tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80383203289144889682024-03-08T13:15:48.568-08:00Bad Business AlertNed Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-72571876440627708912019-07-13T19:58:00.002-07:002019-07-13T20:20:41.424-07:00<b>Big O - Big Disappointment</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.bigotires.com/" target="_blank">Big O Tires</a>, a national chain of tire dealers who also do a fair amount of mechanical repair, is being let down by two factors - their lack of commitment to customer service, and the people they hire. My recommendation: There are lots of tire dealers out there - find one that's not Big O. The story behind this recommendation is a bit long and convoluted, but please hang in there with me.<br />
<br />
Here's what happened, from the very beginning. Last year, I arrived at the Big O dealership on North Nellis Blvd. in Las Vegas - it's the closest tire place to where I live and work (and where I'd bought the last three sets of tires for the car), about ten minutes before closing. Their door was open, and the sign saying "Open" was still illuminated. However, when I went in and asked to be taken care of (as a customer), I was sent away. The fact that they were still open made no difference to the manager (whether he was the overall manager or just the manager-of-the-day, I don't know). He sent me away without even trying to handle my car's problem.<br />
<br />
So I went home, and still pissed off at this cavalier treatment, I went to the Big O website and explained what happened. The next day or two, I got a call from a regional manager, who assured me that what happened was at odds with Big O policy; as well as the fact that they'd had other complaints about this individual, who was no longer working for them. I was then offered a free oil change - all I had to do was call this regional manager when I was ready, and he'd take care of it. However, I'd just had the oil changed, and by the time I was ready, I'd misplaced his name and number, and that ended that. But at least they tried to make it up to me.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to Sunday of last week (July 7) and once again, I was having problems - the car was pulling to the right, and the front end was making a rhythmic noise unlike any I'd heard before. Having driven across the Valley to attend a writer's meeting, on the way home, it seemed to be getting worse by the minute. So I headed straight over to Big O (where I'd bought the tires on my car), about 4:50 p.m. When I said I needed help, the guy behind the desk told me that they were closing in 10 minutes, and that I'd have to come back another time. So much for the regional manager's assurance that this wasn't policy with the company.<br />
<br />
So, another visit to their website, another complaint with details (of both incidents), and then I waited. It was three days before they got back to me, and instead of hearing from the regional manager, I heard from the store manager. In an almost deja vu (part II), he asked me what he could do to win back my business, offering me a free oil change. This is where a bit of backstory needs to come in to make things clear.<br />
<br />
By this time, I had a more serious complaint than just having been turned away. Here's what happened:<br />
<br />
The next morning after I'd been turned away, the morning after I'd contacted their customer service website, I went out to my car to go to a doctor's appointment, only to see the left front tire not just flat, but with a sidewall hole large enough to swallow a baseball. Since I'd only recently gotten out of the hospital, and since it was already well over 100 degrees (hey, this is Vegas, baby!), I was not physically up to changing it myself, a fact I confirmed after I'd tried. So I called a service that would come change the tire for my spare, for $84.00. They came promptly, fitted my full-service spare (I hate those undersized "donut" tires, so I'd bought a wheel and put my best tire on it the last time I'd gotten new tires. Once it was on the car, the problem I'd had of the car pulling to the right was completely gone. Instead of bad alignment, this had been caused by an about-to-fail front tire.<br />
<br />
So I told the store manager that anything in the realm of winning me back would have to involve fixing or replacing the blown tire, which I'd bought there and assumed was still under some kind of warranty. He asked me if I had the paperwork (I don't know if I do), but I suggested that he look in his computer, which had records of all my previous service visits and purchases - I knew this because I'd seen it once on their computer screen. Anyway, he told me to come by and he'd take care of me, and we made an appointment for me to come late Friday morning.<br />
<br />
When I got there, I spoke again to the manager who'd called me - he'd been waiting for me. I gave him the keys, reminded him about the tire, which was in the trunk, then headed across the parking lot to grab lunch. I figured that both the tire and the oil change would be taken care of by the time I finished. An hour later, when I got back, my car was up on the grease rack, and so far as I could tell, nothing had been done to it.<br />
<br />
I went inside and asked the guy behind the counter how my car was doing. He said I needed rear brakes, that it was metal-on-metal. This made no sense as I'd had the brakes serviced within the past year, and even in Vegas, brakes don't wear out that quickly. Turns out, he thought I was someone else, and that the brake problem was a false alarm. However, as an author and writing coach (which I am), I should have seen it as foreshadowing.<br />
<br />
Eventually, I got the manager's attention and asked him how my car was coming. He said they were working on it, then left to check on it. A few minutes later I was called to the counter where a mechanic told me I needed a front-end alignment, that would cost $108. Which puzzled me, as I hadn't said anything about the front end pulling to the right - I can't imagine why he'd even checked this. So I told him, "not at this time." I didn't go into detail why, but I could tell he was trying to up-sell me, and I wasn't buying it.<br />
