Sprint Clarifies How Annoying Is Too AnnoyingSays 1,200 customers sent termination letters ( old news - 04:44PM Monday Jul 09 2007) tags: business · wireless · Oddities · SprintTipped by Yippz  Last week, reports emerged that Sprint was terminating the service of voice and data customers who called the provider to resolve billing or other problems too frequently. Says the letter Sprint sent to a number of annoying customers: "Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general 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 has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs..." This week, Sprint tells the Associated Press that the total number of impacted customers was between 1,000 and 1,200 and that those customers called Sprint a total of 40,000 times in one month. "In some cases they were calling customer care hundreds of times a month for a period of six to 12 months on the same issues even after we felt those issues had been resolved," says a Sprint rep. One of those "annoying" customers tells her side of the story here, claiming a significant number of her calls were to correct repeated billing errors made by Sprint.
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chanur
Premium
join:2001-02-26
Colorado Springs, CO
| Re: Never had Sprint, but Sprint's Nextel blows I had and liked Sprint until the Nextel merger.
Without a doubt customer service crashed after that point, and walking into a Sprint/Nextel storefront started feeling like walking into a car dealership... they even had the 3 levels of warranty coverage they tried to stuff down your throat.
I dropped them mid contract and paid my termination fee's, and it was the best decision I have made cell phone wise in a long time.
I'm certain some brain in a suit thought of this wonderful idea as another cost cutting measure. Some part of me hopes he has his walking papers, but on the other hand the customers that are being dropped are actually benefiting, so who knows?
All in all I'm enjoying the public relations disaster they have made for themselves. | |
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Trinijoy
Premium
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ | I worked customer care, believe customers just call in to get credit and never pay a bill and will make up any sob story to get money. Believe me I feel no sympathy for these customers and they got what they deserved. | |
| | | | | | whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
 ·AT&T Southwest
| said by Trinijoy :I worked customer care, believe customers just call in to get credit and never pay a bill and will make up any sob story to get money. Believe me I feel no sympathy for these customers and they got what they deserved. =========================================
hey Son,YOU & SO MANY OTHERS need to get YOUR PRIORITIES togeather.
WITHOUT CUSTOMERS,YOU WOULDN'T HAVE A DAM JOB IF a person or company gives BAD service,WE the CUSTOMER,are the ones that have the right & CAN say good by to your company, SIMPLY because your personnel,ARE to lazy to do their job right or DON'T CARE about doing their job right | |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN
| Re: Never had Sprint, but Sprint's Nextel blows said by whocares :WITHOUT CUSTOMERS,YOU WOULDN'T HAVE A DAM JOB I think he said he worked in a call center. Not on a river. And since dams generate electricity I think there's much job security there.
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kustomerservice.net | |
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FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD | Re: Never had Sprint, but Sprint's Nextel blows cue in the "No Applause" sign...that was a direct MISS!
A name change seems somewhat the proper thing to do now, Chucky boy...;) | |
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Chuckles
Premium
join:2006-03-04
Saint Paul, MN | Re: Never had Sprint, but Sprint's Nextel blows Why change my name? BTW I got a thumbs up  | |
| | | | lefty1
join:2002-10-25
Clay, NY
| Jazzy1120 wrote: "WITHOUT CUSTOMERS,YOU WOULDN'T HAVE A DAM JOB IF a person or company gives BAD service"
I've worked customer service as well (not at Sprint), and if they're moochers, they're not the kind of customers any company wants; the only question is how much of it are they willing to tolerate.
"WE the CUSTOMER,are the ones that have the right & CAN say good by to your company"
The company has that right as well, and they're exercising it. Some customers may be getting screwed over by this action, but I'll bet most of them are sponges that Sprint has elected to do without. And unless you're one of them, what are you getting upset about? | |
| | | supertech315
join:2006-03-01
Perris, CA | I'm with you brother but i'm sure is gotta be some exceptions | |
| | | fldiver
Premium
join:1999-12-27
Jacksonville, FL
| Believe what you will, but Sprint screwed up my billing from DAY ONE! 3 months later, they are STILL working on it. I even spent over an hour explaining to the customer service rep what was wrong and why; they agreed it was wrong and it would corrected the following moment; needless to say, it was NOT. I don't appreciate your generalizing all customers into one bucket. There are those of us who value honesty, and I expect a lot of Sprint's issues are their own self induced problems. If I did not need high-speed access I would have stuck with T-Mobile and yes, they were extremely customer focused. Sprint better watch out, or they are likely to find themselves in a class-action lawsuit over this one. | |
| | whocares
Premium
join:2003-07-26
..
