Posted on 07/11/2007 9:45:02 AM PDT by Kaslin
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."
In my work, I do get plenty of time to deal with customers who, to say the least, have unrealistic expectations - people who want things which are impossible and/or who get amazingly rude when not instantly given what they demand. More than once I've wished I could just say, "ok, I've had it; I've closed your account, we don't want your business, please go annoy some other company".
On the flip side, companies can also be more reasonable - I've often wished I could just forgive something in an account because it was a one-time thing, or the customer was in a jam and just needed a kindness...I guess my plea is for everyone to just remember that we're all people on each end of the line, and all of us can use a break from time to time.
When Sprint took over my old carrier, they screwed up the billing conversion so bad that they sent me a refund check while they were sending me to collections.
I wouldn’t use Sprint if they were the last cellular company on earth.
We're not just talking about someone complaining about the bill or some other problem. Apparently we're talking about people who have so much time to waste they call customer service on a daily basis, or even a couple of times a day.
I can't imagine what kind of person would want to go through the agony of calling customer service, with all the recorded voices and push 2 for Spanish, and enter your ten digit phone number and push the pound key, and enter your zip code and push the pound key, and then listen to elevator music, and then give the person who answers your name, address, and phone number, every single day. Obviously they have too much timem on their hands.
so they would rather fire the customer than fix the problems
Net 60? And you let a valuable customer like that go? j/k
These were more like net 90+, c level business volume, and wanted basically free advice and service all the time.
Yep, that pretty much says it.
Works for me!
I’vr had to call Sprint customer service about once a year, and some of those times have been to change plans and stuff.
I do consulting work as well. But I keep my copy of that picture in the desk rather than up on the wall. Not all customers have a sense of humor.
‘Net 60? And you let a valuable customer like that go? j/k
These were more like net 90+, c level business volume, and wanted basically free advice and service all the time.’
Yep.
And I’ve noted repeatedly a coorelation between high maintenance clients and slow payments.
Its just not worth it.
I had one guy want me in his office weekly and when he got his invoice he exploded.
I explained to him that he is paying me for my experience, knowledge, opinion and time. It is all I have to exchange for money; I am not here to fix the plumbing or change the oil in your car.
Damned straight, and sorry for long reply. Once when working retail I sold a customer a computer package (before they came all in one box) which had computer, monitor, and printer. The special was that the monitor and printer were free and no not free after rebate, as in free. Rang up the computer, monitor and printer, then directly discounted the price of the monitor and printer off the total.
A few days later the customer brought in the printer to return it. We said you can return it, but you didn't pay for it so it will be $0 refund.
She went over and looked to see how much the printer was if you bought it separately ($99) and demanded the $99 refund for the printer.
I said no. She calls the department manager over. He looks at the receipt and asks me about it then tells the customer no. She says call the store manager.
Store manager comes over and she complains that she didn't want the printer and wants to return it, and that she spends so many (complete BS) dollars in the store every month. Store manager returns the printer and gives her the $99 back (that she didn't pay) AND gives her an additional gift card of $50 for the hassle that we gave her.
Customer left and we asked what in the heck the store manager was doing. He said it was better to keep the customer then lose the customer.
The aftermath was that the store manager ended up giving this same customer about $50 a week in gift cards in order to keep her business every time she found things to complain about that she shouldn't be getting anyways.
We figured that the customer the store manager insisted on keeping amounted to a continuing net less for the store overall. But the store manager never figured that out.
The customer ain't always right.
My strategy as well.
I'd also add: be reasonable, be persistent, and (most importantly) keep notes. Get their name, record the date, time, and summary of your phone call. It's amazing how fast you can cut through the B.S. on the other end when you say to them: "I called on June 5th around noon and spoke with Nancy in regards to this issue..." Gives them very little wiggle room as they know that your records match theirs and they can't try to brush you off.
The Target is great, fantastic service, friendly staff but a horrible return policy. I say that every time but I don’t really expect it to change. Their employees know this so I don’t give them a hard time.
The local Home Depot is awful and I tell them that every time I get something from there because they offer a feedback opp with every purchase. The store is filthy, the employees are surly and the aisles are blocked with hand trucks ALL THE TIME.. To top that off they canceled the military discount program. I use every opportunity to provide them with the countdown to the grand opening of Lowe’s and the address of the local Ace.
Our Walmart is the same way. Dirty store, filthy floors, no cashiers, surly employees, Soviet era styled inventory (half empty shelves and “our truck comes in on Thursday or Friday” excuses).. Here, I use their request for feedback to tell them how bad this store is and how much I like the Walmart in the next city over which is smaller but clean, filled with nice employees and shelves that actually have inventory. If I need a bulb, I can get a bulb not an excuse.
Being on both ends of the customer/supplier relationship I feel a responsibility to shop and patronize at places that make the effort, even if I drive a little longer to get there. I would gladly pay a little more in every aspect of my purchasing life to get better service. I practically have to force my wife to drive with me to the market 10 miles away because they have better service than the local Shaws.
I agree that this is a good thing.
Here’s a question: Could this be a precedence that insurance companies could follow? For example, if a customer is receiving too many benefits for the money they put into the system, could they be dropped?
Yeah, that's why he's in management.
Are you joking? This has been the practice for a long time with many insurance companies.
Little more than a year later we were billed a $100 disconnect fee after we canceled our son's phone when he moved out of state. The cancellation was after the contract period had ended and we were repeatedly assured that this fee would be waived. It took us nearly a year and again with intervention by the consumer affairs division of the state Attorney General's office to get this problem resolved. Needless to say we are now with another company.
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