<br />
So I asked him about the blown tire in the trunk. He seemed not to know that this was the real reason I'd come by the shop - oil changes I can get almost anywhere - in 15 minutes, instead of 75 minutes - and they aren't expensive enough to go to a place I'd had a series of increasingly-bad experiences at. I was there to get the tire fixed or replaced, at no cost to me. But they hadn't even looked at it. I handed the mechanic the keys and he went out, looked briefly in my trunk, then came back to tell me I needed three tires, and could he write them up. However, I'd looked at all my tires and they seemed to have lots of tread-life left ... beside which, he hadn't even looked at the four tires before making this sweeping diagnosis. Apparently, he thought I had "idiot" written all over my face - but instead, I couldn't wait to get out of there.<br />
<br />
So, in attempting to win back my business, they tried to cheat me - twice - with unnecessary upsells, even while they had also completely ignored the real and important reason I had been there.<br />
<br />
I'm not going back, and if you do business with Big O, you might want to rethink this decision, unless, of course, you like wasting money on repairs you don't need, based on the words of a mechanic who seems to be on commission for up-selling their services.<br />
<br />
So, caveat emptor - let the buyer beware!<br />
<br />Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-5006494758061717872018-09-04T23:04:00.001-07:002018-09-04T23:04:27.285-07:00Bye Bye (Not Buy Buy) NikeBye Bye (Not Buy Buy) <a href="https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/" target="_blank">Nike</a><br />
<br />
It makes absolutely no sense for a corporation which earns billions of
dollars by selling to people regardless of their political beliefs to take
sides in a contentious and ongoing political debate. Doing so ensures that
they're going to (to one degree or another) alienate roughly half the voting
and buying public. This is not rocket science, either. At age of
soon-to-be 67, I can't recall ever seeing the country I love so
politically-divided.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure, we had a close
Presidential race in 1992 (thanks to Perot, it was a three-way race, and no
candidate got a majority), and again in 2000 when the Supreme Court had to
decide who won (it wasn't Chad, who was apparently hanging wrong). <br />
<br />
However, the election of politically indefinable billionaire populist Donald
Trump at the expense of the unwilling-to-admit-she's-really-a-socialist-progressive
Hillary Clinton has divided the country in ways – and at a level of volatility
and vitriol – that I don't think has prevailed since the Civil War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All we need now are the smooth-bore cannon,
saber-wielding horsemen and rifled muskets firing Minie Balls and we’d be back
in 1861.<br />
<br />
Into this debate having nothing to do with sporting gear or clothing, Nike
has thrust themselves by boldly siding with anti-American (or at least
anti-Traditional American) progressives against those who, by a solid Electoral
College (but not raw vote total), achieved a stunning victory in 2016.
This may make Nike’s decision-makers feel all warm and politically correct in
their Manhattan solons, and might also help Nike sell more branded college
football gear to university teams whose institutional masters are wracked with
fear of micro-aggressions and eager to avoid virtue shamings. But regardless of
the reason, this act is going to hit Nike where it really hurts – in their
sales, profits, market share and bottom line. <br />
<br />
No "sane" company would willingly decide to alienate half of the
entire potential US market, yet that's what Nike just did. This makes me wonder
if they are, in fact, sane – or if, perhaps – those decision-makers live and
work in that Manhattan/Hollywood/San Francisco bubble that doesn't recognize
that more Americans hate them than support them. <br />
<br />
Just what is this all about, anyway?<br />
<br />
As a believer in the bottom line, Nike’s action left me breathless with
surprise. The executive management and the board of <a href="https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/" target="_blank">Nike</a> have made the
decision to use America-hating (or at least Traditional-America-hating) Colin
Kaepernick the new “face” of Nike’s “Just Do It” multi-million-dollar ad campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kaepernick, is, of course, the first NFL
player to publicly “take a knee” rather than to stand respectfully during the singing
of the National Anthem. The leaders at Nike are apparently intent on
profiting from the dubious fame garnered by a former (benched) NFL
second-string football player who became the face of anti-American efforts to
turn the NFL games away from being sporting events and into part of an ongoing,
far-left progressive political campaign. <br />
<br />
What the good folks at Nike haven't counted on is the backlash that will be
so profound and pervasive that – even without a formal boycott.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just for the record, I am NOT calling for a
boycott – I don’t like them, and in this case, a formal boycott’s not
necessary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boycott or not, Nike has just
taken an action – one they can’t easily walk back – that will cost them a huge
segment of the American market. And not just for now, but for a long time
to come.<br />
<br />
This should come at no surprise, for two reasons – one scientific, the other
logical without being easily proven. First, published surveys showed that
half or more of all those Americans who watched less football in the 2017-2018
season did so primarily or exclusively because they strongly disapproved of the
