet that the majority were the "omg Sprint sucks and my phone sucks - give me a new phone every 2 months for free or I'll leave!!" types. Sprint could definitely do without those as they are costing them a lot of money.

One of the boards that I frequent actually has posts telling people how to get what they want from retention and that if they don't get what they want from the first rep, call back and usually the 6th or 7th will do it. THAT is ridiculous and I don't care what anyone says, its bad for customer service when these people are allowed to stay. These are the same people who are on SERO for 500 minutes at 30 dollars a month, then turn around and demand free total equipment protection and text messaging PLUS bonus minutes!

Seriously, Sprint is trying to turn things around... though it may be too little too late... only time will tell, I guess.

But either way, network coverage isn't a problem in most areas. Sprint's network (not even including Nextel) is the largest in the country, they just don't have the advertising power that Verizon does and they have years of poor customer service biting them in the butt every step of the way.

Sprint is trying to redo their entire image - even just a look at their new ads will tell the story (they're actually interesting and compelling, unlike everything else I have seen for the past few years) - but they won't get anywhere without turning around the customer service. They're even bringing it back to the US from having it out-sourced.

Give them time, they'll get their things straight. But in my mind, its probably too late to avoid the inevitable crash into oblivion... but we'll see. If push comes to shove, I'll just switch to Cricket since I absolutely can't stand Verizon and Cingular and T-Mobile and I left with some bad blood (they sent me to collections on my final bill after I cancelled my service which wouldn't be so bad but I never received the bill and they sent me to collections two days after the due date).

[spaghettiagogo]

never had a dropped call???

that's your luck buddy. I suffer SEVERAL dropped calls a day. Sprint is the worst cell carrier i've ever had the displeasure of dealing with. That's for certain.

[etherealremnant]

CS hasn't been bad to me

I've not had any real issues with customer service either but I think its really annoying talking to someone that you can't understand and apparently there are problems with the phone system dropping the call.

When I tried to call Verizon to set up new service, I actually got hung up on, then they sent the wrong phone, they cancelled that order, and ordered the wrong phone again... what a mess.

And don't even get me started on Cingy/ATT. If there ever was a company I hate more than Microsoft...

[etherealremnant]

No, the message is

Don't abuse customer service or we'll drop you.

Sprint has become well-known for being the easiest service to get something for nothing on and I can almost guarantee you that a lot of those customers are SERO 500 customers who have free text messages and all kinds of free crap from retention on their account.

As a matter of fact, I know of 7 cases so far that were just that. 500 minutes for 30 dollars a month with unlimited text and internet, some of them tacking on employer discounts (upwards of 10% a month), and even further, one of them has 200 bonus minutes every month on their account!

If people would stop calling 10 times trying to get a rep that will do what they want, they wouldn't get letters like that in the mail.

I'm sure its possible that some of them are purely billing-related but I highly doubt that is the majority.