Epilogue: Satisfaction Granted
It took all of six minutes for the Executive Services VIP Analyst to settle my account. She apologized profusely and refunded every penny of the $630. With an additional $75 “service credit,” my balance due dropped to -$20.
Six minutes.
I am very thankful. My heart rate has returned to normal. I’ve lifted my boycott on the Nextel Cup, and can start watching Ron Livingston movies again.
Do I have any confidence that Sprint won’t screw me again? No, absolutely none. But it’s a depressing industry. Tales identical to this happen all the time, even to Cingular and T-Mobile and Verizon customers. For now, Sprint and I have made up. Better the devil you know. Especially the devil whose Executive Services VIP Analyst’s phone number you know.
I appreciate all the comments and emails and posts and insider tips. Where do we go from here? Out of this little ordeal will come two things. First, a renewed interest in finding examples of great customer service. Gotta balance out the negativity I’ve poured in the ocean. Second, if you’ve gotten your ass kicked by a cell phone provider (or any large entity), I’d be happy to help you demand satisfaction. No guarantees. Just fire me an email.
But I can’t stop thinking that being the anti-cellphone company is fertile ground for a newcomer, the way jetBlue made the stodgy old airlines seem obsolescent. What if Apple had announced the iPhone would only be made available through this non-existent carrier? Oh well. I’m locked in with Sprint for another 23 months. Maybe by then someone will have filled the void. Sir Branson?
Previous Entries: My Marathon With Sprint; An Open Letter to Sprint CEO Gary Forsee; Update: Sprint CEO Emails Me.
Denise Said,
March 29, 2008 @ 10:24 pm
USAA insurance. Best customer service I’ve ever had or heard of. I’ve never had to argue with them, never had to bargain, just 100% fantastic. For an example: about a year and a half ago we found out that the house we had been renting had been used to cook meth. The house was severely contaminated, and we thought we were going to lose all of our stuff (miraculously, our things had stayed clean enough that we could decontaminate them, but we didn’t know that at the time). Doing the research, we discovered that renter’s insurance policies almost NEVER cover meth contamination, but we figured it was worth a shot to call and ask USAA. I explained the situation to a very sympathetic rep, who put me on hold for a few minutes to check it out. When she came back, she said it didn’t look like it on the face of their policy, but she thought she might have found a way to do it. She said she would research it and call me back. I waited a couple days and figured she had forgotten, but lo and behold, she called me a week later with the news that she had gotten a team together who figured out how to cover all of our possessions. I thanked her profusely and told her that we had found out that we could do the decontamination ourselves, so we wouldn’t need to draw on the policy. She then said that if we submitted the receipts for the cleaning materials (bleach, etc.), that they would cover the cost of those up to $600. Absolutely wonderful company and people. I was almost in tears at the end of the conversation. Thanks USAA!