Sprint Cuts 1,000+ Customers For Excessive Complaining

News4Jax.com ^ | 7/11/07 | News4Jax.com

[GeorgiaDawg32]

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Hundreds of cell phone customers are being given the boot, accused of being too high maintenance.

Sprint-Nextel is disconnecting more than 1,000 subscribers on grounds the clients call customer service too often and make "unreasonable requests."

The 1,200 people getting dropped will have to find a new carrier by the end of the month.

A Sprint representative said the average customer calls customer service less than once a month, but the 1,200 clients getting the boot call 40-50 times as often.

[nyconse]

They also dropped the troops (in Iraq and other places) for excessive roaming. However; when this made the news, Sprint backed down-this is a company on its way out.

[Vermont Lt]

As a former call center guru, I can tell you that it costs the company between $4 and $8 (depending on what level of training costs). If these folks were calling 40 times a month, they were losing money. If the calls were not legit, the company is right in dropping them.

At the bank I worked at we had folks call two or three times a day to check their balances. The customers never understood that we processed deposits once a day, and they could call all day long and the balance wouldn’t change.

After 20 years as a customer service professional and consultant—I can tell you that the customer is rarely right—they dont understand services and they usually have unrealistic expectations. However, they are always the customer and should be treated with respect.

Consider, if the call center reps are not spending five minutes with these nut jobs—your hold time just dropped a few minutes...and your call is probably legit.

In the end, it comes down to profitability. These customers were not profitable (and we do NOT run charities do we?) They were right in cutting them lose. There is no constitutional right to cel phone service. There was a contract and the company worked within that contract and decided it “just wasn’t working out.”

I applaud Sprint for having the guts to tell these folks to take a hike. If more companies did this, service would get a lot better.

[nyconse]

Dropped customers don’t have to pay any balances and are let out of their contract. I saw it on another post.

[swatbuznik]

*Maybe Sprint is on to something. If only we could cut the America haters in Hollywood, the RINOs and the leftie moonbats....if only...*

Haha! That was my thought, too. If only we could!

[XenaLee]

It’s probably more along the lines of ‘Stop over-charging me for stuff my plan is supposed to cover for free’. My ex-bf is being suddenly (once again) charged for overtime minutes (around 900)....all because he just upgraded his phone last month.

This same thing has happened 4 or 5 times in the past years (everytime he upgrades to a newer/better phone). He didn’t change his plan at all, but somehow Sprint always manages to change it FOR him. They drafted over $350 out of his bank acct in ONE month for what he was normally being charged only $100/mo. for, and they’re charging him a similar amount for July too.

They really have some racket/scam going there. Screw the customers and then drop the ones that complain about getting screwed!

[scan59]

High maintenance whiners.

Yep, some people have created miserable lives for themselves and just want to take it out on somebody. My wife Scan58 works customer service, and runs across a few who call mad and stay mad, no matter how she tries to make things right.

I always try to treat service people with respect. It's amazing the lengths they'll go through to help you just by your treating them like human beings. (It's not their fault the company they work for won't hire enough reps to avoid your having to wait on hold.)

[jws3sticks]

I am thinking of letting my husband go for the same reason.

I am thinking of letting my wife go for the same reason.

[KarlInOhio]

Wonder how that works when the phone provider drops the customer...don’t they have to honor the contract until it expires?

If it is a typical one-sided contract Sprint probably has a "we'll drop your ass any time we want to" clause in it.

[reagan_fanatic]

Having experience in the customer service area, I can well imagine what type of people these whiners are. Quite frankly, I’m surprised it’s only 1000 - I’m sure there are many thousands more who deserve the boot as well, but I think Sprint decided to make an example out of these idiots in hopes that the rest will sit up and take notice.

[TommyDale]

"I don’t blame Sprint. I have never called them regarding my service or bill."

It's probably a good thing you never had a problem. If you had, you would have sat on "hold" for hours, then finally reach some 'quota hire' who has no clue what they are doing, but would cop an attitude with you because you revealed their stupidity. Heaven forbid if you had a problem with your billing, because they couldn't understand their own system.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

I guess the call centers in India are complaining about customers complaining!

[TommyDale]

You two sound like a potential marriage made by Verizon! LOL!

[nyconse]

Recently, I had a problem with my car loan finance company. I had changed insurance companies and sent in the proper paperwork seven times. Eventually, they place forced insurance on my car. I called every day-two or three times a day for two weeks. I was informed I would have to pay for this insurance and eventually (not) receive a credit. I was treated extremely rudely. Finally, after going to the FTC and the Attorney General in my state, I was given full credit. I was originally told I would have to pay for one month; I would not agree to this and received full credit.

Customer service people in many cases do not follow through and are often rude because as the poster who worked in customer service indicated-they don’t like their customers and consider them pains in the neck. This attitude is very common, and very unfortunate.

I am in the process of getting a mortgage and will close the end of the month. Thus, I could not ‘fire’ this company. You better believe, I am going to either pay off the car or refinance the car as soon as my mortgage closes. I will not remain with this company one minute longer than neccesary. They did not deliver the appropriate level of customer service,wasted considerable amounts of my valuable time, and I believe this insurance thing is a scam.

[nyconse]

I take notice...I would never use Sprint after reading this.

[loungitude]

There was a contract and the company worked within that contract and decided it “just wasn’t working out.”
:::::::
I know there are troublesome, high-maintenance customers. Any service provider should know this also.
Was a limit on customer service stated in the contract?
Would they let a customer walk from the contract if the customer decided it “just wasn’t working out”?

[JamesP81]

I'd like to know what the "unreasonable" requests are..could it be "give me what I'm paying for??"

I saw this article the other day. I think the criteria is people who call customer service more than 25 times per month.

If I had someone calling me that often, I'd get rid of them too. Or I'd raise their rates until it became profitable to retain them.

On the other hand, Sprint sucks. I wouldn't even consider getting my cell phone service through them.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

I’m considering changing to T-Mobile when my sprint deal expires, but am currently undecided.

[TC Rider]

Those 1000 customers should fall to their knees and thank God.

My elderly parents had a sprint cell they bought in NV years ago. They never used it, just kept it for emergencies. When they got it, their plan was around 25/month.

Sprint kept bumping them up till they were paying 39/month. Then their charger failed, Sprint sent them another one that didn’t work, claimed they never recieved it when my parents sent it back, and they never got the credit. Sprint also tried to extend their contract for another 2 years for no reason.

Last Christmas I bought them a pay-as-you-go phone from Cingular, charged up with 1000 minutes. I’ll ‘recharge’ it every year at a cost of around $100. Screw Sprint.

[tobyhill]

It probably took 300 calls per month just to get to someone who spoke and understood English. Sprint sent me a text message so I could link to the site to download a phone upgrade to make a feature work but then charged me for the text message they sent. I called Sprint to get the credit and was told that I didn’t have to open the text message they sent. After about 20 calls to worm my way through the slang and ghetto talk customer service reps, I finally just came out and said I wanted a manager that spoke regular English and could actually help me without transfer. After 3 days of calls I became a completely satisfied customer.

[JamesP81]

I’m considering changing to T-Mobile when my sprint deal expires, but am currently undecided.

The only provider I've ever been with is Cingular / AT&T. They suit me fairly well. My Razr gets pretty good reception, I don't have a whole lot of dropped calls, (sometimes one will drop if I've been on the phone for over a half an hour, which I rarely am) I have realistic expectations of the service and the equipment, and the money is reasonable. All I want it to do is make phone calls so I don't have to pay for a landline in my house (which costs more than my cell plan anyway). If I want to browse the internet or check email, I've got a computer for that.