PDA

View Full Version : squeaky wheel gets the ..... AXE!



Gan
07-10-2007, 12:04 PM
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.

Sprint said whatever the complaint, it has worked to resolve it but due to the volume of calls it's obvious customers involved are not happy.

In a statement, the company said: "Rather than continue to operate in a situation that was unsatisfactory for Sprint and our subscribers, we chose to terminate our relationship with those customers to allow them to pursue other options."

Cell phone user Joe Graham said Sprint reserves that right.

"I guess the company had good enough reason to get rid of 1,200 people. You don't just do it on a whim," Graham said. "Because they make the contracts they can do what they want."

"I didn't even know you could do that with a contract. That's astonishing," said cell phone user Winston Bryant.

The customers told to find a new service provider were notified by mail last month and will not have to pay a termination fee.

http://www.news4jax.com/news/13650557/detail.html
_____________________________________________

First time I've seen a national service provider do an across the board contract termination with the cause being high maintenance customers.
I have to say I can agree with their philosophy on this as well. And not because I'm one of the better Sprint PCS customers.

:axe: :clap:

DeV
07-10-2007, 12:06 PM
At least they don't have to pay a termination fee.

That's also what they get for being whiny asses.

Tolwynn
07-10-2007, 12:10 PM
That could wind up biting them in the ass.

Want to break your contract without termination fee? Now you know just how to do it.

Kitsun
07-10-2007, 12:12 PM
Can you imagine how little lives these people have?

Average Times Called Per Month = 45
Average Call Length = 3 hours (waiting for an operator + unreasonable request)

135 hours a month

Hourly wage of their Customer Service people?

Ilvane
07-10-2007, 12:15 PM
I had nothing but a hard time with Sprint, so I terminated my contract and paid the fee.

I got lots of people who I couldn't understand on the phone, so after fighting with them over my double billing four times, and getting people who I couldn't understand speaking to me, I decided I was better off without them.

T-Mobile rocks, and have never had an issue since.

Angela

Jayvn
07-10-2007, 12:19 PM
i generally hate cell phones

CrystalTears
07-10-2007, 12:21 PM
Average Times Called Per Month = 45
Average Call Length = 3 hours (waiting for an operator + unreasonable request)

135 hours a month

Hourly wage of their Customer Service people? PRICELESS
:D

Sean
07-10-2007, 12:23 PM
As a non troublesome consumer (I almost never call CS) I'd be nice if some other companies would do this to cut down on wait times when I do call. Although the few times I've had to deal with Verizon it's gone pretty well.

I wonder though what some of those unreasonable requests are though. I mean are they stupid things like, "Hey, I demand that I get full service bars when I'm in the subday!"

Khariz
07-10-2007, 12:24 PM
Haha! This story is awesome.

CrystalTears
07-10-2007, 12:28 PM
I wonder though what some of those unreasonable requests are though. I mean are they stupid things like, "Hey, I demand that I get full service bars when I'm in the subday!"
Some that wouldn't surprise me:
"How do you change the battery?"
"Why are the ringtones so short?"
"How do you turn it off?"
"Why do I only get one bar at work but three at home?"
"I lost my phone in my apartment. Can you help me find it?"
"Where's the nearest store so that I can charge my phone? My electricity is out."

crazymage
07-10-2007, 01:18 PM
No matter the reason it's pretty significant avg cell bill is like 60 a month, they're tossing away 60-80k a month.

Blazing247
07-10-2007, 01:39 PM
No matter the reason it's pretty significant avg cell bill is like 60 a month, they're tossing away 60-80k a month.

Not really. It sounds like the customers that were let go were considered high maintenance. That likely means that they cost the company more than the price of their contract by tying up customer serivce, arguing over money which they were likely credited a few times, and abusing customer service staff in general. Goes to show you the customer is NOT always right.

CrystalTears
07-10-2007, 01:50 PM
We had a couple of customers who were a pain in the ass. They threatened to go to our competitor and we let them. Because they were so high maintenance, they're not allowed to come back. Some people, no matter the cost, are not worth the effort or headache to keep.

Clove
07-10-2007, 02:17 PM
Can you imagine how little lives these people have?

Average Times Called Per Month = 45
Average Call Length = 3 hours (waiting for an operator + unreasonable request)

135 hours a month

Hourly wage of their Customer Service people?

Hey there's lots of downtime to fill, even in the busiest lives. Working out? Call Sprint CS. Doing laundry? Call Sprint CS. In a long line at the bank? Call Sprint CS. Want to ditch your provider without paying a termination fee? Call Sprint CS.

I wonder if they offer "unlimited customer support" and if so, if this would be considered- limiting it.

Tolwynn
07-10-2007, 02:35 PM
I wonder if they offer "unlimited customer support" and if so, if this would be considered- limiting it.

Maybe that judge with the million dollar pants can go after them next for that - the customer can never ever be wrong, after all.

Sean of the Thread
07-10-2007, 06:13 PM
I managed a customer service and activations room for MCI for a couple years.. there were plenty of people like that... and they were put on hold on line "52" until they got the point.

Parkbandit
07-10-2007, 06:44 PM
SO THIS IS HOW I CAN GET OUT OF MY SPRINT CONTRACT!!!