NMW

Sears: Where Customer Service is for Cardholders (long, boring post)

2012-01-21T12:50:00.000-08:00

You won't see me at Sears Canada again. I can't believe their rudeness.

I bought an electronics item from Sears online for my wife for Christmas. Two weeks after Christmas, with the product unopened, my wife decided she didn't really want that model. So a few days later I called Sears customer service to inquire how to return it -- only to find that I had missed the return deadline.

I was told I had only 15 days to return electronics. When I pointed out that that date would have come before Christmas, the voice on the end of the phone looked into it and admitted that yes, since it's an Xmas present I had till 15 days after Christmas. But that would have been Jan. 9, she said, which meant I had still missed it by five days. So, no return.

I didn't have time to pursue that conversation, so I took it up again the other day. Called customer service and told them I need to discuss a return-deadline extension. The operator who answered said she would pass me on to Customer Service, like it was a big deal. They answered the phone, I started explaining, then I realized I was talking to dead air. I had been cut off.

Called back. This time the agent who answered the phone wanted to get all my details before passing me to Customer Service. So I gave him my ID and phone number, the details of the transaction, and confirmed that I had already been told the deadline has passed. I told him that I found the deadline oppressive, and that as a longtime Sears customer I was politely asking for an extension. He took down all the details and said he would pass them on to Customer Service while I stayed on Hold.

The agent got back to me a minute or two later to inform me that Customer Service had said I had missed the deadline.

I replied, quite patiently I think, that I already knew that, and that I wanted to discuss an extension with someone empowered to do so. I also mentioned that since Sears accepts returns of items bought with its own credit card for up to 90 days, I knew that my deadline was an arbitrary choice, not a company-wide policy - and that I didn't like being treated like a second-class citizen.

He promised to connect me with the next available Customer Service supervisor. Again I waited on hold. Then I got the beep-beep-beep saying I had been cut off. Again.

So I called back, explained my problem to another telemarketer, and she promised to connect me to Customer Service. After taking my name and phone number. Soon after, a supervisor came on. I mentioned that I had been hung up on twice and hoped it wouldn't happen again. She said, coldly, "How can I help you?"

Not a good sign, I thought.

I went through the story again. As a longtime customer, I was asking Sears for a favor. She said I should have known the policy. I said the tight deadlines were not obvious on the website when I bought from them. She said I missed the deadline. When I persisted, she asked me for my name and phone number. She looked up my record and then said, as if this was something new, there was nothing she could do.

I said, one more time, I wanted to have a conversation as to why I thought I merited an exemption. She very brusquely made clear she had no interest in such a the discussion and said there would be no return.

So I asked for the name of her supervisor. She said there was no one else to talk to. She would give me her name, which was Tanya. But Tanya, it seems, is a dead end.

I said that I was surprised that a customer service supervisor would have so little empathy for a customer calling with a problem. Especially someone who had equipped two laundry rooms with Kenmore appliances, and had already been cut off twice. She told me she wasn't responsible for other people cutting me off. And, one more time, I had missed the deadline and there would be no return.

Ouch. Watch your back when shopping at Sears (see my note on their mutilayered return policy, below).

Thank you, Tanya, for your interest and concern. I won't darken Sears' doors or website again. And I hope you get some customer-service training soon.

Once, you could count on department stores for the best price. Then, as the deep discounters emerged, it was service. Now I don't know what Sears is. But it doesn't really matter any more.

Appendix:

Returns Policy from Sears.ca (you have to click through two screens to get to this policy, so it's not exactly front and centre):

Our goal is that you are completely satisfied with your purchase. If for any reason you are not satisfied, simply return your purchase with your receipt for an exchange or refund within 90 days when purchased on your Sears Card, Sears MasterCard, Sears Voyage MasterCard or Sears Gift Card.

Items purchased with any other method may be exchanged or refunded within 30 days.

You have to read down for another 400 words (a full screen or more) to find that electronics has a different deadline.

Computers, Electronics, Electronic Games, Electronic Consoles and Health/home care products Exchange or refund within 15 days
Within 15 days of purchase, items may be returned providing that they are in new and unused condition, with all original packaging, accessories, instructions, etc. A restocking fee of 20% will be charged on returned product.

Sears. Where customer service is reserved for cardholders.

New Management Welcome.

"The Orchestrated Indignities of Air Travel"

2012-01-15T11:02:00.000-08:00

From a 2010 blogpost on TechCrunch, here's Michael Arrington dissing on his unfortunate experiences flying with Delta Airlines from Seattle to JFK and back. No one does outrage better than Arrington.

Here are some of the highlights:

* "Flying from one place to another, unless you are doing it from a small airport on a private jet, is just going from bad to intolerable."

* "What's really making flying just terrible are all the people that work for the airlines. My expectations are pretty low after flying mostly with United Airlines for the last decade. And even so, Delta managed to, somehow, make United actually look good."

* Boarding the flight to JFK, gate attendants told Arrington his carry-on bag was too big to take on board. "My bag has been carried on to countless flights without, as far as I know, endangering the plane or any other passengers," he writes.

* Gate staff demurred when they found out he was travelling first class. (Arrington's 6'4" and needs the leg room.) Still, he notes, "if that bag was a danger, it certainly wasn’t less of a danger just because I was in first class."

* "What really got me was just how gleeful the two gate employees were about the whole thing. I could tell that they lived for moments like this."

* Flying back home, Arrington decided to check his roller bag, "because they’d put the fear of God into me on that flight out." The airline lost the bag.
* First the plane waited 2 hours on the runway. Arrington admits that was the airport's fault, but denounces Delta's laxness: "The obligatory hateful flight attendants ... seemed pretty happy that they hadn’t stocked enough food on the flight."
* On landing, most of the first-class passengers found their bags had never been put on the plane.
* Arrington points out that Delta probably knew about this before the plane landed. "You’d think that they’d maybe let us know about it. Instead, they let us all wait 30 minutes for the bags to start coming out, and another 20 minutes until they were all gone."

* Now Delta's customer service ethic - or lack of same - rose to the fore. "They would not deliver my bag to my home. I could choose to come back to the airport over the weekend. Or they’d be happy to fedex it to me for delivery on Tuesday. Can I have a receipt? No, our printer is broken."

* "The guy next to me needed his tuxedo, he said. No luck. Another guy, traveling from India, said he had medication in his bag that he needed immediately. That put a smile on the baggage counter woman’s face as she told him to go find a doctor over the weekend and get new prescriptions."

What's the bottom line here? Accidents happen. Things go wrong. We can take it. What really matters is the attitude of the people we are forced to deal with in such situations.

"I can live with no leg room, no food, dirty bathrooms and long delays. I can even live with lost bags," writes Arrington.

