 
Lets Golf
Premium
join:2006-01-05
Davenport, FL | My sister got a similar letter... Just a couple days ago, for using too much roaming even though they bill it as unlimited. She just purchased a new phone too in February that cost her $150 over the rebate amount. Sprint must be feeling a numbers crunch. | |
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 | dibbers
join:2003-09-19 | Re: My sister got a similar letter... It just goes to show that they (and other phone companies) couldn't care less about the customer.
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| | jester121
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL
 ·ViaTalk
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... That's the beauty of customers now -- there are plenty of them to go around, and if Sprint and all of its competitors continue to degrade the service they provide, they'll all have plenty of churn to go around. The people that get mad at Sprint go to AT&T, and who hate AT&T go to Sprint. It's much cheaper to do business that way, think of the marketing dollars they can save. | |
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KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK | Re: My sister got a similar letter... And this type of crap will continue as long as there are no consumer protection laws put into place.
We need reform in a lot of areas in regards to consumer protection; Rebates, for example. These cellphone contracts is another area. | |
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menumorut
BE an American.
join:2005-07-04
Queens Village, NY
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... said by KrK  :And this type of crap will continue as long as there are no consumer protection laws put into place. Here they have all the flavour (consumer protection laws) you want.
They don't work.
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Give the world changes at a pace it can absorb. | |
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| | | | CMoore2004
i r teh smarts
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·HughesNet Satellit..
| You're right. There should definitely be laws that makes them keep unprofitable customers, even though the contract clearly states the reasons you may be terminated.
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Sprint Mobile Broadband PX-500 | Windows XP MCE SP2 | Mobile AMD Athlon 64 4000+ | 1.5GB RAM | ATI Mobile Radeon X600 128MB | 120GB HDD | |
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menumorut
BE an American.
join:2005-07-04
Queens Village, NY
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... I am all pro-business but where you draw the line between annoying and discrimination.
Take all the clients/customers away and see what Sprint (or any business for that matter) is left with.
It seams that some companies forgot why there are in business in the first place.
This is the direct result of void in real competition, companies start to get picky about customers.
I don't want more laws, but I have been at the end of the stick where my bank wanted to terminate my account because I was complaining about a flaw in the online banking system. It was cheaper for them to terminate my account (they failed) than to fix the problem.
Get yourself in such situation and came back and tell us how trilled you are about it.
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Give the world changes at a pace it can absorb. | |
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| | | | | | CMoore2004
i r teh smarts
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·HughesNet Satellit..
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... said by menumorut :I am all pro-business but where you draw the line between annoying and discrimination. Take all the clients/customers away and see what Sprint (or any business for that matter) is left with. It seams that some companies forgot why there are in business in the first place. This is the direct result of void in real competition, companies start to get picky about customers. I don't want more laws, but I have been at the end of the stick where my bank wanted to terminate my account because I was complaining about a flaw in the online banking system. It was cheaper for them to terminate my account (they failed) than to fix the problem. Get yourself in such situation and came back and tell us how trilled you are about it. They're in business to make money. If said customer costs more in support every month than the profit on the plan, the customer is costing money. It's not a government agency that's there to benefit the consumer. If they WERE void of real competition, they'd have higher prices and could afford to keep the customer even with all of the annoying calls. If I were your bank, I'd just deny access to your online banking account--not terminate your account entirely. Do you think they're in the business of satisfying every single customer, or trying to satisfy the majority and making money doing so? I've had many Sprint phone calls to support, replaced a data card twice, and my account still stands. Perhaps it's because it's still profitable. Plus, I have referred many customers and not begged them for things for free.
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Sprint Mobile Broadband PX-500 | Windows XP MCE SP2 | Mobile AMD Athlon 64 4000+ | 1.5GB RAM | ATI Mobile Radeon X600 128MB | 120GB HDD | |
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menumorut
BE an American.
join:2005-07-04
Queens Village, NY
edit:
July 7th, @06:11AM
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... said by CMoore2004 : They're in business to make money. If said customer costs more in support every month than the profit on the plan, the customer is costing money. That is so difficult to predict, you make it sound like Sprint dedicated the resources of an entire department to this customer (they have a customer service dept. in place, what´s one more customer to attend?).
