Sprint hangs up on a 1000 callers

[Soliloquy]

As someone who worked for a cell-phone company, in-store, I can't say I blame Sprint.

Sure there are plenty of people who came in with valid issues and needed help, which of course I had no problem helping them resolve said issues. However, when you have a 60 year old come in with a camera phone wanting to know how she can take pictures of her grand-kid on the tractor... it gets aggrivating. If you're too old to understand the technology, simply get an easier phone, don't waste the time of the workers as they attempt to explain to you how to press a button. Not to mention the people that would come in complaining about stupid things and expect me to fix it, sorry but I have no control over the fact that you don't get signal at your duck-camp that is in BFE.

Unfortunately, a lot of people lack common sense. These people create major issues by tying up phone lines for people that really do have a problem. The knowledge necessary to target simple issues can be found on websites and in user-manuals, but I guess that means customers would actually have to do something for a change.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Soliloquy

As someone who worked for a cell-phone company, in-store, I can't say I blame Sprint.

If you're too old to understand the technology, simply get an easier phone, don't waste the time of the workers as they attempt to explain to you how to press a button.

Sorry to say...but THAT IS YOUR (Customer service reps') JOB.

Theyput stuff on the phone and half the time EVEN THE REPS don't even know how to work them but then have a NERVE to get frustrated when people have questions about certain functions??? I remember about 2 months back I went to the Sprint store to ask about GPS functionality on my phone...I had to get the mananger because the rep helping me had no clue about what I was talking about and was rushing just to get me out of the store. Bottom line is this...u can bury 10 to 100 functions on a phone...and even for the one that you do...knowing that almost everyone AND their grey haired gandmama is gonna use it....then YOU NEED people who know the equipment to be there to explain it....again...it's called CUSTOMER SERVICE...that is thier job...to explain things that may not be explainable even if it seems easy as pie.....what's easy to u may not be easy to me.

[Drolefille]

My biggest complaint is that phones don't just come with those basic technologies anymore. They all have to have internet, texting, multimedia, demos of games, shopping, etc.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Drolefille

My biggest complaint is that phones don't just come with those basic technologies anymore. They all have to have internet, texting, multimedia, demos of games, shopping, etc.

one only wonders what tech support at iPhone is going thru....lol

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Sorry to say...but THAT IS YOUR (Customer service reps') JOB.

Theyput stuff on the phone and half the time EVEN THE REPS don't even know how to work them but then have a NERVE to get frustrated when people have questions about certain functions??? I remember about 2 months back I went to the Sprint store to ask about GPS functionality on my phone...I had to get the mananger because the rep helping me had no clue about what I was talking about and was rushing just to get me out of the store. Bottom line is this...u can bury 10 to 100 functions on a phone...and even for the one that you do...knowing that almost everyone AND their grey haired gandmama is gonna use it....then YOU NEED people who know the equipment to be there to explain it....again...it's called CUSTOMER SERVICE...that is thier job...to explain things that may not be explainable even if it seems easy as pie.....what's easy to u may not be easy to me.

Yes and no. I don't think it's the customer service rep's job to read someone the phone's user manual. You have in-store reps to resolve legitimate hardware issues, legitimate software issues (like updating the phone's software) and help clear up billing issues. They will also be happy to sell you a new phone. Otherwise, no, I don't see it the way you do.

Cell phone companies (and the producers of other technology) do not printo those user manuals just to add weight to the box. It should be a minimal expectation that the customer has at least referred to that manual before coming in and taking up space in a line full of people with legitimate problems who really need help from these in-store reps.

Many years ago, I had one of those in-store service jobs. When such customers would come in, I'd very politely pull out a copy of the user manual and refer to the part which described that feature. I'd then read the manual out loud as I walked the customer through the process.

Generally, I find these things to be so intuitive that a manual is just unnecessary. Once you understand the concept of smartkeys and menus and what sort of features would be found in certain categories, how to work a cell phone ain't rocket science.

-- and yes, I fully support Sprint's decision not to serve customers who were costing them money.

[OneTimeSBX]

I agree with Daemon and Kevin...

true, it is your job to help...when i was at tmobile, i was always showing someones grandma how to turn the phone on. i didnt mind with the older people, but ummm, if you are 20 and can read, you need to give it a shot yourself first.

i also blame the phone companies a little too...some of the customers, like my mom, who had the same phone for years and then couldnt find supplies for it, had to upgrade. there is a need for a simple, basic cell phone, one that doesnt text, take pictures, have games, etc. just call out, get calls in, and voicemail.