actions of Kaepernick and his followers. This statistical backlash cost
the NFL hundreds of millions in unsold tickets and un-sold (or sold for far
lower prices) ads on TV networks carrying games which couldn't attract a live,
in-stadium or a live, at-home audience.<br />
<br />
There are other examples of how Americans react to other Americans who seem
intent on hating America. Perhaps the most well-known celebrity who spoke
out against America was "Hanoi Jane" Fonda, who – 50 years after her
flirtation with North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gunners whose job it was to kill
American servicemen – remains a hated figure who is (personally – not formally)
boycotted by millions, reducing her box office draw in movies and TV
shows. While Kaepernick's name will soon be forgotten (he doesn't the
family Hollywood "Royalty" cache that has helped Hanoi Jane's name
remain well-known) Americans who don't like what Kaepernick and his ilk are
doing will be remembered, by the name "Nike."<br />
<br />
I am an American who believes that standing respectfully during the National
Anthem is an appropriate way of beginning sporting events, governmental
meetings and other gatherings. Others are free to hold a different
perspective ... but I don't have to do business with them. Converse All
Stars is going to benefit from my commerce at the expense of Nike, who has just
lost my custom – for shoes, golf shirts, baseball hats and other Nike-branded
gear that I might otherwise have worn. Taking advantage of the laid-back
nature of my home city for the past 30 years (Las Vegas), I've recently made a
"business move" to dress more casually – including substituting
jeans, t-shirts, baseball hats, loud Hawaiian shirts or "polo" shirts
... and athletic shoes in place of button-down Oxford Cloth dress shirts and
highly-shined wing-tips ... or even dressy-casual Bass Weejuns. For years
now, I’ve been changing my wardrobe from three piece suits and Florshiems to
the more casual gear Nike brands and sells.<br />
<br />
Well, thanks to their move to interject themselves into a national political
debate that’s got nothing with athletic shoes, ball-caps or sport shirts, they've
just lost me for a client. <br />
<br />
<br />
Ned Barnett is a branding and marketing expert, ghost-writer and writing
coach working in Las Vegas as founder of Barnett Marketing Communications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He can be reached at 702-561-1167 or <a href="mailto:ned@barnettmarcom.com">ned@barnettmarcom.com</a>. <br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
I logged on today to the <a href="http://radioguestlist.com/">RadioGuestList.com</a> and decided to buy one of their packages, the better to serve a new client I landed today (plus to better serve other clients I already have).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The service I selected was their weekly dump of all new radio guest opportunities – the price (on their website) was $4.97, with a note that I should act quickly because it would soon double in price – they specifically said I needed to act now to “lock the lower price in.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
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Uh, yeah. </div>
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Not a big fan of that “act now or we shoot your dog” kind of marketing, but they made their point.</div>
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So I clicked purchase, and instead of $4.97, the price was listed as $5.97.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A month. So I’m kvetching about $12 a year, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hardly worth it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But wait, there’s more … (and by the way, I’d show you the "more" but they’ve already changed their website).</div>
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Anyway, thinking there was a glitch, I wrote to note that they’d screwed up their pricing (based on what was said on their website), thinking they’d do the right thing and honor their posted price. Instead, I got this email note:</div>
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“<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Hi Ned,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Sorry about that. The price is $5.97.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Looks like we missed updating that on the website after raising the price recently.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Frankly, I’m absolutely gobsmacked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re pissing off a prospective client (who has access to thousands of other prospective clients) for a buck a month? Incredible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I guess we’re witnessing the death-throes of customer service and professional integrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Damn, skippy, but this is disappointing.</span></div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-13860014663739511972018-01-21T22:01:00.001-08:002020-01-26T13:01:04.931-08:00Self Publishing School's "100 Percent Guarantee" Isn't What It Seems to Promise<div data-contents="true">