It is more like a showoff "you piss us off, we cut you off" or at lest that's how is gonna be perceived by the general public.
It is a bad business practice "to bite the hand that feeds you" in public.
I am certain that this behavior is gone cost Sprint more that they anticipated. I know for one I would not use them (if I have a choice)and advise against using them.
said by CMoore2004 :If they WERE void of real competition, they'd have higher prices and could afford to keep the customer even with all of the annoying calls. I beg to differ.
When a business have a shortage of customers (like with a real and pressing competition), it tends to go to greats lengths of trouble to keep them (not to mention attracting new ones).
Clearly that's not Sprint´s case.
said by CMoore2004 : If I were your bank, I'd just deny access to your online banking account--not terminate your account entirely. I´m so glad you are not my bank, cause I would have sued the oxygen out of you.
The fault in the system was platform-wide (every single customer)not to mention that the glitch broke the law and make the system commit fraud (read again my post: online banking system -is general and applies to everyone -I don´t have a unique system assign to me!).
You would still have denied me access to my online account?
said by CMoore2004 : Do you think they're in the business of satisfying every single customer, or trying to satisfy the majority and making money doing so? I try so hard not to contract services and/or goods from business that are run by people that think like you.
To answer your question:yes, you have to satisfy every single customer (to a reasonable extent possible)make money in the process, and in the same time and most important not tarnish you image (like with this customer)especially in US where a class action suit is so easy to put together.
Your remark about the online banking gave me a insight about where this conversation is going so don't expect me to answer to your posts anymore.
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Give the world changes at a pace it can absorb. | |
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
Albany, NY
| said by the summary :
it appears that Sprint will dump you as a voice or wireless broadband customer if you call for assistance (or to correct billing issues) too frequently
said by CMoore2004 :You're right. There should definitely be laws that makes them keep unprofitable customers, even though the contract clearly states the reasons you may be terminated. So if my wireless provider insists on messing up my bill over and over I should choose between getting it corrected (and getting myself cut off) or keeping my phone service (and paying the wrong bills)? | |
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menumorut
BE an American.
join:2005-07-04
Queens Village, NY | Re: My sister got a similar letter... Damned if you do , damned if you don´t. | |
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| | | | | | CMoore2004
i r teh smarts
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·HughesNet Satellit..
| Would you want to stick with said company that messes up the bill over and over? Anyways, last I checked Sprint billed each customer once per month. One call per month will not get you terminated, rest assured.
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Jason Levine
Premium
join:2001-07-13
Albany, NY
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... said by CMoore2004 :Would you want to stick with said company that messes up the bill over and over? If it's a wireless company, you might not have a choice. Most wireless phone companies sign you to multi-year contracts which require you to pay them if you leave before the contract ends.
said by CMoore2004 :Anyways, last I checked Sprint billed each customer once per month. One call per month will not get you terminated, rest assured. Did you read the Consumerist article? One person called every month because they insisted on adding a $10 unlimited text messages fee which he didn't ask for. Then they only would remove $8 of it. Finally, when his phone had technical difficulties and the replacement phone also had problems, Sprint sent him the letter. Basically, it's too much of a bother for them to fix their own billing and technical support problems so they just disconnect people who complain about it. | |
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Corehhi
join:2002-01-28
Bluffton, SC | It's the A-Holes that screw everything up. If I were ATT I would do the same. There are real issues and then there are BS people who call constantly trying to get free stuff. Same A-Holes who always try to get a free desert. | |
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Phattieg
join:2001-04-29
Jacksonville, FL
·Verizon Wireless B..
