Sprint announces massive layoffs, store closings amid subscriber defection

New Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse appears to have inherited a company bleeding subscribers by the thousands, and will now officially be dropping the ax on 4,000 employees and 125 retail locations. Amid the loss of 639,000 postpaid customers in the fourth quarter, Sprint will be cutting a total of 6.7% of its work force (following the 5,000 layoffs last year) and 8% of company-owned brick-and-mortar stores, while remaining mute on other rumors that it will consolidate its headquarters in Kansas. Sprint Nextel shares are down $2.89, or nearly 25%, at the time of this writing.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

[Patrick @ Feb 28th 2008 12:16AM]

I was with Srint from the beginning when they were with Radio Shack.Back then they had no contracts, first incoming minutes free, good customer service and no tricks. I watch them become what they are today. Fortunately, I got out several years ago.

[Josh @ Jan 18th 2008 11:26AM]

And this is why you don't cut off people's contracts because they called customer support too much... bad for business

[RAINMAN @ Jan 18th 2008 11:34AM]

you mean I can get off my contract if I call them and complain to them.

If that works I will be calling this whole weekend. They suckered me into staying with their fancy TOUCH, the phone is great and all but their service stinks.

[jrv3034 @ Jan 18th 2008 11:26AM]

Dang. Should I be thinking of switching carriers? I just got a Palm 755p in July, so I still have a year and a half left on my contract...

[ChillyWilly @ Jan 18th 2008 11:37AM]

As a new Treo 755p owner (as of August 2007), I'm planning on staying with them. Most of it is due to the discounts I have, but I've also been pretty happy with them over the last 6 months as their service seems to have improved.

I think part of this news is poor management, but also they've not been able to secure that many solid deals on phones. I'm sure the iPhone and being exclusive on AT&T hasn't helped, either.

All along, I've said they should be focusing on customer service instead of locking people in contracts. If they would make the break from that and really start getting competitive with their current customers and letting new customers they can come on board without a contract (credit checks should still be done, though), I think more people would stay with them. Who knows... like what's happened to DRM, maybe the other cell carriers will follow suit.

[KushielsScion007 @ Jan 18th 2008 11:38AM]

Thats what they deserve...

Thank God I've only got 2.5 months until I can get out of my contract and move on to Verizon or AT&T.

They've got horrible customer service and pretty shitty phones so what exactly do they expect? Plus the whole debacle last year with the cancelling of some lines just shows how horrible the company is.

[KushielsScion007 @ Jan 18th 2008 11:42AM]

Thats what they deserve...

Thank God I've only got 2.5 months until I can get out of my contract and move on to Verizon or AT&T.

They've got horrible customer service and pretty shitty phones so what exactly do they expect? Plus the whole debacle last year with the cancelling of some lines just shows how horrible the company is.

[Jared Houtsma @ Jan 18th 2008 2:51PM]

Stick it to them with this:

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=196799&t=685423

[Predator.Z6 @ Jan 18th 2008 6:14PM]

@ Jared: Yeah for SlickDeals! \^0^/

I use the SERO plan, it's really great with unlimited data & text msg + 500 anytime mins. + 7pm night & weekend for $30 mo.

[tekdemon @ Jan 21st 2008 6:57PM]

I'm pretty happy with Sprint. And honestly, the most frustrated I ever got was with a T-mobile douchebag CSR. Not all of them are douchebags, but this one experience made me realize that at least Sprint was cheap (real cheap with that SERO plan woot!). And back in the day they gave me pretty good perks for staying with them year after year.

Heh, what I did find funny with T-mobile was how friendly they had to be when I canceled-they thanked me for being a T-mobile customer, lol.

So far Sprint's customer service has actually been pretty good to me too-they fixed a glitch with my plan without issue, although my friend had a little more trouble getting similar problems fixed. At the end of the day though, at least Sprint's CSRs don't aggravate me to the level where I wanted to do physical violence to them (that one T-mobile CSR pretty much blacklisted T-mobile for me forever).

[Chavez @ Jan 18th 2008 11:29AM]

blame it on the Jesus phone too.

[paragraph @ Jan 18th 2008 11:30AM]

Or, how about this, we blame it on the fact that Sprint has horrible customer service, low quality phones, horrible selection of phones, and still two distinct companies...