·AT&T Southwest
| said by en102 :I use Sprint/Nextel on my Blackberry, and service in general blows chunks. If it was on a personal line, I'd try to get my service cancelled that way as well  To be fair... AT&T (Cingular... AT&T Wireless - another carrier with personality disorder) has done similar with roaming. HEY en102, wow IF you were trying to stir up a hornets net you sure did with this post,(ROFL)
but yes have to agree with you as far as AT&T 6 their billing dept.
To be fair... AT&T (Cingular... AT&T Wireless - another carrier with personality disorder
but as long as "THEY owe me a credit, I'am happy,
a credit??, yes EVERY MONTH probally for last 5 yrs, my total, (I have EVERY OPTION with sw bell/SBC/ATT rxcept networking & the tv service, but my monthly bill for everything is BETWEEN $125.-4130.00, since AT&T took over, bill has been bouncing all around, (from a low of $56.00 to last month $101.00 some reason billing cannot get its act togeather, I just keep paying what I THINK" my bill is & let them try to figure out their paper work | |
| | Tim618
join:2003-10-14
Garrettsville, OH
 ·DIRECTV
| To me it would seem if people were calling in hundreds of times a month about problems, they should have ditched them a looong time ago. Who cares if you've been with them your whole life or whatever. If your having so many problems, ditch them- the transition to another carrier couldn't be easier, plus you could keep the same number. I recommend verizon to all you sprinters that got cut off! | |
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Lil Jon
Premium
join:2006-06-26
Lawrenceville, GA
| said by en102 :I use Sprint/Nextel on my Blackberry, and service in general blows chunks. If it was on a personal line, I'd try to get my service cancelled that way as well Nothing personal against Sprint/Nextel... however, it appears that they've been trying to be too many things (CDMA provider, iDEN provider - bleeding customers, WiMax provider ) ... what's next ? To be fair... AT&T (Cingular... AT&T Wireless - another carrier with personality disorder) has done similar with roaming. VZ Wireless booted people for data card usage as well. I think T-Mobile is probably the only carrier that's a little more customer oriented. co-sign | |
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LiamJunket
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Ocean City, NJ
 ·Comcast
| Re: Mmm, I see said by exocet_cm :1,200 customers whine so you cut em off... there ya go! Great idea Sprint! If they are calling 35 to 40 times a month or more and when many of the complaints are bogus(some customers do try to scam the system and get money back they aren't entitled too), darn right you dump them.
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Internet News
My BLOG
My Web Page | |
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Jeffrey
Bye George, 1937-2008
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Huntington Station, NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Vonage
·magicjack.com
1 edit | Re: Mmm, I see said by LiamJunket :said by exocet_cm :1,200 customers whine so you cut em off... there ya go! Great idea Sprint! If they are calling 35 to 40 times a month or more and when many of the complaints are bogus(some customers do try to scam the system and get money back they aren't entitled too), darn right you dump them. Agreed. There is such a thing as "the customer is not always right". It's purely a business decision to dump those customers.
Edit: And I don't like Sprint at all, FWIW. Not a big fan of Big Bad Verizon either, but my Fios Internet and cell service with Verizon has been excellent, and never a billing error in the 3 years I've subscribed to Fios, and the ~7 years I've had Verizon, which I had back when it was Bell Atlantic Mobile.
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"When you get lost in your imaginatory vagueness, your foresight becomes a nimble vagrant."
[Ramblings] [RIP Millie 1993-2006]
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S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL
·Comcast
| Re: Mmm, I see the customer signs a contract. Sprint holds your feet to the fire in regards to your obligations, why not hold their feet to the fire when they screw up?
Or are you just the type of idiot that Sprint wants; A non-questioning direct-billing recipient of bad service that does not scrutinize your bill whatsoever? | |
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Jeffrey
Bye George, 1937-2008
Premium
join:2002-12-24
Huntington Station, NY
clubs:
·Optimum Online
·Verizon FIOS
·Vonage
·magicjack.com
| Re: Mmm, I see said by S_engineer :the customer signs a contract. Sprint holds your feet to the fire in regards to your obligations, why not hold their feet to the fire when they screw up? Or are you just the type of idiot that Sprint wants; A non-questioning direct-billing recipient of bad service that does not scrutinize your bill whatsoever? First of all, I'm no idiot. Secondly, I don't use Sprint which, by definition shows I'm not an idiot. 
