FROM THE WEDNESDAY SMOKIN' SHOW
Sprint Nextel defends cutting customers By DAVID
TWIDDY, AP Business Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Sprint Nextel Corp. isn't
apologizing for its decision to ax customers it
determined were calling customer service too often.
The nation's third-largest wireless provider sent
letters to about 1,000 subscribers June 29, saying the
company's records showed they had made frequent calls
for help with questions about billing and other
account information.
"While we have worked to resolve your issues and
questions to the best of our ability, the number of
inquiries you have made to us during this time had led
us to determine that we are unable to meet your
current wireless needs," the letters said.
The customers were told their service agreements were
being terminated, they wouldn't owe anything on their
final bill, and the company would waive early
termination fees. They also were told to switch to
another wireless provider by July 30 if they want to
keep their phone number.
In debate on the Internet, Sprint's move has attracted
criticism that the company is penalizing consumers for
trying to get what they paid for, or that the frequent
calls are more a reflection of poor customer service
by Sprint itself.
But Sprint officials said Monday this isn't a case of
someone being flagged by a computer program, and that
an internal review lasting six months to a year
focused on the types of problems the callers had and
what information they were seeking.
"These accounts have been researched very carefully,"
Sprint spokeswoman Roni Singleton said. "We feel
strongly that the decisions we made, we stand by them.
These decisions weren't made lightly."
Singleton said the targeted subscribers each made an
average of 40 to 50 calls a month to customer service.
She wouldn't say how that compared with the overall
number of calls logged by the customer service
department in a given month.
Singleton said the review also found that the
subscribers often were calling about the same problems
over and over after Sprint officials felt they had
resolved the issue. She said some callers were
repeatedly asking for information from other
customers' accounts, which customer service workers
aren't allowed to divulge.
"If the average person is calling less than once per
month and these people are calling 40 or 50 times
more, that takes away from customer service,"
Singleton said. "Our priority is to improve the
customer experience."
Officials at competitors AT&T Wireless and Verizon
Wireless said that while they may terminate customers
who are abusive toward customer service operators or
violate other terms of their service agreements, they
don't terminate customers because of customer service
calls.
"We have never severed ties with customers in a mass
mailing like this," said Verizon spokeswoman Cheryl
Bini Armbrecht.
CIBC World Markets analyst Tim Horan said in a
research note to investors that he didn't see anything
alarming with Sprint's decision.
"Sprint has taken a number of steps to improve the
'quality' of its customer base and we view this
measure in the same light," Horan wrote.
Sprint, which has about 54 million subscribers, has
been trying to upgrade its customer base, tightening
credit requirements and attempting to attract
customers who will spend more each month on data
services, such as Internet browsing, music downloads
and streaming video.
During the most recent quarter, the company said it
gained just 600,000 new customers, while AT&T and
Verizon gained 1.2 million and 1.7 million,
respectively.
Earlier this month, Sprint unveiled a new marketing
campaign aimed at highlighting its network speed and
capabilities, an attempt to distance itself from
earlier marketing campaigns that were criticized as
unfocused and confusing.
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Women demand female Pamplona bull run, with cows
MADRID (Reuters) - Women in the northern Spanish city
of Pamplona, world-famous for its ferocious
bull-running festival, are demanding their own version
complete with cows instead of bulls.
A student website, www.estudiln.net, set the ball
rolling with its campaign "Cows want to run" which
asks for a separate encierro, as the bull-runs are
known, where only women are allowed to take part.
Women have been allowed to take part in the San Fermin
bull-running for some years but they still represent a
tiny minority of the thousands of runners who attempt
to dodge 600-kilo bulls along an 800-metre course
through the streets of Pamplona.
The students say it's only logical that women should
have their own bull-run.
"Cows, as well as bulls, have four legs and a natural
instinct to run," says their manifesto. "An encierro
for cows, would put Pamplona at the vanguard of
traditional fiestas with equality for men and women."
Organizers of the festival, which runs from July 7-14,
have not responded to the suggestion.
And just what the late Ernest Hemingway, who made the
bull-run in Pamplona internationally famous, would
have thought will never be known.
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Nigerian school without power receives 300 laptops
LAGOS (AFP) - A Nigerian school has received a gift of 300 laptops -- one per pupil -- but has no electricity to power them up, the official News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported Friday.
Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, coordinator of the One-Laptop-Per-Child programme (OLPC) that donated the computer, said the two-block Galadima Primary School in the centre of the federal capital Abuja had no electricity.
Galadima Primary is the first school in the country where each pupil has his own laptop, NAN said.
"We have been browsing the Internet and we are very happy", Juliet Onah, an excited primary six pupil, was quoted as saying.
But she said powering the laptop remained difficult as the school had no electricity and the supply at home was irregular.
Electricity is indeed a big problem in Nigeria, the world's sixth largest exporter of crude oil. Electricity is provided mainly in the cities and even there the service is at best erratic.
Most homes and private businesses rely on generators.
The OLPC was founded by Nicholas Negroponte, an American professor, to provide laptops to all pupils at 100 dollars by 2008, as a way of ensuring the penetration of information and communication technology in developing countries.
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Top Cult Shows
The Top 30 Best Cult Shows Ever, according to TV Guide:
1. “Star Trek” (1966-1969)
2. “The X-Files” (1993-2002)
3. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1997-2003)
4. “Farscape” (1999-2003)
5. “Lost” (2004-present)
6. “Monty Python's Flying Circus” (1969-1974)
7. “The Prisoner” (1967-1968)
8. “The Simpsons” (1989-present)
9. “Twilight Zone” (1959-1964)
10. “Xena: Warrior Princess” (1995-2001)
11. “Jericho” (2006-present)
12. “Pee-Wee's Playhouse” (1986-1991)
13. “Mystery Science Theater 3000” (1989-1999)
14. “Battlestar Galactica” (2003-present)
15. “Family Guy” (1999-present)
16. “Babylon 5” (1994-1998)
17. “Beauty and the Beast” (1987-1990)
18. “Veronica Mars” (2004-2007)
19. “Quantum Leap” (1989-1993)
20. “The Avengers” (1966-1969)
21. “Freaks and Geeks” (1999-2000)
22. “Doctor Who” (1963-present)
23. “Dark Shadows” (1966-1971)
24. “Twin Peaks” (1990-1991)
25. “Firefly” (2002-2003)
26. “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” (1975-1978)
27. “H.R. Pufnstuf” (1969-1971)
28. “Stargate SG-1” (1997-2007)
29. “Absolutely Fabulous” (1994-2003)
30. “Strangers with Candy” (1999-2000)
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