If Sprint consolidated Nextel and became one REAL brand, got some decent phones at the same time, or before other companies did, and didn't insist on getting crappy phones, it think they might survive...

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 11:57AM]

HTC mogul is not low quality, just don't by it from sprint or you will suffer the 2 year contract slavery. My 2 year contract is up and I bought a new mogul from ebay for $300. Waiting for iphone 2.0 if it is any good.

[animagix @ Jan 18th 2008 11:30AM]

I have a year left on my sprint card. EVDO service has been great so far. Their phone service probably sucks, who knows.

[Itchy Pajamas @ Jan 18th 2008 11:31AM]

Sprint is the only one of the "big 4" in the US that I don't have a contract with. It's just coincidental, though. I wonder what the problem is? I used to use them when PCS was new, and their service was very good. But that was ten years ago.

[CUBSWILLWIN @ Jan 18th 2008 11:52AM]

ten years ago, for me sprint sucked. It always wen't into roaming and I got no reception and I lived in Chicago. That's one the best coverage areas. Ten years later, I'm still a sprint customer and ther service rocks out loud. By far better than at&t's. But I still hate the fact there isn't a way for cdma consumers to change phones like SIM users. I heard there is a type of card in china that's cdma that can work in GSM phones but it's not likely to come to america in a long time. It might not even be adopted by sprint.

[lee @ Jan 18th 2008 12:02PM]

I used to use Sprint too. Their phone service was good in Boston but their retail customer service really sucked. When I told them so, I was told to call customer service. I promised to move on to another carrier, and never come back, at this point...and they let me.

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 11:55AM]

First thing I do with a sprint phone is to turn off automatic roaming. Its in your settings.

[Jeff @ Jan 18th 2008 1:35PM]

Why do you care about being on roaming or not? It's not like Sprint charges you extra $$$ when in roaming like other carriers do. I always flip roaming on when I'm at my parents house since the reception there is poor. The only problem is that the battery doesn't last as long on my phone doing that.

[michas_pi @ Jan 19th 2008 6:24AM]

@CUBSWILLWIN:

That card you speak of for CDMA mobile phones is called a RUIM card.

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 11:53AM]

Sprint is constantly trying to add bogus and double charges on my bill. I have to always scan my
bill and call them. Last error was a $15.00 double charge for power vision services. Don't ever add or change your services, it always causes "billing errors". Where's my damn htc mogul gps, evdo rev.A rom?

[Nuclear Fire @ Jan 18th 2008 12:17PM]

Agreed. Everytime I call them for anything, my plan ends up getting changed. My wife and I have decided to leave them when our contract is up.

[John Templeton @ Jan 19th 2008 5:01PM]

Seriously! I want my update. I feel like i've been using a handicapped phone for months...

[harsaphes @ Jan 19th 2008 6:44AM]

you will love this. This is an actually conversation with Sprint. I recieved a HUGE bill that had charges for web access...which i never used..and text message charges. I called them up and asked about my charges on the texts..which was suppose to be an included feature in my plan...the sprint rep says.."well when you send a text message you connect to the internet first to do that.....thats why you have web access charges".....I told her she was incorrect..you dont access the web to send a text...she said on the newer phones it works that way...i again tell her she is absolutely wrong...we argue some and i ask to speak to someone else...the someone else gets on the phone and basicly says the same thing but adds..lol..."you have to realize your phone has a little computer in it and when you send a text message the computer goes online to send it....its like the computer in you're car...? WTF..lol...needless to say i canceled my account with them..paid to get out..it was worth it.

[jmattick @ Jan 18th 2008 11:58AM]

Remind me again why they are focusing on WiMax? Customer retention sounds more important to me...

[Joe @ Jan 18th 2008 11:58AM]

That's what happens when you offer miserable customer service.

Here's what you need to do:
- Consolidate your departments so that they are enabled to help someone when they call without transferring a call multiple times.
- Train the employees how to transfer a customer without dropping the call.
- Teach the employees which department a customer should be transferred to.
- Be more selective who is representing your company.

[thetime @ Jan 19th 2008 3:41PM]

word up, church!

