JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Hundreds of cell phone customers are being given the boot, accused of being too high maintenance.

Sprint-Nextel is disconnecting more than 1,000 subscribers on grounds the clients call customer service too often and make "unreasonable requests."

The 1,200 people getting dropped will have to find a new carrier by the end of the month.

A Sprint representative said the average customer calls customer service less than once a month, but the 1,200 clients getting the boot call 40-50 times as often.

Sprint said whatever the complaint, it has worked to resolve it but due to the volume of calls it's obvious customers involved are not happy.

In a statement, the company said: "Rather than continue to operate in a situation that was unsatisfactory for Sprint and our subscribers, we chose to terminate our relationship with those customers to allow them to pursue other options."

Cell phone user Joe Graham said Sprint reserves that right.

"I guess the company had good enough reason to get rid of 1,200 people. You don't just do it on a whim," Graham said. "Because they make the contracts they can do what they want."

"I didn't even know you could do that with a contract. That's astonishing," said cell phone user Winston Bryant.

The customers told to find a new service provider were notified by mail last month and will not have to pay a termination fee.