"If only a flight attendant, or baggage person, or whoever, would just commiserate with me for one moment. Maybe smile and say they’ll try their best to help. But until all that bad energy is gone, and the airlines have employees that don’t stare daggers at their customers, I’m out."

Thus endeth the lesson. Systems may screw up, but the right people can save the day.

And companies that don't get this will be on the losing end of history.

Communication is Trust

2011-12-08T00:45:00.000-08:00

While tracking down a promising family Christmas gift, I discovered an e-commerce site that ranks up there with the TV series LOST as a model of clear, accessible communication. Trying to read product descriptions at www.xsv360.com is like driving through a rainstorm without using your windshield wipers.

Nothing is clear. Everything is murky. And you know you don't want to be there any longer.

This site fails on many counts. It sells a wide range of products, but don't try to learn anything about the company; when you click on "About Us," the page is blank. "Contact Us" brings up an email template that doesn't identify anything about the company, its owners or its location.

For your reading pleasure, here's a graphic depicting their "sales copy" for one product - a handheld video camera.

When you first read a product description like "4GB HD mini-dv mini Video camera Smallest wireless voice recorders," you may think maybe it does make sense - you're the one with the problem. But then you read sentences like "With a PC camera function, easy to enjoy the network life can be when the computer camera," and you realize that this is a company that doesn't care how it communicates with its customers.

Shoddy work like this drives customers away. If no one in your firm can write comprehensible English, I sure don't want to have to deal with you in case of product questions or refunds. I'll click somewhere else, thanks.

But wait! Before you go, don't forget to check out the site's Deal of the Day.

Attention, Police Surveillance Unit!

2011-10-18T23:03:00.000-07:00

Get it right next time!
From Twitter:

RiM makes it up to frustrated customers

2011-10-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Research in Motion is making amends with its customers following last week's worldwide service outage. It may be too little too late, but it's good to see the company roar back with an innovative compensation plan following users' moaning and groaning last week.

Here's the story, from my Canadian Entrepreneur blog:

Great to see that Research In Motion is offering its frustrated clients free premium apps worth more than $100 each as an apology for last week's service outages.

A customer-service problem like that demanded a grand, serious gesture on the company's part (see my National Post blogpost here), and RiM has delivered.

The complete selection of premium apps will become available from BlackBerry App World for four weeks beginning Oct. 19. Enterprise customers will also receive a month of free technical support.

Good to see strong statements like these from RiM's embattled management:
“We’ve worked hard to earn [customers’] trust over the past 12 years and we’re committed to providing the high standard of reliability they expect,” says RiM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis.
“We are taking immediate and aggressive steps to help prevent something like this from happening again.”

Industry analyst Francisco Jeronimo at IDC said the decision could be good for RIM, if it helps more customers to discover BlackBerry app services. Even so, he says, “More important than the offer itself, is that RIM is showing goodwill and being humble. They recognized the problem, apologized and now they are compensating their users.”

In my Oct. 14 NatPost blog, "overcompensate" was the phrase I used to describe how companies can rebuild trust following customer-service breakdowns. You have to prove you've learned your lessons, and that you value your customers' time and loyalty.

Here is my list of 7 Steps to take when faced with a company or customer-service breakdown.

• Acknowledge the problem quickly.

• Identify the magnitude of the breakdown as soon as possible.

• Tell customers what outcome you are working toward. (e.g., How soon will power be restored?)

• Don’t just say you’re working on the problem – show it. (Make sure they see you sweat.)

• Take steps to shut-out customers as comfortable as possible.

• Acknowledge customers’ confusion and frustration.

• Overcompensate. Once the emergency is over, find creative, memorable ways to apologize for the inconvenience and thank customers for their tolerance.

You can read that complete column here.

My Eyes!!!!

2011-09-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

Got a daily-deal coupon today for a local optical company. So I checked them out on the Web.

What did I find? This company's website thinks it's cool to put small black type on a dark red background. My eyes started hurting right away.

Thanks, Universal Optical. I don't think I'll buy my eyeglasses from a company that shows so little understanding of how people see and read.

If you can't prove it, don't say it

2011-09-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe this type of stuff still goes on...

Canada’s Competition Bureau this week announced a settlement with Beiersdorf Canada Inc., after accusing it of using false and misleading claims to sell its Slimming and Reshaping Gel Cream.

The company will pay a $300,000 penalty. It must also repay customers who purchased the $15.99 cream, and remove the products from store shelves.

According to the Montreal Gazette, Beiersdorf Canada says it “entered into the consent agreement with the Competition Bureau” to address the agency's concerns, but does not accept the bureau’s views. It says all of its performance claims are supported by independent research.

The announcement followed a $900,000 settlement in June involving Nivea's My Silhouette with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Lisa Campbell, deputy commissioner of the bureau's fair business practices branch, told the Gazette that: "Ads are sometimes designed to target people's vulnerabilities, and so we try to be active in those areas to send a strong message to businesses: Don't take advantage of consumers to try and falsely drive their choices towards your product."

On its packaging and its website, Nivea's My Silhouette stated that the use of the cream could lead to a "reduction of up to 3 centimetres on targeted body parts, such as thighs, hips, waist and stomach." Beiersdorf also said the product could make the skin more toned and elastic, according to the bureau.

Campbell said the company failed to conduct adequate, verifiable tests to back up its claims.

Under the terms of the consent agreement, Beiersdorf is required to publish a corrective notice on Nivea's Canadian website and in major Canadian newspapers, and to pay $80,000 to cover the bureau's costs.

The company also faces a class-action lawsuit in Canada.

You can read the full story here.

Clearly, Beiersdorf needs a new approach to business – as well as new management.

A stack of scams

2011-06-30T03:54:00.000-07:00

The other night I took a couple of kids to dinner at a prominent U.S. restaurant chain. The food was oversalted and overcarbed, but predictably tasty and fun. The waitress even agreed to give my son a side order that wasn't officially available for that particular entrée.

Then the trouble began. The waitress asked my daughter if she wanted bacon or ham with her order. With the confident tone she used (slightly stressing the word “ham” rather than “like”), it sure sounded like one of those sides was included in her order. We were very surprised to see an extra charge of $2.99 for the bacon on our final bill.

If IHOP is training its people to sell extra sides in a casual, inviting way that even hints that these are included in the entrée price, shame on them. If the waitress came up with this scam herself, she surely deserves to be promoted to management. At any rate, it was a teachable moment for my kids. Always ask, “Is that included in the price?” Or they’ll see you coming a mile away.

But that wasn't the worst problem. When the bill came, I noticed that she had overcharged us for each entrée. The rates were 50 cents higher for two of them, and $1 higher for one. I asked to look at a menu again just to make sure it wasn't my faulty memory.

