Comments on: Editorial: Five Years Later, Sprint TeleSales is Still Broken http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/ Providing complete coverage of the wireless industry, cell phone news, and future 4G technologies. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:12:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Davidhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-32780 David Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:26:08 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-32780 I am myself a Sprint telesales rep. And I got to admit the company itself as a whole... has some issues... Its not just telesales. Basically each deparment doesn't know how the other departments work.... A LOT of times I get customers transfered (cold transfer) over from CARE, because they want to return a phone. Or exhange it, Telesales cannot handle that AT ALL, the system won't even allow it, thats for Order Support to do... also they promise free phones to customers or give completely false pricing on equipment to the customers and transfer them to us.... and what do you get? A pissed off customer. Basically there is lack of coordination between each department. Its not just pointing at one department and blaiming them for all the sh!t... the fault is collective. Also sometimes customers are also retards... they break or w.e their phones, the don't have insurance on it, they are not nearly elegible for an upgrade, are way out of the 30 day guarantee... and want a better phone than the one they currently have.... for FREE... Telesales' work, as the name suggest, is to sell, not to make miracles. I am myself a Sprint telesales rep. And I got to admit the company itself as a whole… has some issues… Its not just telesales.

Basically each deparment doesn’t know how the other departments work…. A LOT of times I get customers transfered (cold transfer) over from CARE, because they want to return a phone. Or exhange it, Telesales cannot handle that AT ALL, the system won’t even allow it, thats for Order Support to do… also they promise free phones to customers or give completely false pricing on equipment to the customers and transfer them to us…. and what do you get? A pissed off customer.

Basically there is lack of coordination between each department. Its not just pointing at one department and blaiming them for all the sh!t… the fault is collective.

Also sometimes customers are also retards… they break or w.e their phones, the don’t have insurance on it, they are not nearly elegible for an upgrade, are way out of the 30 day guarantee… and want a better phone than the one they currently have…. for FREE… Telesales’ work, as the name suggest, is to sell, not to make miracles.

]]> By: Raquelhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-30367 Raquel Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:20:15 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-30367 I work for sprint telesales, I agree with Keith "Customer Care and stores routinely mis-inform customers as to what Telesales reps can do" so at the end is TELESALES fault. I feel bad selling the phones, I really do, because i know is a piece of shit what im selling, but im in NICARAGUA(country in central america), and me working for sprint is better that working in a hospital, YEP! i make more money than a doctor. I just try to work, even thought I REALLY HATE THIS JOB. and yes in telesales are people that dont speak a good english, im one of them. "We learn by exploring options by ourselves and by the HEY BUDDY system. “Hey buddy, do you know the answer to this?” HAHAHAHA I KNOW!!! even my TL doesnt know what to do sometimes. in conclusion: for me the problems of sprint is the RULES that they make every week, they changed one rule and explain another thing, and then another. The only thing u understand and the end is the angry coustomer that is TOTALLY RIGHT I work for sprint telesales, I agree with Keith “Customer Care and stores routinely mis-inform customers as to what Telesales reps can do” so at the end is TELESALES fault. I feel bad selling the phones, I really do, because i know is a piece of shit what im selling, but im in NICARAGUA(country in central america), and me working for sprint is better that working in a hospital, YEP! i make more money than a doctor. I just try to work, even thought I REALLY HATE THIS JOB. and yes in telesales are people that dont speak a good english, im one of them.

“We learn by exploring options by ourselves and by the HEY BUDDY system. “Hey buddy, do you know the answer to this?” HAHAHAHA I KNOW!!! even my TL doesnt know what to do sometimes.

in conclusion: for me the problems of sprint is the RULES that they make every week, they changed one rule and explain another thing, and then another. The only thing u understand and the end is the angry coustomer that is TOTALLY RIGHT

