CSI Factor- Sprint Earns 2 of 10
I’m bringin’ back an oldie but a goodie- the CSI Factor (the grade a customer service provider receives) short for the “Customer Service Index- Factor” series (Episode One here, Episode Two here). Today, Sprint is on the chopping block who, on a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best), receives a 2.
Here’s what went down:
1. Benn’s insured Sprint Treo 650 had problems freezing intermittently.
2. On TUESDAY, we drive waaay across town to a Sprint corporate repair center because the 40 Sprint stores in our neighborhood don’t have repair centers (thanks, Sprint).
3. We finally arrive at 6:55pm. The store closes at 8:00pm. The sign on the door says nothing more and 10am-8pm- not even that the repair center doesn’t admit phones after 7:00pm (an HOUR before they close).
4. We walk around the store where no one will help us. Finally, we find Rude Guy who spoke like Ben Stein in a pissy mood. “They’re not taking phones anymore.” Benn said “sure they are, it’s before 7:00.” He looked up at him like the snooty clerks at Bergdorf’s sneer at you when you’re in the shoe section (expensive) when you should be in the accessories section (less expensive) because you’re wearing Pay-less shoes. Then he clickity-clacked our info making sure we knew he was irritated.
5. Benn tried to lighten him up with a joke which he totally ignored. Are we in NYC or something? This is the South, jerk- smile even if you don’t want to. He literally threw a piece of paper at us and said “it may be an hour, but don’t go far.” Then he stomped off into the depths of the repair center.
6. Benn asked for his phone back (as they might spit in it like an angry waiter). As Stompy asked why, Benn said he didn’t like the way he was being treated, he doesn’t mind taking it somewhere else if there is a problem. Stompy said “I’m not treating you badly.” ”Yes you are.” In chimes the dude in back who sounded like he was part of the cast of Clerks said “you’re gonna lose all the info on this phone if I reset it.” Benn said, “I’ve synched it and done a hard reset.” “okay.” We decided to just give them a chance.
7. We went to Starbuck’s and lounged, giving them 45 minutes to tend to the precious phone. When we walked back in, Clerks dude picked the phone up from the exact spot we’d left it in and took the back off and asked, “uh, do you mind if I like hard reset it, you’re going to lose the memory but it’s the only way.” WTF!?!?- read #6. “That’s not a repair, I’ve already done that” Benn told him. “It’s all I can do.” Really, Clerks? Pushing a button is all your repair center that we drove 20 minutes to is capable of doing? Yep. Benn asked, “so, your official position is that a hard reset is a repair and you refuse to examine the phone?” Silent blank stare. Bye bye.
8. We were LIT! If choking people didn’t result in jail time, I’m pretty sure Clerks would have had a rough night.
9. In the car, Benn calls Sprint customer service. They hear him out. A really nice girl was very honest about the fact that there may be nothing they can do but assured him that his anger was valid and that we should have better luck at a different corporate repair center and they would likely replace it with a refurbished 650 or if unavailable, upgrade to a 700 or 755. She was absolutely no help, but she was good at her job (listened, validated, suggested a possible solution). She left us only 90% sure we were leaving Sprint instead of 110%.
Number 1-8 reinforced our years of frustration with Sprint. Had Number 9 not occurred and Number 10 (Sprint has the best coverage in Texas- it’s a big big spread out state), Sprint would have scored a 0. A big round zero.
Stay tuned for WEDNESDAY’s Sprint debacle. Will another repair center score better or will they fail as miserably as Tuesday’s poostorm?
Out of 10, what would CSIF score would YOU give Sprint regarding Tuesday’s events?
January 14th, 2008 at 5:36 am
The Real Question is what does someone have to do to be a 1? I mean, I don’t know the rest of the details, but I’m pretty ruthless with this.
Hard as hell to hold on to being a Christian when you deal with imbicles.
January 14th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I simply won’t have enough room to comment here. I’ve had a similar experience with Sprint and my Treo 755P. Sprint will not acknowledge the problem with the Treos though an associate of mine with ATT was having the same problems and ATT finally came clean to her.
I love my Treo when it works. But all to often it just resets because the sky is blue. It’s annoying. And often won’t access the data plan (internet) without 3-5 tries.
I too took mine in. They looked at it. Did a hard reset. Kept me waiting 45 minutes and then proudly exclaimed “We cleaned out the microphone.”
WTF?
January 14th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Chris, I totally feel your pain, haha
January 14th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Well, based on the store experience, they get a 0 but the CS person and their range of coverage gave them 2 points automatically. *BUT* had they tripped me on the way out the door (I wish), they would have had a negative score (plus I would own a Sprint store after a lawsuit).