[Jon @ Jan 18th 2008 11:59AM]

I dropped Sprint AND Nextel the day the iPhone came out! Consolidated both accounts (one business and one personal) into one and haven't regretted it for a second. I hated every cell phone I've ever owned until my iPhone. Sprint always seemed to be the last to get the "new" phones too.

This is just a small piece of the puzzle..I think all of the cell phone Nazis, I mean companies, will be changing BIG time over the next few years. I hope we'll finally start seeing consumers getting choices instead of long-term, rip off contracts and crappy devices with crippled features.

[OneLove @ Jan 18th 2008 11:59AM]

I must say that Sprint is bad, but AT&T is the devil!!

[majortom @ Jan 18th 2008 7:16PM]

I agree. iphone good. AT&T bad. I dropped Nextel when I bought the iphone. I paid the early cancellation fee. Life is too short to worry about $200. I love the iphone, but if, in the future, I can get T-Mobile to work on it, without hacking the phone, I will switch again.

[Frankenstein Black @ Jan 18th 2008 12:03PM]

OUCH! Well, stop fighting it Dan. Make the jump to LTE (from EVDO & WiMax). Not only will it bring you in alignment with the technology migration path of 95%+ of global GSM Operators, think of all the roaming revenue $$$!. Take those not so subtle cues from the other CDMA carrier with the big red V. They too have seen the LTE! (See what I did there ;^)...

[JERRY @ Jan 18th 2008 12:03PM]

Sprint has terriable customer service and when I purchased the new HTC Touch I qualified for a $250 rebate..what do they do but send me a postcard saying my phone doesn't qualify. After two twenty-five min phone calls and the runaround and an e-mail that was answered a week later, I was told it was a computer glich. How many have they done that to? Then I was told it was approved and will be mailed in about 4 to 12 weeks?? Thats crazy...no thats SPRINT. Will be switching when my contract is up or just pay the $250 with the rebate and switch.

[whatishalo? @ Jan 18th 2008 12:04PM]

If they'd have decent phones, maybe people would stay...I like my SPrint service and EVDO but am using my old Samsung A900 waiting for a good resplacment phone to come along...still waiting....

[snitch @ Jan 18th 2008 12:06PM]

this got to be the worst cell phone company out there, can you believe that they have a spending limit on customers??? for example if you have a $99 plan and you go over lets say to $130 they dont just keep adding it to your bill, they interrupt your service to the next month!!! LOL Nice business model ehh. also its true the jesus phone has hurt them alot because the are the most vulnerable, also there customer service use to be rude as hell, but i guess that is beginning to change now. i also remember this pass holiday they where the only store at the mall that was empty as hell so i will really love to see there financial report next month

[BAF @ Jan 18th 2008 5:36PM]

Spending limits are for customers with low credit. If you have an ASL on Sprint, try getting another carrier without paying a huge deposit.

Also, they don't cut you off until the next month. They cut you off until you pay the balance down. Pay enough to bring it under your ASL, and your service comes back on.

[Alex Padilla @ Jan 18th 2008 12:13PM]

They are, however, changing the name of the NASCAR championship to the "Sprint Cup" (from "Nextel"). Consumer awareness ftw?

[snitch @ Jan 18th 2008 12:25PM]

Dude are you serious, that car will be strip and sold for part soon by the shareholder it their customer service department don't learn how to shut the F**K UP and hear customers for once in a life time

[You knew it would happen @ Jan 18th 2008 12:21PM]

I work for the big red V but still have a personal Sprint line. The only reason I do is because last time I did a 1 year upgrade, they signed me for 2. not just on the line I upgraded, but the other two lines as well. Not really wanting to shell out 600 on deact fees. They have horrible customer service, but I dont fully agree with junk phones. They are the only carrier with Sanyo phones and if any of you have used a Sanyo, you know what I'm talking about. Although not a PDA or smartphone contender, Sanyo makes some great, reliable handsets that blow away the other low to mid range competition IMO. Billing is crap, always a problem, and coverage is so so. Dont even get me started on Nextel/iDEN cause we all know its junk. Also, I dont see why anyone who has sprint would complain about roaming as there hasnt been roaming charges for several years unless youre exceeding half of your anytime minutes with your plan. If youre doing that, you need to switch anyway. My 2 cents.

