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Opinion
Some customers are never satisfied
Thursday, July 12, 2007
You know the old business adage - "the customer is always right." Well don't tell that to the Sprint wireless phone company. Sprint this week disconnected more than 1,000 subscribers for excessive complaints. And when the dust clears, I applaud the company for saying "enough is enough"!
All businesses want to provide good service and to make their customers happy and satisfied. But the fact of life is that some people will never be satisfied. Chronic complainers abound.
The 1,000 or so customers that Sprint canceled had called the company nearly 40,000 times a month total. In some cases, the disgruntled customers were calling hundreds of times each month with the same issues. At some point, Sprint said they simply could not satisfy the customers and pointed them in another direction.
It reminds me of the case last month where a lawyer sued the dry cleaners because the company boasted a sign that said "Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed" and he was unhappy with their service. Fortunately, the company prevailed and the lawyer was left with the legal bills.
Sprint - like virtually all other companies - says customer service is their top priority. Yet the reality is that some customers will never be satisfied regardless of the level of service. The persistent complainers cost all of us in the end.
I'd like to see other companies follow the lead of Sprint. Companies should go out of their way to satisfy their customers. But when it becomes apparent that nothing will satisfy some people, companies should show them the door.
I believe some people are so negative and such a pain in the fanny that nothing could ever make them happy. Despite all efforts to make them happy, companies spend countless hours and countless dollars in an effort that will have limited results. At some point business must realize they're dealing with an impossible situation. We would all benefit in the end if business would put their foot down and send those unhappy souls packing. Sprint did and I'll bet their business is improved for all of their remaining customers.