United breaks guitars

The moral of the story is – don't treat your customers like crap.

It's a simple rule but one that gets violated ad nauseam by companies that think that no one is paying attention.

United learned this recently thanks to the simple – but probably commonplace – destruction of an expensive guitar owned by a musician on his way from Chicago to Nebraska. I'm not going to link to it since it seems as though everyone has seen it.

I am going to link the BrandWeek article about it, offering 'brand lessons' from this episode. Now I admire the article's premise – there are things that can be done to mitigate these backlashes. A company is only as strong as their employees and when employees screw up – and they do – amends must be made.

But people can tell the difference between employee screw-ups, such as the case of a baggage handler training for a javelin event, and company policy, which stonewalled this musician for nine months, leading him to record and post the first of three videos designed to slaughter the company and increase his band's exposure ten-fold.

One piece of advice from the article was that United should record an apology, donate to various charities, give him a new guitar, and do other things showing that United is 'sincere.' Problem is I don't believe any of these gestures show sincerity. United hasn't apologized for the policy that is at the root of his problem. So those gestures are just that – gestures. The average person believes that the only reason United is sorry is that they got caught. Which is why I believe there is so much momentum behind this video. He speaks for millions of people who have been left holding destroyed baggage with little recompense other than a contrite 'sorry but we're not responsible for something that is in our care.'

Running an airline is expensive, especially now when margins are thin and the economy is weak. There will always be those trying to game the system to their advantage, which is why the policy exists. But rigidity breeds contempt and the public's love for the 'glamor' of flying is at record low levels, thanks to the various cuts and cope-outs practiced by many airlines. No airline is operating from a groundswell of high public opinion.

Episodes like these illustrate the old adage that started this post – don't treat your customers like crap.

American English will cost you

When you talk to consumers about customer service – typically technology and financial services – one of their biggest frustrations is phone support. The consumer is talking but the person on the other end just can't seem to get what they are saying. And vice versa. 

I'll do another post on this – related to Gardner – but here is where what consumer's want and what businesses can/will provide are two different things. Consumers want someone on the phone to hold their hand and address all of their issues until resolution, no matter how long it takes or how frequent. Businesses want to be gracious 'hosts' but at the end of the day, support costs money and it's money that is difficult to re-coop due to pricing pressures, competition etc.

Outsourcing customer support has been the 'fix' for that but has raised a new problem – the language barrier. My experience in the UK showed me that while we speak the same language, the differences are sometimes quite vast. I'll never forget a dinner party where the host said "would you like some squash?" I wasn't sure what I was going to do with a root vegetable so I asked, um, what's that. Squash in the UK is a citrus drink. Gales of laughter ensued. 

This disconnect is hilarious at a dinner party but when if you are on a deadline and your computer won't work, misunderstandings like these are frustrating and in the end damage the relationship you have with your customer. 

Dell has come up with a unique (ahem) solution to the problem. You can pay $13/month or $100/year to speak to an American. I wonder if it will work? Would you pay extra to speak to an American? I'm not sure I would. Not because I don't want to keep jobs in this country but it seems rather insulting to be told – if you want to understand the help you are getting, it will cost you. What do you think?