I write to share not only a little phone history, but to discuss what has always been important to me: customer loyalty. I was told by many that my problem is that I remain loyal and I should 'shop around' and 'play the field' given the way modern companies do business. I've been with Sprint for almost 14 years (ever since I began tapping into the cellular world). I've been happy, but the current model needs to be reconsidered.
Throwback: once upon a time I grew up with a landline with a chord that needed to be shared with my mom, two sisters and my father. We took turns and my parents always reminded me of the expense and usage. This began to make more sense in college when roommates and I needed to share phones and we highlighted our bills to see who called where and who was responsible for which call. I got accustomed to monthly charges and I was good with that.
Sometime in the early 2000s I realized it was silly to have a landline because a cell line worked just as efficiently and effectively. The price per month was the same as a landline and it made sense to switch.
Add a few years, update technology, and a son on a shared plan and I had to adjust my budget. I get that. But, coming home from the holidays I saw a significant rise in per-month cost for my phones so I called Sprint to find out why. Reasonable. It took me a few automated messages before I got a real person, but I learned that my contract with them expired so the prices went up. I wasn't paying attention so I wanted to make updates.
This is where the problem grew bigger. I was advised to go to a Sprint store, which I planned to do next week, but I happened to pass one today to stop in. Three employees were working, and all of them were fresh out of high school, laying back in chairs, talking about the booze they prefer to drink and crazy neighbors. They seemed disturbed to have a customer, but one rose to the occasion to help me. They looked at my services and said, "There's no deals for you. There's nothing we can do. You need to call Sprint to make changes."
Um, okay. I go to my office and that is what I did.
I get a woman named Naan or Mang or Dano or something that wasn't familiar and she explains she was in the Philippines. I explain I want to keep my monthly payment around the same as it was and that my contract expired. She tries to sell me new phones and says she will ship them to me, but I explain I want to talk face to face with a Sprint store in the U.S. She then asks, "What kind of car do you drive?" I tell her it's a Subaru, and she begins to tell me, "They are expensive cars. You must be rich." I was like, "Excuse me," and she says if you can drive to stores you must be rich."
Um, a Subaru? Okay, in American context, I get by but in international business the phone representative was correct. I live a life that is definitely privileged to the world order. I simply say I want to go into a store in the U.S. and want to make a new deal to remain a loyal customer. She understands, but she says I have to buy new phones online and I ask her, "No, I want to talk to someone who can help me." She transfers me to a knew customer service named Clark who speaks impeccably but also says he is in the Philippines. Clark tells me I'm entitled to a customer loyalty discount, but I would have to find a corporate Sprint store in the U.S. to get it.
Granted, this is a couple hours of life. I find a corporate store and meet a wonderful young man and salesman who knows what he is talking about. A few more hours later, the only way to get my monthly cost to a reasonable rate is to close my son's line (retire it) and then add a new line on a newer phone - he has to change his number, however. That's the deal they were offering. I call Chitunga who is an accounting/finance student and he says, "I will retire my phone. This is about economics."
So, I get a new upgrade (nice) and he gets a new upgrade with a new number (nice) and now we are mailing his new phone to him at college so he can continue having the benefits of cellphone coverage. He is okay missing a few days of connectivity (which is good of him).
I lucked out with a face-to-face knowledgeable employee who was patient, understanding and hard-working (read: the old fashioned American employee who valued customer service, kindness, and loyalty to not only me, but the company he works for). I'm perplexed, however, because I don't know how much such service will last in the U.S., as corporate providers such as Sprint send their customer service online and overseas. It doesn't make sense, especially to customers like me who WANT to remain loyal and to feel like a valued asset to how business is done.
Instead, I feel like there's a giant scam to purposefully make customers frustrated, aggravated, and unable to talk to executive people who make these decisions. I had to curb my anger simply to get in touch with someone online that could understand me and articulate to me what they were saying. This is why I think face-to-face customer service in the United States should be a much bigger priority for corporate executives who make business decisions to send the work overseas. I'm all for employing and supporting people all around the world, but I am seeing right through the scheme. Through the exploitation of underpaid phone operators and in-store employees who have to take the frustration of customers like me, those in charge make salaries beyond comprehension, sort of laughing their way into comfort zones, exploitation, and global economics that lessen the service that used to be enjoyable and respectable.
I'm signed on for a couple more years with the company I've been loyal to since I've used cellular phone services, but I'm beginning to think they've started to "jump the shark." They've gone too far, and I'm ready and waiting for the next movement that puts customers back at the forefront of the business they do.
I'm just one person who knows that the use of a cellphone is a total privilege, however trying to stay loyal to a company given their current business practices makes me skeptical, angry and sad. It shouldn't be this way (they know that - the ones that have created this scheme) (but it's probably applauded in circles where it is celebrated to get the most money for the least cost of employing actual human beings).
For the man who was of great help today, I applaud. I don't know how long he'll last in this line of work, as it became obvious to me that the cellular world has gone the way of airlines and he was alone in a store trying to help twenty customers. Perhaps it's the price we pay to have luxuries in the U.S.A. - yet, it's pretty gross. It's exploitation, actually, and wrong.
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