Sprint responds to NBC’s The Today Show re: Loyalty Credits

This went out to our care agents today, in response to a segment on the 'Today' show:

• A recent segment on NBC’sThe Today Show featured strategies for consumers wanting to save money on their wireless bill.


• The segment may have falsely created the impression that Sprint customers can receive a $100 “loyalty bonus” upon request.


• Sprint will only adjust a customer’s bill when Sprint has made an error.

Why you need to know it:

• Specialists can best serve our customers by making sure they’re on the right plan that meets their needs and reviewing what is/not included in their plan.


• Sprint does not issue cash bonuses, or bill credits upon request.


• The only way to prevent future overages and casual data charges ensure the customer is on the right plan.


• Giving a credit is only a temporary solution and will not prevent future callbacks and credit requests for overages.

What you need to do.

• Ask questions and listen closely to determine your customer’s primary concern.


• Be sensitive to your customer’s request and thank them for their loyalty but firmly explain that Sprint does not offer loyalty credits. Remind customers about the tremendous value in our unlimited plans.


• If there are issues with their bill begin researching and explaining the charge prior to considering or offering a credit or adjustment. Use CST Billing Research Flow to access the Billing Adjustment or Discretionary Creditflows.


• Reference the CST document Credit and Adjustment Approval Limits Grid for more information on billing research and adjustments

Customers experiencing issues in the Chicago market

What you need to know:

• To launch new Network Vision cell sites, Sprint is replacing the Local Technology Provider, which requires removing and replacing existing equipment in the Chicago Market.


• While the majority of customers are not affected, some customers are experiencing temporary issue with provisioning, dropped calls, and calls rolling to voicemail.
  
  
  
  • This is temporary and will stop after the cell site is fully tuned.
  
  
  • Do not send a customer to a retail store for any of these coverage issues.
  
  
  • Do not notate these issues as capacity or coverage problems.
  
  
  
  

Why you need to know it:

• A Network Event Board ticket opens for each cell site activated or upgraded. The ticket closes when Sprint certifies each cell site to be fully is optimized and functional.


• Optimization usually completes within a few days, but some may continue for a longer period.  We do not have a date for repair just yet, but Sprint is proactively monitoring and addressing these issues as quickly as possible.


• Vision Network Event Board tickets are coded in blue and are loaded to 90 days. This date should not be communicated to the customer. Giving customers a specific date may actually frustrate them more if that date changes.

What you need to do:

• Use this link for answers to frequently asked questions about New Cell Sites.
  
  
  
  • In CST enter Key Search words Vision Cell: New Vision Cell Sites FAQ.
  
  
  
  


• Allow your customer to vent their frustrations. Confidently explain that we are aware of the situation and are actively working to correct the issue. Your ability to confidently let them know you understand their situation will put them at ease.


• Make sure to use simple explanations when explaining how Sprint is working to solve their issue because customers can get confused by technical language.

Change Account Name vs. Change of Ownership

A reminder for our agents that is going out today, and some information our readers may find useful, as well.

What you need to know:

• ONLY the AUTHENTICATED Account Holder is allowed to change the billing (account) name.


• ONLY the AUTHENTICATED Account Holder may initiate a Change of Ownership.

Why you need to know it:

Recent fraud activity involving account name and address changes was brought to the attention of Care Management.  Specialists are allowing name and address changes without proper authentication of the accounts and not following written policy.  Due to this fraudulent activity, we are providing a review of the correct policies for Changing an Account Name or completing a Change Ownership.

Guidelines to follow for account (billing) name change:

• ONLY the AUTHENTICATED Account Holder is allowed to change the billing (account) name under the following strict and specific guidelines.


• Marriage


• Divorce


• Legal Name Change


• Minor typing errors at account setup (for example, forgot a letter in the name)


• Sprint does not allow profanity to be used in a name


• Completing an account (billing) name change DOES NOT change ownership of an account.

Guidelines to follow for Change Ownership (Transfer of Liability) for one Account (BAN) to different Account (BAN):

• ONLY the AUTHENTICATED Account Holder may initiate a Change of Ownership.


• A change of ownership cannot be processed on subscribers within the same account.


• Both customers involved in the Change of Ownership must be available either via the phone or both customers must visit a retail store.


• Both accounts must be at least 14 days old prior to initiating a Change of Ownership


• The accounts cannot be delinquent, past due, in collections.  The customer must pay the full past due amount.  The account can’t be suspended or cancelled


• Changing the Billing Name on the account does not change ownership or change who is financially responsible for the account.

#ISN Poll: What do you want to see more of?

[polldaddy poll=6182476]

Sprint April 2012 Launch Deck

we know we're late in the month, but our motto is better late than never, right?