When I politely asked the waitress how she came up with those prices, she said the “system” calculated the prices when she inputted the orders. She hadn't even noticed the amounts – and seemed as surprised as we were to compare the prices on the bill to the lower rates printed on the menu.

The waitress cheerfully adjusted the prices and wrote a note to the manager about the glitch. I’m sure there’s a reason for the discrepancy (perhaps there’s a new menu with higher prices coming out to coincide with the end of the month). But who knows how many people had been victimized by this problem, intentional or not?

For the introduction of automated systems that force customers to scrutinize every line on every bill to make sure they're not being scammed, we say of IHOP: New Management Welcome.

Wanted, Dead or Alive: Obama Bin Laden

2011-05-09T08:08:00.000-07:00

Stay classy, Fox News.
Or maybe you could just spend some money on hiring a proofreader.

Actual shot of a TV screen from May 1, the night they killed Bin Laden.

No words needed

2011-02-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

When your name is Shell, you'd better be able to replace your burnt-out lights fast.

So upgrades are a bad thing... ?

2010-11-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

Just ordered some gifts online from Chapters/Indigo. The checkout was easy and efficient.
Then I ran onto the following warning after I had placed my order.

Surely we have moved beyond blaming delays on "upgrades"?

And here I thought upgrades were all about improving service!

The Soylent Green Blues

2010-09-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, minimum-wage restaurant chains need to get more imaginatIve about how they recruit new staff.

But this particular ad from Hardee's looks a little - unappetizing?

How did this get past marketing, HR, production, and common sense?

New Management Welcome.

One picture - seven words

2010-08-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

Demolition Debacle

2010-07-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

Click here to watch video:

A hotel demolition in Edmonton goes wrong....

(Fortunately, the street had been blocked off.)
New construction management welcome!

Lies and the Liars who Tell Them

2010-04-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

Is there no end to the evil of cell providers?

Tech blogger James Kendrick writes about his experience trying to cancel his service at Verizon (after studying the market, he decided to switch to Sprint to power his new Palm Pre).

"I entered the Verizon store to cancel my voice and data lines with mixed emotions," writes Kendrick. "The lying I was blasted with by Verizon employees made the process much easier on me than I thought it would be."

First, two Verizon employees ganged up on Kendrick to convince him that the Sprint 4G service wasn't equal to Verizon's, and that it wasn't available anywhere outside Houston. Kendrick stood his ground and told them that wasn't true. (But imagine if they had been double-teaming a customer who didn't know his stuff ...)

So they sent him to Customer Service, where two more guys peddling the same stories tried to talk him out of canceling. Kendrick refuted their arguments, then asked to speak to the division manager. They hastily cancelled his service.

Concludes Kendrick: "The whole thing left me with a very bad taste in my mouth for the way Verizon conducts business. Which is a shame after a decade of happy patronage."

The real shame is when a company deploys four people to strong-arm you into being a loyal customer, instead of winning your loyalty through the best execution every single day.

But it's also an experience you never forget. Or forgive.

You can check out Kendrick's article here. If you have time, you can also read the 70-plus comments attesting to Verizon's lack of management smarts. (And other mobile providers as well, of course.)

Well past its best-before date

2010-02-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Oh Pizza Hut, an artefact of the 1970s that has somehow survived into the 21st Century.

Checked out their website today to see if there was any reason not to order from the leading brand for a pre-Valentine's treat, and discovered that they have just wrapped up their Father's Day contest (from 2009, one presumes).
Not only that, but they're offering a bonus to anyone who submits their name to the Pizza Hut mailing list by five months ago (Sept. 21, 2009).

For forgetting about their website in this age of digital marketing, Pizza Hut wins an extra-cheesey salute from "New Management Welcome."

A Messy Way to Waste Money

2010-01-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Andy Nulman's "Pow!" blog makes the great point that in snowy cities, companies pretty much throw their money away when they advertise on the sides of buses in winter.

Then he discoved this picture from fellow Montreal entrepreneur Bernie Malinoff. It pretty much nails his argument.

How NOT to win friends and influence people

2010-01-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

I found a link this morning to a good article on “negotiating with difficult people” at the DaleCarnegie.com site.

As a consultant myself in content marketing, I think it imperative that businesses selling their smarts (AKA “thought leaders”) provide free content such as this to attract prospects’ attention and build respect for their expertise.

But that doesn't mean you broadcast what your intentions are. Letting people know they're just "leads" to you makes people feel they're being manipulated, rather than served.

Carnegie’s mistake? Look at the URL they choose for the page that hosts the story:
http://www.dalecarnegie.com/lead_nurturing/tips/tips.jsp?tipid=250

Maybe few people will notice the phrase “lead nurturing tips.” Nonetheless, this takes transparency too far.

Yes, providing relevant content is a marketing tactic. But most businesses use phrases that sound less mercantile. Examples: Free_stuff. Premium_content. Welcoming_wisdom.

Business should make customers and prospects feel they're being valued, and respected. Not hunted.

(Cross-posted from my "Canadian Entrepreneur" blog)

The 10 Biggest Blunders in TV - 21st century edition

2009-12-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

The Hollywood Reporter (THR.com) is running a series called "Ranks for the Memories" - a look at the highs and lows of the past decade.

Its Top 10 list of TV industry blunders include overleveraging promising shows, taking stupid chances on untried execs, and a $6-billion bad call.

Here's the Blunderful TV Top 10:

10. Fox canceling "Family Guy" (now its second-highest-rated scripted series).

9. NBC hiring Ben Silverman: fine agent, bad exec (he masterminded American Gladiator and the remake of "Knight Rider")

8. ABC's overload on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (seriously, four times a week? ABC's ratings took years to recover.)

7. The casting of Ryan Jenkins on a VH1 dating show (He was later charged with the murder of his spouse and took his own life.)

6. Dumping Jay Leno from NBC's "Tonight Show" (Jay dominated late-night; now he's flailing in prime time).

5. Election Night coverage in 2000 (Remember how Florida ended up being called for Gore, then Bush, then "too close to call"?)

4. MyNetworkTV (The UPN and WB stations that didn't merge into The CW were regrouped by Fox Entertainment Group into a network called MyNetworkTV. Inexplicably, its plan to run all low-cost telenovelas flopped.)

3. Janet Jackson's Super Bowl nipple slip (The infamous "wardrobe malfunction" led to pre-emptive editing of risque content and more vigilance on live telecasts.)

2. ABC passing on "CSI" (The franchise has since generated $6 billion for CBS.)

1. The 2007-08 Writers' Strike (An avoidable, mutually destructive act at exactly the wrong time. A season was lost, and nobody won.)

Click here to read the full article.

