Seize the storm

November 21, 2007, 11:30 am

My phone rings and it’s from an 866 number.  “Not another Sprint survey - they’re really going to hear from me this time.”  I answer and I hear, “Hi, this is Twana from Sprint Executive Offices.”  Those last three words rung in my ears in a clear “OH CRAP” moment.  I’m thinking my account is going to be cancelled because I’m a nuisance or something but then she explains why she’s calling.

Flashback

You see, the night I wrote my blog entry, “Nightmare on Sprint Street“, I printed out thirteen copies of it and sent them to the thirteen executives of Sprint and attached this preface letter:

I write to inform you of the recent experience I’ve had with your company.  I’ve been a Sprint customer for quite some time and for the most part, I have been a happy customer.  Sadly, whenever I’ve had a problem, it’s taken at least 15-20 calls and hours of my time to resolve.  I can understand your ability to resolve many situations like this is limited and outside the scope of your job.  I hope though, that you care about the customer experience.  The following account is posted at my blog [site notated].

Because I wanted to show them I was not afraid or some crazed lunatic vowing a violent revenge, I signed it with my name, address, and phone number.

Twana

Twana was a very nice lady.  She said that she had read my blog entry and was amazed at what I went through.  She informed me that she would now be taking over my entire case to ensure that any and all acceptable solutions were found.  I thanked her and told her that my intentions were never to libel Sprint or smear anyone in particular but I thought that there was a great injustice going on.  She replied that she loved blogs and appreciated that I voiced the whole thing.  She also said that sometimes, that’s the only way that things get done.  Twana stated that she had split up each part of my feedback and routed it to various people around the company.  She identified areas were managers would be informed of lapses in training and even forwarded the website gripes to the website people.  Slightly embarassed at the way I ridiculed the website errors, I felt bad for slamming them a bit hard.  Oh well, I thought, better for them to get the errors than to let them keep existing.

Bronx Fees

We got down to the root issues after this and I kept pressing for why my address had changed to the Bronx.  She didn’t have an answer for me.  No matter how hard I pushed, she couldn’t give me an explanation.  I left the issue with me conveying that I would appreciate if she pursued the matter and found out why.  I really hope she does too, as that was a pretty serious error.

Phone Charges

As to the new phone debacle, she said that I was correct that I should have been charged $99.99 for the phone.  As great and such a relief as it was, I was pretty much done with the whole new phone thing… That is, until she said that she would like to rectify the whole situation and send me the phone for free.  I breathed a sigh of relief as I would have thought it a bit odd if something like this wasn’t done.  But who was I to send letters out to the executives?  My wife honestly didn’t think that I would get anything done by sending letters.  She even lamented the costs of the stamps.  Because I love my wife so much, I stuck out my neck and asked Twana if there was any way that she could arrange that my wife get the red phone as that is what she really wanted in the first place.  Twana said she would check to see if there was one in inventory.  If there was, she would call me and tell me that it was available, and finally send it out.

Resolving

Twana and I talked a little bit more, clearing up that it would take a bit more time for the 911 fees and Bronx county taxes to be reimbursed.  She said she would call me before the next bill in December was due to ensure that I was happy with what that bill said I would have to pay.  Finally, she gave me an 866 number to call and a case number that would get me transferred directly to her.  She also gave me her work email address too.  As she was giving it, she paused and asked me very politely that I would not blog it.  Of course I wouldn’t, I told her.  So I’m sorry dear readers, I cannot give that out as I do respect her privacy and the job she’s doing.  She did allow me to post her first name.

In Closing?

I don’t know if this is the end of this thread of issues.  My account currently says I have a bill due of $388.03 but have refunds and adjustments of $712.30 leaving me a balance of positive $324.27.  There’s some series of charges that will get me to a final bill.  I think it will be somewhere around the $100 range - but if I get a credit that lasts me for a month or two, I’d be pretty happy with that too.  It all comes down to being a respectful and respected customer.  I hope that the Sprint corporation and I can continue our relationship for some time to come.

I do think about all the people out there that are like me and went through a similar situation.  What if they gave up and just paid the extra money?  Sprint is making tons more of money off of them.  I guess it somewhat equals out with the cost of having to employ all the people that I had to talk to in the end.  I’m still left with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth - I know I’ll be even more cautious in the future.  At some point though, we have to trust that businesses and other people aren’t out to get you and aren’t trying to screw you for every penny.  I’m going to try and trust Sprint at least for a bit longer.