]]> By: Nickhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-17523 Nick Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:14:06 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-17523 My letter to Sprint sent 7/28/08 Hello, A couple of weeks ago my MotoQ was damaged and I replaced it with your new Instinct from one of your local Sprint stores on 7/13. My contract was up for renewal and I qualified for all the discounts/rebates. After using this phone for a couple days I realized that it does not function like a real smart phone which I require (ex: opening office excel docs, calendar that can sync). I tried to exchange the Instinct for the Blackberry Curve but it was not in stock and I was told to call telesales and have them exchange it for me since telesales is the only way to get the Curve. Telesales said they cannot exchange the phone since I purchased the Instinct in a physical Sprint store. I then finally worked out an agreement between telesales and the Sprint store to have the Sprint store return the phone, contact telesales and let them know it has been returned so that I can order the Curve from Telesales with all the discounts/rebates. After receiving the Blackberry Curve via UPS on 7/23, just 2 days after I ordered it from Telesales, I find that the Curve does not turn on and won't charge. I contacted Sprint and they suggested that I return the phone and order another one because the phone they sent to me is defective. I agreed with Sprint and even let them know there is no need to rush the phone to me the next day but I will need it by Monday 7/28 when I return from my vacation. The Sprint representative assured me that the replacement Curve would arrive by Monday 7/28. I just called Sprint to request the tracking info for the replacement Curve and it states that the package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 07/30/2008. What happened to having the phone by 7/28? Now I have to wait another 2 days minimum before I get a working phone. I have probably called Sprint over 30 times throughout this process and consider myself lucky if I even get a representative that can speak English without lots of background noise. I am not sure what else I can do to get my phone, in my hand, in working condition, simply by the date Sprint says I will have it. If I do not receive the phone by 7/30, I will be forced to find a new provider. Thanks, Nick My letter to Sprint sent 7/28/08

Hello,

A couple of weeks ago my MotoQ was damaged and I replaced it with your new Instinct from one of your local Sprint stores on 7/13. My contract was up for renewal and I qualified for all the discounts/rebates. After using this phone for a couple days I realized that it does not function like a real smart phone which I require (ex: opening office excel docs, calendar that can sync).

I tried to exchange the Instinct for the Blackberry Curve but it was not in stock and I was told to call telesales and have them exchange it for me since telesales is the only way to get the Curve. Telesales said they cannot exchange the phone since I purchased the Instinct in a physical Sprint store. I then finally worked out an agreement between telesales and the Sprint store to have the Sprint store return the phone, contact telesales and let them know it has been returned so that I can order the Curve from Telesales with all the discounts/rebates.

After receiving the Blackberry Curve via UPS on 7/23, just 2 days after I ordered it from Telesales, I find that the Curve does not turn on and won’t charge. I contacted Sprint and they suggested that I return the phone and order another one because the phone they sent to me is defective. I agreed with Sprint and even let them know there is no need to rush the phone to me the next day but I will need it by Monday 7/28 when I return from my vacation. The Sprint representative assured me that the replacement Curve would arrive by Monday 7/28.

I just called Sprint to request the tracking info for the replacement Curve and it states that the package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 07/30/2008. What happened to having the phone by 7/28?

Now I have to wait another 2 days minimum before I get a working phone. I have probably called Sprint over 30 times throughout this process and consider myself lucky if I even get a representative that can speak English without lots of background noise. I am not sure what else I can do to get my phone, in my hand, in working condition, simply by the date Sprint says I will have it. If I do not receive the phone by 7/30, I will be forced to find a new provider.

Thanks,
Nick

]]> By: Keithhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-13395 Keith Tue, 13 May 2008 09:18:42 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-13395 I worked for the Telesales dept. located in Canada. Yes, there are sometimes mistakes made, and the system is not perfect, however Telesales is not always to blame. For example, Customer Care and stores routinely mis-inform customers as to what Telesales reps can do. And to Michael, when adding an additional line to customer's accounts with the system we were using we could not add the line to the Fair & Flexible family plan as it was no longer offered, the system would not allow it. We had to add a basic plan or power pack, and then the customers would have to call over to Care to grandfather it over. Which would result in billing discrepancies, however I would always explain that to the customer and even offer a credit to more than offset it. It was the way we were instructed to do it. Too many times I had to refuse a transfer from Customer Care because they had promised things I could not possibly do, and then when they found out that I couldn't do anything they say...."well can I bring the customer over so you can explain that to them?" ...ummm no. I worked for the Telesales dept. located in Canada. Yes, there are sometimes mistakes made, and the system is not perfect, however Telesales is not always to blame. For example, Customer Care and stores routinely mis-inform customers as to what Telesales reps can do. And to Michael, when adding an additional line to customer’s accounts with the system we were using we could not add the line to the Fair & Flexible family plan as it was no longer offered, the system would not allow it. We had to add a basic plan or power pack, and then the customers would have to call over to Care to grandfather it over. Which would result in billing discrepancies, however I would always explain that to the customer and even offer a credit to more than offset it. It was the way we were instructed to do it. Too many times I had to refuse a transfer from Customer Care because they had promised things I could not possibly do, and then when they found out that I couldn’t do anything they say….”well can I bring the customer over so you can explain that to them?” …ummm no.

