1.   American Express is recovering from several lean years caused by customer defections and losses from unpaid charges on its Optima credit card.

2.   Analyst Frank Gristina at Robinson-Humphrey said EarthLink has trimmed costs and cut customer defections.

3.   As a result of faltering service and computer glitches, there were serious customer defections, too.

4.   BellSouth had been counting on long-distance to provide a new source of revenue and help stem customer defections.

5.   But its overly aggressive plan for combining the two banks caused service breakdowns and customer defections.

6.   Old Navy stores, in particular, have suffered from customer defection.

7.   She argues that the bank may even benefit from the inevitable customer defections amid the turmoil of integrating Wachovia and First Union.

8.   The company is grappling with customer defections in its long-distance business while moving into new markets such as local service and Internet access.

9.   This form of turbulence first becomes apparent in increased customer defections.

10.   Wells tried to digest its conquest too quickly, prompting computer breakdowns and customer defections.