Below is the Aprol 2012 Launch Deck for all new devices/plans/services/changes.

We will post May's next week!

UPDATE! it appears the google doc viewer is having some issues, so here' sa direct download link to the file:

April_2012_Launch_Deck

Customer Confirmation Emails

So... you've been offered a 'customer confirmation email'... ever wondered what those look like for the agent you're talking to on the other end of the phone? View the slidehow below the pic to see how we train some of our folks on the use of the Customer Confirmation Tool!


[googleapps domain="docs" dir="presentation/embed" query="id=1Ny__OJUL27vJD10fxJRVsVNcTJt2_Khj8reDHYe7F-Q&start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000" width="960" height="749" /]

PRL Updates in select LA markets

Starting this morning, we have released new Preferred Roaming List (PRL) updates that allow customers in select areas to keep their roaming ability. This will mean nothing to 99.99% of you that read the blog, but for those few that do, I know you’ve been waiting on this for a little while now, so here you are.

The new PRLs (standard 10055/50555, EVDO 20255/60655 and data card 60755) resolve the loss of mobile broadband roaming as home service in Houma, LA and surrounding markets.

These same PRLs will also resolve the following roaming outages expected to take place on the targeted dates indicated.

• 10/28/09 - loss of roaming voice and 1XRTT - Mohave County (This PRL update does not resolve mobile broadband roaming coverage loss for customers in this area.)


• 11/13/09 - loss of roaming voice and 1XRTT - Yuma County and La Paz County, AZ


• 11/18/09 - loss of roaming voice and 1xRTT - Santa Cruz County, AZ(This PRL update does not resolve mobile broadband roaming coverage loss for customers in this area.)

Customers living in or traveling in these counties should update their PRL prior to the roaming network date, or they will lose the listed services.

Note: Dates listed are planned; however, actual actual dates may vary by about 1 - 3 days before or after.

Any Mobile, Anytime

There's a hot new feature that is being rolled out to Sprint customers this week... it's called 'Any Mobile, Anytime' and it might just be the deciding factor for millions considering a change in providers. I know that when I scrolled though my contacts - I have 2 landline numbers in there, and the remainder are wireless numbers. I suspect this is the case for a lot of people - and those are exactly the type of folks that will benefit hugely from this new feature.

Any Mobile, Anytime is a feature that provides customers unlimited domestic calling to or from any other domestic wireless number while on the Sprint network without utilizing anytime minutes. The only eligible plans include Everything Data Plans, Everything Data Shared Plans, Sprint Business Advantage Messaging and Data Plans and Everything Plus Data Referral Plans, Individual and Family. You never have to worry about restrictive calling circles with Any Mobile, Anytime - you get free calling to over 250 million wireless subscribers.

• Competitively, Any Mobile, Anytime blows away T-Mobile’s myFaves, AT&T’s rollover and Verizon’s Friends and Family. Never worry about calling circles.


• It makes life easy for the customer because they don’t need to worry about what wireless carrier friends, family and co-workers are on. Easy to sell, too.


• Value. Any Mobile, Anytime is included on eligible plans, which already save customers more than $115/year on individual plans, and $600/year on family plans compared to comparable Verizon and AT&T plans.


• Existing customer experience is enhanced because customers on eligible plans will automatically get this benefit.


• Available to new and existing Consumer, IL and CL customers only on Everything Data plans, Everything Data Share plans, Sprint Business Advantage Messaging and Data plans, or Everything Plus Referral Data plans for Individuals and Families.


• For new customers, the Any Mobile, AnytimeSM feature is automatically added when selecting one of the eligible price plans. • For existing customers on eligible plans, the Any Mobile, Anytime feature is applied at the start of the customer’s first billing cycle after launch.


• If an existing customer on an Everything Data Share plan adds a new line of service, the new line will automatically get the feature at time of provisioning. – The existing line, however, will get the feature applied to their plan at the beginning of their next billing cycle.


• As part of Sprint’s Right Plan Promise, existing customers may switch their rate plan at anytime without a contract extension.


• All rules & regulations of Everything Data, Everything Data Share, Sprint Business Advantage Messaging & Data plans and Everything Referral Data Plans for Individuals and Families applies.

Individual Plans (Consumer & Business)

Everything Data Plans

450 ($69.99)

900 ($89.99)

Shared Minute Plans (Consumer & Business)

Everything Data Share Plans (Price per month for 2 lines)

1500 ($129.99)

3000 ($169.99)

CL Business Plans

Sprint Business Advantage Message & Data

200 ($59.99)

450 ($69.99)

900 ($89.99)

1350 ($109.99)

2000 ($129.99)

4000 ($179.99)

And you know these plans already include great features, like:

• Unlimited Messaging


• Unimited Data – Web, GPS Navigation, Email, Sprint TV Premier, Sprint Music Premier, and more.