Why are stupid people paid so much?

It's not just businesses that screw things up

2009-12-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the lead paragraph on this CBC news story today.

U.S. reaches climate deal with 4 countries
Last Updated: Friday, December 18, 2009 4:49 PM ET
CBC News
The United States, China, India, Brazil and South Africa have reached a "meaningful" climate change agreement, although nothing large enough in scope to truly combat global warming, a senior U.S. official says.

Keep on leading, o fearless leaders.

Dear Bell Canada:

2009-12-16T12:24:00.000-08:00

Please stop calling me.

I always know it’s you calling, because there’s a huge long gap between when I pick up the phone and say “Hello,” and when someone actually responds. It is very annoying. It’s a much longer lag than I get when the lawn-care companies call, so if you are not sure what kind of telephone solicitation systems to use, maybe you could call and ask The Weed Man.

Secondly: Please don't call me with people who can barely speak English. It reflects badly upon you.

And please, don't tell me my name has been randomly drawn to receive a great offer. I already knew it’s a sale pitch. But now I know you also think I’m stupid.

Oh, and don't say it’s a courtesy call when you're just trying to sell me stuff. That goes beyond incompetence to hypocrisy. And it’s bad manners.

And finally, when I say, very politely, that I'm not interested in this great offer, train your people what to say. Don't let them respond, “Oh, ok, goodbye.” Showing that little confidence in their product tells me that they are bad salespeople, and that you hire bad salespeople.

I would really like to believe that the company that supplies my telephone services is good at something.

Yours Sincerely
A Loyal Customer

A story out of the Dark Ages

2009-12-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

This a true story. Names and places have been obscured to protect the innocent.

In an unnamed American city on the weekend, I was sitting with my family members at a fast-food restaurant. We got to talking to the waiter and he admitted he was off his game that night. Seems his nephew had gone missing that day.

We of course expressed shock, and asked what he was doing here, at work. Surely his place that night was helping out his family?

Yes, he agreed. But when he called in to say he wanted to stay home, his boss said he needed him to work. The boss apparently said, "If you want to stay home, you have to bring in a note saying your nephew is missing. Or there won't be a job to come back to."

Circumstances being what they are today in the Land of the Free, he came in. And provided exemplary service, I might add. We gave him a big tip and wished him all the best.

Sounds like a story out of the Dark Ages.

Those who have achieved a modicum of success and autonomy in their working lives often need to be reminded that not everyone has it so good. Scrooge ("Are there no workhouses?") is alive and well, especially in the current economy when even low-paying positions are so essential to so many - giving bad bosses too much power.

My heart goes out to all employees who are still subject to the whims and arbitrary decisions of flint-hearted bosses and inflexible organizations. Enlightened management welcome.

Chevettes and Pintos and Netbooks, oh my!

2009-11-27T21:44:00.000-08:00

Holy Lemons! A study quoted in a recent New York Times GadgetWise column says 20.4% of laptops fail over three years.

The study, produced by SquareTrade, an online vendor of extended warranties, found evidence that netbooks fail at a higher rate, 5.4% in the first year of use compared with 4.2% for a premium-level laptop.

The study also says the accident rate for laptops is another 10%, so the total failure rate over three years is closer to 30%.

What’s most fascinating is that different manufacturers have compiled startlingly different failure rates.

SquareTrade concluded that Asus and Toshiba laptops fail about 15% of the time. At the other end of the scale is Hewlett-Packard, with a failure rate of more than 25% (my first laptop was one of those statistics - right out of the gate).

How sad is it that the report concludes, “In some cases, it would appear that failure is not only an option, but the expectation.”

We need higher manufacturing standards. Yes, price points are competitive, but the failure rate is just too high.

The big U.S. hardware brands should recall what happened to Detroit in the 1970s when foreign carmakers got the unique idea to focus on quality.

Learn from the past, or forfeit the future.

A Friendly Challenge

2009-11-26T20:45:00.000-08:00

According to http://www.failblog.org/ , this banner was posted at the entrance to McGhee-Tyson Air National Guard Base, Knoxville, Tennessee.

New management would be very welcome.

Something is stalking the streets at night

2009-11-26T20:40:00.000-08:00

Here's an epic piece of journalism I had to share with you.

From www.FailBlog.org!

New editor welcome.

Corporate carpetbaggers

2009-11-16T15:06:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago. the city of New London, Conn., lured drug giant Pfizer to town by offering them a 10-year, 80% break on normal property taxes. The city even created an economic development corporation to expropriate houses near the Pfizer complex for a proposed new "urban village" of hotels, shops and condos that would better suit the new biggest employer in town.

Some local residents fought back on behalf of their neighborhood. The dispute went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled 5 to 4 in 2005 that municipalities indeed have the right to expropriate private homes for vague redevelopment plans.

Last week, Pfizer announced that in two years' time (about the time their tax holiday ends), they will be moving out of New London and consolidating operations at their campus in nearby Groton. New London will lose 1400 jobs - and any chance of seeing that "urban village" it fought so hard for.

As the New York Times reported, local residents now see Pfizer "as a corporate carpetbagger that took public money, in the form of big tax breaks, and now wants to run."

A spokesman for the landowners told the Times that Pfizer’s announcement “really shows the folly of these plans that use massive corporate welfare and abuse eminent domain for private development.”

The only good news is that 43 states have since moved to strengthen private property laws to prevent money-hungry municipalities from taking people's homes.

Which is worse? Overzealous bureaucrats, or corporate welfare bums?

Read the gruesome details here.

"Big companies are always doing stupid things"

2009-10-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

You've heard about Pepsi's Amp energy drink, and its "Before You Score" iPhone application aimed at helping young men to objectify, stalk and bed young women?

Lots of great commentary all over the Web as marketing experts debate whether this is sheer genius ("they understand their target market!") or sheer stupidity ("Let's boycott everything Pepsi makes!").

I rather liked this comment on Linked-In by Keith Thirgood, Partner with Capstone Communications Group in Toronto. He puts Pepsi's stupidity into context.

"As far as a backlashes go, big companies are always doing stupid things with their ad campaigns and they survive. It's the small companies who attempt to emulate the big guys who really suffer, because they don't realize that big guys botch these things more often than they succeed. Big companies breeze through these mistakes because of their size and momentum. Small companies are really hurt by emulating the bad marketing moves the big guys make."

Weird key, wrong chain

2009-10-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've stayed lately in two Best Western hotels: the lovely, dated Sands by the Sea in Vancouver, and the newly modernized Lamplighter in London, Ont.

No complaints about either place (despite the growth of high-rises across the street, the Sands' balconies still have a slight sightline on the harbour). But my room "keycard" at the Lamplighter came bearing an unusual graphic: a photo of another company's hotel. With a terrible editing job that can only be called Early Photoshop.

