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Would you dump a customer?

Just read an interesting article about customer service:
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9739869-7.html?tag=bl</A>
Sprint breaks up with high-maintenance customers
On June 29, 2007, Sprint sent letters notifying some customers that their service would be canceled by the end of July due to excessive calls to customer service.
"Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general account information," the letter reads. "While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs."
"Therefore after careful consideration, the decision has been made to terminate your wireless service agreement effective July 30, 2007."
What does everyone think of this? Have you ever "fired" a customer for any reason? What would it take for you to have to do this?
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9739869-7.html?tag=bl</A>
Sprint breaks up with high-maintenance customers
On June 29, 2007, Sprint sent letters notifying some customers that their service would be canceled by the end of July due to excessive calls to customer service.
"Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general account information," the letter reads. "While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs."
"Therefore after careful consideration, the decision has been made to terminate your wireless service agreement effective July 30, 2007."
What does everyone think of this? Have you ever "fired" a customer for any reason? What would it take for you to have to do this?
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Comments
Although I would like to add this practice overall scares the crap out me, because lets say a majority of companies follow suit. So I might not beable to buy a Ford because they don`t like me or I bother them too much, or I complain about the price? One could find themselves out in the cold very quickly.
So now as Sprint customer not only do I have to pay a bill, if something gets messed up (sprint screws out bill up ALL the time) I have to be very careful not to get dropped, I can`t complain about the service, etc.What`s the point, I just have to take the bill they hand me or I`m dropped, F_ _ _ that!
Overall I think it`s pretty crappy for large corporations to adapt this. Small companies I understand because they dont have call centers etc, but these large companies...................
However in this particular case, you have to look at the root cause. Why did these customers call the service center so much? Were they really bored and figured that chatting with a Sprint support rep is the best way to enterntain themselves? Or was there a recurring problem with either their bills or the service? Sprint could have identified the problem and fixed the root cause; instead they chose to ignore the actual problem and only dealt with the symptomps. I believe this band-aid approach will hurt them in the long run.
Her response was that there was a billing error that she had been trying to resolve during that timeframe. She knows she didn`t make 300 call in a month but thinks they counted each time she was routed to a new, unhelpful representative. Having just spent one hour on the phone with them trying to cancel a phone we didn`t use, I can believe it. I only spent about 15 minutes actually talking to someone. Then I had to drag my dh out of the shower because I was "just" the wife. For all they knew my dh was at work and it was my boyfriend!!
Hi Kim! Followed you over here. MLRancourt2007-7-17 7:17:55
The whole telecomm industry is probably the least customer-friendly industry in the US. Cable and landline companies usually don`t make you sign a contract, but, uhm, well have you ever had to deal with Comcast service department? It`s crap-tastic!
Choosing a telecomm provider is akin to voting in the presidential election; at the very best you are choosing the lesser of a few evils, and you`re stuck with your choice for a number of years.
A company I work for just sent a notice to a large customer that we will no longer quote orders for them. This customer, over the last few years, has requested quotes on twenty different jobs. These were all large quotes that took a lot of time to write up. But, out of twenty quotes, the customer has not made a single purchase. They simply sent the quote request to meet company policy to get three of four quotes. Their purchasing agent knew in advance she was not going to buy from us.