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Sprint? tsk tsk

pastafarian

Pâtes avec votre foie
Nov 4, 2009
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The Sea of Tranquility
Sprint, wonder why you struggle getting and keeping customers? Maybe this? -

First the back story. We were Sprint customers for many years. The signal around our house has always been bad. About a decade or so ago, we went to the Wesbury LI store (a main corporate owned store) because my wife's phone was broken. There were plenty of reps in the store, but they only wanted to deal with new customers, so everyone who needed anything else was told to wait for one guy. We waited over an hour along with over a dozen other pissed customers. It got so heated that we thought there was going to be a riot. We ended up leaving without getting any assistance and very soon after switched to Verizon. We were lured back to Sprint 4-5 years ago by a decent discount through my wife's job. We've been relatively happy with the exception of the recent data slowdowns.

Now for today. My contract is up 7/1 and I've been jonesing for the Evo 4g LTE. My OG Evo realizing its time is short with me has started acting up. Even though I've cycled through 3 batteries, they are lasting a couple of hours at best and it is rebooting from time to time. Nothing terrible and probably something I could remedy with a new flash, but it's only a couple of weeks. I happened by that same Westbury store this morning and decided to stop in. I've heard that you can sometimes get a 2 week early upgrade. Couldn't hurt to try, right? At 10 in the morning, there were at least 18-20 employees that I could see on the floor. There were 4 customers and 2 of us were totally ignored. I could have asked for assistance, but I shouldn't have to. After standing there and playing with the Evo (which I now want even more)for what seemed like eternity, I left shaking my head. Ten years and a total store remodel yet the employees were still terrible. Doubling down, I stopped by at my small local (Merrick, NY) privately owned Sprint store. I was the only customer and there was one employee. His name was Carlos. I know this because he uses a speaker phone, not because he ever spoke to me or even acknowledged my existence. I guess he was way too busy to notice the only customer in his store. I typed him a nice message about what was wrong with his store and his performance in the gmail app on the Demo Evo (took quite a while) and before leaving, interrupted his important hold music time with Assurion and told him he should read it when he got a chance.

When I got home I sent a email about my experience with the Westbury store to Sprint via their support page (decided not to pile on about the Merrick store). I wasn't expecting anything. They did get back to quickly and asked for my account details. I got my hopes up that maybe they would grant me that 2 week early upgrade for my trouble. Instead, I got the "we'll bring this to the attention of those responsible" canned response. You needed all that additional info for that? I'll wait the 2 weeks and buy it cheaper from Wirefly or Amazon.

Now I'm not going anywhere else right now, my wife is still under contract and we do get a free Airave. I'm not threatening anything. BUT any new customer that walks into either of these stores is far more likely to walk out forever than ever sign up. And that Sprint might be one of the pillars of your ultimate failure!
 
Good write-up @pastafarian. Unless absolutely needed, I avoid walking into Sprint stores for similar reasons. Always wonder why it is so hard to find effective employees. Especially now when there are a number of highly technical people unemployed.

Not sure if there will be any direct response but have you emailed or posted to Sprint.com?
 
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Pasta, you're a moderator now? We both had "Moments" together, didn't we? A couple years ago.

Your experience may be localized to your area. I'm sure others have had similar experiences, but I gotta say that our local Sprint Store is completely the opposite.

My last phone (trusty EVO 4G) bit the dust about a month ago, for the third and last time. Had to get something new. Went to the local Sprint Store (West Seattle) and the place was busy. I figured I pick up what my wife has, a Samsung Galaxy SII Epic 4G Touch yada yada yada somethingorother, and next to it was the brand new Galaxy Nexus, with LTE. I wanted it.

I was assisted within a couple minutes, the guy told me up front it doesn't have WiMax and they haven't flipped the switch on LTE in Seattle yet. I told him I wanted it anyway. He checked his stock and they didn't have any but he said he'd check the stock in other stores. He said he could only find one, in Ballard, which is about 15 miles away. He asked if I'd mind coming back after they'd transferred stock and I said: No problem, how long?

He said... I'll send Dave over there right now. Maybe about an hour? Will that work? Hell yeah.

So the wife and I went bowling, had a couple beers and an hour and a half later, I picked up the Gnex.

He says... Do you have something to exchange for a credit? I told him that I only had a rooted but bricked EVO. He asked if it would turn it on and I told him it could, but only into recovery. Got $90 credit.

My wife had a similar experience about 10 months ago, at the same store, when she picked up the phone with too many names.
 