]]> By: danj guardianhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2672 danj guardian Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:56:44 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2672 Telesales do not process Return Kit or authorization email. It should be transfered over to Order Support Desk or Sales Support Desk 1-866-789-8292. Right now there is new updates where you can return the phone at the store for fast processing. This does not apply to accessories or the following customer types: • Business customers • Gov IL/CL • Consumer customers under their employer’s discount plan (IL) • OAR • Employee Advantage Club • SERO Telesales do not process Return Kit or authorization email. It should be transfered over to Order Support Desk or Sales Support Desk 1-866-789-8292.
Right now there is new updates where you can return the phone at the store for fast processing. This does not apply to accessories or the following customer types:
• Business customers
• Gov IL/CL
• Consumer customers under their employer’s discount plan (IL)
• OAR
• Employee Advantage Club
• SERO

]]> By: Christopher Pricehttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2456 Christopher Price Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:25:12 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2456 Coming into the store isn't always an option. For example, SERO buyers aren't able to do so in a store... there are many (far too many) customers who have no choice but to go online or use TeleSales. Store sales reps tend to forget this... Coming into the store isn’t always an option. For example, SERO buyers aren’t able to do so in a store… there are many (far too many) customers who have no choice but to go online or use TeleSales.

Store sales reps tend to forget this…

]]> By: ehhhhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2454 ehhh Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:25:31 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2454 another rep. things are changing. stores can now pull up order tracking and order receipt information in sync. one step in the right direction. but yes. its broken. maybe oneday they'll fix it. until then. learn by others experiences. COME INTO THE STORETO DO BUSINESS another rep. things are changing. stores can now pull up order tracking and order receipt information in sync. one step in the right direction. but yes. its broken. maybe oneday they’ll fix it. until then. learn by others experiences. COME INTO THE STORETO DO BUSINESS

]]> By: steve ghttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2322 steve g Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:30:35 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2322 I agree with all of you, I have been trying to get my number ported for over two weeks! I have been on the phone with about 15 different reps for hours. To add insult to injury, they took away my temporary number! Now I have no number!!! They offer no explanation, and will not let me talk to a manager. They tell me all I can do is wait. Without a phone that I pay for!! and that is ok with them!!! Cingular all of a sudden doesn't seem so bad anymore!! I agree with all of you, I have been trying to get my number ported for over two weeks! I have been on the phone with about 15 different reps for hours. To add insult to injury, they took away my temporary number! Now I have no number!!! They offer no explanation, and will not let me talk to a manager. They tell me all I can do is wait. Without a phone that I pay for!! and that is ok with them!!! Cingular all of a sudden doesn’t seem so bad anymore!!

