Dan Hesse steers Sprint through choppy waters

Sprint will lose millions more subs in the third and fourth quarters and will continue to outsource US jobs to Poland and India.

Those on the inside consider Sprint done and just want to bilk the company out of as much money as they can on their way out the door.

Sprint Corp is the laughing stock of Kansas City and the wireless industry.

I'm a happy insider and couldn't disagree more with the poor comment made by "anonymous". There have been major improvements since Mr. Hesse took over in all major aspects of the business. Employee morale is significantly higher and the majority of us see a positive future, not a fast exit planned by "greedy" executives. This is our company and we're making it better together.

Give Dan Hesse a chance people. He inherited a wealth of problems in the worst financial times since the depression. If you do your research, he is a most accomplished, highly educated man with an excellent record, and I believe he will make many people who buy Sprint stock at todays prices very happy, wealthy investors. "Anonymous", YOU will soon be the laughing stock of Kansas! RESEARCH before you speak, and have a vision of the future or risk looking like a fool in the future.

I found this article a joke.. This CEO could care less, his customer service reps still suck, and most of them are still in third world country's where they barely speak English and WE have to understand them.. He is a coward for not showing his customers where they can reach him. I have had nothing but PROBLEMS with sprint, and I am sucked in for what is going to seem like 4ever...

This is the new "improved" Sprint? Here is my recent experience with Sprint.

1) I made the mistake of buying a Blackberry from a Sprint telemarketer. I travel extensively, and was in need of a new phone so I was actually glad the guy called. He told me that Sprint was offering a special price with rebates galore. Hey, Sign me up! I purchased the phone using a Visa card. The phone I ordered was the wrong one so I went to the Sprint store to exchange it for an upgraded Blackberry World Phone. The store didn't have one in stock, however the clerk kindly handed me their phone to order it from another department. The clerk then did an exchange using my Visa at the cash register, and I my new phone arrived at my home two days later. Cool.

2) Since I'm not exactly a tech-savvy phone genius, I returned to the Sprint store to get some help setting up my new Blackberry. They were marginally helpful; however they got me fixed up nonetheless.

3) I chose the Blackberry World Phone because as I said, I travel extensively. I was leaving for China in a few days and just as I do every month, I dial *3 to pay my Sprint bill. I was a bit shocked when the lovely robo-woman told me that my new balance was $1100.00! As I said, I purchased one phone, exchanged it for another, all on my Visa card. My normal phone bill is around 100.00 per month, and now I'm looking at an $1100.00 phone bill. I called "customer service" immediately to get to the bottom of it.

Oh my God! I spent two days, and a total of 9 hours on the phone dealing with one idiot after another. In two days, I spoke with 29 different people. I was hung up on, mysteriously disconnected with, put on perma-hold, and treated like dirt by these evil mutants employed by Sprint. I was yelled at, threatened, called a liar, insulted in a half a dozen other ways, and still nobody could figure out why my phone bill was $1100.00.

I had only two days to go until I'm on a plane for China, and I'm going through a living hell with Sprint! I was only in the US for a total of four days in between trips abroad. Time that I could have spent with family or friends was consumed by having to deal with Sprint “customer service”.

On the third day, I return to the Sprint store to try to resolve the issue. The manager of the store dialed some kind of secret magical number and handed me their phone to speak with some big chief, or the "king of Sprint", or whatever. The guy was very pleasant, and tried to help me unravel the whole mess. Turns out, I was charged for three phones. They charged my Visa bill, and there were overlapping charges on my Sprint bill. He credited me for part of the damage; however I was told that the credit for $700.00 on my Sprint bill wouldn’t show up until my next monthly statement.

At this point, I was just happy to know that I had a working telephone to take to China, and I was glad to know that the issue was more or less resolved. Had I not been on such a hectic travel schedule, I would have dropped Sprint immediately.

4) One month later: I return from China, dial *3 to pay my Sprint bill, only to hear robo-woman's voice telling me that I'm past due for the amount of $700.00. Now, I've never been late with paying my Sprint bill. In fact, I usually pay early. I've been a loyal Sprint customer for eight years. I didn't use my phone in China, except to reply to annoying messages from Sprint which I was receiving daily (Apparently, when you have an open dispute with them, they try to annoy you into submission by hounding you to death across the globe. You can run, but you can't hide!)

So once again, rather than go through another two days of degradation trying to resolve anything on the phone with "customer service", I drive to the Sprint store. During my jet-lagged attempt to get some answers from the guy in the store, I was told that this was somehow my fault because "we told you it would take a month for the credit to show up on your statement". So let me get this straight; You're scolding me for buying one of your phones, you've charged me for three, I call "cutomer service" only to hear that I have a "past due" balance, and I'm just supposed to lump it? He also suggested that I pay the bill, even though I don't owe them money, and wait until yet another month goes by for the billing department to straighten it out. Rather than get violent with the guy, I marched out of there and promptly called "customer service" again to see if I could find some answers.

Finally, I get someone who isn't on drugs to speak with. The "supervisor" more or less got it straightened out. It's been almost three months, and I'm still waiting for that rebate. Never did get that "special offer". After the mental anguish Sprint put me through, they should give me free phones and free service for life. I would drop Sprint, however I'm in China again this month, and I’m heading to Italy after Christmas. As grueling as my travel schedule is, I don't have time to change service right now. Whenever I can take a break, dropping Sprint is high on my to-do list!

I would file a complaint directly with Sprint, however I' ve had enough interaction with these folks. Their brand of "customer service" freaks me out a little.

