A couple of interesting stories about genuine customer service fiascos. First, via “Engadget”:http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000113033144/ Sprint’s collections department number is unfortunately close to that of a small-business map publisher.
bq. [It is nearly the same as the number of] a small business owner in the Boston area who says he’s received and logged about 8,000 calls from Sprint customers during the past 2 ½ years. Stewart Woodworth told us because his business cell phone number is toll-free, he’s had to shell out about $1,000 to pay for the incoming Sprint calls. [ ??"WXYZ Detroit":http://www.wxyztv.com/wxyz/ys_investigations/article/0,2132,WXYZ_15949_3570184,00.html?? ]
Reasonably, the man complained to Sprint but Sprint told this guy he should change his business number. You know, the one that’s printed on every product he sells. So he recorded a nasty outgoing message instead, leading people to think _Sprint_ was calling them names because they were overdue with their bills. Ooops.
The ethics and wisdom of telling off misdialers aside, someone at Sprint should have seen this coming.
Speaking of seeing things coming, one has to wonder how _anyone_ at corporate headquarters missed the natural consequence of Blockbuster’s “End of Late Fees”:http://www.adrants.com/2005/02/blockbuster-ads-amount-to-big-fat-lie.php bait-and-switch. *Of course* people are going to be ticked when they keep _Biodome_ an extra day or two and get hit with a $15 charge.
And *of course* people going to feel like you tried to pull a fast one on them, mostly because you tried to pull a fast one on them. On everyone. All at once. Ususually that only works when you can duck out of town in the middle of the night with a suitcase full of money, but Blockbuster is a little too large to twenty-three skidoo. All I can say is, I’m glad I’m not a shareholder. (I don’t think i am a shareholder.)
One Comment
Maybe I’m just too hardened to crass American consumerism and commercialism, but don’t you have to be a little dumb to REALLY think that Blockbuster is going to let you rent the movie for a year, and not pay anything extra? I completely agree that their commercials are misleading, but at the same time, I also don’t assume that I’ll be able to pick up big-chested blonde models just because I’m drinking Bud Light.
The irony, in all this, is that Blockbuster’s new system IS better than their old system, and I think it would benefit them better to explicitly state the way it works than just say “No More Late Fees.”
When I use to rent from Blockbuster, and I was late, I could sometimes end up paying $10 or more dollars. With their new system, you get an extra week, AND if you’re later than that, you get charged just one $1.50 restocking fee. $1.50 is a lot less than what I WAS paying in late fees. Heck, paying $15 for the movie itself is a lot less than paying the late fees.
So, yes its misleading and I’m certainly not going to cry a river if someone sues Blockbuster over it. But, at the same time, you should never have believed the freakin’ commercials anyway without first looking into it some.
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