Hear Us Now: Sprint to Customers: Complaining Will Not Be Tolerated

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An open and frank discussion of media and telecommunications issues - from the consumer point of view.

Sprint to Customers: Complaining Will Not Be Tolerated

Posted by Bob at 07/10/07 11:36 AM

In a "consumer-be-damned" move of epic proportions, wireless phone giant Sprint has informed more than 1,000 of its subscribers they are being disconnected for calling its customer service center too much.

That's right. For calling its customer service center too much.

Let's face it: It's pretty hard for a company to stand out for lousy customer service in the wireless phone business these days. Here at www.hearusnow.org, we get more complaints about wireless phone service than anything else. And it's not even close. We're talking exponential.

And no single company is better at being bad to its customers than Sprint, at least according to a recent MSNMoney poll. Sprint was the runaway winner in MSNMoney's recent "Customer Service Hall of Shame" poll.

Here are just a few of the comments from respondents to that poll

"Every month there is a mistake or over charge on my bill. I have to call customer service and I am on the phone for 1 hour. It is so bad now I actually plan for it."

"I really like it when they extend the contract without your knowing and charge you almost $200.00 to cancel the service."

"After a year and a half of being an on-time customer, I got a 'friendly reminder' phone call to see when I would be paying my bill. I hadn't even received my bill yet! When I explained as much, the woman said 'oh, we like to keep on top of these things.' WHAT?! I finished out my contract before they could re-up it without my knowledge and switched wireless carriers quickly!"

And that was before Sprint decided to cut off subscribers for complaining to its customer service center too much.

Sprint told Reuters the cancellations involved 1,000 to 1,200 customers who had called the company about 40,000 times a month in total.

"These customers were calling to a degree that we felt was excessive," Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton told Reuters, adding the company needed to cull its customer base to improve services. "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."

Assuming those customers were calling with legitimate complaints -- which is a pretty good assumption considering Sprint's dismal customer service record -- we are thinking it might be time for the folks at MSNMoney to work out a sponsorship deal with Sprint for the "Hall of Shame" awards. Maybe they could model it on the multi-year sponsorship pact Sprint recently inked with NASCAR.

And along those same lines, we think it might also be appropriate to establish a "Consumer Hall of Heroes" for all those plucky Sprint customers who have fought the good fight with the customer service department.

And we suggest they wear those obnoxious Sprint cancellation letters as a badge of honor.

Comments

1 Posted by Myrna at 07/13/07 08:39 AM

I too had trouble with Sprint. I had dsl for 2 months and I was to be charged 19.99 for 3 months will after 45 days it was 49.00. When I called and ask about it I was told I had a contract. What contract? Well you received a notice. The notice was a small piece of paper with, if you have a contract. I never signed nor, agreed to a contract. Then they tell me I need to keep it for 1 year or it will cost me $99.00 to get out of it. So I canceled it and am still getting sent to Collection agencies. (Now up to 5) I paid them $54.00 which I owed them, but they want the other $99, which I told the last collection agency I am not paying. They have given me a bad credit What a great company is Sprint! HA
I now have Vonage. :-)

2 Posted by David Manchester at 07/22/07 10:09 AM

Why isn't Congress, the FCC, and the FTC requiring Sprint to pay their Customers the same "early cancellation fee" Sprint charges when a Customer cancels before the contract term is up?

That would seem only fair.

The reason why is that the economy, and the government, is being run in a way that excludes the Rights of the Individual. Corporations like Sprint are free to give the government personal information (even though such practice is illegal under the same Act which established the FCC); to write "one way" contracts which, technically, are not contracts at all, but bills of indenture.

A revolutionary change is coming. Pray that Google gets their way and opens up the cell phone business so Individuals have control over their phone devices, and carriers.

Virgin Mobile leases their lines from Sprint, and they don't permit their Customers to use custom ringtones, and they disable other phone features, too. Unless they can make an extra buck, the Customer is left out in the cold when it comes to being able to actually put technology to full use.