[Brandon C @ Jan 18th 2008 1:52PM]

same thing happened to me but they did that when I CHANGED plans. Oh and I went up on my plan. Jan 1 08 my contract with them ended and I got the heck out of there. I had been a customer since 96. I hadn't had a new phone for 3 years because the last year despite my phone starting to fail, I didn't want to be stuck back into a contract with them again.

If am fine if a company is going to give me a phone for cheap or free that I sign a new contract but if I pay full retail for a phone or change my plan I should not have to reup to a 2 year contract.

I had problems with coverage with my phone in my office. I called a few times to complain (and maybe get out of my contract) and they told me it must be my phone so I need to buy a new one and then get on yet another contract.

When people come to me and ask what service to buy on their cells I always tell them "anyone but sprint"

[Cyque @ Jan 18th 2008 1:44PM]

Yeah, they HAD good Sanyo phones but all I see now are a bunch of girly pink and red phones. They had some great Sanyo phones 6 months to a year ago but their selection continues to deteriorate. And there are some much sexier girly phones out there.

Maybe a good selection of gPhones could pull them out of this, but they would have to have some pretty impressive hardware and they need it yesterday.

[Heffer @ Jan 18th 2008 12:21PM]

ITS THE PHONES STUPID!

Although I agree there Customer Service sucks, I feel that all cell phone CS sucks. So they cancel each other out.

Price-wise they're better better than AT&T and Verizon. So that's not it.

The Phone service itself is great. Great reception, signal range, EVDO. I have no complaints.

It really comes down to the phones. If they released the latest blackberries or Razrs FIRST, or had the iPhone, or even the Voyager. We might be singing a different tune. Bottom line: Sprint hasn't had a flagship phone since the Treo 650. They're trying to build around the Touch, but that is stuggling under the iPhones shadow.

[nuggett76 @ Jan 18th 2008 1:01PM]

You're one of the few who seem to understand this whole thing... Thank you

[Cyque @ Jan 18th 2008 1:36PM]

Agreed.

[Mike @ Jan 18th 2008 6:17PM]

I agree wholeheartedly. All cellphone companies seriously lack good CS, and depending on where you live, they will all have gaps in the coverage, so the phone selection is what matters, and Sprint is struggling there, mostly due to not having GSM.

I LOVE their EVDO data service though. Use it for the laptop and it's awesome, always connectede even where the phone service can sometimes be spotty.

[Adrian @ Jan 19th 2008 9:38AM]

Definently have to go with you on this one.

Not a single phone interests me on the Sprint side of things. Service, however, is a completely different story.

[KevinA @ Jan 19th 2008 9:51PM]

T-Mobiles customer service is awesome. Their phones stink, but the reason I stay with them is the CS. They always are friendly, they always correct mistakes immediately if there is one. Been with them 2 years now and even in store these people are overly nice. It's refreshing in this day and age.

[APK @ Jan 18th 2008 3:01PM]

Looks like NASCAR Cup Series will have a new sponsor in 2009!

[Matt @ Jan 18th 2008 12:36PM]

Good riddance! I was a Sprint customer back when they were Sprint Spectrum... 1996. I had my phone for a few months before they decided to abandon the Spectrum service and go with their PCS. So my $200 phone which I had for only months was worthless. There was a class action lawsuit against them. However, to ease my pain, I believe the outcome was a $10 gift certificate to purchase a Sprint PCS phone. No THANK YOU!

[Scott @ Jan 18th 2008 12:39PM]

I have had Sprint and the Touch since November. I love the phone and the service has been without problems. I have even had good luck with eCare. Couple that with a $30/mo SERO plan ($50/mo less than what the same thing on Verizon was) and I have no complaints.

[nuggett76 @ Jan 18th 2008 1:01PM]

All this talk of which carrier sux is so relative to your location. I had Verizon for 4 years in South Jersey and it was spotty at best. I always had the latest and greatest phones, but that made no difference. My job switched to Sprint for our company Blackberrys and I've never been happier. They have the fastest 3G network, hands down. Sure, they are spotty in some locations, but they work the best for me. In other places, they prolly are the worst. I also have an iPhone and where I live, the AT&T service is better than Verizon-- and AT&T is supposed to be terrible. It's all about location people. FYI-- all customer service is terrible. If you have good people skills however, you will find a way to get your problem resolved.