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Friday, June 04, 2010
Sprint "customer service."
I've been trying to cancel my Sprint account for a while now. It's almost impossible, but I think I've done it--at least until I continue to get those darn bills. Anyone have any clue about how to kill a Sprint account?
Tried emailing dan@sprint.com? It's a special department set up by dan hesse, sprint's ceo. It's spotty, as there are still far too many people at sprint who haven't the slightest idea what customer service is, although at least in theory acknowledging the problem is the first step in solving it.
Since April 2008 when I canceled Sprint and went with my former firm's Verizon account, I've been getting a bill from Sprint for -$3.28 (yes a 3.28 credit.) They've mailed it to me for over two years now, once a month. I've told them they can keep the money but cancel the account. They won't do that, and they won't issue me a check either for an amount that small. So they just keep paying printing & postage cost to tell me they owe me money.
Very sad to say my career at Sprint c/s lasted a whole seven months - one longer than most, actually... Very much enjoyed the people I worked with, a great many customers (cx's in Sprint shorthand) were exceptionally unaware of how a cell phone works and could have resolved most of their issues by reading the user guides for their devices, quite a few cx's Hesse should have fired a few years ago along with the other 4000 that we couldn't do anything for... but NOTHING tops Sprint management and c/s call policies for abusiveness. Yes, I just lost my job for the "Issue Resolve" and handle time bullying but I can tell you I worked with a LOT of great people who knew their jobs and were interested in untangling snarls that cx's calling in to Care - and they were fired, too. Well, Sprint has the plans and products that should be unbeatable but their policies and management make it unlikely cx service is gonna delight many soon. Believe it or not I think I cold write a small book about some of the American "new economy" mistakes from where I sat for seven months: cx's whose expectations are inspired by a culture built for instant gratification and a company whose positions are actually not jobs but individual lotteries - c/s reps are entirely at the mercy of cx's when it comes to handle time and IR but are penalized for too long on a call and not fixing an issue on the first call regardless of whether or not the cx's expectation is reasonable let alone feasible. C/s isn't all that great at Sprint because the pressure is phenomenal to get the IR question answered "yes" and get that person off the phone asap and go onto another call. C/s reps have little control over handle time and IR in the end analysis but hang for them anyway. Great job, lots of great people, lotsa cx's were a hoot but bad company.
Below is my second email letter to Dan after someone from Sprint did contact me:
Dan:
I thought I would write you a follow up email to my previous message this afternoon. I was VERY impressed that someone from your staff responded within one hour. I never anticipated that I’d receive such a quick response, nor did I expect to hear from you directly-as I do not expect a personal response from you now.
Unfortunately, what I did expect was that my problem would not be solved by whoever read my email and contacted me. I was correct. The customer service agent who called me actually failed to read my entire letter, so I had the privilege of repeating my ordeal for the sixth time. Did you ever see the movie Forest Gump? I feel like I’m Forest Gump screaming “Lieutenant Dan, Lieutenant Dan…” Is anyone listening? Actually, a better comparison would be to a 1-900 number where I just continue to pay, talk and then get screwed. To her credit, Angela was very kind and receptive. However, I believe she had her hands tied by company policy.
Let me take the opportunity to address the next customer service agent reading this email who will subsequently call me – unless you have a higher pay grade than the previous representative, are authorized to actually fix problems, release my from my contracts and fire me as a customer or are willing to credit my account, don’t call me– give this message to your manager and let them decided how to deal with it. Be assured, I will ask for your name and employee number so that I can include you in my next email or blog post. I am sick of lip service.
Funny thing is that I am stuck with Sprint for the time being. You (Sprint) were going to charge me $119 to replace an old Blackberry Curve. Of course, one of my lines is eligible for an upgrade – so I upgraded that phone and gave the old phone to my wife. Total cost after tax was $212 – double what I would have paid to leave and go to Verizon. However, I’ve realized that to post on the Sprint Forums, it really helps if you are a current customer. So, after 4 hours of total investment solving this problem, I’ve decided to pony up the cash, remain a customer and retain my right to complain about service that is terrible.
My logic is simple, I will continue to write comical reviews of your customer service and post them on as many internal blogs, external blogs, vendor sites and websites as possible and wait for other disgruntled customers to share their similar experience. And I know they are out there…correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you’ve lost more customers over the past 2 years than in the history of your company. I believe you lost about 200,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009, ending the year with 48.1 million customers and posting a fourth-quarter net loss of $980 million on revenues of $7.9 billion.
Lieutenant Dan, Lieutenant Dan…unfortunately, life is like a box of chocolates and we do know what we’re going to get with you – terrible service.
Well I called Sprint customer service tonight because my bill went up $20 in the middle of my two year contract thst they insist you sign. Well they changed their employee discount program. I explained that I didn't think that was right in the middle of my contract. I got transfered to someone else who I had to start from the beginning, #, name, code and issue all over. Got the same song and dance but she said she would check if there was anything she could do. Took my number in case she lost me. Well I got disconnected, but surprise, surprise she didn't call me back. I am so fed up with Sprint. I can wait to be done with this contract. They say customer service has improved - really?????
Can't close my Sprint account unless I pay 100. I've had a sprint account for years and a few years ago, I added a family member, and he was supposed to pay 1/2 the bill. It did not happen, so I am stuck with the entire bill month after month. The company backs sprint and has them come to the office once yearly. Frustrated in Iowa.
Where to begin? The Sprint store closest to my house is apparently manned with disgruntled club bouncers and parolees.
Last month I called Sprint to add minutes to my plan, they neglected to do so, then (after 4 years as a customer) interrupted my service for an overage amount of ummm... FOUR DOLLARS AND TWENTY FOUR CENTS??? Love you Sprint.