3 Posted by Carolyn at 07/22/07 05:42 PM

I've got these cell phones for an emergency -we are caregivers for my mother. My phone which was under insurance at the time would not call out. When I brought it to the Sprint store and the boy couldn't duplicate the problem I had to pay for a new phone. A week later when that phone wouldn't work right I had to pay again! I wrote to Sprint and never received any reply. I also said yes to a 3rd 'free' line to which I started noticing charges for the phone which I had never activated. Couldn't cancel and had to call every month-that dreaded 1hr phone call- since Nov 05. Jan 07 I was allowed to cancel w/no charge but had to call back since I was charged to cancel. I've gotten 1 month off since Nov 05 where I didn't have to call in to get a credit on my bill for their mistakes.

4 Posted by carlene hadl at 08/06/07 08:46 PM

i prepaid my bill to keep it on and they shut me off and this was when i had to go out of state cause my son died and then 2 months later another family crisis hit had to go out of state and then a third time all since feb of 2007 and each time my phone doesn't work in the other state and then when I complained they disconnect me and or give me extra minutes which I can't use as the phone doesn't work out of state. Then they have the guts to call me up and offer me $100.00 bonus if I renew my contract no thanks Sprint.

5 Posted by Kasey at 10/09/07 11:08 PM

Sprint sent us new phones because the "free" phones that came with the plan were awful. And when we were told by a customer service rep that we could increase our minutes without having our contract extended, we did so. Well guess what, our plan was extended. I can either pay over $100.00 a month for these crap phones for the next year, or pay the $600 cancellation charge or my personal favorite, cancel the service, don't pay the fee, and join the bandwagon in Minnesota where the attorney general is now suing Sprint for these exact practices. I couldn't be happier that they are being sued! Go attorney general of Minnesota!

6 Posted by Katrina at 10/20/07 04:34 PM

HELP! SPRINT AGGREVATES THE HELL OUT OF ME! How can I get out of my contract without paying the ETF?

7 Posted by curtis at 11/29/07 07:15 PM

I was offered an extra phone for only $10.00 per
so I accepted it for my Granddaughter as she was in High school and had a long drive to school,nothing was said about my agreement being extended.
I tried to terminate but was told I couldn't until
a later date which was only a few months,then when I terminated they wanted an ETF .I am not paying and they are constantly calling,they broke the contract the first time they added something to my contract without my consent !
I have ask for a copy of my contract,I doubt they can find it & will have the phone company to record all incoming calls for possible harrasment
charges.
I am writing my Senator & congressman,concerning this & Ido have a copy of ALL MONTHLY INVOICES.

8 Posted by Alex Porti III at 12/21/07 11:47 AM

Just another complaint against sprint.
God...It would take a book to contain the full experience....My incoming calls go straight to voicemail and it takes up to a day (maybe more) for the overloaded towers to tell me. Sometimes the msg icon is there and I check Vm but no msg...then hours, days later, BOOM the msg comes in....
SPRINT IS FIRED !!!! I'll not even go in to the 15 calls to cust service trying to figure out how to tether my phone to my laptop to get internet. It's free if you have an old phone that is not EVDO. Don't tell them though...
I'm paying up to date and switching to another carrier. When they send me an invoice for early term I'll send a check for .01 every month for the rest of my life if need be.
The only carrier worse than any other is all the rest. Vote out incumbents and send all the lobbyists to Guantanamo !!!!

9 Posted by Paul at 12/20/08 11:11 AM

Ok here's a new one from Idaho. Got a broken phone, got promised a new phone which I never recieved lied to, finally got promised a new phone that was promised would work on my plan, lied to again, got locked into an expensive plan I don't want now they say there's nothing they can do. This has been over two and a half months. I have over a hundred pages of chat sessions and emails and now all I want is out... threatening me with ETF.. Anyone ready for another class action law suit....

10 Posted by Cheree Smith at 04/16/09 12:42 PM

Is there, by any chance, anyone out there with another class action against Sprint's ETF? I finally terminated early to get out of their extra charges (that we did NOT use) and massive dropped calls that they said could be fixed with an updated chip (on a brand new phone?). I was with Sprint for 10 years. Every time I renewed they said I had to carry a 3rd phone to the new contract. Now they want to charge me $200.00 ETF for a phone we haven't used in about 8 yrs. This is rediculous!

Now Hear This

An open and frank discussion of media and telecommunications issues - from the consumer point of view.

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