WirelessAdvisor.com

PCSuser · 03-14-2008, 9:34 PM

Today I attended a company meeting with some of the higher ups that work in Kansas City. There was much talk about how customer service was going to change their focus to more of customer satisfaction based structure and so on and so forth.

Mid-way through the meeting, the issue arose about customers calling in for perks and freebies, since the email was sent out. Turns out the email is not a "have to" guideline but is being more closely monitored. After this was told the question was asked, "Well are we going to start making it policy not to give out freebies?" In short the answer is yes. There is no timetable for this to be implemented but it is going to be done.

Sprint will start removing all the freebie codes from the system such as $10 recurring credit every month. After these are removed you will not be able to receive them in nay fashion (or add them - if you're a representative). Hearing correctly, I heard that some of our customers will still receive their loyalty discounts but all other discounts will be removed. (no more free 5PM N/W and such).

They are also going to make it so that Customer Care has a lot of the same abilities as retentions so that customers don't have to call into retentions to get certain things accomplished. Allowing retentions to do their actual job and not spend half the day going over someone's phone bill. Don't fret though, billing issues will continue to be taken care of. If there is a mixup on your bill because of a system error it will be fixed - so don't worry. If your bill is high because you thought it didn't matter, you'd just call in and get it credited back, well those days are soon over.

AnthroMatt · 03-14-2008, 9:49 PM

So if I understand this correctly, the $5 recurring discount on my bill that was added after I lost my Fair and Flexible plan and first incoming minute free following migration to Ensemble (Sprint's screw up, not mine) is going to be taken away from me? Or do you just mean no more new codes can be added, but existing codes will continue to work?

PCSuser · 03-14-2008, 9:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthroMatt

So if I understand this correctly, the $5 recurring discount on my bill that was added after I lost my Fair and Flexible plan and first incoming minute free following migration to Ensemble (Sprint's screw up, not mine) is going to be taken away from me? Or do you just mean no more new codes can be added, but existing codes will continue to work?

As of now the plan is to remove all "hard discounts" such as FIMF from the system so no further add-ons of these options can be placed; it is unconfirmed at this time if that means existing customers with these options will be grandfathered or stripped.

And the recurring discounts will be on a case-by-case basis (from what I heard). If its an offset credit it should not be affected - if it is a generic recurring credit then it most likely will be removed. - for the most part they are cracking down on recurring credits.

This is what I know so far. This information may change without notice. But this is what I know as of March 14th, 2008.

-PCSuser

AnthroMatt · 03-14-2008, 9:59 PM

Well that will piss me off to no end since the $5 credit i get each month was placed there due to the fact that Sprint took away my plan and a perk.

I am out of contract, it might be time to look into T-Mobile....

Gman · 03-14-2008, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthroMatt

Well that will piss me off to no end since the $5 credit i get each month was placed there due to the fact that Sprint took away my plan and a perk.

I am out of contract, it might be time to look into T-Mobile....

For $5 a month ?

~~RJB~~ · 03-15-2008, 1:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gman

For $5 a month ?

$5 dollars is $5 dollars. A little thing can go a long ways for alot of people.

PCSuser · 03-15-2008, 10:16 AM

Got an e-mail and...

The way in which I heard it be described is that they are going to do away with the "shut up about your overage charges" credit. This will not stop retentions from giving you some loyalty discount or from giving a free service. This is just going to help stop the overage credits/cash (or slow it down alot).

You will still get offers, and may get them directly from customer care as opposed to retentions - now since CS will have some of the same power as Retentions. You will just find "Sprint is matching AT&T's phone prices because I asked them to" offers to be few and far between unless you have been with Sprint for a long time and you haven't used your upgrade in a while.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although some customers did need the generic $5 or $10 credit - others just go it to get it. Be it recurring or one time. And others (like myself) got it for loyalty... so what is going to happen to the customers who got it for their loyalty....

-- This information can change at anytime without notice - I will try to keep everyone updated as I get information -- Last Update: March 15th, 2008

-PCSuser

AnthroMatt · 03-15-2008, 11:59 AM

Oh it'd not the money.