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| said by dibbers :It just goes to show that they (and other phone companies) couldn't care less about the customer. Actually, to me it shows they care. If 3% of your subscriber base has constant problems, and everyone else is ok, then why hassel you with service you hate. They at least release you from your obligations in the contract, and they remove you from the service. If you're either A) too stupid to use your phone, or B) are having numerous issues that prompt you to call more than a normal person would, then I don't see the problem with this. I think it should be this way, and I think more customers should be 86'd for bugging support over issues that are obviously not going away. YOU can think it's poor support, but for me, it shows that Sprint isn't going to continue providing YOU as an individual subscriber with service you don't like, can't use, or want to complain alot about. They are not obligated to keep providing it to you, so it's about time they took that "right" and used it. If you're calling once a month for "credits for lost service" or "issues with your text messages" or anything like that, this is your free card to dump them and switch carriers without being bound to a contract.
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SIPPhone/Gizmo # 17476200648 / PIMPNET Chatline / Ran by Asterisk & Slackware 10.1. | |
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| | | Cogdis
join:2007-03-26
Floral Park, NY
edit:
July 8th, @10:19PM
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... I agree with Phattieg that it's a blessing in disguise.
I want one.  | |
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Kyle
join:2003-10-15
Toledo, OH
 ·buckeye cable
edit:
July 5th, @02:40PM
| I was told this on the phone. If you correct their mistakes to much it will flag your account. When you question it they won't tell you anything but hang up on you.
Edit Add- In order to get their mistakes fixed you have to file a complaint with Sprint or the BBB and then let some office in Texas call you a month or two later to actually tell you that it was fixed- etc but the system says the billing error is still there.
I added a phone to my account back in Nov. and was charged $500 all on my account- it ended up shutting my services off. They're excuse; we're sorry but it was an error in our billing system it will take 3 months to clear this up. And it still is an issue; but regardless i like sprint. my service works, i have service everywhere I go, and my service is cheap. | |
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| | new2sbcdsl
Got Oracle
join:2002-11-21
Lake Villa, IL | Re: My sister got a similar letter... I had file with the FCC to get my money back after rude cusomter service and i was sop [issedo ff i actually paid early termination fee to move to another carrier. | |
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Jerm
join:2000-04-10
Richland, WA
| First off I always take the Consumerist with a grain of salt - they're about as shady as a telco PR campaign...
But some key points surrounding the guy who got this letter are missed... he was on SERO, or the Sprint Employee Referral plan basically - $30 a month gets you 500min, unlimited txts, data, pic mail, etc - if you do it right, heck some people have got EVDO teathering to work with this plan and get fast mobile broadband also.
Part of the SERO plan's orginal intent was to work deals for people who *would not* require a lot of hand holding. Terminating someone because they are dumb and call support five times a day I would agree with. Now if it's a problem on the carriers part, well then the customer should be able to fight this.
I'm currently on a Verizon Employee type plan, and I would *never* call in... besides I like my haxor'd Razor and the EVDO inet on my laptop  | |
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| | Steve B
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA
edit:
July 5th, @03:16PM
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... Having SERO or any other plan has nothing to do with it. It is a plan that Sprint offered and agreed to give customers. Go over to Sprint Users to see where the crap storm that Sprint is going to get started from. If Sprint keeps messing up the bill, which they have been notoriously known to do, a customer has a right to call in until its fixed, no matter how many times it will take and not have to worry about their account getting terminated. | |
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| | | flankspeed8
join:2001-07-20
Saint Paul, MN
clubs:
 ·Verizon FIOS
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... I challenge some of you to go into HOFO or SU and read some of the posts about what these people have managed to pretty much extort out of Sprint. Not that it was the case with this person, but many users (including people on forums such as slick deals, fat wallet, consumerist, etc) will literally call and call until they get what they want. They want 6pm Night and weekend. Do they feel they should pay for it? Heck no, I will call and badger the rep until they give it to me, if that doesn't work, I will hang up and call again. Each of these calls costs Sprint dearly. Look at SERO. When it came out, the terms very clearly said it was for NEW activations only. Did that stop the hordes of people from calling over and over and over?? No. It is Sprint's fault for creating this culture of entitlement.