]]> By: yeptotallyhttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2179 yeptotally Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:24:05 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2179 Yep...another Sprint Sales Associate. Simply put, I hate my job! Every day I go into work knowing that I will have multiple situations where another department has screwed up and I will be the person that comes face to face with the problem. Telesales is broke, Customer Care is Broke, and the billing "SYSTEMS", yes plural, is broke. Sprint has some really cool products and services but has no clue of how to utilize them. We have phones and services that surpass our competition, but also surpasses our customers. I believe the problem is two-fold in that we can't fix a problem and that a customer's expectations are set way too high. I have worked for both AT&T (Corp. Store) and Sprint and I hear the exact same complaints over and over. A day has never gone by where I didn't have a customer complain about a phone costing too much or that they didn't have service in there local walmart for 5 minutes and want to cancel their service over it. I am a huge advocate for Sprint to raise there credit standards and raise the bar. Our store is located in a lower than standard living city. We alone had about 60% of our deacts come about because a customer didn't pay there bill...most not even paying there 1st. The biggest problem with Sprint is that we have the tech to be the best but lack the logistics and procedures. Everyone is looking to someone else for answers and noone can get anything done. I love technology and embrace and understand it in our products. BTW...spent "TWO" days fixing a telesales issue for a customer that had 10 lines of service and Telesales managed to call him and offer upgrades and he excepted only two of them...he recieved 6 upgrades in the mail and a $2000.00 bill. On top they changed his plan to an inferior plan with not text or data where they had it before. I worked out a solution with the customer only after calling retentions and telling them he was threatening leaving to go to Alltel. We should not be reactive but proactive. We should honor the quality this customer represented and should not have brought it to him threatening to leave but rather see the quality of the customer first hand. I get cussed out, yelled at, and told that I am stupid every day because of what customer care or telesales have done. Yep…another Sprint Sales Associate. Simply put, I hate my job! Every day I go into work knowing that I will have multiple situations where another department has screwed up and I will be the person that comes face to face with the problem. Telesales is broke, Customer Care is Broke, and the billing “SYSTEMS”, yes plural, is broke. Sprint has some really cool products and services but has no clue of how to utilize them. We have phones and services that surpass our competition, but also surpasses our customers. I believe the problem is two-fold in that we can’t fix a problem and that a customer’s expectations are set way too high. I have worked for both AT&T (Corp. Store) and Sprint and I hear the exact same complaints over and over. A day has never gone by where I didn’t have a customer complain about a phone costing too much or that they didn’t have service in there local walmart for 5 minutes and want to cancel their service over it. I am a huge advocate for Sprint to raise there credit standards and raise the bar. Our store is located in a lower than standard living city. We alone had about 60% of our deacts come about because a customer didn’t pay there bill…most not even paying there 1st. The biggest problem with Sprint is that we have the tech to be the best but lack the logistics and procedures. Everyone is looking to someone else for answers and noone can get anything done. I love technology and embrace and understand it in our products. BTW…spent “TWO” days fixing a telesales issue for a customer that had 10 lines of service and Telesales managed to call him and offer upgrades and he excepted only two of them…he recieved 6 upgrades in the mail and a $2000.00 bill. On top they changed his plan to an inferior plan with not text or data where they had it before. I worked out a solution with the customer only after calling retentions and telling them he was threatening leaving to go to Alltel. We should not be reactive but proactive. We should honor the quality this customer represented and should not have brought it to him threatening to leave but rather see the quality of the customer first hand. I get cussed out, yelled at, and told that I am stupid every day because of what customer care or telesales have done.

