As my poor relationship with Sprint continues–I just tried to activate a new line with an old phone we already own, a Sprint Katana, but it was ‘unable’ to do so–The Consumerist has a doozy on America’s third-largest cellular carrier. Allegedly, anonymous-sourcedly, Sprint’s reps are under instructions not to write quotations from customers in notes. This is because such notes can be used by customers in lawsuits as evidence.
If true, it’s probably best seen not as some new act of raving evil, but simply as a subtle reminder of how Sprint views its relationship with its customers.
Sprint Reps No Longer Allowed To Quote Customer In Quotes In Case Of Subpoena? [The Consumerist]
I worked customer service for a different mobile phone company for almost five years and we were not allowed to quote customers in notes for the same reason, but it was explained as we were not legally allowed nor trained to type out transcripts of conversations. We could only paraphrase in our notes. Also we were told any notes we left could be used as evidence in a lawsuit and we could also be asked to testify, but that would be very rare because of the mediation clause in the service agreement. Not the contract, the actual service agreement. Also all calls were recorded, but I believe the automated recording about the calls being “recorded for quality purposes” is a legal way of getting out of using recordings in lawsuits. I don’t know if that’s true, but I always wondered. And if a representative finds out that a customer is recording calls the rep must ask them to stop, read a script, and then hang up if the customer doesn’t stop.
This mobile phone company also canceled customers accounts because they called customer care too much, but the amount of times some people called was insane such as 3000 minutes in a billing period. I saw a couple of those accounts and there was never a specific issues the customer was calling about that they couldn’t get resolved, but either the person was calling just to talk to someone like a friend or would call about numerous questions repeatedly throughout the day. Almost an OCD type of behavior. Then there were of course customers that were banned from calling customer care and only allowed to write the company and even service canceled because they were abusive to reps, but it always seemed perverts got away with it and only people threatening physical harm would get canceled.
Sprint:
The company so desperate for customers that it let a shitload of them go for requiring assistance “too often”.
I am tasked with selling Sprint at work, and it’s very difficult to hide my contempt for the company.
Not to be pessimistic, but I doubt that leaving quotes in the notes on customers is a rare thing for any company. I worked customer service for a large US Cable company, and although we didn’t leave direct quotes in the notes, we often left “over-descriptive” notes on each sub (customer), detailing exactly what was said in a rather humorous manner.
My favorite note on a customer account that a friend of mine encountered:
“Sub Hung up. Thanks!
”
Yeah, tech support people tend to turn pretty evil out of desperation for amusement in their generally hideous job. I’m starting to think it doesn’t matter what the company as a whole thinks of customer service; tech support and on the phone customer service is hell either way, and we are going to get bored and malicious.