There's Nothing Like Outstanding Service!
For many years I worked in customer service, primarily by telephone. And oh – how I wish I’d been able to do this a time or two...
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Sprint Nextel defends cutting customers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sprint Nextel Corp. isn't apologizing for its decision to ax customers it determined were calling customer service too often. The nation's third-largest wireless provider sent letters to about 1,000 subscribers June 29, saying the company's records showed they had made frequent calls for help with questions about billing and other account information.
"While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs," the letters said.
The customers were told their service agreements were being terminated, they wouldn't owe anything on their final bill, and the company would waive early termination fees. They also were told to switch to another wireless provider by July 30 if they want to keep their phone number.
But Sprint officials said Monday this isn't a case of someone being flagged by a computer program. "These accounts have been researched very carefully," Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton said. "These decisions weren't made lightly."
Singleton said the targeted subscribers each made an average of 40 to 50 calls a month to customer service. She wouldn't say how that compared with the overall number of calls logged by the customer service department in a given month.
Singleton said the review also found that the subscribers often were calling about the same problems over and over after Sprint officials felt they had resolved the issue. She said some callers were repeatedly asking for information from other customers' accounts, which customer service workers aren't allowed to divulge.
"If the average person is calling less than once per month and these people are calling 40 or 50 times more, that takes away from customer service," Singleton said. "Our priority is to improve the customer experience."
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Yes, there really are people out there with no life whatsoever who will call a customer service help desk several times a day. Let me tell you about “my special friend”, a fellow named Quinton.
Quinton used to call me upwards of 10 times a day, usually with some B.S. reason to comment and/or complain about his service. We all knew that it was just an excuse to call and chat. And boy – did he like to talk. And talk. And talk. And talk some more.
We kept a journal – “The Quinton Log” – on the wall, adding a tick mark every time he called in 1993. It added up at the end of the year to be 501 times. Seriously.
You could almost set your watch by his calls – 8:00 AM, straight up. Ring, ring. “Hi, Tommy – this is Quinton!” Oh, God – here we go again.
It was a genuine chore to get him off the phone. I’d usually have to pretend that Elvis was in the lobby or my pants were on fire in order to get him to hang up.
Plus, he’s one of those guys who has a permanent whine in his voice. You know the ones – the people who you wish you could just bitch-slap the whininess out of? That was ol’ Q-man.
The two ladies I worked with locally got to know Quinton really well, too, but me? I was his favorite. Lucky sumbitch that I am... My co-worker Gary in the other office HATED Quinton however, and made it really clear that he did not appreciate his multiple daily calls. Gary’s icy reception did the trick though, because Quinton didn’t give him nearly the grief he did me.
I put up with Quinton at first, because Every Customer Is A V.I.P. (Yeah, right. Are you buying that one?) But as time wore on, it just became more and more annoying to have him constantly in my ear. It finally came to the point where I had to do something – anything – to get rid of Quinton.
At last, my day came. He called whining once again about his service, and I spent a good hour on the phone with him...convincing him to quit our service and go with a competitor, where he was sure to be much, much happier.
You know what? He CRIED. He said it would be like betraying our friendship. He said he couldn’t do that to me.
No, no, Quinton. It’ll be okay. I’ll still respect you in the morning. Don’t go away mad – just go away.
And away he went.
He’d still call me every once in a while, just to check in to see how I was doing, but after a while Mr. Quinton faded into the background and slowly disappeared from my life.
Well, not quite completely. You see, I still sign my yearly birthday cards to Gary as “with love from Quinton”, and everyone once in a while I’ll get a mysterious e-mail from “someone” claiming to be him.
Good old Quinton. Gone, but not forgotten. No matter how hard I try.
* * * * * * * *
Sprint Nextel defends cutting customers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sprint Nextel Corp. isn't apologizing for its decision to ax customers it determined were calling customer service too often. The nation's third-largest wireless provider sent letters to about 1,000 subscribers June 29, saying the company's records showed they had made frequent calls for help with questions about billing and other account information.
"While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time had led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs," the letters said.
The customers were told their service agreements were being terminated, they wouldn't owe anything on their final bill, and the company would waive early termination fees. They also were told to switch to another wireless provider by July 30 if they want to keep their phone number.
But Sprint officials said Monday this isn't a case of someone being flagged by a computer program. "These accounts have been researched very carefully," Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton said. "These decisions weren't made lightly."
Singleton said the targeted subscribers each made an average of 40 to 50 calls a month to customer service. She wouldn't say how that compared with the overall number of calls logged by the customer service department in a given month.
Singleton said the review also found that the subscribers often were calling about the same problems over and over after Sprint officials felt they had resolved the issue. She said some callers were repeatedly asking for information from other customers' accounts, which customer service workers aren't allowed to divulge.
"If the average person is calling less than once per month and these people are calling 40 or 50 times more, that takes away from customer service," Singleton said. "Our priority is to improve the customer experience."
* * * * * * * *
Yes, there really are people out there with no life whatsoever who will call a customer service help desk several times a day. Let me tell you about “my special friend”, a fellow named Quinton.
Quinton used to call me upwards of 10 times a day, usually with some B.S. reason to comment and/or complain about his service. We all knew that it was just an excuse to call and chat. And boy – did he like to talk. And talk. And talk. And talk some more.
We kept a journal – “The Quinton Log” – on the wall, adding a tick mark every time he called in 1993. It added up at the end of the year to be 501 times. Seriously.
You could almost set your watch by his calls – 8:00 AM, straight up. Ring, ring. “Hi, Tommy – this is Quinton!” Oh, God – here we go again.
It was a genuine chore to get him off the phone. I’d usually have to pretend that Elvis was in the lobby or my pants were on fire in order to get him to hang up.
Plus, he’s one of those guys who has a permanent whine in his voice. You know the ones – the people who you wish you could just bitch-slap the whininess out of? That was ol’ Q-man.
The two ladies I worked with locally got to know Quinton really well, too, but me? I was his favorite. Lucky sumbitch that I am... My co-worker Gary in the other office HATED Quinton however, and made it really clear that he did not appreciate his multiple daily calls. Gary’s icy reception did the trick though, because Quinton didn’t give him nearly the grief he did me.
I put up with Quinton at first, because Every Customer Is A V.I.P. (Yeah, right. Are you buying that one?) But as time wore on, it just became more and more annoying to have him constantly in my ear. It finally came to the point where I had to do something – anything – to get rid of Quinton.
At last, my day came. He called whining once again about his service, and I spent a good hour on the phone with him...convincing him to quit our service and go with a competitor, where he was sure to be much, much happier.
You know what? He CRIED. He said it would be like betraying our friendship. He said he couldn’t do that to me.
No, no, Quinton. It’ll be okay. I’ll still respect you in the morning. Don’t go away mad – just go away.
And away he went.
He’d still call me every once in a while, just to check in to see how I was doing, but after a while Mr. Quinton faded into the background and slowly disappeared from my life.
Well, not quite completely. You see, I still sign my yearly birthday cards to Gary as “with love from Quinton”, and everyone once in a while I’ll get a mysterious e-mail from “someone” claiming to be him.
Good old Quinton. Gone, but not forgotten. No matter how hard I try.
posted by Tommy G at
1:13 PM
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