What gremlin accentuated the roofline with a Sharpie? And whose idea was it to put the Banff Springs Hotel, crown jewel of the Fairmont chain, on a Best Western keycard?

New management wanted.
As well as a reason to go to Banff this winter.

They messed up, then dissed the competition

2009-09-30T22:39:00.001-07:00

I just transferred a URL I bought years ago to GoDaddy.com, a domain company that manages most of my other domain names. Yes, it's an American company, with a silly name and annoyingly sexist advertising, but its prices are cheap and its customer service is outstanding.

(Example: A year ago, one of their Customer Service reps noticed that I had never got around to using a monthly hosting service I had bought and paid for - so he offered me a refund on the spot. No one else, in any business, has ever offered to do that for me. Just yesterday, I realized I had bought another service I didn't need, and GoDaddy's CSR helpfully showed me how to cancel it and get my money back.)

But this is a blog about stupid business, so let's look at the company I no longer wanted to deal with: Misk.com. It inherited my account when it bought a previous company I had registered with, so I had no loyalty to it - or any problem with it either.

But Misk annoyed me with its poor online customer service documentation. I couldn't find the way to renew the URL. And when I dialled the help number on their website, I learned that their hotline is for faxes only. All other inquiries must come via email.

So a week ago I emailed Misk for help, and didn't hear back. I sent a second email saying this issue was important to me, and asking for a response within 24 hours. Nada.

I finally heard from them late last night - four and a half days after my second email. (Meantime, the transfer had gone through, thank goodness.) Here's what the service rep said:

"We apologize for the delay in responding to you. Due to a technical issue with our ticketing system, your email was misdirected and not yet answered." An online company that loses customers' email? Heads should roll.

But here's the kicker. The service rep said this: "Ca domains are much different than others and clearly your new registrar doesn't have much experience with .CA domains (GoDaddy) only recently starting registering these. You may want to pick another more experienced and ethical registrar."

Wow. What are they trying to say here? In my opinion, GoDaddy's ethics are better than most, and its support teams very experienced and knowledgeable. GoDaddy is now by far the largest domain registrar in the world, so of course there have been controversies, but no deep ethical problems that a competitor should be pointing out.

For its poor service and weirdly inappropriate bad-mouthing of the competition, Misk.com definitely deserves our mantra: New Management Welcome.

Management Fail!

2009-09-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

Failblog.org is a site that mixes irony and humour with everyday glimpses, primarily through photographs, of places and things that are just wrong. It chronicles the failures and foibles of individuals, but also the dysfunction of organizations.

Just for fun, here are a few recent photos from the site that prove that way too many businesses and organizations are in desperate need of New Management.

You can check out more Fail photos at Failblog.org

Closing the Door on BookCloseouts.com

2009-09-18T17:54:00.000-07:00

I was just browsing this month's scratch-and-dent sale at http://www.bookcloseouts.com/. My first time on the site.

I saw a book I liked and clicked on the "Add to cart" button. You know what I got? A screen that said, "Your shopping cart is empty." So I went back and clicked again. My shopping cart was still empty.

Perhaps I should have registered and logged in first. Well, why didn't they say that early on? And why don't they give me that option now? Why not make things dead easy for first timers?

Instead they gave me a nonsensical warning and no clear path to do anything about it.

I think I'll take my business to a website that understands customer care.
New Management Welcome.

United Airlines: Breaker of Guitars, and Hearts

2009-07-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

Note to big companies, and UAL baggage handlers in particular: Don't piss off Halifax musician Dave Carroll. He's liable to write a song about it, and that could go viral...

Note to smart marketers: Sure, Dave is angry that they busted his guitar. But he's even more upset at the airline's inability to take any responsibilty - or even just show remorse. What's so wrong with saying, "Sorry"?

UPDATE: United seems to be paying attention. Sure, now they're willing to talk...
Click here for the story.

"A Little Glitch in the System"

2009-06-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

The other day I ordered some ink cartridges for my mother from an online retailer through eBay. The price was good, their feedback was hugely positive. But when I tried to check out, I couldn’t. The system told me “This order has no products associated with it.”

So I emailed the company to let them know I had a problem. I got a prompt and reassuring reply from someone named Janice:

"We had a little glitch in the system, which we have fixed. If you would like to try the checkout again, it should work this time. If it doesn’t please let me know and I will send you a PayPal request for the item."

So I tried again, And this time, in addition to the “no products” response, the system told me that “The company you are trying to pay does not have paypal account set up correctly.”

So I emailed Janice back, adding a screen shot of the offending error messages. This time my reply came from the President of the company. But it wasn't very reassuring.

“From our end, when we try to do the checkout there is no problem… In the meantime, would you like to pay direct to our PayPal account?”

I responded “yes,” but with a pithy note that “I am pleased you're not having any problem. Unfortunately, I am the customer, not you. And it's not fixed.”

48 hours later I am still waiting to hear back.

Why does management think that I care if the system works for them? If I've tried five times and it's not working, they should own the problem until it's fixed.

How much is that again?

2009-04-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

A discount store in New Jersey demonstrates the importance of unified branding.

(Note the discordant theme continues in the window posters as well as the roof signs. At least they're consistently inconsistent.)

(Poached from Consumerist.com)

Be Afraid. Be very, very afraid

2009-03-18T08:11:00.001-07:00

What do you do when big government and big business are equally stupid?

Case in point: Insurance giant AIG paying more than $165 million in bonuses following its receipt of billions in bailout money. Sure, the money is mainly a "retention investment," to keep talented employees from walking. But when your entire industry is imploding, and competitors are melting down, bonuses such as these are ridiculous. It's symbolic of the common sense and moral meltdown of Wall Street in the first place.

But the U.S. Congress and President Obama should not be getting so self-righteously angry about this whole thing, either. These bonuses were negotiated months ago. The leigislators grilling AIC CEO Edward Liddy in Washington today are the same bozos who approved the bailout. They don't seem to understand that their bailout enabled the company to go forward with the previously approved bonuses.

Makes you wonder what else they don't understand about the billions of tax dollars they're throwing at bailouts and miscellaneous pork-barrel stimulus packages.

Math? Whuzzat?

2008-11-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

In Oklahoma City, a single pricetag at a Circuit City liquidation sale provides a clue why the electronics retailer is facing bankruptcy.

Thanks to Consumerist.

Advance Notice of the Next Surprise, Please

2008-11-21T08:19:00.001-08:00

Here's an example of management foolishness: a true story contributed to Reader's Digest Canada.