Stay tuned for the next CSIF where we spend ANOTHER day at Sprint. Will Benn get his phone repaired? Will he get a replacement phone? OR Will Benn leave Sprint and get an iPhone like he wants?
January 14th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
What is it with cell providers? I had a nightmarish -3,248 CSI with Cingular. T-Mobile has been good. So far.
January 14th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Awesome blog Lani! I think we’ve all felt your pain. I personally have the Treo 700p and haev been with Verizon for about 10 years.
I’m not with them because I’m a happy, satisfied customer, but more so because I think they provide the best coverage - they’re also the most expensive.
In the last 4 months, I went through 3 Treo 700s. It started when my phone would spontaneously reset. After a long bout with Customer Service, they finally sent me a new one. Guess what…the new one had the SAME PROBLEM!
This happened multiple times. Bottom line - tell them you’ve performed multiple Hard Rests AND you’ve tried using a NEW BATTERY. You can also tell them the replacement phone has a burnout area on the screen.
Good luck - my CSIF score would be a 0.
Denny Oh
January 14th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Jay- I’ve heard Cingular is terrible (but it’s ATT now, so if you want an iPhone…). T-Mobile coverage is spotty in Texas. You know what it’s like- lots of hills and lots of undeveloped space between suburbs. Coverage is the most important thing to me, so I’m kinda stuck with Sprint.
Denny- thanks for the compliments!
Between you and Chris (and the tech guys at Sprint), Treos are a troubled breed. BUT, the Supra eKey MLS-opener on a phone is so convenient. Thanks for the tech tips since we’re still Treo-bound! (you’re probably right- it should really be a 0, huh?)
January 15th, 2008 at 9:18 am
In Houston, Sprint is the K-Mart of cell phones. I know of no Career Realtors that have Sprint except for the rookies who got the cool free phone with 2 year subscription. If they survive, their next phone is either T-Mobile with that 3000 minutes, for $50/month or Verizon. Our MLS won’t work on the Safari browser, and the Supra software is Palm OS, so iPhone is out for Houston Realtors, except as a fashion statement. I have driven all over the state of Texas and Verizon has the biggest footprint and the most expensive plans.
My next cell phone adventure will be when I upgrade to a smart phone. One requirement will be tethering the phone to a laptop for wireless broadband, because those unlimited data plans are so outrageously expensive and I want to squeeze all the value out of those fees. If they can’t show me how it works on my laptop, I am out of there.
Maybe NAR could take our special assessment for advertising and get us a phone that works for Realtors!
January 15th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Strange- that’s not how it is here only 2 hours away. Sprint is the only carrier that doesn’t cut out when driving from Austin to Houston (or Dallas, or OKC) and for as much traveling as we do, coverage is crucial.
And Tom- you KNOW my husband isn’t a rookie- don’t make me come down there and arm wrestle you!
So, do y’all think I should give in to Benn’s iPhone dreams and just chance coverage in rural parts of Texas?
January 15th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Sprint just leads in connectivity in not only phone service, but also in broadband. I am connected from Austin to Kansas City anywhere I go. We litteraly drive connected with laptops the entire distance uninterrupted, and you just cant do that with any carrier.
As for customer service factor, it really began about 3 years ago to go down hill on a rail.
I’ve delt with at&t & verizon on several levels in the past and honestly, I’d never make that mistake twice.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:40 am
You shouldn’t be driving to Oklahoma anyway, Miss Longhorn…
January 15th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Ahhhhhh Sprint
Here’s my tale
http://www.theharperteam.com/blog/our-team/top-3-reason-to-sprint-back-to-verizon/
And sine then I had one of those great rebate offers where you fill everything out and then they reject it for some inane reason,. Nothing builds loyalty like jacking your customers around.
Nov 2008 - our contract expires and we can Sprint back to the competition
January 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Jay- I know. Family duties call. : )
John- I haven’t heard anyone wholeheartedly recommend a carrier before. Sprint sucks.
January 21st, 2008 at 8:09 pm
[…] If any department needs a purge and redevelopment I’d say it is customer service. Just read this recent blog post by Lani and this one too. I’m sure there are thousands of other negative […]
January 24th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
I finally dumped my third Treo after too many crashes, freezes and data losses. Switched to the Blackberry and haven’t had a single issue. I think the Treo has too many applications, including those who use it for MLS,and it just can’t handle it. It couldn’t handle my outlook database AND hundreds of emails without crashing. It would erase my entire email account and settings..that did it! Done.
I never used it as a lockbox key because I had too many friends who were out showing property when their Treo locked up and couldn’t open a lockbox. I did discover the number for Palm Support and always called them first about the Treo vs. Verizon…who was totally useless. I spent no less than 15 hours on Tech support for 3 phones…