"I had an astonishingly bad experience with a major clothing
store this week, and I want to tell you about it. Perhaps
it will remind all of us that perceptions count and
integrity matters" said, Philip Humbert
"As a favor to Mary, I agreed to call a major retailer and
order some summer outfits for her. I figured it would take
10 minutes to call the number, order the items, bill the
credit card, and be done with it. And it might have except
for one little thing.
At the end of the call, the order taker asked permission to
"include information about our travel club" in the
shipment. I wasn't interested and vaguely replied that
would be fine. She then repeated the offer and said she
needed a specific yes or no. That got my attention and I
started asking questions.
It turns out that once I agreed to her offer, I was
actually agreeing to let them bill my credit card for
membership in the club unless I specifically declined
within 30 days. Later, a supervisor admitted that almost
everyone ignores the offer and throws it away with the
paperwork they put in every shipment. Then, 30 days later,
the company bills their credit cards".
I suppose what they are doing is perfectly legal, but I
found it outrageous! For a $39 membership fee, they lost us
as customers, forever. In one stupid move, they trashed
their reputation and we won't be back.
My point? Trust is a vital business asset. Honesty,
integrity, fairness and openness may be the "right" things,
but they are also the SMART things when it comes to
business! Never trick your customers! Never appear to take
a short-cut, and always make the customer glad they did
business with you.
store this week, and I want to tell you about it. Perhaps
it will remind all of us that perceptions count and
integrity matters" said, Philip Humbert
"As a favor to Mary, I agreed to call a major retailer and
order some summer outfits for her. I figured it would take
10 minutes to call the number, order the items, bill the
credit card, and be done with it. And it might have except
for one little thing.
At the end of the call, the order taker asked permission to
"include information about our travel club" in the
shipment. I wasn't interested and vaguely replied that
would be fine. She then repeated the offer and said she
needed a specific yes or no. That got my attention and I
started asking questions.
It turns out that once I agreed to her offer, I was
actually agreeing to let them bill my credit card for
membership in the club unless I specifically declined
within 30 days. Later, a supervisor admitted that almost
everyone ignores the offer and throws it away with the
paperwork they put in every shipment. Then, 30 days later,
the company bills their credit cards".
I suppose what they are doing is perfectly legal, but I
found it outrageous! For a $39 membership fee, they lost us
as customers, forever. In one stupid move, they trashed
their reputation and we won't be back.
My point? Trust is a vital business asset. Honesty,
integrity, fairness and openness may be the "right" things,
but they are also the SMART things when it comes to
business! Never trick your customers! Never appear to take
a short-cut, and always make the customer glad they did
business with you.
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