[Still BLUTANG]

i would still be on my phone i had in college if they sold a replacement battery. i miss it.

and this is why i bought my mom the same phone that i have. if she has questions, she calls me (from the house phone, tho). i can explain things to her because i have the same thing. i wouldn't expect someone at customer service to know everything about every phone ever made by their company.

however, i've been a sprint customer for about 7 years and everyone i know has had at least one MAJOR issue. things get cleared up after incessant calling or stalking the store employees, but that's the only way to things get resolved. last month i had a "notation" on my account that wouldn't let me pay my bill online because i had called customer service about something earlier that month. that meant i had to call customer service AGAIN to be able to pay my bill.

i wonder if the people who are being dropped called over and over again to get 1 issue resolved or if they really are the callers who go overboard and want to complain just for complaining's sake.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Still BLUTANG

i wonder if the people who are being dropped called over and over again to get 1 issue resolved or if they really are the callers who go overboard and want to complain just for complaining's sake.

for 1000 out of millions of customers....thats what I am guessing....

I guess their message to them was:

"You won't stop yer bytchin'....we will stop it for ya...and u can go take ur bytching to someone who gives a dayum..."

[1908Revelations]

Originally Posted by Still BLUTANG

however, i've been a sprint customer for about 7 years and everyone i know has had at least one MAJOR issue. things get cleared up after incessant calling or stalking the store employees, but that's the only way to things get resolved. last month i had a "notation" on my account that wouldn't let me pay my bill online because i had called customer service about something earlier that month. that meant i had to call customer service AGAIN to be able to pay my bill.

i wonder if the people who are being dropped called over and over again to get 1 issue resolved or if they really are the callers who go overboard and want to complain just for complaining's sake.

I have T-Mobile and was being billed for a function that my phone didn't have!!! I was pissed! So, I called to ask how did I gain this service? The rep told me I got it on the phone internet (T-Zones...a service where you can check balance, purchase tones, walpapers, and games).

Now.....I think I know my individual phone and I do not have the internet.....I KNOW I don't. I asked him to pull up the time and date of then I signed up for it and he couldn't. I said I wnated to cancel it and I wnated a refund for the months that I had been charged, because at the time my phone (BlackBerry Pearl) didn't have T-Zones. So I was being charged $10 a month for something I didn't sign up for nor could I use it. When I requested to speak with someone else (because James from Mars couldn't understand) the Beiotch hung up on me.

Outcome....I was refunded $50. LIKE I KNEW I WOULD!!

[OneTimeSBX]

i think my worst experience was when i bought a new phone and switched it to my existing line...i didnt change my plan, i did nothing but change phones. next thing i know my phone is off because my bill was about $250.

i called and asked why in the HELL my bill that i had just paid to a zero balance, had magically jumped to the $250. 4 people couldnt tell me. 4 people...finally on my 5th call, someone discovered that they charged me for ending my contract. i didnt end my contract, i replied. "well thats not what it says"...but i didnt end my frickin contract, i PAID OUT OF POCKET for a $400 phone so that i could have a nicer phone, so why would i cancel my service after dropping all that money?

it took another 3 calls to get that straight. even then, it was never done correctly. everyone took off a little piece here and there, instead of the full $250. sprint is a joke. there, i said it.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSBX

I agree with Daemon and Kevin...

true, it is your job to help...when i was at tmobile, i was always showing someones grandma how to turn the phone on. i didnt mind with the older people, but ummm, if you are 20 and can read, you need to give it a shot yourself first.

Old people are no big deal. I'd always go out of my way to make sure they knew how things worked... I'd have them place a call before they left, etc. You never know when doing something like that could really make a difference in an emergency situation.

My boss got a phone for his 80-something year old mother. He tried to teach her how to use it but she refused to learn. She explained that if she were ever in a wreck, she'd just ask the other driver to place the call for her... or the policeman. Can't argue with that.

At any rate, in call centers and with live support, generally, there is a line. In most Sprint stores, to get service, you have to literally take a number and wait as much as (or more than) an hour to talk to a customer service agent. As for their call centers, there's still a queue. The folks with the inane questions which they could easily answer themselves are selfishly dominating the time of people with legitimate problems. That's just not good form.

