May 07 2011

KILLER BUSINESSES

Published by under "Here & Now" Focus,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Community Support,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Empathy,Entrepreneurship,Experience,Family Business,Feedback,Leadership,Lifestyle,Management,Observations,Overcoming Objections,People Management,Personal Growth,Problems=Opportunities,Productivity,Professional Practices,Reality,Relationships,Reputation,Self-Confidence,Self-Esteem,Small Business,Trust

Got a killer business?

                                        

Get a gumption transplant.

                                                                                            

 

Why do some businesses make it so hard for customers to purchase their products and services? Who knows? Do you know? I don’t know. It’s beyond my ability to even imagine, yet companies that trumpet how “easy” they are –like “NOOK,”  Sirius Radio, Best Buy, cable TV companies– are convolutedly complicated, and user UNfriendly.

  • Barnes & Noble makes a big deal of underscoring how “easy” it is to own and operate a NOOK electronic reader, and to be able to order books that are transmitted directly to the device, “easily.” It is not easy. Owning a NOOK requires you to read and agree to more ridiculous overkill statements than it takes to locate a Presidential birth certificate.
  • Ordering books (yes, that you are paying for) is like arguing with an umpire. First off, books you do not want and would not order are planted on your new nook whether you want them or not. Secondly, one can only order NOOK books online. And that is a terrorizing experience. After being dragged through waves of selections you don’t want, what you click is what you’ve bought; no shopping cart; just pay! 
  • Go into a Barnes & Noble retail store –even with your NOOK and all the legal ownership papers and try to order a NOOK book, you’ll likely get looked at as if you were from Jupiter. Third, I defy you to try spending your money without having to call the 800 number for the privilege of speaking with Customer Service (clueless about serving customers): these are people who can only follow scripts and put you in touch with a supervisor who can only follow scripts.
  • And all of this is only IF you’re lucky enough to reach someone who speaks English, who then asks for your zip code, email address, tax records, where you lived when you were six-years-old, and next of kin. Do I sound annoyed? I threatened to throw my NOOK in the brook, so yeah, I guess “annoyed” works. And, yeah, I know I choose to feel annoyed!

Bottom Line: Buy a Kindle.

(And I get no special treatment from Amazon.)

                                                                  

Sirius Radio is equally annoying. Besides aggressive direct mail tactics, Sirius charges obscene rates for a lousy lineup of channels that they keep moving around. A great challenge while driving, trying to find a recently relocated channel.

You might as well be text messaging on the NJ Turnpike in between four 18-wheelers all going 75. Don’t be drinking coffee too!

Best Buy? <~~~ Go here for that story.

Cable TV companies win the “most obnoxious” award. Besides that you can’t even get any kind of supervisor on the phone, don’t try to explain your purchase desire without having to first answer a bombardment of questions about your personal life, your finances, your dog . . .

What’s missing here? Gumption.

                                                           

Companies are giving up on their customers. They seem to have concluded that it’s more important to nail every customer for database exploitation and to make them jump through hoops to qualify to purchase, and then give them crummy quality for exorbitant prices.

The alternative of course is to simply be a stand-up, straight-ahead business.

                                                                     

What’s the rest of the story? Besides insensitive and unrealistic Customer Service and approaches to CRM, failing and status quo businesses are blaming the economy. If you are among these, here’s a message just for you:

“It’s not the economy , Stupid!”

                                                                    

It’s YOU. Change your attitude. Get a  gumption transplant. It’ll help you to get your glove and get back in the game. Sure, the economy sucks, but getting pulled down and under is your choice!

                                                         

# # #

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 302.933.0116

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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Nov 07 2010

Best Buy Return Policy

Published by under Advertising,Anger/Conflict,Attitude,Best Practices,BRANDING,Business Growth,Business Life,Change,Choosing Behavior,Communication,Corporate Management,Customer Service (CRM),Decision Making,Delegation,Empathy,Experience,Feedback,Management,Overcoming Objections,Problems=Opportunities,Productivity,Public Relations,Reality,Reputation,Retailing,Sales Process,Tactics,Trust

 If your business return policy

                                 

is this UNfriendly, you

                                      

may want to rethink it!

 

Now you KNOW that while I frequently beat up on government incompetence (being as how it’s so-well earned), that I hardly ever jump on any business.

But this email came to me today, forwarded a few hundred times. That fact alone made me immediately skeptical, so I checked out the policy link at the bottom, and came away awestruck.

Customer insensitivity is one thing, but the kind of top management stupidity that fostered this ridiculous policy (in this kind of economy no less) deserves to be heavily publicized.

The boxed text speaks for itself. It’s too bad that some businesses, like BEST BUY, see the need to run roughshod over the consumer public like this.   

BEST BUY 

If you purchase something from Wal-Mart,  Sears, and other reputable stores, and you return the item with the receipt, they will give you your money back if you paid cash, or credit your account if paid by plastic.

   I purchased a GPS for my car: a Tom Tom XL.S from ‘BEST BUY’.

They have a policy that it must be returned within 14 days for a refund! So after 4 days I returned it in the original box with all the items in the box, with paper work and cords all wrapped in the plastic. Just as I received it, including the receipt.

I explained to the lady at the return desk I did not like the way it couldn’t find store names.

The lady at the refund desk said, there is a 15% restock fee, for items returned. I said no one told me that. I asked how much that would be. She said it goes by the price of the item: $45  for you.

 
I said, so you’re going to just walk over and put it back on the shelf then charge me $45 of my money for restocking? She said that’s store policy. I said if I bought a $2000 computer or TV and re-turned it, I would be charged $300 restock fee? She said yes 15%. 

I said OK, just give me my money minus the restock fee. 

She said, since the item is over $200 dollars, she can’t give me my money back! Corporate has to do that and they will mail you a check in 7 to 10 days.! I said ‘WHAT?’
It’s my money! I paid in cash! 
I want to buy a different brand..
Now I have to wait 7 to 10 days. 
She said, well, our policy is on the back of your receipt. 

I said, do you read the front or back of your receipt? She said well, the front! I said so do I. I want to talk to the Manager! 

So the manager comes over; I explained everything to him, and he said, well, sir they should have told you about the policy when you got the item. I said, no one has ever told me about the check refund or restock fee when I bought items from computers to TVs from BEST BUY in the past. The only thing they ever discussed was the worthless extended warranty program.

 
He said, well, I can give you corporate phone number. I called Corporate. The guy said, well, I’m not supposed to do this but I can give you a $45 gift card and you can use it at BEST BUY. 
 
I told him if I bought something and returned it, you would charge me a restock fee on the item and then send me a check for the remaining $3? I told him to keep the gift card. 

I’m never shopping in BEST BUY ever again, and if I’d been smart, I would have charged the whole thing on my credit card! Then I would have canceled the transaction. 

I told “Mr. Corporate” that had I done that, I would have gotten all my money back including their stupid fees! He didn’t say a word! 

I informed him that I was going to e-mail my friends and give them a heads-up on the store’s policy, as they don’t tell you about all the little caveats. 

So please pass this on. It may save your friends from having a bad experience of shopping at BEST BUY.

It’s true! Read it for yourself!!Best Buy’s return policy

CLICK ON THE BLUE LINKS ABOVE TO VERIFY!

EVEN if this customer was “wrong,” he was right!

If your business can’t afford bad word-of-mouth, make sure all your policies are user-friendly and easily explained and supported, and that your people know how to handle situations like this better than this.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

www.TheWriterWorks.com or 302.933.0116 or Hal@BusinessWorks.US  

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals! God Bless You.

 “The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson] 

Make today a GREAT day for someone!

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