Lastly, if you read my above post - and I don't think you did because I clearly stated I don't have Sprint and I have never had a problem with any bill as far as over-charging, for as far back as I can remember. So, who's the idiot now?
I scrutinize my Verizon cell bill every single month when it's due. It's the same $64.32 (give or take a few cents) every single month.
Look, I'm not a huge fan of big business. That being said, companies are in business to make money. If a person is causing them a revenue hit, then as a company, I believe that they are within their right to terminate the customer. Likewise, if you don't like the service, move on. It's not like Sprint is the only carrier.
I've personally had to "fire" customers from our families own consulting business. It's a choice that the business has, and it's a choice of the customer to go somewhere else.
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"When you get lost in your imaginatory vagueness, your foresight becomes a nimble vagrant."
[Ramblings] [RIP Millie 1993-2006]
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FiL
Premium
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD
| Re: Mmm, I see ^"I clearly stated I don't have Sprint and I have never had a problem with any bill as far as over-charging, for as far back as I can remember."
Seems you overlook the fact the news item isn't about you...?
These guys felt the need to call in an clarify problems they thought existed. Seems ENTIRELY LOGICAL that if Sprint manned up to the problems, be it a real problem or p-noid customer, they MIGHT have found a concise way of telling their paying customers "you know what, your wrong and here's why" or "we'll fix that for you, sorry" (cold day in hell that last word is ever used by them).
One lady found many monetary problems in her bill, and so called to have them change it. Yet they shafted her. Why? Was it that her calling-in spree took up to much bandwidth(?), choking up the queue line? Or do they only do bizness with people that don't scrutinize their bill?
That's the problem right there. Don't offer free call in support numbers if you gonna get ya friggin panties wet when people 'call in'...lol. Otherwise, man the eff up. The money machine ain't stopping cuase of these few thousand people... | |
| | | | | | | | | | maccentric
join:2004-11-30
Frisco, CO
| I have to call Sprint every month because of a billing issue. Today I've been on the phone for 2 hours to try and resolve an issue that I've had since I got the phone 18 months ago. When they set up the account, they neglected to remove the previous owners' County information, so I was being charged tax in two different counties. For months they were trying to tell me that it was my fault, I set up the account incorrectly (went to a Sprint store and had them set it up, exactly how did I go wrong here? Oh yeah, I went to a Sprint store, I should have gone somewhere else). They have finally stopped charging me, but I still can't get refunded for the past 18 months of erroneous charges. They keep telling me it's some other department, or I have to get the money back from the County, or anything else they can think of besides actually taking care of the issue.
I also had issues with Roaming (why do I need to roam when I'm on Main St. in Frisco, 5 blocks from I-70???). Those seem to be resolved after about 10 calls.
I am out of my contract and as soon as I find a better provider (iPhone?) I'm so done with them. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
1 edit | Re: Mmm, I see said by maccentric :I am out of my contract and as soon as I find a better provider (iPhone?) I'm so done with them. Newsflash.. whyPhone is not a provider.. No wonder your having problems. 
If your roaming 5 blocks from I-70.. it appears the RF engineer didn't properly setup the antenna pattern during his "drive testing". You can open trouble tickets for this kind of issue.. Wanna get out of your contract since you hate them so much.. Then while your home, make a call then pull your battery. Do this 2 or 3 times a day for a week, then complain. Keep doing it. They can check this data and see they are not filling your needs. Maybe, just maybe you can get them to let you jump ship to Verizon or some other company without paying the ETF, but anyone else is just as bad and costs you more.. Your choice.. That's what makes this country great.. choices.  | |
| | | | | maccentric
join:2004-11-30
Frisco, CO
| Re: Mmm, I see Yes, I'm quite aware that the iPhone isn't a service, it's a phone provided by AT&T, I just assumed there was a certain level of intelligence here that could make that leap (since there's only one carrier that has the iPhone, it implies that I'll be using that service, no?). Also, as I noted in your quote, I'm out of my contract, I'm just waiting to see how things pan out with the iPhone or if I should go with Verizon, who seems to have the best service out here.
Likely it is people like you who are manning the phones at Sprint which is the reason my bill is wrong practically every month (can't comprehend simple English, can't make rudimentary logical associations, etc.)
