RSSSprint's answer to its troubles: better customer service
by Ed Oswald
With its customers increasingly churning to competitors, its executives leaving, and its reputation for poor service, Sprint needs to do something. Now, its new CEO suggests a focus on the customer.
In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Sprint CEO Dan Hesse acknowledged his company is in dire straits.
The stock price of the company has fallen by more than half since this time last year, and its decreasing market value has now spurred rumors of a buyout. Most recently, Deutsche Telekom was rumored to be mulling a bid for the company earlier this year.
This whirlpool of bad news and rumors appear to be almost ready to suck Sprint down with it. The NYT quoted some executives as blaming the media for its troubles, saying they were tired of hearing about it.
"We've gotten some bad press and think we don't deserve it," customer service manager Brett Collins told the paper.
But it's Sprint's customer service that has gotten it into a lot of trouble, so shifting the blame to the press may be a scapegoat. A notable example was the company's move in late June 2007 to cancel the wireless service of those who frequently complained to representatives.
Through the resulting fallout, it was revealed that the some of the excessive calls were generated by errors on Sprint's own part, throwing into question the carrier's motives in launching the effort.
With a lot of focus on the customer service problems, Hesse is tackling these problems directly as the spokesperson in the company's newest set of ads. These feature the chief executive talking directly to consumers about Sprint's services -- letting them know he's listening, and inviting them to contact him.
It's not immediately clear how successful these ads may be, as the campaign has just started, or how many may actually be getting through (and getting a response) from Hesse.
Some aren't so complementary of the approach. "TV commercials are not going to help [fix Sprint's image]," 247WallSt.com editor Douglas McIntyre wrote. "Fix the problem. Stay off the tube."
Either way, it's clear Hesse has gotten the message from consumers.
Whereas there had been no executive in charge of customer satisfaction when Hesse arrived at Sprint in December of last year, heads of every department in the company are partially responsible for customer satisfaction now.
In addition, Sprint's customer service division has hired additional representatives to ensure 80 percent of all calls are answered in 30 seconds or less.
As to whether Hesse's changes do any good, investors can only look forward to its fiscal second quarter's balance sheets -- due sometime in August -- for validation.
39 Comments
They supply cheapest mabinogi gold
for the player.They have cheap mabinogi
. I usually buy mabinogi money
from them. buy mabinogi gold
They have professional worker help you. I like to buy mabinogi online gold here.
Score: 0
They supply cheapest Perfect World Gold for the player.They have Buy Perfect World Gold . I usually buy Perfect World Silver from them. Perfect World money
They have professional worker help you. I like to buy cheap Perfect World Gold here.
Score: 0
Sprint overcharged my small (US) company for over $50,000.00. We caught them doing it and now they refuse to refund the over-payments. You can read the full story at http://www.sprint-really-sucks.com
I also wrote an open letter to Dan Hesse the Chairman and CEO of Sprint Nextel. It is a good read so please consider reading the letter.
http://www.sprint-really...n-letter-dan-hesse.aspx
Score: 0
Before I start I will say this.. IF YOU EMAIL DAN HESSE, HE WILL REPLY :~) Well not him directly, but someone from the Sprint team. I have used his email address twice and within hours, my questions were answered! So.. there you have it! He (Sprint) really does answer.
Honestly, I've been with Sprint for over a decade and the largest problem I've had with them was the fact that at one point they seem to have outsourced their customer service to India, and not only were the hold times astronomical, but you could barely understand the person who answered. I did also notice that sometimes they will do sneaky things with your bill, which IS wrong, but that just goes to show you need to read your bills.
I am pleased with Sprint for the most part, hence my decade of loyalty! LOL I find their plans to be cheaper than others, (well maybe not T-Mobile, but T-Mobile is wack from what I've heard from friends and family who have had it,) their customer service reps accommodating and their coverage area pretty decent! I never have dropped calls. I can count on one hand how many I've had in the past year.
I would never go to AT&T.. they are expensive as he11 and for what???? An Iphone, please! T-Mob is okay, but their coverage is spotty, I'm sticking with Sprint! I have a retention plan that NO ONE CAN BEAT!
Sprint ROCKS!