After my account got go screwed up and I spent about 12-14 hours on the phone with various Sprint employees they offered me to canel all 4 of my lines with no penalty or one free month + the $5 monthy credit (to replace an $8 SMS credit that was lost), so I was still paying more on a monthly basis.

I canceled one line that was never used and then took the free month and credit. So if Sprint ends up taking away one of the offers they made to get me to stay, well then clearly they don't want me to stay.

Studogvetmed · 03-15-2008, 1:39 PM

You go to the same meeting as the Trusted source in the sprintusers thread?

Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... - SprintUsers.com

You are quoting things said by a poster in that thread. Why? Post #7 by you are the exact words as another user in the sprintuser thread.

Why do you want to cross post stuff like this?

AnthroMatt · 03-15-2008, 1:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Studogvetmed

You go to the same meeting as the Trusted source in the sprintusers thread?

Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... - SprintUsers.com

You are quoting things said by a poster in that thread. Why? Post #7 by you are the exact words as another user in the sprintuser thread.

Why do you want to cross post stuff like this?

Thanks for the link to the original "source," but I am not going to take issue with anyone that is guilty of committing heresy for quoting what is also heresy.

Whether or not PCSuser seemed to imply he was at the meeting is not important to the context of the post. He isn't quoting someone who was at the meeting. He is quoting someone who said his "source" was at the meeting.

I realize that PCSuser has got himself in a little hot water over at SU lately, but don't bring SU's petty bickering over to this site.

If you have a comment relevant to the substance of the material in the thread, fine. If you just want to give PCSuser a hard time, keep the games over at the other site.

Studogvetmed · 03-15-2008, 1:55 PM

Apologies, retracting my off topic information. Continue on the topic. It is an interesting one. I did not intentionally mean to give to give the OP a hard time.

Jay2TheRescue · 03-15-2008, 2:25 PM

Sprint does need to reign in the liberal application of statement credits. I've heard if several instances where chronic complainers were given so much credit that they essentially got free service. That is no way to run a business. In my business I will occasionally give customers free credits, but chronic complainers are politely told that maybe they would be happier doing business elsewhere. On extremely rare occasions we will actually tell some of these customers to never come back. Sprint needs to adopt something similar. This would definately improve their profitability. At the very least stopping the free credit feeding frenzy would free up CSR's to take calls from customers who actually need help, and the wait times should come down.

-Jay

Studogvetmed · 03-15-2008, 2:30 PM

I know there have been a lot of posts of outrage when there is news of sprint "firing" a customer, but it makes sense in any business, as Jay suggests, if things move too far. As a veterinarian, even my wife has had to "fire" some trouble clients from time to time.

This doesn't mean Sprint should fight to keep loyal customers with legitimate users, but eventually, even trying to keep churn down has it's limitations. Letting some people move on to make sure that those left with Sprint are the truly satisfied will be helpful in Sprint turning things around.

Again, sorry for my offtopic barb. Thanks for keeping me honest Anthromatt. Nothing but respect.

djcmaz · 03-15-2008, 2:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthroMatt

Oh it'd not the money.

After my account got go screwed up and I spent about 12-14 hours on the phone with various Sprint employees they offered me to canel all 4 of my lines with no penalty or one free month + the $5 monthy credit (to replace an $8 SMS credit that was lost), so I was still paying more on a monthly basis.

I canceled one line that was never used and then took the free month and credit. So if Sprint ends up taking away one of the offers they made to get me to stay, well then clearly they don't want me to stay.

lets all cry... When I was with sprint, I spent many hours getting things fixed on my account or with billing... S**t happens. That shouldn't afford you or anyone else the right to be treated any different than joe blow down the street. Especially not on a continual basis, for the term of your contract.

Now a small,"we appologize for the inconvenience" credit would be appreciative to a customer. However, this continual credit stuff for a couple of mistakes has helped put sprint in the negative.

Every business has billing errors, and other mishaps... would you afford the same to any customer that demanded it if it was your business? NO of course not... You too would go broke...

ENOUGH SAID

AnthroMatt · 03-15-2008, 2:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djcmaz

lets all cry... When I was with sprint, I spent many hours getting things fixed on my account or with billing... S**t happens. That shouldn't afford you or anyone else the right to be treated any different than joe blow down the street. Especially not on a continual basis, for the term of your contract.