This aside, Sprint does have HORRID support and it does take several calls to get stuff fixed sometimes, but not all customers are worth their effort and they have shown this. | |
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| | | | Steve B
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... The problem with what you're saying is that Sprint agreed and willingly gave the customers what they wanted. All Sprint had to do was say no. Customers have the right to get the best deal and if Sprint gives it to them even though they know they shouldn't give the freebies away....then Sprint should take responsibility. | |
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MattE
Obama '08
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
 ·Corporate Colocation
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... said by Steve B :The problem with what you're saying is that Sprint agreed and willingly gave the customers what they wanted. All Sprint had to do was say no. Customers have the right to get the best deal and if Sprint gives it to them even though they know they shouldn't give the freebies away....then Sprint should take responsibility. SERO = Sprint Employee Referral Offer
The people on the forums begged, borrowed and stole Sprint employee email addresses to get it.
Heck, they reduced his balance to 0, waived the early termination fee and offered to assist him move to another carrier. That's pretty generous. I've worked customer support for a Big Blue company and there were some customers who you had to simply tell to buzz off and doing everything possible to help them. The old adage definitely applies, "You simply can't please some people."
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Oh I'm so creative and all my programs are so easy to use ... | |
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| | | | | | Steve B
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... True, you can't please everyone but, not everyone is like that. Sprint has been known to be shady before. They will only waive the ETF and bring any balance to zero. That's it. The issue with your statement is that you assume everyone is how you describe and that is not the case and not all of them have SERO. Don't forget there is more than one person involved in all this. | |
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| | | CMoore2004
i r teh smarts
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Jonesville, MI | And it's a contract the customer agreed to. Have you read it? | |
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| | | | Steve B
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... Yeah actually, I have but, just because something is in writing, doesn't mean its not bad business practice. Nothing may not be done in court if it goes that route but, Sprint will be crucified in the court of public opinion which could be just as bad. | |
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The Monkey
I like bananas
Premium
join:2000-10-08
New York, NY
·RoadRunner Cable
| said by CMoore2004 :And it's a contract the customer agreed to. Have you read it? Yes, it's a contract, but that certainly doesn't mean all of it is enforceable. It's a contract of adhesion and these boilerplate agreements will be construed against the drafter in cases of any ambiguity.
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| | | | Steve B
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA
| Re: Consumerist RTFA... I already hear about problems with combining the billing system. If that is the cause of these billing errors of people getting booted, then wtf is Sprint booting them for? The first 30 days don't mean nothing will happen on day 31 and over. The whole gotcha thing is true. Like I said either here or on another forum, the people involved don't exactly expect things to get done legally, but they are expecting to hurt Sprint in the court of public opinion which could be just as bad. | |
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Nanoprobe
Wandering in subspace
Premium
join:2003-05-11
Orlando, FL
clubs:
| They are losing customers at the rate of 100,000 per month. If not corrected soon I would expect to see them go belly up. Wouldn't bother me at all. They were my first provider back in the analog days and their CS was horrible then. I don't know how they've survived this long.
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If you're a Republican,Raise your hand.
If you're a Democrat, raise both hands. | |
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| | Taget
join:2004-07-29
| Re: My sister got a similar letter... said by tc1uscg :said by Lets Golf :Just a couple days ago, for using too much roaming even though they bill it as unlimited. She just purchased a new phone too in February that cost her $150 over the rebate amount. Sprint must be feeling a numbers crunch. Funny, the fine print says if 50% of your minutes are used as roaming, your roaming too much. Think is says if the MAJORITY (51%?) minutes is roaming, it's BYE BYE..If you think your in a area that isn't covered, go with someone who covers your area.. It's like someone buying a snowmobile and living in Tampa..  then going back to dealer and complaining that it's hard to ride in the sand..  A more accurate analogy would be someone buying a snowmobile in Tampa and having the dealer later ask for the snowmobile back so he can sell it for more money in a colder climate. | |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | send Sprint the bill for early termination: $200
if wireless companies are allowed to drop customers AND charge $200 to customers if they decide to break a contract, customers should be allowed to charge the wireless companies if THEY break the contract.
same standard. only fair. | |
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Rhanlav
Dook?
join:2005-01-28
Jacksonville, FL
·EarthLink
| Ironic... I find it interesting they put the customer care number at the end of the letter, after saying that they're giving the person the boot for calling their customer support too much.