Score: 0
Heck yeah. Stop calling me while I'm driving or eating supper to sell me something, and speak English when I talk to support. Stop overcharging for services (text messaging is a scam). That unlimited everything for $100? Waaay overpriced.
Score: 0
Wow. If they had figured this out four years ago I might still be a customer.
Score: 0
Why in the world would any Sprint (not Nextel) customer still be interested in keeping their service? Are there that many gullible people out there? Sprint doesn't have the lowest priced service (T-mobile has been beating them for a very long time) and they certainly don't have the best coverage (AT&T does and always has).
Score: 0
I dropped Sprint years ago, after 7 years of loyalty, but they are employing tactics to trick a lot of people into contracts. My ex-wife was tricked in to a two year contract, a friend of mine too. They are a shady company.
Score: 0
I take exception to your claim that AT&T has the best network and always has. For years I had an AT&T phone in the Chicago land area through my employer. It was used for an after hours on-call rotation. During that time I had Sprint for my personal phone. I had no problems with Sprint's service but with AT&T had had so many dropped calls, missed calls, etc. The service was almost un-usable. It was so bad I was able to convince my employer to allow me to use my personal phone for the on-call rotation and reimburse me rather than stick with the pathetic service that AT&T was providing. I couldn't get them to switch to Sprint (or any other carrier) as AT&T was our "Corporate Standard". They were willing to make the compromise that I suggested because it was to the point where they had extreme difficulty getting a hold of the on-call person due to the poor AT&T network. I wouldn't recommend AT&T to anyone. They have the WORST network possible of ANY provider. Go with Verizon, T-mobile, Alltel, or U.S. Cellular. They ALL have a better network than AT&T and ALWAYS have!
Score: 0
500 minutes, night from 7PM to 7AM, unlimited data and text for $30/mo, free roaming. Please list one carrier that can beat this.
AT&T is a joke, the most expensive of all plan. No 24/hr and weekend Customer services.
Score: 0
One: Cricket. Unlimited calling, text, for $35.
http://www.mycricket.com
Score: 0
Yea, only if you live in one of their services areas. Which happens to be very very very limited.
Score: 0
Sprint isn't everywhere, either.
Score: 0
Coverage is way larger than Cricket, though
Score: 0
Maybe so, but that isn't what he stated. He said to name a company that could do better on a plan, and I did.
Score: 0
T-Mobile has the best of both worlds though. They have low priced rate plans (even if it's not the lowest priced plan) and decent coverage (although not nearly as good as AT&T). No other carrier has this combination. Sprint and Cricket may have lower priced rate plans but both companies have equal coverage, meaning not much coverage.
Score: 0
It was probably a defect in the particular AT&T phone you had, not the network. No one has better coverage than AT&T does.
Score: 0
I've never had to call AT&T's customer service to get tech or billing support because I've never had any problems whatsoever with the company. I can make rate plan and feature changes on the internet 24/7. I could care less if they have 24/7 customer service over the phone.
AT&T may charge more for their plan but you get better coverage. Just remember you get what you pay for. If coverage and network reliability are important you have to pay more for your service. A lot more.
Score: 0
The more bars in more places refers to their alcohol bill.
As far as I'm concerned, AT&T has similar coverage to Sprint, except for 3G data, where AT&T is years behind Sprint and Verizon.
My AT&T phone drops calls with frequency where I've had 2 calls on the same night in the same place drop on Sprint within 8 years.
You pay more with AT&T simply because the administration lives better. It's not about reliability or coverage or plans because AT&T isn't better.
Score: 0
Sprint's great...until you get off the interstate. That is where AT&T beats the pants off of it.
Score: 0
If you're having problems such as dropped calls or other reception problems then it's likely your phone itself and not the network. Sprint has the worst coverage between the big four mobile phone companies. AT&T has better coverage than even Verizon does.
Score: 0
Along with better customer service, they should add better network coverage, updated technology, stop charging more for weaker packages, and probably merge with a real wireless network.
Score: 0
Gee they're just now figuring this out?
Score: 0
it's not the quantity but the quality of "all" services provided.
why would it take a special executive to oversee customer service, when decency and respect should be inherent qualities of all its employees, including customer service.
unless sprint employs nuns and monks for customer service and a cardinal over that department, sprint may not have a prayer in hell to recoup from the self inflicted travisties.....