• Unlimited Nextel Direct Connect and Group Connect (not included with Everything Data Share Plans)


• Unlimited Night and Weekend Calling with Nights starting at 7pm


• Nationwide Long Distance and No Roaming Charges


• Everything Data Share plans - Add- a-Phone (lines 3-5): $19.99/per line


• Remember, Everything Data and Everything Data Share plans qualify for Sprint Premier Program and Sprint Business Advantage Messaging and Data qualify for Sprint Business Benefits

Types of calls not included in Any Mobile, Anytime (Same exclusions as M2M) – Indirect methods such as:

• Calls placed to or received from Directory Assistance


• Calls to retrieve voicemail


• Calls through voicemail


• Calls made or received while Sprint customer is roaming, domestically or internationally


• Calls placed to or received from international phone numbers


• Calls placed to or received from landline numbers


• Calls placed to or received from Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) numbers


• 3-way calling if one or more of the calls is placed to or received from an excluded call type


• Call forwarding has its own per call charge. Call minutes do not go against Anytime Minute bucket

BlackBerry Tour 9630 - July 20

Been trying this devie out for a little while now on the side.. gotta say - I REALLY like it. Looks like everyone will be able to snag one (assuming you haven't already snagged a Pre instead) on 07/20 **updated to 07/12**

Ask I.S.N: How Do AT&T Plans Compare to Sprint Palm Pre Plans?

Ask Inside.Sprint.Now!

First, let me say that over the past couple of months I've had around 30 visitors a day to my blog - So you'll have to bear with me while I try to process this crazy influx of madness over what I thought was going to be some general FAQ about the Pre. Turns out over 8,600 of you visited here yesterday (!really? it was just some general info.. nothing earth shattering!) so I hope you'll understand when it takes me just a bit to respond to comments and the like. There was one comment that I started replying to, but the answer got to be too long to be an effective comment, and I was afraid it'd be overlooked, so I created a post just for it. I've called it 'Ask I.S.N(Inside.Sprint.Now) and if anyone wants to email me a question or two that might be something that's beneficial to a lot of folks, I might do one every day or two, that all depends on how much time I have. Here's the one comment I picked that I felt could use some clarification.. and I have not told the poster I was making it into a full post, so hopefully he won't mind!

Mike asks: (link to his comment)

What about a family plan where one spouse (me) wants a Palm Pre and a data plan and the other spouse (my wife) does not want to pay extra for a data plan? AT&T offers the ability to pay a flat $30/mth on our existing shared (non-data) plan for a data plan for one spouse which results in a combined monthly cost of $99 ($69 for shared plan + $30 for single line’s data plan). I don’t see anything like this in your post. Will Sprint have something like this for those of us wanting just one Palm Pre on a shared plan?

Mike, I'm glad you asked!

Based on your pricing, I'll assume you have the 700 Minute Shared Plan for $69.99/mo with AT&T which includes:

• 
  
  700 Anytime Minutes


• 
  
  Nights & Weekends 9PM-6AM

You stated you could add a data package to one line for $30, leaving the other as is, with only voice usage. That gives you minutes and data for $99.99 – Let’s compare apples to apples though – the AT&T plan is very barebones, and requires buy-ups in order to even compare to a Sprint plan for the Pre, here’s what you’ve have to add:

$16.99 for N/W at 7PM(REALLY?), $9.99/mo for Navigation(per/ln), $1.99/mo for standard voicemail features(per/ln), $30/mo for unlimited messaging(per/acct), $15/mo for Mobile TV Basic(per/ln) – and after all that you still only have data on 1 line! It’d be yet another $30 to add on to the second(assuming PDA too), right?

That’s $230.94/month for 700 minutes, N&W 7PM, Navigation, Enhanced Voicemail, Unlimited Text & Data, and Mobile TV Basic. Even if you left some of these features off (that are included with Sprint) you’d still not come close to the same value, in my opinion (albeit a bit skewed).

How’s that compare to Sprint? As you know we make it easy. It’s SO easy, in fact – Everything’s included! It’s just there! It just works! No worries about using some cool feature of your new phone b/c you might get a $62,000 bill next month cause you were watching more than your allotted 42 seconds of bloopersTV for the month(or whatever your vice may be) Here’s a few options:

(#1) – Everything Data Share 1500

• 
  
  1500 Min/Shared, Unlimited Data & Messaging (Text, Picture, & Video)


• 
  
  N&W 7P-7A, Complete Voicemail, GPS/Navigation, TV Premier, Mobile Email


• 
  
  $129.99 (includes both lines)(or less with employer/credit union discount)

For (#1) above, you’ve more than doubled your minutes, gave both phones access to everything they were built to do, and tons more features than with AT&T.