A severe thunderstorm knocked out the power to one of our company’s buildings one night. The following day, after correcting the problems the power outage had created in the computer systems, a computer department manager made a request to our maintenance staff: “In the future, please give us advance notice when such interruptions will occur so we can shut down our system.”
--Bill Hartnett (from All in a Day's Work, 2001)

Pepsi's breathtaking makeover

2008-10-29T11:37:00.000-07:00

Gawker.com is reporting that Pepsi has chosen a new logo. Another win for the branding industry, which the cynics at Gawker say "exists for the sole purpose of allowing graphic design majors to soak clueless corporate behemoths out of millions of dollars for what amounts to a few tweaks of a computer design template."

Why don't you decide if Pepsi is getting its money's worth? Above is the old (currrent) logo, below is the alleged new logo.

Adopting a new logo can cost an international brand hundreds of millions, as designers make over the company stationery, merchandise, trucks, billboards, ads, labels and so on. Was it worth it? Or should management have known better?

And is it just me, or does that bulging new swirl seem somehow... familiar?

Singin’ the Jet Blues

2008-10-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

Passengers are sitting onboard JetBlue flight 644 in San Francisco waiting to leave the gate when the captain comes on the PA system. "Bad news, folks, there's weather in the New York area today. Practically shut down Kennedy earlier. We're looking at a delay of three or four hours."

The passengers deplane and wait. They're American air travelers. They're used to being treated like cattle. But not by JetBlue, which started life as the low-fare airline with the big heart.

Then came the kicker. Waiting passengers start mumbling, "It's not true. Kennedy was shut down for all of ten minutes, but it is accepting flights now. Just not from JetBlue, because their operations ran late. It's their own fault that we can't fly."

"Delta and Virgin America flights just left for JFK."

"This happens to me every time I fly JetBlue."

Passenger Mark Hurst, who blogs on the customer experience at goodexperience.com, checks New York weather on his iPhone: Sunny and clear.

In the end, the flight was cancelled. 152 passengers were invited to stand in line to rebook their flights with two JetBlue gatereps.

What a way to run an airline. Founder and former CEO David Neeleman (who also helped launch a Canadian upstart called WestJet), originally described JetBlue’s mission as "bringing humanity back to air travel." But Neeleman left earlier this year to start a new airline in Brazil, and JetBlue's new management seems to be following a different flightpath.

The airline that boldly encouraged its passengers to “use the call button” now charges $7 for a pillow and blanket package, and $30 for extended legroom. Oh, the humanity!

Today, America’s low-cost airline hero calls itself a “value” airline, and focuses on a nonsense slogan, “Happy Jetting.” Its branding is muddled, and its service has suffered. And now it’s lying to passengers.

Rule 1: Never try to deceive your customers. It’s a dirty business. And you can't get away with it. (Today’s business travellers, armed with WIFI-equipped laptops and Blackberries and iPhones, have better access to information than the Pentagon. They’ll catch you out, as they did JetBlue. And they won't be happy.)

Mark Hurst, who wrote the Flight 640 story on his blog, says that angry passengers at SFO mobbed the gate desk before the sullen gate reps restored order. There was yelling and cursing and promises never to fly JetBlue again. Such vows are rarely kept, because consumers don't have much choice; but you can bet these angry flyers will avoid travelling JetBlue whenever they can.

They can understand delays and problems. They will cut some slack for a discount airline that saves them money. But they won't forget being lied to.

As recently as June 17, 2008, JetBlue was ranked 'Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low Cost Carriers in North America' by J.D. Power and Associates. But Hurst, who finally reached New York two days late, says he believes, “JetBlue is sick.”

As he wrote, “Let this be a reminder to anyone at a customer-focused company: customer experience isn't a one-time thing. It requires constant, constant, constant focus on the basics. A slick ad campaign counts for next to nothing, unless it describes the benefits of the customer experience...

“Meeting the basic, key unmet needs of the customers in your niche is everything. Do it today, do it tomorrow, do it every single day of your operations, and then (and only then) you'll have a good chance to succeed as a customer-focused firm.”

The Keystone Cops

2008-08-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

Five dangerous prisoners escaped this week from the Regina Correctional Centre in Saskatchewan. Perhaps it was their way of protesting stupid management.

The Regina Leader-Post reports today that management had just lifted extra security restrictions that had been in place on the “secure remand unit” due to earlier security concerns.
And that's in spite of the fact that management had recently been warned of an imminent escape attempt.

Corrections staff are now saying they weren’t even informed about the possible jailbreak. According to the newspaper’s source, such information is normally passed on to staff, even when there aren't any more details. "It's time to err on the side of safety and security," he said.

Police continue to search for the five inmates, some of whom face a range of serious charges, including murder.

Even the messaging of the jailbreak has been a mess. The PR experts at Toronto-based Veritas Communications note that the first official announcement of the escape came a full 15 hours after it happened: “More than enough time for information to leak and rumours to begin.” Public Safety Minister Darryl Hickie didn’t even learn of the escape until he turned on his PDA the next morning.

Authorities then hastily convened a press conference which caused more problems. The RCC and the Mounties didn’t get their stories straight, so they offered differing takes on the situation. According to Veritas, “The lack of proper preparation led to poor communications and diminished the public’s confidence that the situation was being handled effectively.”

Dangerous crooks on the loose and the Keystone Cops in control.

New Management Welcome.

A Burst of Bland

2008-07-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

Have you heard the buzz about Walmart’s new logo?

Out with the mean old military-looking logotype.
In with a friendly, lower case, unhyphenated look – finishing with a flowery starburst! That should get people excited about shopping at Walmart again.

While I find the new look underwhelming, the best part of the story is the way it slipped out. The Memphis, Tennessee municipal planning department got a look at plans for a new Walmart and noticed the new design – and soon it was in the hands of the Wall Street Journal.

Redesigns such as this are usually handled intelligently. Press releases, press kits, and lots of flossy blather about how the new logo reflects the new spirit of the brand, etc. It’s supposed to be a managed launch.

Walmart rushed out a short, bland press release that was even more underwhelming than the logo itself. It noted that “for the past two years, a customer-focused transformation has been taking place in Walmart's U.S. business.”

The new logo reflects Walmart’s “renewed sense of purpose to help people save money so they can live better.”

Surely the world’s largest retailer could have had a more compelling explanation ready than that?
New management welcome.

Why so stupid?

2008-07-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

‘The new Batman movie is out, and like the last one (Batman Returns), this is not a movie for the young kids who enjoy the animated Batman on TV. "The Dark Knight" is gloomy, violent and complex, and features an acclaimed performance by the late Heath Ledger as the vicious psychotic killer, The Joker.

Ledger’s Joker “is the sort of character that could give younger kids nightmares,” writes the Washington Post. “This is not a movie for teens younger than high-school age, let alone grade-schoolers.”

