Sprint-Nextel to Drop 'Needy' Customers [Archive]

PM5K

07-10-2007, 04:48 PM

If you're a Sprint customer who frequently calls for customer service, you may soon find yourself shopping for a new cell phone service provider.
Sprint Nextel is dropping subscribers they say are too needy. The company has sent out letters to about 1,000 customers and canceled their contracts because of too many calls to customer service.

Terminated users averaged about 25 calls a month, which is about 40 times the average.

This is the first time sprint has cut off customers for what it calls "excessive calling for help."

-----

Man that's got to be the worst thing you can do from a customer service prospective, but at the same time, twenty-five calls a month, wtf?

BacktoBasics

07-10-2007, 04:51 PM

So much for customer service to all that need it.

midgetonadonkey

07-10-2007, 04:51 PM

Kick ass. Now I can get out of my contract.

SpursWoman

07-10-2007, 04:54 PM

Maybe I should start calling like a mofo to get out of mine. :lol

Melmart1

07-10-2007, 05:25 PM

My sprint contract is up August 4th :elephant

I haven't called customer service in over a year. I don't bother because I can barely understand what some of these mofos are saying. That may be why some people call 25 times -- they keep hanging up hoping to get someone who speaks English.

The Cougar

07-10-2007, 05:31 PM

their customer service was horrible to begin with.

dallaskd

07-10-2007, 05:33 PM

:lol thats customer service.

Melmart1

07-10-2007, 05:41 PM

their customer service was horrible to begin with.
Agreed. I have been wanting to get out of my contract for over a year now but too cheap to pay the penalty. I think I am going to switch to AT&T, I like the rollover aspect and my two best friends have it and highly recommend it. I hate paying for minutes I don't use, especially when I can get 100 more with AT&T for the same price I pay Sprint now.

Of course, I will be using a lot more minutes, since another friend and my family are all on Sprint. My sister threatened to stop calling me since it will now cost her minutes and won't be free Sprint-to-Sprint. She doesn't realize that this is more incentive to switch :spin

SpursWoman

07-10-2007, 06:16 PM

I still have another year left on mine. :(

I've had to call Sprint customer service quite a bit the last couple of months ... my daughter's phone got stolen at school and the little bastard who got it downloaded $100 worth of games and applications before I could report it stolen and suspend the account ... they gave me 1/2 credit for the charges, but still keep charging me the for the subscriptions for the games. Fortunately, the last couple of times I've had to call I've gotten very friendly, articulate CSR's. :lol

ShoogarBear

07-10-2007, 06:41 PM

I don't know what's worse, their customer service or their web page.

That's ridiculous. If you have a contract, is there anything that allows them to do that?

SpursWoman

07-10-2007, 06:43 PM

I was reading about this somewhere yesterday ... and I believe the guy said they should pay the customer they are cutting off the cancellation fee. :lol

Johnny_Blaze_47

07-10-2007, 06:46 PM

It's listed in the contract that Sprint can terminate your contract at any time.

Shelly

07-10-2007, 06:49 PM

How to deal with Sprint!

http://www.consumerist.com/search/sprint/

ShoogarBear

07-10-2007, 06:57 PM

How to deal with Sprint!

http://www.consumerist.com/search/sprint/Holy crap. That page ROASTS Sprint!!

Shelly

07-10-2007, 06:59 PM

They roast everyone! You should search Best Buy on that site :lol

peewee's lovechild

07-10-2007, 07:02 PM

"Can you hear me now?" - Nerdy Verizon Guy

SpursWoman

07-10-2007, 07:34 PM

Holy crap. That page ROASTS Sprint!!

LMAO! I always get credits/adjustments when I call and ask for them ... my rating must be pretty good. I've had that account for almost 10 years and my bill is usually higher than average. :lol

The more money you make Sprint, the more likely they are to you adjustments on your bill when you ask for them, regardless of whether the adjustment is due to a Sprint error. In the computer, your "value indicator" is represented on a scale of one dollar sign to five dollar signs, with five being the highest. Our Sprint corporate mole tells more.

benpopken: do more profitable customers get better adjustments? how much "more profitable" do you have to be?
philip: Oh yes
philip: In fact
philip: Every customer has a Value Indicator
benpopken: there we go
philip: This is where we start talking about items I could be terminated for
philip: Customers are measured by a Value Indicator that ranges from $ to $$$$$.
benpopken: hahahah
benpopken: at least cingular has a thermometer
philip: I can tell you how the metric is determined though. The formula takes into account the customer's length of service with the company, the amount of adjustments requested in the last 12 months, and the amount of the average bill

lilmads

07-10-2007, 09:48 PM

Sprint SUCKS
I had it when i was in the US and I had to terminate my contract early because I was leaving. They made me pay the early termination free after they said that I wouldn't have to. They couldn't make up their mind.

ashbeeigh

07-10-2007, 09:54 PM

I'm so glad I went with cingular when I finally switched to a regular cell phone plan, from what other people were saying and now this. Phew. Lucky duck.

Avitus1

07-10-2007, 09:55 PM

Sprint really knows how to handle its customers

2Blonde

07-10-2007, 10:38 PM

I wanna sign up to get terminated!!!! I call them almost every month for some billing error. They keep charging us for internet access when we don't even have it and stupid stuff like that. We get horrible reception at our new house after they told us we would have great reception out here. We keep getting dropped calls out here. I'm stuck with them for another 18 months.

