I am involved in a major contract dispute with a company that provided cabinets to my wholly-newly-renovated-1950s home. The cabinet company failed to meet both the design specifications and performance specifications in ROOM after ROOM of cabinetry, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. I think the threat of the negative publicity I could engender should be enough to get them to back off in collecting the less-than-10% balance that is supposedly "owed" on this contract. Yet, it's not -- they don't seem to get it. I think this may very well be a case that Burley references, where the company is just too freakin' stupid to make a prudent business decision. At the very least, I want to leave a very frank Angie's List report. Yet, my attorney is advising me that warning this vendor about "negative publicity" ("threatening") would not be looked upon favorably by the judge in what seems to inevitably be an upcoming court case. She's advising I don't do it, for that reason.

My other question: In the situation where Burley had a conflict with the cancelled mailbox, when he threatened to stand out front with his flyers and was blown off, did he actually follow through and stand out front with his flyers? It doesn't sound like he followed through. Maybe he was blown off because he "projected" his lack of conviction? Maybe the clerk called his bluff -- and if he didn't follow through, it WAS a bluff.

Cliff_Donner

IMO, it reads like he's not trying to be PC. Current genuine Gypsies still have a quality reputation for minor crimes (every time the word comes up anywhere with Irish readers about, you get pages full); and, it's not like he was working to offend the guy on the phone, he just didn't think about that being a hot button.

I'm not saying he seems like a really soft nice guy, but hey, a guy managing his finances OK isn't going become a publicly known financial adviser and consumer advocate...the guy who buys two cheeseburgers and puts the patties together to save a dime will (Clark Howard anecdote, FYI).

cerbie

foofoo2

I've poked around a bit and it seems that if they legitimately owe you the money, it's not blackmail, but I'm not sure.

Anyone got any references?

foofoo2

scoosdad

Spaceboy

ChuckECheese

g76monte

More often than not, if you are engaging and entertaining and treat them like an actual human being, they'll do everything in their power to help get the situation resolved in your favor.

Fortunately I've had few situations where I've felt the need to threaten to stand in front of the business handing out fliers.

up2late

ChuckECheese

Hateshopping

Dont Know Me? You Are Me.

SarcasticDwarf

I live in a large city with many corporate regional offices, so I don't waste time with "customer service". If they screw up, I go into their building and talk to them directly, and it gets the job done.

This is why I've said elsewhere to buy locally when you're in a small town: big corporations will try to ignore you, but the local store can't ignore you because they can't afford to.

KJones

And it's a good peeve to have. Hey, since this guy is allowed to judge people on how they sound on the phone, can I judge by how he looks in his pic? I bet he's the guy that calls everyone 'shooter' or 'sport' and tries to give advice, even when it's not wanted or has been declined.

BugMeNot2

I've had to deal with my share of idiots in customer service, but I don't have the expectation that they're all idiots.

Totally agree on the nutbag contingency.

cparmele

Nylo

So along with his talents for dealing with companies, his superpowers also include deducing someone's sexual orientation over the phone?

I think I'll walk outside my local Barnes & Noble and hand out flyers that tell people not to buy his book, because "just I could tell" that he's an idiot.

RhymePhile

rjhiggins

Seriously, I dig the "Spokesperson for the Competition" angle. I never thought of that. I wonder how a bunch of my Sprint stories would be handled by Verizon - maybe I could be the Jared of cell phones or something - or at least get free text messaging maybe.

Jim

shan6

yesteryear

Oh, honestly, who HASN'T made somebody cry at some point in their life in a business setting? Even I've managed it, and I fear interpersonal conflict. As long as he feels bad about it and doesn't make a habit of it, I don't think it's worth crucifying someone over.

(Although good on the company for refusing to do business with him -- love to see more bosses value their employees that much.)

Eyebrows McGee

Then again, we can never forget the poor, martyred corporations who suffer so nobly to charge us double for March's cable bill or what the hell ever.

picardia

heavylee-again

I feel like this type of idea teaches people to expect bad service wherever they go. And if you go in expecting sub-par business then most likely you'll receive it.

cparmele

Black Bellamy

I really like the way he advises *thinking* about your gameplan first, and then implementing it. I also like how he emphasized that you must be right, and not try to break the bank...

radio1

loquaciousmusic

gmark2000

Life's great when you're a 75 year old woman, you can even smash up Comcast's office with a hammer and you're a hero. Not that they don't deserve it, but if I did that, I'd get thrown in the slammer and people would say I play too many violent video games.

A.W.E.S.O.M.-O

rainmkr

EmperorOfCanada

RyanC0989

Generally interesting article - but I could have done without the unnecessary (and kinda douchy) comments about Indians, Gypsies, and the gays.

MickeyMoo

brew400

moore850

Wimpkins

However, in light of the diminishing returns of the EECB (noted with respect to Dell, although I'm sure a lot of other companies are starting to do similar things), I wonder how successful these tactics would be if everybody started using them willy-nilly.

I also think the numbers that are given for the costs of attracting vs. retaining customers up front are a bit off.

To take a favorite example around here, Comcast, it costs them a lot more than $4 to attract new customers when you compare the promotional rates for their triple play to their "standard" rates. And that's not factoring in marketing expenses, commissions for sales people, etc., etc.

Not everyone uses the same business model as Comcast obviously, but even down in the middle of the conversation where Burley talks about his experience with the mailbox place, he goes out of his way to talk about how much effort they put into attracting new customers (advertising, signs, flyers) and how little effort (probably a 5 minute phone call) it would have taken to retain him.

The real message to corporate America is that customer service should not be treated as a drain on profits but recognized as an important tool for retaining high value customers. Right now, customer service is usually treated as an expense to be reduced and/or eliminated in any way possible.

Corydon

Cowboys_fan