10 comments:
Tried emailing dan@sprint.com? It's a special department set up by dan hesse, sprint's ceo. It's spotty, as there are still far too many people at sprint who haven't the slightest idea what customer service is, although at least in theory acknowledging the problem is the first step in solving it.
Yes.....3 letters...."FCC"....that should get thier attention
Thanks, y'all!!!!
Since April 2008 when I canceled Sprint and went with my former firm's Verizon account, I've been getting a bill from Sprint for -$3.28 (yes a 3.28 credit.) They've mailed it to me for over two years now, once a month.
I've told them they can keep the money but cancel the account. They won't do that, and they won't issue me a check either for an amount that small. So they just keep paying printing & postage cost to tell me they owe me money.
How fun...
A classic story....
Very sad to say my career at Sprint c/s lasted a whole seven months - one longer than most, actually... Very much enjoyed the people I worked with, a great many customers (cx's in Sprint shorthand) were exceptionally unaware of how a cell phone works and could have resolved most of their issues by reading the user guides for their devices, quite a few cx's Hesse should have fired a few years ago along with the other 4000 that we couldn't do anything for... but NOTHING tops Sprint management and c/s call policies for abusiveness. Yes, I just lost my job for the "Issue Resolve" and handle time bullying but I can tell you I worked with a LOT of great people who knew their jobs and were interested in untangling snarls that cx's calling in to Care - and they were fired, too. Well, Sprint has the plans and products that should be unbeatable but their policies and management make it unlikely cx service is gonna delight many soon. Believe it or not I think I cold write a small book about some of the American "new economy" mistakes from where I sat for seven months: cx's whose expectations are inspired by a culture built for instant gratification and a company whose positions are actually not jobs but individual lotteries - c/s reps are entirely at the mercy of cx's when it comes to handle time and IR but are penalized for too long on a call and not fixing an issue on the first call regardless of whether or not the cx's expectation is reasonable let alone feasible. C/s isn't all that great at Sprint because the pressure is phenomenal to get the IR question answered "yes" and get that person off the phone asap and go onto another call. C/s reps have little control over handle time and IR in the end analysis but hang for them anyway. Great job, lots of great people, lotsa cx's were a hoot but bad company.
Below is my second email letter to Dan after someone from Sprint did contact me:
Dan:
I thought I would write you a follow up email to my previous message this afternoon. I was VERY impressed that someone from your staff responded within one hour. I never anticipated that I’d receive such a quick response, nor did I expect to hear from you directly-as I do not expect a personal response from you now.
Unfortunately, what I did expect was that my problem would not be solved by whoever read my email and contacted me. I was correct. The customer service agent who called me actually failed to read my entire letter, so I had the privilege of repeating my ordeal for the sixth time. Did you ever see the movie Forest Gump? I feel like I’m Forest Gump screaming “Lieutenant Dan, Lieutenant Dan…” Is anyone listening? Actually, a better comparison would be to a 1-900 number where I just continue to pay, talk and then get screwed. To her credit, Angela was very kind and receptive. However, I believe she had her hands tied by company policy.
Let me take the opportunity to address the next customer service agent reading this email who will subsequently call me – unless you have a higher pay grade than the previous representative, are authorized to actually fix problems, release my from my contracts and fire me as a customer or are willing to credit my account, don’t call me– give this message to your manager and let them decided how to deal with it. Be assured, I will ask for your name and employee number so that I can include you in my next email or blog post. I am sick of lip service.
Funny thing is that I am stuck with Sprint for the time being. You (Sprint) were going to charge me $119 to replace an old Blackberry Curve. Of course, one of my lines is eligible for an upgrade – so I upgraded that phone and gave the old phone to my wife. Total cost after tax was $212 – double what I would have paid to leave and go to Verizon. However, I’ve realized that to post on the Sprint Forums, it really helps if you are a current customer. So, after 4 hours of total investment solving this problem, I’ve decided to pony up the cash, remain a customer and retain my right to complain about service that is terrible.
My logic is simple, I will continue to write comical reviews of your customer service and post them on as many internal blogs, external blogs, vendor sites and websites as possible and wait for other disgruntled customers to share their similar experience. And I know they are out there…correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you’ve lost more customers over the past 2 years than in the history of your company. I believe you lost about 200,000 subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009, ending the year with 48.1 million customers and posting a fourth-quarter net loss of $980 million on revenues of $7.9 billion.
Lieutenant Dan, Lieutenant Dan…unfortunately, life is like a box of chocolates and we do know what we’re going to get with you – terrible service.
Sincerely,
Jake
Well I called Sprint customer service tonight because my bill went up $20 in the middle of my two year contract thst they insist you sign. Well they changed their employee discount program. I explained that I didn't think that was right in the middle of my contract. I got transfered to someone else who I had to start from the beginning, #, name, code and issue all over. Got the same song and dance but she said she would check if there was anything she could do. Took my number in case she lost me. Well I got disconnected, but surprise, surprise she didn't call me back. I am so fed up with Sprint. I can wait to be done with this contract. They say customer service has improved - really?????
Can't close my Sprint account unless I pay 100. I've had a sprint account for years and a few years ago, I added a family member, and he was supposed to pay 1/2 the bill. It did not happen, so I am stuck with the entire bill month after month. The company backs sprint and has them come to the office once yearly. Frustrated in Iowa.
Where to begin? The Sprint store closest to my house is apparently manned with disgruntled club bouncers and parolees.
Last month I called Sprint to add minutes to my plan, they neglected to do so, then (after 4 years as a customer) interrupted my service for an overage amount of ummm... FOUR DOLLARS AND TWENTY FOUR CENTS???
Love you Sprint.
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