Newsflash?---yeah, thanks. Though you did provide some decent info after trying to make me sound like an idiot. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
2 edits | Re: Mmm, I see said by maccentric :Yes, I'm quite aware that the iPhone isn't a service, it's a phone provided by AT&T, I just assumed there was a certain level of intelligence here that could make that leap (since there's only one carrier that has the iPhone, it implies that I'll be using that service, no?). Also, as I noted in your quote, I'm out of my contract, I'm just waiting to see how things pan out with the iPhone or if I should go with Verizon, who seems to have the best service out here. Likely it is people like you who are manning the phones at Sprint which is the reason my bill is wrong practically every month (can't comprehend simple English, can't make rudimentary logical associations, etc.) Newsflash?---yeah, thanks. Though you did provide some decent info after trying to make me sound like an idiot. I didn't have to try .. switch providers (iPhone) You sorta did that yourself so lets not be pointing fingers on who did what. But then again, I'm not the one who wants to swap providers just for a phone.. Why didnt you just say Verizon or AT&T? Switching and implying its for the phone, Now that's not being an idiot, it's being stupid.. but hey.. it's your money. Who cares if you get service, as long as the phone looks cool.
As far as manning the phones at Sprint.. Sprint can't afford me as a CSR.. I'd be giving away free this.. free that.. "Over charged, bad service? No problem.. Zero balance for the month. Anything else I can help you with today?" But if your a tech at a central office or network center, you might get lucky and talk to me one day. But then again, if you get the iphone.. maybe you won't. | |
| | | elister
join:2006-07-17
Seattle, WA
| Indeed, having worked in a call center, I know which ones are trying to work the system.
"Hi, my bill has jumped 40$ why?!", Customer
"You were on a 12 month promotion, which discounted the cost. If you dont like the cost, we can trim services, make changes and get the bill to a level that works for you?", CSR
"No, I dont want to make any changes, I want what I originally agreed to", Customer
"What you agreed to was a 12 month promotion, which ended last month. You do have options, we can make changes and lower the bill", CSR
"I want to talk to your supervisor!", Customer
It happens quite alot, when the customer doesnt want to cut services to lower the bill, all they want is an extension of the promotion. They are basically working the system and they know it, they just do a bad job at pretending they are shocked. Occasionally they throw in the "IM ON A FIXED INCOME, I CANT AFFORD THIS", and the monthly bill is basically 120$ a month for all bells and whistles services. If your on a fixed social security income, you can barely afford TV.
For billing abuse, I do deal with alot of customers who refuse to understand what pro-rating is. Since our company bills for the month in advance, major account changes require us to re-rate or re-bill them. So whatever they upgrade or downgrade to, they get billed for a month and a few weeks worth of service. They think were over billing them, they dont even bother to look past the 1st page where it FULLY details the cost of each service and the dates they were billed for. They call, and call, and keep calling trying to get us to credit them a few weeks worth of billing because of the changes they make. It happens and the customers typically are rude or abusive.
We would never drop them, but with some customers, they basically have to be transfered to the manager immediately when they call. They don't want to do because they know the manager will clearly define the terms of their service. Explaining everything so that there can be NO confusion later on, and still they keep calling. | |
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Anub1s
join:2003-05-04
Cleveland, OH
·AT&T Yahoo
|  Re: Mmm, I see
I'm a supervisor for a terrible cable/hsd/tel company. I was going to write a piece, but you nailed it.
I just like to add that our service, is bottom barrel shit. I can understand why our customers call. The idiots we herd to handle the phones, they can't handle simple task, much less being berated by the general public for 8 hours.
The techs we use are the worst. Always running off at the damn mouth to the sub about shit they know nothing about.
We have new leadership at our supervisor queue and it is rough now. Most of the agents are dumb asses, the public has seen in the media how poor our customer service is. So, when they call, they immediately want to bypass the regular agent, who may be able to help them.