So kudos to Nestle and General Mills, for giving away free Joker toys in cereal boxes: General Mills (Lucky Charms, etc.) in the U.S., Nestle in Asia. Psychopathic murderers go so well with cereal and milk and little leprechauns.

Sure, Batman is a comic book character, and comics have always been associated with kids. But it’s been clear for two years that Ledger’s Joker was going to be edgy and frightening and adult. All you had to do was look at Ledger's makeup to realize this was not Jack Nicholson from the 1989 movie – and certainly not Cesar Romero’s fun-loving Joker from the old 1960s TV show.

Parents groups are already up in arms. Yet this debacle could have been avoided if anyone in a position of responsibility, at the companies or their ad agencies, had actually thought through what they were doing.

How could they miss this?

Unless General Mills intends to distribute action figures of Hannibal Lecter next?

Routing Rogers

2008-07-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

It’s iPhone day in Canada. And what should have been a coup for Rogers has turned into a disorderly rout.

We don't want to focus too much on Rogers in this blog [(a) it’s such an easy target for customer-service complaints, and b) the other telecoms aren't much better]. But the cable/wireless giant, flying so high over its iPhone monopoly, fell to earth with a thud when the user base revolted against its high prices – and forced Rogers last week to change its tune.

Why didn't Rogers see this coming? The target market for the iPhone is affluent, sophisticated, always-on information junkies: if there’s one thing they know how to do, it’s communicate. More than 50,000 customers and prospects signed an online petition protesting the announced package prices. Perhaps Rogers' vast history of monopoly protection has blinded it to the fact that consumers have choices now.

As the PR experts at Toronto’s Veritas Communications put it this week, Rogers regained some credibility with its new (albeit time-limited) lower price package. But it was too late to undo all the damage already caused:

“Rogers failed to see the backlash coming despite the incredible amount of online chatter on blogs, social marketing sites, you name it – in other words, all over the geekosphere where the iPhone’s bulls-eye target market lives. Responding prior to launch is good, but not letting the wave of discontent get as huge as it did... would have been much, much better. Witness Thursday’s Globe & Mail, which ran a huge piece on the front of the ROB equating Rogers’ iPhone stumble to New Coke, Super-size McDonald’s meals and other legendary PR gaffes.”

Dare we hope Rogers management have learned from this debacle?

Travel 1,000 miles to go bowling!

2008-06-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was planning our family vacation and looked up the website of a city we’ll be passing through to see what there is there to see or do. So I was pleased to find a page that says, "Things to See and Do."

The first listing on the page? Bowling.
Yech.

I have nothing against bowling. But there are bowling alleys everywhere, and I was kind of looking for something more special.

Reading through the rest of that page, I found drag racing (not my cup of tea, but again not the sort of thing one travels a long way to see), marinas and movie theatres. Zzzzzzz. In between were a few listings for farmers' markets and galleries, but only two of them had writeups relating to local foods or regional art forms - the sorts of things that make for worthwhile stops.

You had to read down a long way before you found the really interesting stuff, like the specialty music venues, the Wharf sector, an interpretation centre for local native culture, and the lodges, tours and cruises that really make that area special.

Why was this such a problem? Because most web surfers have no patience. Most would click away long before they got to the good stuff. And why was this material presented in such a stupid, boring way? Because the chamber of commerce put their listings in alphabetical order!

Perhaps they never heard of thinking like the customer – or just putting your best foot forward. New Management Wanted – and a little more creativity.

Why Service Matters

2008-06-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

Attention companies that still don't get it: Canadians demand good customer service. According to the second annual TD Canada Trust Customer Loyalty Poll, 95% of Canadians say their experiences can make or break a relationship with a particular brand or company.

That figure is up 10% from last year's survey, showing that Canadians are getting even more serious about service.

When asked which form of appreciation they are most interested in receiving from retailers and suppliers, 49% of consumers ranked "just good customer service" as number one. Loyalty programs and gifts followed far behind, at 18% and 17%.

There's another benefit to delivering good service. Says Tim Hockey, President and CEO of TD Canada Trust: "Good customer service has a ripple effect... our poll shows that 89% of people will share their positive stories with their friends and family."

All this sounds obvious, righ? So who isn't getting it? The utilities (think phone and cable).

The poll finds that consumers think retail stores and financial-service companies (29% and 28%) offer the best customer service. Utility companies are perceived to have the worst (42%) - even higher in Ontario and Quebec.

Bell's Bafflegab

2008-06-17T00:10:00.000-07:00

Ottawa security professional Eric Jacksh has found a hole in Bell Canada’s security – and is getting the “we really care” runaround.

When he input his unlisted phone number into a Bell WiMax webpage to find out what services are available in his area, up popped a map showing the location of his home. Since he already knows where he lives, and he’s been paying for anonymity for years, he’s miffed that Bell is now offering thieves and telemarketers a path to his front door. He sent them an email requesting them to delist the service.

A few days later he received this helpful reply.

Hello Eric Jacksch,
Thank you for visiting Bell's web site. My name is Colin and I am pleased to assist you with your inquiry.
I understand your frustration. Please note that, unlisted service will remove your phone number from the directory. Bell Store Locator and other satellite images will display the images of earth as it is and it is not possible to unlist the same.
Eric, we appreciate you using Bell Canada's eContact Centre and I look forward to serving you again.

I was interested to read that it is not possible to unlist the earth. But that doesn't seem to address Jacksh’s complaint.

A story on the issue in the Ottawa Citizen evoked this reassuring response from Bell PR person Jacqueline Michelis: "Certainly protecting the privacy of such customer information is of prime importance to Bell and our strict privacy practices and policies consistently rank among the top corporations in Canada." As Churchill used to say, Bell offers “all aid short of help.”

Jacksh has since complained to the CRTC and the Privacy Commissioner. Maybe they will get some answers. In the meantime, new management would be welcome.

You can read more on Jacksh's quest on his blog, The Jacksh Report.

Replace Yourself First

2008-06-12T06:08:00.000-07:00

Here’s a sad story from the ranks of retail.

A young friend, Bob, works for a mid-sized retail chain in Toronto. Recently, his sister was in an accident, so naturally he was called to the hospital to join the family vigil.

The call came to Bob at work. When he told his supervisor he had to rush off to the hospital, she was taken aback. This wasn't a good time, she said; the store was very busy and short-staffed.

Bob couldn't believe his ears. “I have to go,” he said. “My sister has been badly injured.” I would hope that most bosses would immediately say, “Go. Do what you have to do.” But not this boss.

“All right,” she agreed, reluctantly. “But first, you have to call up your co-workers to find someone to come in and finish your shift.”