I'm now in a law office. We routinely fire clients when they don't keep up on their bill or are rude to the staff. We happily field stupid questions, but then again, there aren't too many of those as we bill in quarter-hour increments (if you only talk to us for 30 seconds, you get billed for 15 minutes). That seems to cut down on the inane questions.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I'm now in a law office. We routinely fire clients when they don't keep up on their bill or are rude to the staff. We happily field stupid questions, but then again, there aren't too many of those as we bill in quarter-hour increments (if you only talk to us for 30 seconds, you get billed for 15 minutes). That seems to cut down on the inane questions.

Good point. PR/advertising agencies do the same thing - when a client becomes too difficult to work with, to the point where we can't provide the services we were contracted for, we will resign or decline the business.

As a Sprint customer, I've actually never had to contact customer support except for maybe one or two instances when I first signed on with them almost seven years ago. These people they dropped deserved to be dropped. It's not like they were dropped for making 3 or 4 calls to solve a problem one month. They were calling ten times that amount for what sounds like more than one month. Calling customer support an avg. of 40-50 times each month?! That's harrassment, basically, and it's preventing Sprint from offering its services to customers that actually NEED help.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Good point. PR/advertising agencies do the same thing - when a client becomes too difficult to work with, to the point where we can't provide the services we were contracted for, we will resign or decline the business.

As a Sprint customer, I've actually never had to contact customer support except for maybe one or two instances when I first signed on with them almost seven years ago. These people they dropped deserved to be dropped. It's not like they were dropped for making 3 or 4 calls to solve a problem one month. They were calling ten times that amount for what sounds like more than one month. Calling customer support an avg. of 40-50 times each month?! That's harrassment, basically, and it's preventing Sprint from offering its services to customers that actually NEED help.

heree is a question tho....I wonder if those folks are gonna be blacklisted from other carriers


" I am sorry sir...we can't sign you up for service due to...errrmmmm.... technical difficulties..."

hehehehe

[MysticCat]

The knowledge necessary to target simple issues can be found on websites and in user-manuals, but I guess that means customers would actually have to do something for a change.

Well, customers might be more willing to "do something for a change" if the websites and user-manuals were user-friendly, or just comprehensible, but all too often they are not.

While I agree with Kevin that "It should be a minimal expectation that the customer has at least referred to that manual before coming in and taking up space in a line full of people with legitimate problems who really need help," I also think that it should be a minimal expectation that the user-manual meet some mininal standards of usefulness. I have had my share of those that don't.

I never called customer service or gone into a store with questions about how to use my phone, but I can tell you that plenty of my time has been wasted by trying to find the information I need in the poorly-designed and poorly-written user-manual or website.

Originally Posted by Drolefille

My biggest complaint is that phones don't just come with those basic technologies anymore. They all have to have internet, texting, multimedia, demos of games, shopping, etc.

I completely agree.

Originally Posted by Kevin

Generally, I find these things to be so intuitive that a manual is just unnecessary. Once you understand the concept of smartkeys and menus and what sort of features would be found in certain categories, how to work a cell phone ain't rocket science.

I agree to a point, and I'm usually pretty good at the intuitive route. But I spent 30 minutes last night trying to figure out how to edit a speed-dial/phonebook entry on my mother-in-law's phone. (She'd misplaced the user manual.) I tried every command, every menu and every option I could think of, and I never could figure it out. Intuitive it was not.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Kevin

Many years ago, I had one of those in-store service jobs. When such customers would come in, I'd very politely pull out a copy of the user manual and refer to the part which described that feature. I'd then read the manual out loud as I walked the customer through the process.

Generally, I find these things to be so intuitive that a manual is just unnecessary. Once you understand the concept of smartkeys and menus and what sort of features would be found in certain categories, how to work a cell phone ain't rocket science.

-- and yes, I fully support Sprint's decision not to serve customers who were costing them money.

See, Kevin that is a GREAT example..but NOT A LOT of customer service reps will do that at a store...then again this is the surse of having so many young kids who don't give a dayum working these kinds of jobs...gone are the days when a friendly person will sit down and take the time to go over those functions....and sure we can say 'refer to the manual' but 2 things that pop in my mind for an older person

1. a 100 to 200 page manual in small print may be intimidating

2. there have been more than enough times where I may have rea dthe manual but what they are trying to tell u what to do is SO UNCLEAR...

2a. and you show that same manual to the customer service person and they are just as easily befuddled....

Now granted, this doens't mean I side against sprint...I just hate bad customer service,period.....BUT if you got a nuisance caller, calling in 4 and 5 times a day about some BS....then yeah....u messing with my money vs someone that needs legit help.