Having worked in retail banking I have NO PROBLEM with Sprint letting these customers go

After all they are a for profit business and having these customers are actually costing them

Wish the bank I worked for would have done this to some of my customers....You know the ones where the entire bank staff groans when they see them coming through the door

Sprint Nextel Defends Decision to Terminate Customers Who Call Customer Service Too Much


KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Sprint Nextel Corp. isn't apologizing for its decision to ax customers it determined were calling customer service too often.
The nation's third-largest wireless provider sent letters to about 1,000 subscribers June 29, saying the company's records showed they had made frequent calls for help with questions about billing and other account information.


"While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs," the letters said.

The customers were told their service agreements were being terminated, they wouldn't owe anything on their final bill, and the company would waive early termination fees. They also were told to switch to another wireless provider by July 30 if they want to keep their phone number.

In debate on the Internet, Sprint's move has attracted criticism that the company is penalizing consumers for trying to get what they paid for, or that the frequent calls are more a reflection of poor customer service by Sprint itself.

But Sprint officials said Monday this isn't a case of someone being flagged by a computer program, and that an internal review lasting six months to a year focused on the types of problems the callers had and what information they were seeking.

"These accounts have been researched very carefully," Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton said. "We feel strongly that the decisions we made, we stand by them. These decisions weren't made lightly."

Singleton said the targeted subscribers each made an average of 40 to 50 calls a month to customer service. She wouldn't say how that compared with the overall number of calls logged by the customer service department in a given month.

Singleton said the review also found that the subscribers often were calling about the same problems over and over after Sprint officials felt they had resolved the issue. She said some callers were repeatedly asking for information from other customers' accounts, which customer service workers aren't allowed to divulge.

"If the average person is calling less than once per month and these people are calling 40 or 50 times more, that takes away from customer service," Singleton said. "Our priority is to improve the customer experience."

Officials at competitors AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless said that while they may terminate customers who are abusive toward customer service operators or violate other terms of their service agreements, they don't terminate customers because of customer service calls.

"We have never severed ties with customers in a mass mailing like this," said Verizon spokeswoman Cheryl Bini Armbrecht.

CIBC World Markets analyst Tim Horan said in a research note to investors that he didn't see anything alarming with Sprint's decision.

"Sprint has taken a number of steps to improve the 'quality' of its customer base and we view this measure in the same light," Horan wrote.

Sprint, which has about 54 million subscribers, has been trying to upgrade its customer base, tightening credit requirements and attempting to attract customers who will spend more each month on data services, such as Internet browsing, music downloads and streaming video.

During the most recent quarter, the company said it gained just 600,000 new customers, while AT&T and Verizon gained 1.2 million and 1.7 million, respectively.

Earlier this month, Sprint unveiled a new marketing campaign aimed at highlighting its network speed and capabilities, an attempt to distance itself from earlier marketing campaigns that were criticized as unfocused and confusing.

Sprint Nextel Corp.: Welcome to Sprint - Cell Phones, Mobile Phones, Plans for Personal and Business Wireless (http://www.sprint.com)

I just read that two seconds ago on CNN and was going to post about it.

I have Sprint/Nextel... I've called maybe 3-4 times in my 5 years of service.

I can't imagine why anyone would ever have to call 40-50 times a month!

The only real issue I've ever had was that I had to call to add a text message service to my phone.

I say good for them... it frees the lines for those who really have an issue.

good for sprint

People are idiots. That's why they need to call all the time. My question is - can we do the same thing to them if they continue calling us to let us know what specials they are running and those annoying text messages they send telling us stupid stuff? That's my only complaint with Sprint. That and the fact that you have to renew your contract anytime you want to change anything on your phone.

Well if you need out of a wireless contract, you know what to do now.

Well if you need out of a wireless contract, you know what to do now.

Good point

lol - that is a great idea and could save some serious money on cancellation fees...

Not sure how smart it was to advertise the easy way out of a contract.. of course, you'd have to be pretty desperate to call any place of business more than 40 times...

I'd pull my hair out having to answer the questions over and over and over.. try calling tech support in India ahhhggggg!

I was just thinking that.

lol - that is a great idea and could save some serious money on cancellation fees...

Not sure how smart it was to advertise the easy way out of a contract.. of course, you'd have to be pretty desperate to call any place of business more than 40 times...

I'd pull my hair out having to answer the questions over and over and over.. try calling tech support in India ahhhggggg!

