Customer Disservice

Why is it that companies don't seem to want to keep customers happy?

15 months ago, I acquired a phone on my own. I then activated it on my existing Sprint account. The Sprint information system then reset my timer counting down to my new phone, even though I only had a couple months yet. Now this phone's battery has dropped to 10 hours of standby time, and I have to decide between a new phone and $60 for a battery. I could get a new phone with the carrier discount, which they have effectively robbed from me. Do they not want to keep me around?

Similarly, I moved a phone line away from Sprint with approximately 2 months left on the contract. Sure, the contract says I have to pay a $150 penalty (Verizon has eased this in their new contracts) ... but I'm keeping a line on the account. Do you really want to irritate a current customer that much?

In that same transaction I moved away a line whose phone had never been able to actually work at home. Did this matter to Sprint? No. Sure, I should have mentioned something earlier, but we were limping by. We decided we couldn't any longer.

Cingular activated three phones for me, and it was a great experience. Until I found out that they had decided that all three phones needed voice dialing ($5/month) and roadside assistance ($3/month). Yes, that's $24 per month for services that replicated what we had through other means and we didn't sign up for.

Honestly, Sprint has irritated me enough as a customer that I am seriously considering eating the separation fee ($150) and moving to a new carrier. And I'm an ex-Sprint employee and a Sprint vendor. That's a serious amount of frustration.