Muse

Ericsson to Run Sprint’s Cell Service (or "Hans Brinker misses the boat")

So Sprint thinks that this will stop the torrent of departing customers?

Memo to Sprint execs: there was a time, a couple of years ago, when you could have said the exodus represented a sort of “trickle”. However, this outsourcing represents sticking your finger in a dike that broke apart months ago. There’s only one way former customers will come back, or others (myself included) will stop leaving your brand, and that is if AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, et al screw up more mightily than you already have. The sprint brand is no longer in control of its destiny. A sad place to be.

There is little you can do now to rescue what is essentially a toxic brand. On a professional level, I note almost daily the ridicule heaped upon you by customers of other providers, and the disdain and frustration leveled at you by your (for now) current customers.

On a personal level, with the exception of Charter (and look where they are), I do not think I have received worse customer service from a company, ever. I have been loyal to you for 20 years, and I am now actively looking for another carrier. I rarely switch providers, but Sprint fails to recognize that over 90% of their “deserters” did not CHOOSE to leave: they were forced out. Could you imagine a restaurant or store owner telling his/her customers - on a daily basis - “no, you can’t have that / here’s a bill for something you didn’t ask for / who cares what my associate promised you, I’m not giving it to you / I know what you THOUGHT you were getting, but that’s all we have, so suck it up…”?

Frankly, I’m surprised Ericcson agreed to align themselves with this circus act.