It is a sad, sick vicious cycle. Thats why, when I saw this article after work, I was like "Hell Yeah! Thats customer service!". A guy said we had poor customer service today, because "you did not call us and let us know our promotion was going to expire". WTF!?! | |
| | | | | supertech315
join:2006-03-01
Perris, CA | Re: Mmm, I see Dude you Rock this is totally true and funny | |
| | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
| Then again, there's my case where they kept billing me double the cost of the Wireless Web service which I was told was 10 dollars flat when I signed up. Magically, it jumped to 15-20 dollars and NO it wasn't a promotion. Next, I kept being charged extra on my repair plan. The best one, 60 dollars in a month for roaming that was included in my package. Ah yes, the countless hours on the phone with the incompetent techs who kept promising it to be fixed and only made things worse. Hell, I got the same song and dance as this woman. It took almost a year to finally get our billing correct. I finally said screw it, contacted the State Attorney General and Better Business Bureau. It was only then did my matter get any real priority and corrected. While I am sure you are a good tech, there are plenty who flat suck at this job. If you aren't trained properly or don't know the system, maybe a career change is needed. Thankfully, for the last 6 months, I've had a correct bill. I am sure 95 percent of people calling are like me. Sick and tired of telling them to fix their stupid mistakes. There might be the other 5 percent working the system. Who knows. Yet, that's not the majority. | |
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sivran
God Save The Suite
Premium
join:2003-09-15
Arlington, TX
clubs:
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Mmm, I see In defense of the reps who promised to fix it-- hell, they probably honestly thought they could/did fix it. Then, if/when they find out they didn't/couldn't, they can't or don't want to give you a call back to give you the bad news.
Yeah, I speak from experience. I've -been- that agent before. I've seen every permutation of I did/will fix it but didn't/couldn't and didn't know it/found out after-the-fact.
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Think outside the fox...Seamonkey | |
| | | | | | jc100
join:2002-04-10
·RoadRunner Cable
| Re: Mmm, I see Well good intentions often go bad. There are suppose to be logs to show whats been tried. However, no one seems to look at those. Everyone has a tendency to do the same thing over, and be surprised when it fails. Call it lack of training, understaffed, or simply not caring. I am not sure which it is. However, for the consumer, it equates to a headache when you got to call multiple times a month for the mistakes THEY create not you. Hence, sprint canceling customers for calling up too much is a joke. | |
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cdru
Go Colts
Premium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
·Verizon FIOS
| said by elister :It happens quite alot, when the customer doesnt want to cut services to lower the bill, all they want is an extension of the promotion. They are basically working the system and they know it, they just do a bad job at pretending they are shocked. I have no doubt people try to work the system. However on more then a few occasions I've had to talk with a CSR that was very unhelpful, borderline clueless.
The latest incident was when I was trying to get signed up for FiOS TV. It took 3 or 4 calls to the order department before anyone would even acknowledge that there was a special going on for HBO and the Movie Package. Every time prior to that call, the CSR would always flat out deny that any type of package like that existed.
One of three things probably were the case.
-The package existed, but the CSR just didn't want to help me. Possible, but not likely.
- The package didn't exist. Plausible, but since numerous other people had it, again not likely.
- The CSR wasn't trained right/notified of the promotion/etc. Most likely.
When I called back several times on the exact same issue, I'm sure there was some type of note entered into the system about my call. From someone reading through my call history, I'm sure it would have appeared like I was trying to work the system to get something I wouldn't normally get. But I wasn't. I was just trying to get a promotion that I qualified for.
I've had similar problems in the past with Dish Network and T-Mobile where I've had to play CSR-Roulette before finding one that could actually help me get something accomplished.
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Go Colts | |
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mocycler
Premium
join:2001-01-22
Naperville, IL
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Mmm, I see Well, if you do the math:
1100 customers (split the difference) x 40 calls per month each x say, 5 min. per call average = about 3670 (rounded) hours per month of service rep time.
Dividing that by a 40 hour work week, Sprint needs roughly 90 full-time reps just to deal with the call volume from these 1100 customers. Even if you tweak the numbers a little more conservative, it still adds up to A LOT of overhead.
Not to mention the damage when legitimate customers get more irritated every second they wait to talk to someone.
Seems like a no-brainer business decision to me. Sprint gets my vote on this one.
mocycler.
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Michieru2
zzz zzz zzz
Premium
join:2005-01-28
Miami, FL
| Re: Mmm, I see Every time you a transferred it's considered a new call, so if technical support transfers you over to sales, the system shows up as two calls placed.
So it's fair to say she probably did not even call all those 40 calls because I remember once being transfered 5 times, and on the phone for almost an hour to get a stupid power vision issue resolved.
It's also should be noted that the person who received this letter clearly made calls using her cell phone for her friends when they where having trouble with their cell provider (Sprint-Nextel) because she referred all of them too it.
If this customer leaves, so will her friends so the loss is not just one customer but if I remember correctly it's five. It's also fair to say that this customers has been on Sprint for about 8 years. It should also be made clear that Sprint has a billing issue, ever since the merger the billing errors has increased.
What Sprint does not see is how many customers has this user referred to Sprint. But Sprint is also being fair to waive all fees and to make this user move to another carrier.
