links for 2007-07-08
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The Consumerist has direct line to Sprint….Call 703-433-4401. Light a candle.
links for 2007-07-07
Dear Sprint: Can I Volunteer for Early Termination?
Earlier this evening I phoned Sprint regarding my bill as I do every month. In the course of the conversation they informed me that my contract which I thought was up in September 2007 was up in August of 2008.
It seems that when they were giving me extra minutes, service credits and discounts in August 2006 to make up for their billing mistakes they included a special surprise incentive to remain a Sprint customer, they extended my contract for two years. Of course, it really was a surprise to me. Had they mentioned that, I would never have agreed to the rest of it. And had they fixed my problems, the contract wouldn’t have mattered because why would I want to terminate a contract for service that was satisfactory.
You know when you are waiting for customer service to finally take your call you are warned that the call might be recorded. When they told me tonight that my contract had been extended last August, I asked if they had a recording of me agreeing to it. Stefan SPP2621 told me that the recording said "might be recorded". I said I understood that but I was asking him to check to see if this call had been recorded.He said first that they couldn’t do that. Then when I persisted he said they could check BUT he didn’t need to check because it was noted by the rep that I had agreed to it. Hmmm, those reps are so much more reliable than the customers who have to call in month after month for the same problem that never gets corrected. Well, we didn’t get very far there…but really, where are all those calls that might be recorded anyway?
So, imagine my surprise when I went to Techmeme and saw: Sprint Breaks Up with High Maintenance Customers. It seems that Sprint sent letters on June 29th to some of their customers essentially firing them for complaining about the service. Gizmodo has the letter.
I called Sprint retention back and explained that I had called earlier and was told I couldn’t terminate my contract without paying $200 for each of my three phones but since I saw that they were trying to get rid of "high maintenance" customers that I would like to volunteer. Marlene 3350 refused my offer.
She said that I could cancel my contract and then call 1-866-424-8136. I would then be given instructions to communicate with "the Back Office Team" where I could request a fee waiver.
Marguerite Reardon had 47 comments on her post at CNET mostly from those in favor of being fired by Sprint. Ultimate irony…I can’t even get them to fire me.
Tags: Sprint, techmeme, Gizmodo, Marguerite Reardon, Cnet
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links for 2007-07-05
links for 2007-07-04
Bowling Alone Yet Standing In Line Together
Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone, The Collapse and Revival of American Community, writes that our social capital has declined and that we have become disconnected from family, friends, civic involvement, and shared experiences. He notes that more Americans are bowling than ever before but that the number of bowling leagues has declined precipitously. I am not doubting the validity of his research, I just think he is missing the social web.
Take the iPhone for instance….Thomas Hawk, CEO of Zoomr writes: "Before I dig into the iPhone I thought I’d reflect back a bit on the last 36 hours or so. First of all, to those who say it was stupid to camp out overnight at the Palo Alto Apple store when I could have gotten it waiting only 4 hours in line at a At&T store somewhere else, you just don’t get it.
Camping out last night at the Palo Alto Apple store was not about an iPhone. It was about an experience. Something that I value far more than my new iPhone."
It wasn’t just "an experience"….it was a shared experience. It was shared in person, in lines and shared in live streams. AND if it weren’t for the social web, I wouldn’t be sitting in St. Louis, Missouri clicking on a link and seeing Robert Scoble in Half Moon Bay, CA on the cover of the Mercury News and nodding first in recognition, the I "know" him phenomena; then "WOW…Robert Scoble, former Microsoft guy, was standing in line for an iPhone wearing a t-shirt that says," I got iPhone."
iShare….experiences. And that t-shirt beats those bowling league shirts hands down.
Tags: Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone, iPhone, Thomas Hawk, Zoomr, Robert Scoble Media 2, 0, Apple
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