However, I happened upon this example several weeks ago as a mere hot-headed consumer.
One site that I have constantly touted to friends and even casual acquaintances is SlickDeals.Net. This a great site in which fellow Internet travelers well met come across great deals and post them for others to enjoy. It's completely free and I have notched a few cool deals because of this great site.
For example, I love pistachios, especially giant pistachios. So, I happened across what seemed to be a great slick deal In April: A pound of giant pistachios from Plow & Hearth for $4.99, down from $19.99! Wow! Seventy-five percent off! And combined with a coupon, you could buy a couple pounds for just $8!
I ordered four pounds. And then waited for those delicious morsels to arrive.
On April 5, I got an e-mail confirming my order. On April 10, I received an e-mail stating something quite different:
Dear Plow & Hearth Customer,
Thank you for your recent order. Like you, thousands of customers placed orders for our Colossal Pistachios (P8827) - the demand was overwhelming! Unfortunately, due to an error on our website, we continued to accept orders even after our inventory was sold out. As a result, we regret to inform you that we will be unable to fulfill your request. Your order will be canceled and you will not be charged for this item.
We realize this has been an inconvenience and appreciate your understanding. Please accept this special offer as a token of thanks for your continued patronage:
Take $10 Off Your Next Order of $75* or more! Use promotion code SDFW4 when placing your order. Offer ends 4/30/2007.
OK, now, I'm used to the reality that sometimes problems happen on the web. Order get mixed up. Supplies run out. But here's what got my goat: You can't apologize by sending me a generic coupon that is only good if I spend more than three times my original order. Or as I wrote back:
"You post a 70% discount, get a lot of buzz and THEN you don't follow through and THEN you offer me $10 off $75 which I can already find anyplace on the Internet?? Fifteen percent off to replace 70% off???"
I also raised the onus of bait-and-switch and cc'd the Better Business Bureau nearest Plow & Hearth's HQ in Madison, Va. Two days later, I received this e-mail:
Dear Mr. Sweetwood,
I am currently traveling but will call you on Monday about your situation.
Regards,
T. Dana Pappas
Chief Operating Officer
Plow & Hearth, Inc.
Wow! E-mail from the Plow & Hearth COO?
The following Monday, Dana indeed called and we talked. He's a great guy, frankly. He explained the situation and it is a cautionary tale of the power of the Internet as well as the value of knowing how to harness that power.
Dana explained that the giant pistachios are brought in every year for the Holiday catalogs and then are cleared out every spring to make way for new stock. This year, they had 2,000 units to clear out and they put them on that great sale on their own Web site and in three or four weeks, they had moved just 200 units. Then, someone put the same sale on SlickDeals.Net where a much larger, aggregated audience saw the deal and they sold 10,000 units in less than 24 hours!
The problem: They just had 1,800 bags. Worse, the Plow & Hearth Web site was just not prepared for that kind of surge in volume.
He chuckled at the lesson learned, however: Had he known about SlickDeals.Net he would have made sure the deal had gotten there sooner with less than a 70 percent discount. Quicker sales and a better profit margin for the company...
However, he felt bad that I felt bad and he sent me a peace offering from his private stash: A bag of giant pistachios that was immediately devoured by my newspaper staff.
The Internet represents a vast communication potential. However, merely having a Web site or even having a great product is not good enough if you are not reaching the right audience. Linking audience with product is not happenstance; it is more science than fate. Audiences constantly shift focus and loyalties on the Internet and preaching to your core audience everyday is not good enough. By finding out what your audience enjoys and where else it surfs and with whom it networks, you can begin to truly tap into the Internet's potential.
Anyway, I believe Plow & Hearth is a good company so I am posting a link to their site as a thank-you for the great pistachios.
More later,
Mark
4 comments:
One thing I can say about working for a newspaper - people call you back, including politicians! Perhaps the original offer should have included the proviso, "While supplies last." Certainly they didn't stop growing pistachios. To merely say "we've cancelled your order", "instead of saying we've backordered" would have made me very angry. Good for you for following up on this and untangeling the web. And good for you for sharing your bounty with the staff.
Wow.
I doubt of the regular not- affiliated-with-the-communication- media-customer could have done as well.
CC'd the BBB. You really went for his nuts.
:) Good one, Eric!
I should point out that at no time did the COO or the BBB know that I was affiliated with a newspaper. I edited my e-mail signature to drop any reference. I have always done this when dealing with non-newspaper business because I do not any other onus other than: Treat me like any customer.
I guess I could always be Googled, but if Plow & Hearth was unaware of SlickDeals.Net, I gotta think this little blog flew well under the radar.
Congrats, by the way, Eric on your promotion!
Mark
5:32 AM
Thanks for the congrats--it took the district neary twenty years to recognize my talents...but well worth the wait.
By the by, the only time I used the "I am a teacher" line was when I was pulled over for speeding. The officer write the ticket and told me that i should know better and set an example for the youth. Backfired again.
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