She is not being forced to pay her contract, and they paid her last months bill. Sprint feels as if they could not satisfy her needs, although someone just did a mistake I am sure the user will not die or cannot live without Sprint-Nextel.
But maybe once the dust settles down in regards to the whole merger, and the systems are up and running some better training can be given to the staff and new channels to fix issues will open up stabilizing the company in the end and bringing the excellence of what Nextel had to offer.
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Duct tape, saving lives since 1942. | |
| tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| could backfire.. Sprint hasn't been a good wireless company.. they improved their quality when buying nextel.. but this move could backfire and cost them customers they never intended to let go or customers that were thinking about signing up with Sprint may go elsewhere... find an excuse to go to other carriers such as AT&T, Tmobile, Verizon, Virgin Mobile or another micro wireless carrier.. another thing for Sprint to think about, there are MANY customers I know who are NOT in contract right now and are looking for the next best thing that is not the AT&T/Iphone combo.. but tailored for their needs.. Just as Sony found an opportunity to kick Microsoft when they had to announce 1 billion in broken consoles for their $100 price cut, similarly, wireless could see other carriers take advantage of this.. Tune in to a TV near you for the shoe to drop (real soon)! | |
| | dlr_graph
join:2002-02-03
Elizabeth, NJ
| Re: could backfire.. How did they improve? I recall going to aNextel store and a customer was disputing $42 of calls not made by him. They charged him $35 to start a trouble call. In the end if he was responsible for the calls it would have cost him $35 to fight $42. In other words, pay the $42 and shut up. If not, pay $35 to dispute the $42 and it he was not liable he would have received $7 back. | |
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roamer1
sticking it out at you
join:2001-03-24
Atlanta, GA
clubs:
| said by tmc8080 :Virgin Mobile Virgin Mobile is partly owned by Sprint and uses Sprint's (CDMA) network.
-SC
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"Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. There might be a law against it by that time." -/usr/games/fortune | |
| VansHSI
join:2005-01-29
America
| Mixed Feelings My thoughts are kind of mixed on this.
For certain many of the calls that were made were because Sprint had many numerous errors and they deserved the call volume.
then again, if you were the customer and you had to call in that many times... then why would you want to remain a customer? Take your "get out of jail free card" and run man. There are lots of choices out there. | |
| bennor
join:2006-07-22
New Haven, CT
| Billing Errors - intentional? "... and says a significant number of her calls were to correct repeated billing errors made by Sprint."
Maybe Sprint decided it was cheaper to dump her rather than admit they had a billing error, issue her the refund, and fix the "glitch" so the billing error isn't repeated.
I do wonder if they, intentionally, have these unintentional "glitches" in their billing systems in the hopes that most people will simply pay the bill and not fight to get it changed. And when people do fight, they claim they are abusing the system and dump them like they did in this case. | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
Deft
Stros in '08
Premium
join:2003-09-06
Grand Forks, ND
clubs: | Verizon > Sprint Nuff said. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Verizon > Sprint said by Deft :Nuff said. =AT&T | |
| | | raptor1418
Premium
join:2002-12-03
Denver, CO
·magicjack.com
 ·Mesa Networks
·Comcast
| Re: Verizon > Sprint I can tell you this that everyone rags on one service or another. I can bet that no service provider is better than any other service provider in every single spot on this planet.
I could go and rag on Verizon and Sprint about how they both suck in the area I use my phone the most. Which btw is right on the outskirts of Denver on a major high coridor which I am only a 1/2 mile from. I use ATT which I had once before and ditched them for their lousy customer service and low and behold billing errors. I tried lots of services from that point on and never stayed more than a year with anyone of them because none of them provide a good service when I needed it.
So when I moved to this place I start the whole round robin thing all over again (verizon, Tmobile, cricket, sprint) and look I ended up going back to ATT again since I actually get a descent single where I live. I would have expected all the providers to have had a good signal for where I live which considering it is extremely populated and only a 1/2 mile from a major interstate they don't. It could be just the fact that I am in a low lying spot or there is just something else causing the problem. I don't know!! I just picked a service that fit for me not for the rest of the world.
Really I just want all this bashing of members here to stop that they are dumb or stupid or idiots for using this provider or that provider or this phone or that phone. Each person needs to decide what is best for them and what they are willing to deal with for problems or what they are willing to sacrifice for service to have good quality. No one service provider is going to work for everyone.
