I work in customer service so I really couldn’t let this go by without commenting on it.  This week Sprint sent letters to 1200 customers who they felt complained too much.  While most customers of Sprint call customer service less than once per month, these people were making 30 to 40 calls per month.

The letter, which I will be posting eventually, states that based on the number of complaints received Sprint doesn’t feel they’re able to meet their needs and will be ending the relationship at the end of the month.  The gave them bill credits to bring their balance to zero and the customers can take their number elsewhere, but as of the end of the month, its over.

My sister sent me a memo from her boss saying that it’s a nice thought but you have to be sure you’re providing the best service possible before you start kicking your customers to the curb.  He’s got a good point there and I sort of doubt Sprint is up to that level.

There’s the public perception to think about as well.  Now everytime a customer has an issue they’re going to wonder if they complain, are they going to get fired too? 

I’m sure someone did the math a realized that they’re not making money on these people.  There is a very good chance these are the same people who are one or two months behind on their bills and are always demanding bill credits for one reason or another.  Its a matter of cost vs. revenue. 

How to you measure the cost to your public image though?  Is firing them going to shut them up or will they just find someone else to complain to?  I doubt Sprint has heard the last of these people.

I’m on vacation this week. My sister T is in from England so I took the week to spend time with them each day. Today they’re in Louisville visiting my aunt so I’m at my parent’s doing laundry.

So if I had been posting in the last week or so I would have touched on Scooter Libby’s Get Out of Jail Free card, the defeat of the Immigration Bill and of course, the madness in the UK.

Since I’m not posting, here are some pictures I took while hanging out at Frozenhead State Park.

Ken Lay died last night.? I can’t believe he found away to cheat America again.? Facing up to 30 years, he didn’t serve much if any.? For those of you who moved into a spiderhole for the last five years Mr. Lay and his buddies did some fancy accounting that made it look like there was something left after they filled their pockets will millions of dollars that didn’t belong to them.? How is that not flat out stealing?

Anyway, he’s dead now. Let’s see if his accounting schemes can help him now.

Arab News, the Arab world?s largest English language paper has an article outlining a deal being proposed by Hamas that actually recognizes Israel.? Palestinian activists sitting in Israeli jails, some of which are Hamas members themselves, put the compromise together and high-ranking Palestinian officials are praising it, though stopping short of officially endorsing it. Seguir leyendo »

Now I am well aware that griping about government waste doesn’t do a bit of good. Our elected leaders really don’t care about their wasteful ways. But when I hear stories of government agencies actually working against each other, I’m more than a little annoyed.

A group of volunteers are in Arizona are fighting against a non-native grass called buffelgrass, going on foot plant to plant and manually uprooting the invasive species. It seems that back in the 1960s it was decided that to control erosion and to provide a hearty crop for cattle they brought some buffelgrass from Africa and set it up to thrive in the American southwest. Seguir leyendo »

USC Gabe Pruitt was having a great week. He was finishing up his college basketball regular season and was getting ready for the PAC-10 tournement. To top it all off he’d met a great girl, Victoria, who he spent the week chatting with via instant messenger. Boy-howdey things were going Gabe’s way.

So much in fact he gave Victoria his phone number and said they’d hook up when he got back to LA.

So when Gabe suited up to play Cal he was thinking he’d have a pretty good game and afterwards maybe get a little lovin. Things were going great until this 79reethrow shooter came to the line. Normally Gabe is able to block out the taunts coming from the Cal student section; the foam poles, the screams, the waving arms. What he could not ignore was the entire student section alternating between chanting ‘Victoria’ and Gabe’s actual cell phone number.

It turns out Victoria is a member of the Cal RallyCon, a school spirit organization responsible for much of the hype at basketball games.

Gabe made just 3 of 13 free throws that night helping his team lose to Cal 71-60.

Maybe Gabe should keep both heads in the game.

“To me it is a tremendous waste of time. It’s far better to watch Tom and Jerry instead.” - Iraqi citizen when asked about the televised trial of Saddam Hussein

I remember watching Private Eyes when I was a kid, we rented it from a little video store that edited out all the language and nudity from rated R movies, not that Private Eyes had any. We watched a lot of the Apple Dumpling Gang too, and don’t forget Andy Griffith.

This is to say Mr. Knotts was an important part of my childhood. He was the first funny man I traced from movie to movie to television. Even in his more recent ventures like Pleasantville (grossly underrated) and endless Herbie animated entries stayed true to his blissfully unaware version of comedy.

We’ll miss you Don.

The unnamed Central Falls resident, 35, had his phone taken away by an angry fellow driver, the Pawtucket Times reported.

He told police he’d been on the phone while making a left turn last Wednesday afternoon in Pawtucket.

Another driver pulled up behind him in a Ford, then got mad the cell-phone talker was taking so long to make the turn.

At the next stoplight, the Ford pulled out in front and its driver got out and stomped over to the first man, who was still talking.

He poked the first man in the forehead ? and then grabbed his phone.

“You won’t be using this cell phone any more,” he said before getting back in the Ford and driving away.

Police said they had a suspect but had made no arrests.

The Rhode Island Legislature is considering banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving.

(Story STOLEN! from Fox News)

The United States is the strongest democracy in the world.? The UK would probably have to be second.? In one English neighborhood, their freedoms are under attack.? I found this story on Tongue Tied.? It’s scary.

For a few weeks now, Muslims in the UK have been complaining about and vandalizing billboards in their neighborhoods featuring scantily clad women because the show of skin offends them.

Speaking to the the Indo-Asian News Service, Ahmed Shiekh of the Muslim Association of Britain said the issue is not one of free speech because ?because freedom of speech should end when you offend others.”

For more stories of political correctness run amock, check out Tongue Tied