Now a small,"we appologize for the inconvenience" credit would be appreciative to a customer. However, this continual credit stuff for a couple of mistakes has helped put sprint in the negative.

Every business has billing errors, and other mishaps... would you afford the same to any customer that demanded it if it was your business? NO of course not... You too would go broke...

ENOUGH SAID

Hey, I would have taken a one-time $60 credit instead of $5/mo for 12 months. Sprint offered it to me, I accepted. I never demanded it specifically, I just explained that my bill should not have gone up simply because of an error that occurred when they migrated me from P2K to Ensemble. Sprint's solution was a $5/month credit to offset that increase, which was their fault.

As to whether I would treat my customers the same way...if I made a mistake that was my fault and it resulted in a billing increase to them, then yes, I would arrange a credit to fix that mistake.

So when a mistake affects me for the term of my contract, then absolutely I expect Sprint to fix their mistake, and to fix it for the life of my contract.

ENOUGH SAID.

PCSuser · 03-18-2008, 11:18 PM

UPDATE:

Latest e-mail is that people will NOT be able to stack percentage discounts anymore. No more employer discount, and loyalty. - the lesser of the discount will be removed (so you only have one).

Also many credit codes being pulled this week - they will STILL BE IN AFFECT for customer who currently have them - but will not be available to new customers (they will be expired, but if a grandfathered customer runs into problems with their account, these codes can be removed and re-added).

Also, this is NOT a way to get out of your contract.

-PCSuser

sheureka · 03-18-2008, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AnthroMatt

Whether or not PCSuser seemed to imply he was at the meeting is not important to the context of the post. He isn't quoting someone who was at the meeting. He is quoting someone who said his "source" was at the meeting..

I do have a problem - he isn't "implying" he was at the meeting - he explicitly says he was at the meeting. At no point does he say he's quoting someone whose "source" was at the meeting. And the inference is that he's an employee when he's obviously not (check out his plan). I can't count the number of times in the years I've had Sprint when someone who has "insider knowledge" puts out some bs about policy changes trying to make everybody think they're some kind of big shot - and getting everybody all excited and bent out of shape. Okay - off my soapbox now. - sheureka

PCSuser · 03-26-2008, 5:17 PM

This will not affect existing customers. It will only affect people calling in and asking for these perks going forward or customers who's dicounts expire. So if your discounts don't expire (and you have them already) your good, and can keep 'em!

-PCSUSER

~~RJB~~ · 03-26-2008, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheureka

I do have a problem - he isn't "implying" he was at the meeting - he explicitly says he was at the meeting. At no point does he say he's quoting someone whose "source" was at the meeting. And the inference is that he's an employee when he's obviously not (check out his plan). I can't count the number of times in the years I've had Sprint when someone who has "insider knowledge" puts out some bs about policy changes trying to make everybody think they're some kind of big shot - and getting everybody all excited and bent out of shape. Okay - off my soapbox now. - sheureka

This is why everyone on any network really should take everything with a grain of salt until the carrier actually announces it from their mouths. Never assume.

PCSuser · 03-31-2008, 5:18 PM

Okay, it looks as though Sprint CS have been told about this - and they are manual on-the-spot auditing accounts - if you call in and they don't see what they need to justify the add-ons and what not.

Seems to the be the case with the people at HoFo. They call in/email ecare - and their accounts get audited on-the-spot.