/RANT off | |
| | | | Timmn
join:2000-04-23
Tinley Park, IL | I wonder if it's not too late for me to get one? I would love to get out of my Sprint/Nextel contract with no termination fees.
If I started now, do you think they would kick me out too? | |
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Deft
Stros in '08
Premium
join:2003-09-06
Grand Forks, ND
clubs: | Re: Verizon > Sprint LESS THAN SYMBOL T-Mobile LOL | |
| crypticgeek
join:2007-07-01
North Sioux City, SD
| Hmmm "has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs"
Well at least Sprint is honest enough to acknowledge that they are too incompetent to be their wireless provider. Next step, file chapter 11 because we can't meet our customer's needs. How asinine.
Well, think of it this way...seems like an easy way to get out of your contract early with no termination fee... | |
| | Timt49
join:2004-01-19
Racine, WI
| Re: Hmmm i had a sprint data plan once upon a time and had no complaints..
now..i don't understand why everyoe is making such a big deal outa this, sprint obviously isn't interested in fixing their problems so they shit-can 1200 customers...so what? this may be a good thing for these people in the end...sprint isn't the only carrier out there.
like i told the x-wife when she took off with her big money boss...good bye, good luck and good ridance.... | |
| 
Cheese
Premium
join:2003-10-26
Naples, FL
clubs: | 1000 - 1200 40,000 times, roughly 40 times a person? WHAT THE FUCK IS IT CALLED CUSTOMER SUPPORT FOR IF THEY CAN'T CALL SUPPORT for SUPPORT! My god, I sure hope Sprint gets sued and loses for this. This is BEYOND ignorant on Sprints part. | |
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See 6 replies to this post | |
qworster
join:2001-11-25
Los Angeles, CA
·Brand X Internet
·RoadRunner Cable
·Vonage
·DSL EXTREME
1 edit | Sprint BLOWS! I have been with them 8 years and during that time seen their customer service drop from good to rotten! The only reason I stay with them is because they're the only provider that will allow shared phones in different area codes and areas of the USA.
In the past, my balance has gone as high as $500.00. Then I paid it in full, no biggie. NOW if you're more then 10 days late, they begin harassing you with automated voice and text calls about every half hour! I've also been cut off-TWICE when my bill was paid in full and a third time when I made a promise to pay and they (still) turned my phone off THREE DAYS before the agreed upon deadline! In one of the cases, they turned my phone off because of THEIR error on the bill, which resulted in a 56 dollar late bill. I was in Western Nebraska, out of their range-when I got back in range and went to check my messages I instead got transferred to an automated message which asked me if I: "Wanted to pay my past due balance now?". "WHAT past due balance?" I asked the CSR who came on after that. He looked in my records and said: "We've made a mistake-and we turned your phone off three days ago. You have no past due balance". I was PISSED, because for three days no one could leave me any messages.
To their credit, they have always immediately fixed their mistakes (IE: Turned the phione back on, fixed overcharges, etc.), but it's still true that Sprint makes a lot more billing mistakes then any other bill I have to pay. | |
| 
pokesph
It Is Almost Fast
Premium
join:2001-06-25
Sacramento, CA
clubs:
·Comcast
| Sprint is Annoying I can, as a current business nextel / sprint customer, only hope that this BS doesn't find it's way into the business side or to nextel clients.
this is total madness. if Sprint breaks something on their end or bills you incorrectly, then you have the right to call to clear it up, not doing so limits your rights should they try to force you to pay for their (own) mistakes. | |
| 
johndoe303
join:2003-01-01
Boca Raton, FL
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | Sprint SERO > Any Provider 1250 Anytime Minutes, 7PM N&W, Unl M2M, Unl Data, Unl Txt, Unl Pic Mail, Unl Vid Mail, and all for 49.99$.
I don't agree with this move from Sprint.. If anything it shows desperation on their part. I'm sure every company has their fair share of crazies calling all the time.. I think Sprint is going to use this as a rug in which they'll brush people under. Bottom line, this is a bad move that'll follow with bad press.
--
WRTSL54GS v2 + WRT54G v2 | |
| bngdup
join:2007-02-20
Old Bridge, NJ
·Cablevision
| I am losing thousands of dollars....... Having formerly been a CSR for a phone company, I was the guy you all yelled at when you had your "issues". There are literally armies of independant businesses that will call in after the slightest of service interruptions be it their fault or not, and demand ridiculous amounts of credit all because they lost thousands, hundreds of thousands....of dollars during the downtime (riiiiiiiiiiighhht...I'll believe that one). They will tie up CSR's for hours trying to milk the system for credits.