]]> By: Mr. JustFixIthttp://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2174 Mr. JustFixIt Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:54:54 +0000 http://www.phonenews.com/editorial-five-years-later-sprint-telesales-is-still-broken-2846/#comment-2174 I also work in a Sprint retail store...I wouldn't say I'm disgruntled, but I am disappointed in the direction the company has gone since I was hired years ago. The number one problem with Sprint is the TRAINING. Simply put...there is none. Jlove22 maybe you get training in CORPORATE, but in the retail stores there’s none. We learn by exploring options by ourselves and by the HEY BUDDY system. "Hey buddy, do you know the answer to this?" We have to take web based classes but cannot focus on the class because there are 10 customers on the list with a 30 min wait time due to understaffing. I am a firm believer in actually doing it rather than reading it. I can read how to bake a cake, but it’s not the same as someone teaching me how to bake a cake. Most of the employees I work with do not even know how to use most of the phone features (VersaMail, ActiveSync, Phone as a Modem, GPS, etc.). One of the reasons customer service is so horrible is because employees simply do not know the answers but do not want to admit it. Second, Sprint needs to empower its frontline employees to make the correct decisions to resolve the customer issue. One call to CS, Telesales or trip into the local store and the issue should be resolved....period!!! Even when I call in for a customer, I get transferred 2-3 times because I'm transferred to the wrong department, the customer is in the wrong billing system, etc. (how long has it been since the merger and we still don't have one billing system?). I also agree with the statement that the right hand does not know what the left is doing. There is too much finger pointing between departments at Sprint. We can’t do that in the store…call Telesales. Telesales says to call customer service. Then customer service says to back to the store. If it was bought from Sprint, take care of it period!!! Third, Sprint has to stop managing by FEAR. If you don’t make this quota for three months, then you’ll be fired. Guess what? Reps start to do WHATEVER it takes to make sure they still have a job. If they are getting fired, they don’t care if they are caught MAKING their money. How about re-TRAINING (that word again!) or coaching employees who are having trouble? The turnover rate is killing customer service. Experienced employees are either being fired over some silly quota or are simply fed up with their job and quit. We have actually heard this phrase from our Area Service Manager “If they don’t like it, I’ll just fire them and hire someone cheaper.” Last, Sprint needs to satisfy their employees. The morale at Sprint is very, very low in the area where I work. I agree with Mr. Premerger, it gets harder and harder to look customers in the eye especially when you don’t want to be there. If your employees don’t care about the company, then they don’t care about the company’s customers. It’s hard to be told you will not get a merit raise this year due to the company struggling financially, then turn on Big Brother and see them giving away $10,000 per week (plus sponsoring Nascar, NFL, Oprah give away, on and on). Why should I continue to bust my a$$ when I will actually have less spending power this year due to cost of living going up and my wage staying the same? I guarantee you Dan Hesse will take his 6 or 7 figure bonus at the end of the year!!! Sorry for getting off topic, but I think these are some simple issues that need to and must be resolved for Sprint to turn around the terrible image that we have earned. Maybe the higher ups should get out of their CORPORATE offices and answer a few calls or wait on a few customers to get the real SPRINT EXPERIENCE. Maybe then they will realize how backwards some of the policies and thinking are and why they are killing the Sprint Image. Do you see the lights? Sprint Speed everyone!!! I also work in a Sprint retail store…I wouldn’t say I’m disgruntled, but I am disappointed in the direction the company has gone since I was hired years ago. The number one problem with Sprint is the TRAINING. Simply put…there is none. Jlove22 maybe you get training in CORPORATE, but in the retail stores there’s none. We learn by exploring options by ourselves and by the HEY BUDDY system. “Hey buddy, do you know the answer to this?” We have to take web based classes but cannot focus on the class because there are 10 customers on the list with a 30 min wait time due to understaffing. I am a firm believer in actually doing it rather than reading it. I can read how to bake a cake, but it’s not the same as someone teaching me how to bake a cake. Most of the employees I work with do not even know how to use most of the phone features (VersaMail, ActiveSync, Phone as a Modem, GPS, etc.). One of the reasons customer service is so horrible is because employees simply do not know the answers but do not want to admit it.

Second, Sprint needs to empower its frontline employees to make the correct decisions to resolve the customer issue. One call to CS, Telesales or trip into the local store and the issue should be resolved….period!!! Even when I call in for a customer, I get transferred 2-3 times because I’m transferred to the wrong department, the customer is in the wrong billing system, etc. (how long has it been since the merger and we still don’t have one billing system?). I also agree with the statement that the right hand does not know what the left is doing. There is too much finger pointing between departments at Sprint. We can’t do that in the store…call Telesales. Telesales says to call customer service. Then customer service says to back to the store. If it was bought from Sprint, take care of it period!!!

Third, Sprint has to stop managing by FEAR. If you don’t make this quota for three months, then you’ll be fired. Guess what? Reps start to do WHATEVER it takes to make sure they still have a job. If they are getting fired, they don’t care if they are caught MAKING their money. How about re-TRAINING (that word again!) or coaching employees who are having trouble? The turnover rate is killing customer service. Experienced employees are either being fired over some silly quota or are simply fed up with their job and quit. We have actually heard this phrase from our Area Service Manager “If they don’t like it, I’ll just fire them and hire someone cheaper.”

Last, Sprint needs to satisfy their employees. The morale at Sprint is very, very low in the area where I work. I agree with Mr. Premerger, it gets harder and harder to look customers in the eye especially when you don’t want to be there. If your employees don’t care about the company, then they don’t care about the company’s customers. It’s hard to be told you will not get a merit raise this year due to the company struggling financially, then turn on Big Brother and see them giving away $10,000 per week (plus sponsoring Nascar, NFL, Oprah give away, on and on). Why should I continue to bust my a$$ when I will actually have less spending power this year due to cost of living going up and my wage staying the same? I guarantee you Dan Hesse will take his 6 or 7 figure bonus at the end of the year!!!

Sorry for getting off topic, but I think these are some simple issues that need to and must be resolved for Sprint to turn around the terrible image that we have earned. Maybe the higher ups should get out of their CORPORATE offices and answer a few calls or wait on a few customers to get the real SPRINT EXPERIENCE. Maybe then they will realize how backwards some of the policies and thinking are and why they are killing the Sprint Image. Do you see the lights? Sprint Speed everyone!!!

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