So, maybe you say the wife just does NOT use the internet, and has no need for it? Absolutely no messages either?  We could even do something like this:

(#2) – Everything Data 450(you) / Talk 450(her)

• 
  
  You on a Everything Data 450 Plan, including all the same features of the data plan above, only change is 450 minutes. $69.99


• 
  
  Her on a Talk 450 Plan, includes unlimited mobile to mobile, N&W 7P-7A, LD/No Roaming. $39.99

This (#2) would give you each a plan totaling 200 more minutes than you had before, gives your nights and weekends at 7PM, AND you get messaging with your data, and the total is still only $109.98 (before any discounts, which you can get 10% just for telling us you bank at a credit union).

So I guess my question to you, is how can you afford to stay with AT&T  knowing how much more you’d get here, for so much less? Even if you just did the 69.99/plan +$30 Data(1 line)+$30 Messaging(shared) - you're still paying more and getting less, and your night&weekend minutes would not start until 9PM(-6AM) !

In all seriousness, if I’m missing something in the math here, or there are just features that you absolutely don’t use (like TV) then let me know and we can take a look, but when you compare apples to apples, we beat AT&T in every way that I’ve worked it.

Sprint Overage Relief Minutes

Tired of paying $.40/per minute or more for using more minutes that your plan allows per month? There’s a little known tip to help avoid paying the ridiculous price for overages. You have to be alert and plan ahead to get the savings, but it’s well worth it. For instance if you used 200 minutes over your plan in any given month, you would have to pay $80 in overage – with the tip below, those same 200 minutes only cost you $10 ! It does pay to plan ahead, or at least to know what day your bill cycle ends and how to check your MOU (minutes of use).

Here’s how it works! Sprint offers ‘Overage Relief Minutes’ to customers who have used more minutes than allotted in their plan. The purpose was originally intended to help customers in ‘one-time’ situations or to use as part of an offer to entice you to upgrade your plan starting with your next bill cycle while providing the overage for the current month at a discounted amount.

• You MUST call in before your bill cycle ends. Overage Relief Minutes can only be added before your bill generates. Nor care or account services or anyone can change this. If you waited too late, you’ll just have to pay for your usage and mark your calendar next month for your cycle end date.


• Overage Relief Minutes come in ‘buckets’. There are several available for consumer accounts, with one restriction: You may only ever purchase a 500 minute bucket 1 time during the entire life of your account. This is enforced by the system and cannot be overridden (though there is a trick, read on!).

Buckets of Minutes	Cost
100 Overage Minutes	$5
200 Overage Minutes	$10
300 Overage Minutes	$15
400 Overage Minutes	$20
500 Overage Minutes	$25

So, how do you get them? It’s simple. Just dial *2 and ask! Tell the agent that you’d like to purchase “Overage Relief Minutes” and if you can feel the blank stare on their face (hopefully most of those have been weeded out by now) insist they look in their knowledgebase for the information, or in a super nice way suggest to them that they ask their team lead or supervisor about it. While every agent is trained on these, most have forgotten the 5 minutes they spent on it during six weeks of training, and it’s not a common call driver, so some may not be familiar.

• Overage Relief Minutes don’t roll over, no matter what expiration date is put on them, again this is systematically enforced. If you want them next month, you’ll have to call in again. They aren’t intended to be an easy way to get extra minutes, but rather for help for occasional overage.


• The agent MUST backdate the SOC to the start of your current billing cycle, or you will only get a prorated portion of the minutes. If this happens, call in after your bill posts to get it corrected, and be clear about what happened and insist on proper credit to your account.


• You can change your mind and purchase more minutes! If you call in on the 20th day of your bill cycle to add a bucket of 100 minutes, and realize on the 30th day that you really needed 400, you can always add more.


• You can only purchase the bucket of 500 minutes one time, however you can ‘stack’ the other buckets all you want. Need 500 again? purchase a 300 and a 200. Need 600? stack a 400 and a 200.Officially there is no limit on the upper amount, however you’d be able to get 1,500 once and 1,000 any month thereafter, as the same code cannot be ‘stacked’ twice during the same month (assuming you get a rep willing to add that many – as most would probably have the good sense to require a plan change, and I can’t say I’d blame them on this, though there’s no official policy).