I am not defending Sprint here, just putting it out there. This really doesnt surprise me a major carrier would do this. These people they disconnect are the reason you are waiting on hold, seriously. They are the reason overseas support doesnt want to transfer you to american support.
It is funny though that because of "teh intarweb" that these things become public so quickly. I'd be interested to know if the Sprint 1000 have just as much fun dealing with the CSR's at their next provider | |
| smcallah
join:2004-08-05
Home
| Will this lead to... Blacklisted customers?
They leave Sprint, do the same thing to Verizon, get booted, repeat with the next provider...
Who do they buy service from in the end? Some expensive carrier that will take anyone? Kind of like the 29-35% interest rate credit cards? | |
| | patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY | Re: Will this lead to... They will get stuck with Verizon, and pay its higher rates. | |
| | AricBrown
join:2002-12-11
Amarillo, TX
·Cox HSI
·AT&T Southwest
| Screwed up Sprint I use sprint but I plan on dumping them after my contract runs out. I have had them for 8 years and I am tired of the screw ups, yes they fix it after I call. For instance my latest contract came because I decided to add a line for my daughter and said what the hell I'll get a new phone. So I called up before I got the new phone negotiated a good deal. I said I don't use internet that much so how about a $5.00 dollars for the data plan. She said ok. I went in bought a new Fusic phone. Started using the data got my first bill and they had $70 worth of data usage. I called back and said hey I had a $5.00 data plan, the CSR said that was for the vision plan not the new Power vision plan that the Fusic uses. WTF? in my city they don't have EVDO so the same speed on old phone and new phone yet they want to charge me $20 for that. | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Screwed up Sprint said by Cogdis :AricBrown they tried doing that to me too! I was paying $10 for vision for more than a year when I decided to upgrade to the PPC 6700 phone. Then after I recieve the phone, they tell me that I need to pay $25/mo now for internet. GTFO of here!!! I asked to talk to a supervisor and they let me keep the $10/mo plan. In addition they DEFINITELY have billing glitches:I added a third phone to my family plan, and the system would charge it's minutes separately from the pool as overage. I had to call for six straight months before they finally fixed it (they told me it was fixed every month). When I added a fourth phone this year the same thing happened! I highly doubt that's the only "glitch" with their system. Anyway, I'm not defending 40 calls per month, but those who use sprint know that one call is really 10 calls as you WILL get disconnected, and you WILL be transfered more than once.
It's a known practice that when you upgrade your phone, say going form vision to power vision, they will try and charge you for it. Now, had they given you a choice to keep vision (not as nice as power vision) for 10 bucks or upgrade to PV for 20, what would you have done? Now, had it been a reversal, say, you went from a power vision phone to a vision phone and you bill went down 10 bucks, would you have called to bitch? | |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| Re: Screwed up Sprint And you should have. Vision will work on PV phones. They just needed to flag your account as such. That's why when people who use to use their phones as a modem, when they had vision (which worked out of the box as a modem), when they went to Power vision (EVDO), all of a sudden, they didn't have that feature anymore. EVDO requires "tags" so certain features work and on a PV phone, PAM is 40 bucks more a month. No.. I'm not a CSR for Sprint.. but I've been there.. done that. At the time, PV addon was is 15 bucks. If you were getting 15.00 MORE added ontop of what you already had, they were trying to slip you a top of the line PV package (where some pay channels are free, etc). If you every had gotten a black berry, you might get lucky to have your billing squared away in 90 days or less. | |
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Trinijoy
Premium
join:2005-09-12
Brick, NJ | I am on the side of sprint. I worked customer care, believe me customers just call in to get credit and never pay a bill and will make up any sob story to get money. Believe me I feel no sympathy for these customers and they got what they deserved. | |
| | 
Junior Barnes
@sbcglobal.net | Re: I am on the side of sprint. Theres no way Sprint would give anything away for free. I think you need to experience the other side of the call when you get charged for something you don't owe for, and Sprint won't give the credit. This happens a lot with Sprint. | |
|
Sprint_
@cox.net | Sprint is the worst Sprint sent me a bill for 360 dollars, for an account used in a state i have never been too. This happened for 2 years after repeated letters and phone calls to correct, but finally had to hire a lawyer.
nuff said... | |
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Verizon > Sprint LESS THAN SYMBOL T-Mobile