KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Sprint Nextel Corp. watched another 1.3 million wireless subscribers head for its competitors during the third quarter, leading the company to post a loss that sent its stock skidding Friday. Dan Hesse, the Overland Park, Kan.-based company's chief executive, told analysts that Sprint Nextel plans to work harder to attract new customers during the upcoming holiday season but acknowledged "we have yet to turn the corner.".... "We made good progress on our operational priorities in the third quarter and resolved some key issues," he said. "Still, subscriber losses are too high.".... The nation's third-largest wireless provider said it lost $326 million, or 11 cents per share, for the three months ending Sept. 30. It had earned $64 million, or 2 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
OK, time for another visit from Captain Obvious, y'all...this is what happens WHEN YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS. Surely, I'm not the only one who read this piece while noting that not a single word was uttered about Sprint's long-held reputation for it's Gulag-quality customer service? I can say this because I was a Sprint customer for years...and I'm here to tell you that during my time with them, Sprint's general attitude towards it's customers was that once they had you locked into a two-year contract, you could go fornicate yourself. Granted, customer service throughout the telecommunications industry ain't exactly the stuff of legend, but Sprint has always treated their customers with an off-handed disdain that makes the news of their decline truly satisfying.
Sure, I feel sorry for the numerous employees who will no doubt be sacrificed on the altar of cost-cutting and corporate restructuring, but Sprint continues to just not "get it". Unless Sprint learns that customers neither magically appear nor stay long-term when they're treated like a cancer instead of the reason they're still in business, they will eventually and deservedly go the way of the buffalo.
And I will happily tap-dance on the corporate grave....