• Lastly – in case you have a plan that doesn’t include it – Overage Relief Minutes DO NOT apply to roaming minute charges. These would be billed as normal.

If you find yourself using Overage Relief Minutes more than once or twice, then you probably should listen when the agent offers to tell you about a different plan that would save you money – because most likely they’re right, and you’re hanging on to that ancient plan for sentimental reasons – and if that’s the case, then you may actually want to consider our newer offerings that really do include everything. While there’s no formal policy on requiring a plan change commitment when using these minutes, do the math yourself and see what’s right for you, because in almost every case you will save money if you find yourself using these more than a couple of months in a row.

It’s really that simple – so know what day your billing cycle ends, and check your minutes of use each month (that’s 12 times a year – surely you can find the time!). You can find your MOU on sprint.com, by dialing *4 from your handset, and by speaking with someone at Care (*2).

Have you used Overage Relief Minutes before? Did you know they existed? Comment Away!

Customer Care no longer taking payments over the phone

New this week - if you call into Customer Care (*2) to pay your bill, be prepared to be transferred to the interactive phone system to complete your payment.  In an effort to reduce inbound calls to care centers, and to increase the awareness of self-service options, the policy went into effect at most centers this week. 

If you call for other reasons, the agents have been instructed to resolve any issues first, and inform you that after those are all taken care of you will be transferred to the *3 payment system to complete your payment. While I don't agree with the change, I do see (if only a tiny bit) why it was implemented. It's a step backwards from the personal touch and the 'be the reason' approach, because in all likely hood most customers know they can either pay online at sprint.com or over the phone by dialing *2 - so if they're already on the phone with an agent, and their payment method is already on file, it literally takes 30 seconds to process a payment and all is done. With this new system, not only do I think that some CSAT scores will drop, but it also increases the transfers for each agent - yet another metric that stands between them and a pink slip.

What's your thoughts? If you're arleady on the phone, or willing to wait for an agent, should you be transferred to an automated payment system to complete your payment?

An Open Letter to my fellow Sprint Agents

An Open Letter to my fellow Sprint Agents, Worldwide:

I realize that you have an ever decreasing and limited amount of time to interact with each customer, and the fact that it's a phone conversation make it no less challenging; I'm well aware. However if you are going to make a promise to a customer, please... please... please... for the sake of my sanity, and your own job security (or soon to be lack-thereof), please follow through on  your promise. I personally do not care if it takes you the rest of the day or your supervisor's lunch hour. If you promise, you need to have to deliver.  Do not promise the customer something, notate the account accordingly, then end the call and assume your job is complete because you want to lower your call handle time, or it's time for your next break. It is NOT done until you have followed through on whatever (probably too extravagent) promise you made, and most likely even do a callback to confirm with the customer that the resolution is complete. 

 

What you may, or may not, know - is that each and every time you document a promise to a customer in their account, and that customer calls back to find out why we haven't lived up to their expections, two things happen: (1)We have to live up to that promise, often at a considerable cost to the company, and our own team/bonus bottom line; and (2)Your lovely name and ID number along with the promise you failed to live up to, AND the dollor amout it cost the company to make good on, all get forwarded to a back office team that spend their day dealing with customers and unfulfilled promises (among many other things). And while it's not an instantaneous thing, your information is logged into the database and then on the (daily?weekly?monthly?) report that gets sent to your site manager your name is made prominent on the list list of issues to be 'dealt with'.

Yep, you did notice that one of the security guards was not at post when you came down the elevator to have your smoke break, right? You guessed it, that'd because they're busy awaiting your return to your cube so that you can be walked out (the long way around, I might add; a short parade, of sorts) of the building and escorted to your car. I do hope you enjoy your extended vacation, of sorts, just as much as I will enjoy cleaning up your messes that have yet to surface.

In closing, PLEASE deliver on your promises. If you're telling a customer something just to get them off your phone, then I personally will assist that customer in telling you something, and the only thing that will be getting off anything will be you getting off the bus at the unemployment line, it's that simple, and we take it that seriously. In the past week I've had no less than five promises made to customers (and documented in their accounts, I might add) that no sane person would have ever made, and nor did their curcumstances warrant such crazy promised. If it was customer satisfaction scores you were seeking, then you were successful, because anyone would be thrilled with some of the offers and discounts you promised, and I'm sure at the time they were surveyed they were still overjoyed at the thought of their newfound 'friendly' rep with a pockful of gold at the end of the rainbow. You may have gotten your CSAT scores from them, and they may have gotten what you promised, but was your job really worth it? This IS Sprint, you know your actions are all logged. So quit being stupid before you're caught, and save your job, and me some headaches.

 

--From Somewhere deep within Sprint Customer Care.