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wow, those two stories could not have been any more different if you tried!

i have gone into two sprint stores in my area and both times have been similar to pastafarian's experience. i am not 100% sure, but i would bet money that the people in the store (sales folk) make their money by selling you crap, therefore, they don't make money trying to fix your current device. they have a guy in the back (hourly, not commission based) guy to take care of that.

AlkiDweller, i would say you are a lucky guy. next time you go back in that store, be sure to tell them all thank you for the service you have received!
 
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Pasta, you're a moderator now? We both had "Moments" together, didn't we? A couple years ago.

Your experience may be localized to your area. I'm sure others have had similar experiences, but I gotta say that our local Sprint Store is completely the opposite.

Ahh, the old Moment days! Who needs a phone that stays connected to the network all the time and has working GPS anyway? :D

In retail, management is everything. I'm sure that there are well run Sprint stores around and I'd love to visit one someday. Maybe I should look you up? :) .

I have 2 Home Depots near where I live. One is relatively neat and well stocked with a helpful staff (E. Meadow NY). The other is an awful poorly stocked mess with abusive help (Freeport, NY). This has been the case for many years (decades) spanning many managers. In retail, once the "bad element" is allowed to set in to a store, it's very difficult to extricate.
 
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You're near Brooklyn? I had pizza at Grimaldi's about a month ago. Best pizza I've ever had! First time to NY.

Good thing I didn't need to visit a Sprint store. :eek:

Grimaldi's in Dumbo? Been there. Way better (and less pompous) than their Garden City location which is much closer to where I live. In the same vein, if your ever in the same neck of the woods check out Lombardi's and Totonno's
 
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Correct, the two sprint stores one near my house and the other in my office building are amazing. There are both good and bad stores with every business.

Im just glad you decided to speak up instead of just walking out. You made an attempt to inform them of what you view as short comings.

Sprint cant say there was no "customer feedback"!
 
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Man that sucks OP. The store I frequent has a greeter at the door and every customer gets placed into a que when they walk in. I think it's well run. With that said I know the feeling of being ignored as a customer and there aren't too many things that could be worse.

This is pretty much my experience with the local corporate store that I like to use. I'm always greeted immediately, asked a few questions about what I'm in for, and then put in a queue. It's usually crowded, but I've never had to wait more than 15-20 minutes for a rep to help, and on the occasions it's not busy I'm helped right away. The quality of the help can vary (some reps are awesome, some are so-so at best) but the speed is never a complaint.
 
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Want to get a fast response, send an email to Dan Hesse directly, and you will see how quick they have someone contact you, you will be surprised ;)



Ahh, the old Moment days! Who needs a phone that stays connected to the network all the time and has working GPS anyway? :D

In retail, management is everything. I'm sure that there are well run Sprint stores around and I'd love to visit one someday. Maybe I should look you up? :) .

I have 2 Home Depots near where I live. One is relatively neat and well stocked with a helpful staff (E. Meadow NY). The other is an awful poorly stocked mess with abusive help (Freeport, NY). This has been the case for many years (decades) spanning many managers. In retail, once the "bad element" is allowed to set in to a store, it's very difficult to extricate.
 
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Not unique to Sprint customer service, but I've gotten into the habit of doing the following: 1) When greeted by a CS in a store on on the phone, I say hello, acknowledge them by name, and then ask them for their direct supervisor and next-level manager. I inform them that I want to provide immediate feedback so he/she can get credit or help depending on how I'm handled. The other benefit is I know in advance who's the next 2 levels so the old "give 'em my name trick among shady employees" doesn't happen. 2) I give feedback about how the person is/isn't being helpful and exactly when I think they should escalate me to someone who can help. I tell them I know they have a policy that encourages them to push refurbs during exchanges but that I don't have the time or patience to go step-by-step. I then tell them I'll make sure that each person along the way has/hasn't wanted to accept the terms of resolution that I think is fair and that it must be a corporate-level, senior officer resolved issue.

That usually works and nothing else happens because people usually like to get credit for resolving an issue. In the rare instances where it doesn't, I then hound them for the names of the senior officers.

It worked at Sprint the one time I had to exchange my first Evo that had a broken charge port within 90 days. Sprint had already started giving out refurbs, but they gave me a new one. I've given this advice to others who've also successfully used it and encourage others to try it.

By the way, I've noticed that Sprint's retail stores seem to have emphasized sales over customer resolution. Just about anyone at store can sell you something. Very few can actually resolve issues.
 
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