No.. calling that much is not even worth my own time. If the service were truly that bad, I'd happily cut my losses and pay whatever fees needed to be paid.

I have been a Sprint customer for years, so have my 2 sons. I can not imagine why anyone would wish to call customer service so many times! It stresses me out to even have to call and talk to them, most of the time I can not understand what they are saying. (Please place microphone on headpiece closer to your MOUTH!)

Of course, we also, deal with a society that are overridden by drugs, alcohol, mental - illnesses as well as a group of those that are elderly or with disAbilities.

I sure hope that Sprint made sure that they didn't disregard these factors which are all covered under legal protection. Sprint has no choice but to deal with people that really may not fully understand the product they have purchased or been given. Sprint as well as any other public entity must provide whatever it takes to assist those with disAbilities.

I have been a Sprint customer for years, so have my 2 sons. I can not imagine why anyone would wish to call customer service so many times! It stresses me out to even have to call and talk to them, most of the time I can not understand what they are saying. (Please place microphone on headpiece closer to your MOUTH!)

Of course, we also, deal with a society that are overridden by drugs, alcohol, mental - illnesses as well as a group of those that are elderly or with disAbilities.

I sure hope that Sprint made sure that they didn't disregard these factors which are all covered under legal protection. Sprint has no choice but to deal with people that really may not fully understand the product they have purchased or been given. Sprint as well as any other public entity must provide whatever it takes to assist those with disAbilities.

I'm pretty sure the ADA doesn't require Sprint to take these factors into account. It would seem to me that so long as these factors weren't contributory to Sprint's discrimination, they're in the clear. My gut tells me that this decision is based solely on factors such as number of calls to customer care within a certain period of time.

I think the ADA in this case is wholly irrelevant.

Perhaps it was those that opted to select #2 for services on their phone.

It is difficult for anyone to try to speak with customer services, via a phone line these days, let alone anyone with any type of speech, hearing or learning difficulties...or non-English speaking .

I was just conversing with Sprint last week and was about to pull my hair out! I had actually re-newed the contract on my sons' 2 phones a few months back, and they didn't have that indicated anywhere on their computers, although, when I renewed it and upgraded both phones (which is required if you need to upgrade a phone), the tech guy was adamant that I had not re-newed their contracts. The computer said so! LOL

I was on their account online so I was proposing a few questions to the tech that was on their account, that was not on his computer. I also call them by their name and ask their age (he was 20). After a little bit of personal inquiries, I always get what I called in regards to. All I wanted was the promised $150.00 off the phone he was entitled to that they didn't have to replace his with - when he renewed his contract but didn't get the upgrade on 1 phone, due to the fact that they didn't have it to replace his with.

Our computer says.........ACK!

The computer is only as smart as the human that actually puts the data in it.

The computer relates the data that my sons' contract ends Dec 2006, too, now, pray tell, how is that possible? I had to actually convince him that when 1 son got the new upgraded phone, THAT was the day that I (HAD TO HAD TO HAD TO) renew their contract to be eligible for the upgrades. 1 son got a phone 1 got a promise.

Actually they are both on a family plan, just the two of them, that was contracted with Sprint on the same day, and they actually have separate renewal dates. Don't ask me.........I still am shaking my head. Both.... outdated.

They could tell me what their computer says until hell freezes over. I know what I bought and what I did and before too long, it was in the computer, done right, and end of call. Thanks to 20 year old Andy that knew how to type!

My son will not speak with them until I get through all the entanglements with them, first and foremost. And he just turned 30! I think his most common saying is "Idiots, they are all i d i o t s!". He is an over-the-road truck driver so I bet he says that a lot.

Today, it was a call into SBC, due to the major lightening storm we endured in 2 storms last eve, we lost one computer, my 2 wire box, one TV, #2 and #3 on my router, 1 & 4 still work...all on surges.....but a bolt hit right by the house, split a tree.....

My son and I had already did all of the diagnostics on before we called and needed them to work on their end of the line. (you can't hear them either) Of course, they wanted us to begin at square 1, and we just needed them to assign info to a secondary router/modem box. Which they eventually understood and we were back in biz.


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PS: I rode with my son down to Purcell around 1 am and it was flooded. The street we were going to was right before the blockades. Nasty muddy water. Weird seeing a place flooded like that......

hahahaahHahaha.....

I was reading one of the Sprint 'You're Fired' letters to the non-profit-nagging- you call way-too-much- customers, that had been posted online and after all was related in their letter, the end of it related:


.....Should you have any questions.......
please call our customer care department ..........