Hmm. I think this is a perfect opportunity for the person getting the boot to rack up some more phone calls to their support folks just because. | |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | Re: Ironic... good idea. i'd call once a day for a month. each time, just take forever to explain why you are calling. ramble. pretend to be senile. whatever it takes.  | |
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| Steve B
join:2004-08-02
Seattle, WA | Your not the only person to notice that a person's account gets terminated because of calling Customer Care too much then tell the customer call Customer Care....the same thing the account was terminated for? What a damn joke. | |
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| | dentman42
join:2001-10-02
Columbus, OH
·AT&T Midwest
| Re: Ironic... Who says you even have to have service with them to call their customer care? Anybody could call and waste their time, at least a minute or two before the rep hangs up...
I'm sure glad I dumped Sprint this year. They must have the worst coverage in this area. Since I went to TMobile I haven't had a single dropped call. I'm a low usage user, and probably 50% of my Sprint calls ended up dropped. Verizon has by far the best coverage in this area. | |
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DivineDark
join:2001-08-30
Oklahoma City, OK
clubs:
| good riddiance I'm glad to see them go. There are a lot of extreme cases of people calling thousands of times a year. I hope the person who received this letter was one of them. I bet he/she was a credit hound. Ive seen customers that have $2000+ in credits with only 3-5 payment in the last 3 years. They have somehow finagled their way into every pda for free. I like 5-10 free phones a year. Why? because they call in so much and ask for credit. If they don't get it they hang up and try a new customer service rep. That example is no exaggeration. These people deserve to be canceled. Its nice to see something finally done about this. | |
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dcurrey
join:2004-06-29 | Thats how you do it. Now we know how to get out of paying the early termination fees. Just bug the hell out of them until they cancel you. | |
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| ignatiuskc
join:2006-02-13
00000
| Re: Thats how you do it. said by dcurrey :Now we know how to get out of paying the early termination fees. Just bug the hell out of them until they cancel you. That's a great point. Sprint's tactic will backfire. OTOH, it would make more sense to get Sprint since you can easily get out of contract if you'd like. | |
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| jesseb_66
join:2002-12-06
Tucson, AZ
| Agreed. I would think this is a GOOD thing for the company and the user, not bad. If you have so many issues like this neither party is making good on the relationship, so you get rid of a company that isn't working out and you get out of your contract. | |
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verolom
join:2002-03-23
Eatontown, NJ | iPhone, here we come! I guess this is one way to break your contract to get an iPhone, following the proven "annoy your provider to hell" methodology... And people say phone companies are inhumane ... | |
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| ignatiuskc
join:2006-02-13
00000 | Re: iPhone, here we come! iPhone is already so last week. Great interface. Sucks at everything else. Next... | |
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koma3504
Advocate
Premium
join:2004-06-22
North Richland Hills, TX
edit:
July 5th, @02:42PM
| Read title 48 Title 48 of the F.C.C. rules and regulations Lawyers Edition.
States that is is against the rules to treat one customer any different than any other.
FYI: It is also the federal rules and regulations to falsify a report to the F.C.C. punishable by a Fine. etc...
YEs i have read the entire boor and amendments.
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† Koma †
If YOu Don't Think It's Possable!! It's Acually A Reality!! The best way to predict the future is to invent it. Alan Kay!!
Ya Don't Know The signal Till Ya Ride It!!
Voice Break's There's Trouble!! | |
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Sprint: You're Annoying, Goodbye
Uhh...
