Letter to eq65: "...retirees have a tremendous impact in the service area."

From a Sprint Retiree...

It seems that since Embarq announced that they would stop providing medical benefits to their retirees that are Medicare Eligible, and reducing the life insurance for all, that their stock has taken a dive from the 60's dollar range to the 40's. I wonder if they have noticed this.

When I first came to work for the company I was told to keep the customers happy. They were really the ones providing my check. One satisfied customer can bring you 4 or 5 customers, but one dissatisfied customer can cost you 15 - 20 customers. Customer satisfaction was our #1 goal.

Yes, we are retired, but the retirees have a tremendous impact in the service area. We have worked in the area for years and know the people and they know us. We earned the customer's respect and that respect translated into respect for the company. We have boosted the company's image to our customers. Now the customers are hearing a different story from us. Now Embarq has a difficult time understanding that customers see what they are doing to us. It affects the respect and confidence that the customers have for Embarq.

Their money hungry attitude is seen by the customers as not only a untrustworthy attitude towards retirees that were faithful to them for their entire careers, but also a untrustworthy attitude towards the customers. When Embarq tries to draw customers with great promises, the customers look at the promises that they made to their retired employees and wonder, "Can I trust them?" The retirees that are struggling with their cut in benefits certainly are not going to tell anyone to trust Embarq anymore!!!

So rather than seeing Embarq as a community oriented business, they see it now as a group of money grabbing scoundrels that can not be trusted when they make promises. Not only in their promises to their retirees but as a company that the customers can not trust to keep its promises to them. That is part of the reason that they are loosing customers in such vast numbers.

The decrease in customers is also translating into a decrease in dividends to the stockholders, which Embarq say is part of the reason that they are taking these benefits from Retirees.

Maybe someone in the decision making branch of the company will wake up and smell the coffee.