I guess Bob needs the work, because he did as she asked. In the middle of the day you don't find a lot of people at home doing nothing, so it took him more than half an hour to find someone to take his place. He was still at work phoning around while the rest of his family arrived to worry together at the hospital.

Fortunately, Bob's sister will be okay. But his relationship with his boss will probably never recover.

New management – and a new attitude towards the needs of employees – would be very welcome at this chainstore. Perhaps they haven't heard there's a talent shortage?

Of course PayPal cares

2008-06-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Eclectic Montreal blogger Stephen David Wark posted recently about an eBay purchase that went wrong.

To sort things out, he e-mailed PayPal about the situation. They weren't much help, since he had missed the 45-day deadline for taking action. (He had spent much of that time trying to deal with the seller.)

Even so, he was slightly shocked to receive the following e-mail from a PayPal rep:“Thank you for contacting us. I am sorry to hear about (briefly repeat member’s situation).”

As Wark notes, "It’s good to know that Paypal is supposed to pretend to care, but they’re just too lazy."

Stupid Mistakes Managers Make

2008-06-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

HR expert Susan Heathfield, who covers Human Resources for About.com, focuses on the many ways that organizations mess up in dealing with people.

“They treat people like children and then ask why people fail so frequently to live up to their expectations. Managers apply different rules to different employees and wonder why workplace negativity is so high. People work hard and infrequently receive positive feedback.”

Heathfield has written an article on “Twenty Dumb Things Organizations Do to Mess Up Their Relationship With People.” Here are 10 of them:

· Add another level of hierarchy because people aren’t doing what they want them to do.
· Appraise the performance of individuals, and provide bonuses for the performance of individuals, and then complain that they cannot get their staff working as a team.
· Add inspectors and multiple audits because they don’t trust people’s work to meet standards.
· Fail to give people clear expectations so they know what they are supposed to do. Then they wonder why they fail.
· Create hierarchical, permission steps and other roadblocks that teach people quickly their ideas are subject to veto. (Then they wonder why no one has any suggestions for improvement.)
· Ask people for their opinions, ideas, and suggestions, and then fail to implement their suggestions or empower them to do so.
· Make a decision and then ask people for their input as if their feedback mattered.
· Find a few people breaking rules and company policies and chide everybody at company meetings rather than dealing directly with the rule breakers.
· Make up new rules for everyone to follow as a means to address the failings of a few.
· Provide recognition in expected patterns so that what started as a great idea quickly becomes entitlement.

Want more? You can read about all 20 blunders here.

"We may know, but we don't care"

2008-06-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

“WhyYouFly.com” is a sister site of American Airlines that exists mainly to promote its slogan, “We know why you fly.” The site doesn't really do anything significant – it’s just trying to build customer relationships. It offers a few interactive games for the terminally bored and an ad archive for people who like to look at recent airline ads.

Recently the site included this weird little typo (circled). If you look in the square headlined “Vancouver,” you’ll find a parenthetical statement that was never meant to see the light of day. It looks like a fact checker queried the use of the phrase “Coast Mountain” (rightly pointing out that “Coast” refers to a range of mountains, not a single peak). Instead of fixing the error, the web editor approved the wrong copy plus the query.

That’s a blunder, but it’s not serious. These things happen all the time and are easily fixed. The problem is, when I spotted the error, I thought I would contact the site and point it out to them. But when I went looking for a “Contact Us” page or even an e-mail address, I found nothing. There was no direct way to contact them.

This is where management blundered. They built a mini-site to build relationships – but left no way for the customer to join the conversation. It’s a typical, top-down solution: We talk, you listen. It’s short-sighted and totally out of step with today’s interactive Internet world, where marketers are supposed to be listening to consumers. There’s lots of valuable info and strategic advantages to be gained from listening to your customer – but first you have to make it convenient for them to talk.

American may know why we fly, but they're obviously not interested in what we think.

Same Stupid, Different Day

2008-06-06T06:41:00.000-07:00

Is there no end to the idiocy?
Last month we had a Tim Hortons franchisee fire an employee because she gave away a 16-cent piece of fried dough to calm a crying infant. The company later apologized – but only after a firestorm of criticism (which suggests they were really only sorry that they got caught.).

This week it’s a waitress in a restaurant in Owen Sound, Ont., who was laid off after she shaved her head as part of a stunt that raised $2,700 for the charity Cops for Cancer. Stacey Fearnall, a 36-year-old mother of two, was apparently told to go home after she refused to wear a wig.

The owner defended his decision by saying his restaurant has "standards." He apparently requires employees keep their hair at a reasonable length. He says Fearnall can return to work once she grows her hair back.

He also claims some customers have said they would have been "appalled'' to be served by Fearnall.

Fearnall’s father died of cancer five years ago.

An official at the Bluewater Cancer Society said she's never heard of an incident like this. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, "It apparently has not happened anywhere across Canada.”

The local paper, the Sun-Times, notes that Cops for Cancer is a huge deal in Owen Sound. It says the owner has blundered badly:

"It is difficult to find words to describe the magnitude of the mistake that was made in sending her home, essentially until her hair grows back. Her presence, sans hair, would be an asset, not a detriment to this or any other restaurant.
If there's a lesson here, it's that decisions like these should not be made in isolation. The interests and the concerns of the community always must be part of the process for businesses, as much as for the public sector."

Rogers' "Vision" Sucks

2008-06-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

There's good customer service, and then there's the cellphone company.

In a biting blogpost this week, Ottawa entrepreneur Alec Saunders lambastes Rogers for its high prices and ever-shifting offers. His complaints, in order:

* He feels he has to call a Rogers rep every month to find out if he's paying too much for the services he receives. "They tell me whether there are any better new deals available. It’s the only way to make sure I’m not getting raped by Ted 'Jolly' Rogers' pricing."

* He complains that Rogers is raising prices "when the rest of the world has data rates that are plunging like a stone."

* He refuses to lock into a "deal" that requires a three-year contract. "As the only game in town, your only option is to agree to their terms," he laments.

Alec finishes by expressing the hope that increasing competition will force companies like Rogers (and Bell and Telus) to be more consumer-friendly.

You have to wonder about companies that consistently alienate their best customers. History teaches that you can only get away with this stuff for so long.

Office Worker Goes Postal

2008-06-04T23:20:00.000-07:00

What better way to kick off my new blog about mismanagement and business blunders than with actual video of an unknown office worker going postal?

This video was sourced from video site Break.com, but it allegedly originates in Russia. The first few seconds are kind of dull, so use the time to figure out who is about to suddenly lash out at all around him (especially the computer monitors).

Click on the arrow to watch human behaviour at its worst.

Office Worker Goes Absolutely Insane - Watch more free videos

Link: http://www.break.com/index/office-worker-goes-absolutely-insane.html