Melmart1

07-10-2007, 10:50 PM

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=533394&highlight=sprint+contract

This may help you guys. Apparently there is a change in policy happening next month and if you object to the change, you can get out of your contract for free. Not all contracts are available for this, though. I haven't read the whole thread but might be worth a look for some looking to get out. I only have three weeks left so I am set, but might be helpful for those who have a long time still.

SequSpur

07-10-2007, 10:52 PM

its the got damn foreigners.

Johnny_Blaze_47

07-10-2007, 10:52 PM

Read the thread over at The Consumerist for more info on that opt-out for the new roaming charges.

Johnny_Blaze_47

07-11-2007, 01:10 AM

The Consumerist speaks with a Sprint insider about this situation.

http://consumerist.com/consumer/exclusives/sprint-customers-terminated-for-complaining-too-much-were-scamming-sprint-for-free-service-277026.php

Fillmoe

07-11-2007, 01:20 AM

thats why i only fuck with tmobile

DarkReign

07-11-2007, 09:46 AM

Interesting that they are cancelling "needy" customers whilst the vast percentage of their customers hate their service.

They have just green-lighted a vast majority of their base to start calling customer service 14 times a day in the HOPE that they get cancelled.

This is living proof of action having unintended consequence.

MoSpur

07-11-2007, 10:11 AM

I was w/Nextel before it became Sprint and was very happy. I am no longer happy now that Sprint took over. I really want to drop Nextel now, which is Sprint now I guess. My contract ends in Feb. though.

Shelly

07-11-2007, 10:26 AM

Update on 'who' Sprint is cancelling

http://consumerist.com/consumer/exclusives/sprint-customers-terminated-for-complaining-too-much-were-scamming-sprint-for-free-service-277026.php

Johnny_Blaze_47

07-11-2007, 10:43 AM

Seriously, I think I'm the only person to like Sprint.

spursfan09

07-11-2007, 11:32 AM

I work for 411 Sprint. It seems all they stress at my job is customer service.

MoSpur

07-11-2007, 12:00 PM

I would love to leave, but that early termination fee is keeping me.

ShoogarBear

07-11-2007, 02:51 PM

ShoogarBear

07-11-2007, 02:53 PM

Seriously, I think I'm the only person to like Sprint.I've been with them for over 10 years (in fact, have never been with anyone else), and really haven't had too many problems, plus their coverage in the DC area is pretty good.

However, the few times I've had to deal with customer service, or their web page, they've really, really sucked.

However, I haven't heard anything to make me thing another company is necessarily better in the long run.

cherylsteele

07-11-2007, 03:04 PM

I work for 411 Sprint. It seems all they stress at my job is customer service.
I used to work for Infonxx too (4 years 3 mos)....I understand you are still their.

Check out that consumerist report on them.
An expert:
"o All Directory Assistance representatives are college graduates, receive extensive and ongoing training and are fluent in English"

That is a total lie....in fact a majority of CSR's their never graduated college, or still going, this includes management, and other people who are higher up in the organization.

Infonxx was okay to work for, for about 2 1/2 - 3 yrs, but then alot of my managers left for whatever reason, we moved into the new building and they stopped caring about the employee (they never really cared for them in the first place.....just it became even less). They week I returned from FMLA, they terminated me for a different reason, but it was suspicious. I reported it to TWC and Infonxx, gave them the reason but left out key elements that contributed to my termination. They altered my Quality, productivity, and performance records to make their case. Even though I had paperwork to indicate otherwise.

spursfan09

07-11-2007, 03:15 PM

easjer

07-11-2007, 04:04 PM

Seriously, I think I'm the only person to like Sprint.

Nope, I've been with them for almost 7 years now. I've only ever had 1 problem with the account (never overcharged on my bill), when SFIE lost his cell. I called to see if it was covered or not (I thought mine was, but wasn't sure about him), and they assured me it was and had the line item on my bill where I paid the insurance for it. They transferred me to the actual company that replaces the phones. It was a nightmare. They kept insisting that I didn't have the coverage, and never paid for it, and were excessively rude. I finally just went to Sprint to purchase another phone and they refused to let me, and worked it out with the company - my phone was there 2 days later.

I've always had good service with them and no problems.

AT&T/Cingular, on the other hand . . . my family has had numerous problems with them, particularly my brother when he was deployed.

Shelly

07-11-2007, 04:09 PM

It's all the luck of the draw. We were with Sprint before and had no problems and then switched to Cingular with no problems YMMV

Maybe Sprint can figure out the cell phone stalker case.

SpursWoman

07-11-2007, 04:26 PM

I've had Sprint for 10 years and usually get my way, one way or another. The only major problem I had that took me about 7 months to get them to correct was for the early termination fee when I had to cancel my mom's phone I'd gotten her on my accout ... when she passed away. I faxed them the death certificate 8 times, and went into the store with it twice before I got it taken off. After 7 months of having my damn service cut on and off for not paying the $200.00. :fro

I'm sure the grass can't be much greener ... although someone dear to my heart only uses about 30 minutes a month, and doesn't like having to pay $50 (the bare minimum plan) for those 30 minutes.

cherylsteele

07-11-2007, 05:23 PM

:lol I'm so not a college graduate. If I was I wouldn't be working there. In fact the reason I am working is there is because they used to work with college students, but now they are only changing schedules that makes it suitable for them. School is no longer a consideration for them. Looks like I'm looking for a new job.
Yup...last year they changed my schedule on certain days without asking me if I had other interests....I waited about 6 mos to request a schedule change, and they said no...with no explanation.

I knew several college students their that either quit the job or college because they became so inflexible.

Infonxx has become the new West Telemarketing in the way they treat their employees.