03-14-2008, 9:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
PCSuser Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southern US; Born a Brit! Posts: 318 Phone(s): PPC-6700 w/ WM6 Provider(s): Sprint PCS - happily holding crystal clear calls! Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Today I attended a company meeting with some of the higher ups that work in Kansas City. There was much talk about how customer service was going to change their focus to more of customer satisfaction based structure and so on and so forth. Mid-way through the meeting, the issue arose about customers calling in for perks and freebies, since the email was sent out. Turns out the email is not a "have to" guideline but is being more closely monitored. After this was told the question was asked, "Well are we going to start making it policy not to give out freebies?" In short the answer is yes. There is no timetable for this to be implemented but it is going to be done. Sprint will start removing all the freebie codes from the system such as $10 recurring credit every month. After these are removed you will not be able to receive them in nay fashion (or add them - if you're a representative). Hearing correctly, I heard that some of our customers will still receive their loyalty discounts but all other discounts will be removed. (no more free 5PM N/W and such). They are also going to make it so that Customer Care has a lot of the same abilities as retentions so that customers don't have to call into retentions to get certain things accomplished. Allowing retentions to do their actual job and not spend half the day going over someone's phone bill. Don't fret though, billing issues will continue to be taken care of. If there is a mixup on your bill because of a system error it will be fixed - so don't worry. If your bill is high because you thought it didn't matter, you'd just call in and get it credited back, well those days are soon over. __________________ I am here to soley offer any and all knowledge I may posses. As well as my opinions, which are own opinions and are not to be thought of anything other than a personal opinion. And within my power I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible. Your WA nieghbour, PCSuser.

03-14-2008, 9:49 PM	#2 (permalink)
AnthroMatt Big Meanie Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 8,346 Phone(s): Motorola V950 Provider(s): Sprint + Airave Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 8 Posts Images: 1	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... So if I understand this correctly, the $5 recurring discount on my bill that was added after I lost my Fair and Flexible plan and first incoming minute free following migration to Ensemble (Sprint's screw up, not mine) is going to be taken away from me? Or do you just mean no more new codes can be added, but existing codes will continue to work? __________________ Motorola V950

03-14-2008, 9:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
AnthroMatt Big Meanie Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 8,346 Phone(s): Motorola V950 Provider(s): Sprint + Airave Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 8 Posts Images: 1	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Well that will piss me off to no end since the $5 credit i get each month was placed there due to the fact that Sprint took away my plan and a perk. I am out of contract, it might be time to look into T-Mobile.... __________________ Motorola V950

03-15-2008, 10:16 AM	#7 (permalink)
PCSuser Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southern US; Born a Brit! Posts: 318 Phone(s): PPC-6700 w/ WM6 Provider(s): Sprint PCS - happily holding crystal clear calls! Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Got an e-mail and... The way in which I heard it be described is that they are going to do away with the "shut up about your overage charges" credit. This will not stop retentions from giving you some loyalty discount or from giving a free service. This is just going to help stop the overage credits/cash (or slow it down alot). You will still get offers, and may get them directly from customer care as opposed to retentions - now since CS will have some of the same power as Retentions. You will just find "Sprint is matching AT&T's phone prices because I asked them to" offers to be few and far between unless you have been with Sprint for a long time and you haven't used your upgrade in a while. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although some customers did need the generic $5 or $10 credit - others just go it to get it. Be it recurring or one time. And others (like myself) got it for loyalty... so what is going to happen to the customers who got it for their loyalty.... -- This information can change at anytime without notice - I will try to keep everyone updated as I get information -- Last Update: March 15th, 2008 -PCSuser __________________ I am here to soley offer any and all knowledge I may posses. As well as my opinions, which are own opinions and are not to be thought of anything other than a personal opinion. And within my power I will attempt to be as unbiased as possible. Your WA nieghbour, PCSuser.

03-15-2008, 11:59 AM	#8 (permalink)
AnthroMatt Big Meanie Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Mesa, AZ Posts: 8,346 Phone(s): Motorola V950 Provider(s): Sprint + Airave Thanks: 3 Thanked 11 Times in 8 Posts Images: 1	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Oh it'd not the money. After my account got go screwed up and I spent about 12-14 hours on the phone with various Sprint employees they offered me to canel all 4 of my lines with no penalty or one free month + the $5 monthy credit (to replace an $8 SMS credit that was lost), so I was still paying more on a monthly basis. I canceled one line that was never used and then took the free month and credit. So if Sprint ends up taking away one of the offers they made to get me to stay, well then clearly they don't want me to stay. __________________ Motorola V950

03-15-2008, 1:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Studogvetmed Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 72 Phone(s): Sanyo-6650 (Katana II) Provider(s): Sprint Devices: iPod, Macbook Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Images: 15	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... You go to the same meeting as the Trusted source in the sprintusers thread? Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... - SprintUsers.com You are quoting things said by a poster in that thread. Why? Post #7 by you are the exact words as another user in the sprintuser thread. Why do you want to cross post stuff like this?