Funny side note:

While I was in China last month, I realized that I forgot to call Hertz in the US before I left to reserve car to upon my return. Since I really didn’t know how to dial US directory assistance from China to get the number for Hertz Rent-A-Car, I called Sprint to ask “customer service” for help. I explained to the woman that I was in China trying to reach directory assistance in the US so I could make a rental car reservation. The woman at Sprint “customer service” responded by yelling “Sir, we are not a travel agent”, and then hung up on me.

… At least they’re consistent.

Hate to say how funny the above story is but I believe every word of it. I am dealing with some people at Sprint too and I truly wonder how long they can stay in business. You just can't even make this stuff up it is so unbelievable. Sprint's right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. I hope Dan the man can get a hold on all this asap.

I am one of the most well-known wireless leaders in Northern California providing wireless solutions for corporate accounts. The difference between my company and everyone else is my exceptional vision and leadership especially on the B2B side. Without sacrificing quality, integrity, and customer service, my abilities have gained me the knowledge and expertise to win numerous awards including top seller award for Northern California from a variety of wireless carriers. Having said that, I was approached by Nextel in 2002 to become one of their B2B Authorized Representatives as a result of my success from previous years. With my exceeding success through the B2B channel, Nextel approached me to do a joint venture on launching new retail locations in the Northern California market since there was no strong retail presence. With knowledge, experience, and expertise I put together one of the most dynamic teams of highly motivated and well qualified communication consultants. In 2003, my ex-colleague and dear friend was invited to join in this new vision. I launched eight locations in Northern California and I was invited to launch new locations in Arizona, Colorado, and Minnesota. In 2005, when the merger with Sprint occurred, the new management team: Mark Sadighian, Paul Harris, and Dennis McSweeney no longer shared the vision that Nextel had with my company. At the same time I found out that my partner was embezzling money and started a new wireless company with another carrier. When I approached Mark Sadighian with my new found news, the advise that I received was to separate our partnership and for me to start a new company under a new name. I was granted an exclusive dealer contract with Sprint/Nextel and their service center. Two months into my new company, I submitted six new retail locations that were denied to me for expansion, but at the same time were handed to someone else. Sprint/Nextel set me up for failure, after I invested hundred of thousands of dollars into the new company. Sprint/Nextel decided at that point not to support me in my visions, ideas, and ventures. As a result, I am seeking other dealers that have had a similar experience as me for a class action lawsuit. Before I posted my story online, I requested the immediate assistance from the CEO of Sprint, Daniel Hesse. He never responded to any of my emails, and at this point left me with no choice, but to put together a class action lawsuit for Authorized Dealers. I will not stop until my losses are compensated. If you are interested in contacting me with any questions, concerns, or to assist me in participating in this class action lawsuit please email me at: sprintactionlawsuit@gmail.com or visit www.nextel.bz

could not disagree more. Emoloyee morale was bad enough before the economic "cruch" Call centers are competing with one another becuase of the plan to close 20 call centers. The stress of working in a Sprint call center has become unbearable. I service my customers well but my stats are based on call handle time, issue resolution, products (features) sold, and customer surveys. Always at the top of my team for resolution, but because of mistakes agents handling these cutomers in the past, handle time is high. We are judged/rated in 5 categories and there is absolutely no way to meet our goals in all five. Sprint employees whether in the States or in Canada are totally committed but the management makes it totally impossible to do our job. Worst job I've ever had.

I am a Sprint agent and I am here to tell you that as employees, it it not our fault tnat we "suck" as you put it. I work for Sprint in North America. They would rather give us a fooze ball machine for customer resolution than training on products and new price plans. Fooze Ball . . . am I even spelling the correctly? Good Lord, I am 45 years old. I want to do a good job and make my customers happy. Proper training on new products and services would go a long way towards that but the "suits" don't seem to get it. Don't shoot the messanger people. We are definetly here to help you. If only you would not swear at us, call us stupid or useless, we will find a way to help you.

Lots of Air Time at Sprint
April 2, 2009, 2:32 pm

When Sprint-Nextel chose Robert H. Brust, the former chief financial officer of Eastman Kodak, to be the phone company’s finance chief last May, Mr. Brust’s employment contract clearly stated that he was entitled to receive as many as 35 “round-trip personal domestic flights on either, at the company’s discretion, company aircraft or charter aircraft.”

But the company, which is struggling financially after losing about 3 million customers, never disclosed how much the perk would wind up costing. That price tag became visible earlier this week, when Sprint Nextel filed its proxy statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

It disclosed that providing this perk to Mr. Brust cost slightly more than $600,000 last year.

That seems to be several times what Sprint Nextel’s chief executive, Daniel R. Hesse, spent last year on the perk — a number so small that Sprint wasn’t required to break it down, though it appears to be about $20,000, based on other numbers provided for Mr. Hesse.

In the filing, the company’s compensation committee noted that it offered the perk to Mr. Brust as part of its comprehensive compensation package. “The Compensation Committee determined that this provision was necessary in order to attract Mr. Brust, who had a very specific skill set that we desired, to work for us following his retirement from Eastman Kodak Company, where he gained valuable experience working with a challenged company.”

The hefty bill seems at odds with the image of Mr. Brust as a penny-pinching finance chief who repurposes hotel pens in an effort to save the company money.

At a conference at the Grand Hyatt in New York last December, Mr. Brust joked that he planned to bring free hotel pens back to Mr. Hesse for next year as a cost-saving measure. “The message is, we really have to be serious about this, because we are in an economic event that nobody understands,” Mr. Brust told Bloomberg News.

That may be true, but apparently it’s not tough enough for the C.F.O. to fly commercial.