Sprint gives needy customers the boot, Terrence Russel reports. The gist:
“These customers were calling to a degree that we felt was excessive,” explained Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton in an interview with Reuters. “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.”
In all fairness, the figure of 1,000 is relatively small compared to Sprint’s total user base of roughly 53 million, and the company is covering the termination fees and final bills of its jilted customers. But even though the company cites the customer service gridlock as the real problem, I’m led to wonder if this has more to do with Sprint’s obvious desire to overhaul its user base.
I always like thinking of myself as some company’s “base”, don’t you?
Had the same sort of experience with Barclaycard, one of the VISA cards in the UK. They sent me a free card and a 100 pound credit limit when I was a student 20 years ago. I have used the card off and on since then, even though I am no longer a UK resident. Then in October last year I get a letter saying that because I have not used the card (but have paid the subscription fee of 10 pounds), they have decided to close my account. Would I obligue by cutting the card in two? You bet. Along with any future business I was planning to do with Barclays Bank. These companies have lost the art of conversation.