03-15-2008, 1:55 PM	#11 (permalink)
Studogvetmed Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 72 Phone(s): Sanyo-6650 (Katana II) Provider(s): Sprint Devices: iPod, Macbook Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Images: 15	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Apologies, retracting my off topic information. Continue on the topic. It is an interesting one. I did not intentionally mean to give to give the OP a hard time. Last edited by Studogvetmed; 03-15-2008 at 2:00 PM. Reason: I'm off topic

03-15-2008, 2:25 PM	#12 (permalink)
Jay2TheRescue I'm Jay the Dry Cleaner.. Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Sterling, Virginia Posts: 10,214 Phone(s): Moto V3, A845, HTC Tilt, Moto V551, iPAQ 6515, Western Electric 302, 500, Ericsson Ericaphone Provider(s): AT&Tingular 310-410 Devices: Zune 30gb & way too many BT devices to list Thanks: 27 Thanked 25 Times in 23 Posts Images: 157	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Sprint does need to reign in the liberal application of statement credits. I've heard if several instances where chronic complainers were given so much credit that they essentially got free service. That is no way to run a business. In my business I will occasionally give customers free credits, but chronic complainers are politely told that maybe they would be happier doing business elsewhere. On extremely rare occasions we will actually tell some of these customers to never come back. Sprint needs to adopt something similar. This would definately improve their profitability. At the very least stopping the free credit feeding frenzy would free up CSR's to take calls from customers who actually need help, and the wait times should come down. -Jay __________________ GET A FREE $25 AT&T GIFTCARD WITH ACTIVATION OF NEW AT&T SERVICE FROM ANY DEALER. PM ME FOR DETAILS

03-15-2008, 2:30 PM	#13 (permalink)
Studogvetmed Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Colorado Posts: 72 Phone(s): Sanyo-6650 (Katana II) Provider(s): Sprint Devices: iPod, Macbook Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Images: 15	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... I know there have been a lot of posts of outrage when there is news of sprint "firing" a customer, but it makes sense in any business, as Jay suggests, if things move too far. As a veterinarian, even my wife has had to "fire" some trouble clients from time to time. This doesn't mean Sprint should fight to keep loyal customers with legitimate users, but eventually, even trying to keep churn down has it's limitations. Letting some people move on to make sure that those left with Sprint are the truly satisfied will be helpful in Sprint turning things around. Again, sorry for my offtopic barb. Thanks for keeping me honest Anthromatt. Nothing but respect.

03-18-2008, 11:18 PM	#16 (permalink)
PCSuser Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southern US; Born a Brit! Posts: 318 Phone(s): PPC-6700 w/ WM6 Provider(s): Sprint PCS - happily holding crystal clear calls! Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... UPDATE: Latest e-mail is that people will NOT be able to stack percentage discounts anymore. No more employer discount, and loyalty. - the lesser of the discount will be removed (so you only have one). Also many credit codes being pulled this week - they will STILL BE IN AFFECT for customer who currently have them - but will not be available to new customers (they will be expired, but if a grandfathered customer runs into problems with their account, these codes can be removed and re-added). Also, this is NOT a way to get out of your contract. -PCSuser

03-26-2008, 5:17 PM	#18 (permalink)
PCSuser Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southern US; Born a Brit! Posts: 318 Phone(s): PPC-6700 w/ WM6 Provider(s): Sprint PCS - happily holding crystal clear calls! Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... This will not affect existing customers. It will only affect people calling in and asking for these perks going forward or customers who's dicounts expire. So if your discounts don't expire (and you have them already) your good, and can keep 'em! -PCSUSER

03-31-2008, 5:18 PM	#20 (permalink)
PCSuser Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southern US; Born a Brit! Posts: 318 Phone(s): PPC-6700 w/ WM6 Provider(s): Sprint PCS - happily holding crystal clear calls! Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Changes to retentions, customer care and bill credits.... Okay, it looks as though Sprint CS have been told about this - and they are manual on-the-spot auditing accounts - if you call in and they don't see what they need to justify the add-ons and what not. Seems to the be the case with the people at HoFo. They call in/email ecare - and their accounts get audited on-the-spot.

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