Score: 0
"Hi, my name is Clare."
I freaking hated that crap. Even, for a short time, in 2002 they started to charge $5 usd for customer support.
Score: 0
the recorded your 5 dollar as follows:
charge for customer svc = 150.99
charge for analysis = 250.66
charge for services at lunch hour = 300.33
charge for pulling up your service records = 50.00
discount for being a sprint customer = -746.98
-----------
total billed = 5.00
Score: 0
Sprint's customer service has greatly improved in the last few months. I have contacted customer service multiple times last month and every time I was connected to a representative in under a minute. Their "poor customer service" is really improving.
Score: 0
I second that comment. I've been a Sprint customer for 4 years and have had horrible experience with customer service in the past. In the last few months I've contacted both Customer Service and Tech Support and had a markedly better experience this time than in years past.
Score: 0
If the service really was better why are you contacting customer service or tech support at all? I have been with Verizon (switched from Sprint 6 years ago) and only talk to Verizon when I am changing phones. My only complaint with Verizon is locking features on the Verizon devices such as the GPS on my Blackberry.
Score: 0
I contact Sprint to change plans and phones. The ability to change one's plan during the contract is really nice.
Score: 0
well maybe this time around the company will actually stick to this agenda. This was the same thing the then CEO of Sprint back in 2004 had stated. And they stuck with it all of 6 months. Then the company fell apart after the nextel acquisition. Hopefully this guy can keep it on track but i think, like AOL.. too little, too late
Score: 0
AOL has done pretty good recovering from their debacle. I suppose it's possible that Sprint can do the same.
Score: 0
With the market for dial-up internet nearly gone there's no longer any reason for AOL to exist. AOL's software will drag a modern computer to its knees even if it has fairly powerful hardware such as an Intel Core 2 CPU w/4MB L2 cache and 2GB of RAM. It doesn't matter if Windows XP SP 3 or Vista SP 1 is being used.
Score: 0
I have heard people that work in the sprint stores will sell info about a phone number. like a list of resent text messages and phone calls.
They NEED to stop that and that will be good customer support..
Score: 0
Selling things like a list of text messages and phone calls to any marketing company that wants them is illegal. It's just as bad as a mobile phone carrier sharing your full social security number (in the case of a contract plan) to a telemarketing company.
Score: 0
Sprint's customer service over the phone has been good to me but the people in the stores have not been efficient and sometimes, they're rather unpleasant. If I'm in the store, I'm not there to bother someone. I want help with my phone.
I'm not Hesse sees the e-mail sent to him. Mine was routed to eCare, who couldn't copy and paste my name properly or find my account for some reason.
After 8 years with them, I'm still interested in them over Verizon or AT&T but it would help a lot if the people in the stores cared consistently.
Score: 0
I sent an email too and someone called me back within 24 hours. I don't know if Dan Hesse reads the email or not, I'm guessing not. The woman was nice enough and answered my questions, but my problem was resolved already a couple months back (but it took 5 months to resolve it). I'm not sure if they can fix the problem other than selling the company and that company changes Sprints name. Once something is stuck in peoples minds its hard to let it go.
Every cell phone company has its problems, but you hope most of them try and fix them. Seeing the quote from the customer service manager kind of pissed me off. I've had my issues with Sprints customer service. Some of the reps were nice, and some just lied to me to try and get me off the phone. I'd hang up and call again in hope to get one who was better. Every time I asked a question I got a different answer. I'm still with them because we have a family plan contract, but if they don't get bought out by the time the contract ends (or I at least don't hear about a buy out), we may leave for another company.
Score: 0
I think its a little too late for that. I used to be a sprint customer. I actually had sprint for over 7 years but recently their customer service was poor. I noticed this happen when they merged with nextel. Every time I called about something the rep was rude or "not in this world". I hope they can fix this because they already have lost 1 loyal customer due to their poor customer service.
Score: 0
"We've gotten some bad press and think we don't deserve it."
Are you kidding me? Based on the number of customers jumping ship, why in the heck would they think they don't deserve it? ROFL It's not exactly sunshine and lollipops over there it seems.
Score: 0