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<span data-offset-key="cluj8-0-0"><span data-text="true">I would like to warn readers away from a writing service that seems to have scam-like characteristics, especially when it comes to honoring their "100 percent refund guarantee." This regards a writing support service offered by Chandler Bolt's Self Publishing School, which offers a 90-day "Bootcamp" for $497, or $600 if you pay in three equal portions, which is what I did.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="6n72b-0-0"><span data-text="true">Here's what happened: I signed up for the 90-day bootcamp and made the initial $200 payment, and while the materials offered were not bad (not great, but not bad), I quickly realized I had over-stretched my personal-time resources, and I wasn't able to keep up with the 90-day program. Since they offered a 100 percent money-back guarantee, I asked for a refund. That's when the horror story began. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1on6c-0-0"><span data-text="true">Instead of honoring their request, they made me jump through seven "flaming hoops" (i.e., complete seven specific tasks, including creating a book outline and writing an introduction and at least ten pages from the first chapter) before I would qualify for their guarantee. This was all new to me - that was NOT made clear in the promo material. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="9gjsa-0-0"><span data-text="true">As a result, I had to spend nine hours completing these seven steps, creating the "proof that I'd given the course a chance" (even though that wasn't the issue, and they knew it). Then I had to send this information to them - even to the point of using my phone camera to take pictures of my screen since I've never known how to take a "screenshot." </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="a10ms-0-0"><span data-text="true">So I sent in all that material as an attachment to a return email (return from the email which spelled out the requirements). Then, about 10 days later, while still waiting for my promised refund, I got another email. This one said I had to re-send these items via either Dropbox or Google Docs - a process that exceeds my admittedly-limited tech-ability (i.e., I know you can do that, but I've never known how to do that). This one also said that the refund offer was only good for 30 days (and they'd eaten up nearly two weeks in this back-and-forth, leaving me to think that by the time I finally complied, I'd be told I was "too late" for the "100 percent guarantee" that I'd get my refund, just for asking. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="6s357-0-0"><span data-text="true">While a reminder of the deadline seemed threatening, the re-send demand just seemed absurd, since they'd already received (and acknowledged receipt of) the proof that I'd taken those seven steps. Suddenly, that "guarantee" seemed a lot more like a bait-and-switch than a legitimate offer - no matter what I did, they kept adding new and (for me) nearly impossible tasks. </span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="80s7l-0-0"><span data-text="true">Finally, in frustration, I called the company then emailed the owner (who never replied) - but finally, after a flurry of emails and phone calls, I finally got someone's attention. Earlier today, I finally got my refund. But if I hadn't been persistent, I'm sure I'd have been out of luck, refund-wise.</span></span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="1p0o2-0-0"><span data-text="true">What is my warning here? Before you commit big bucks to any writer-help organization, check out the specific terms of delivery of services, as well as the specifics of their refund policy (if any). Don't get stuck like I was.</span></span></div>
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Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-48997109862098931132017-11-02T21:31:00.001-07:002017-11-02T21:31:37.392-07:00Outback Steakhouse Strikes Out<br />
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It's been a while since I last ate at<a href="https://www.outback.com/" target="_blank"> Outback Steakhouse</a>, but primarily because my work environment changed so I wasn't frequently on that side of town, but I had reason to go to Henderson Nevada today so I dropped by the Outback on Stephanie for a good meal. Actually, I stopped by to get a GREAT meal, but that's not what was served. Well, their Diet Coke was above average (which is another story for another blog), and the loaf of bread was the same as always (which is good - it's not my favorite bread, but it's exactly what it's always been - good enough to enjoy), although even this wasn't hot, but had obviously been sitting out for a while.<br />
<br />But instead of Diet Coke or fresh bread I went to Outback for a medium rare ribeye steak, a Caesar's salad and their garlic mashed potatoes, the meal I always choose when I go there. First came the salad. Have you ever had a dry Caesar's salad? I didn't think it was possible, but in this I was wrong. There wasn't enough dressing to bring the lettuce to life. Big disappointment, but it's just a "side" so, all other things being equal, I wouldn't object. However, then came the steak. <br />
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Right up front, I looked at it and was stunned. It was small. Really small. Since I order the same steak almost every time, this wasn't just a guess. It looked to be at least a quarter, maybe a third smaller than usual. Which wouldn't have been so bad except it also seemed to have more than usual fat and gristle. Finally (this is the trifecta of disappointing steaks), the steak seemed to have been over-tenderized, to the point where it was falling apart. I'd never realized how the texture of meat impacts it's appeal and enjoyment.<br />
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Finally, the garlic mashed. Not sure how you can screw this up, but it was as dry as the salad.<br />
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Ok, that covers the meal. When I paid (by one of those damned machines on the table - for the prices I pay at Outback I'd like to deal with a real person, but maybe that's just me), I was asked to take a survey, which I did, and ended it by including a text message to the store management. It couldn't have been a message that the manager wanted to get, but I'm truly surprised that the manager didn't immediately reach out to me, if only to apologize, if not to try and make it right. But so far, not so much.<br />
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Maybe it's just the Outback at Stephanie, but when I consider the size and quality of the steak, I've got to believe that this is a corporate decision to downsize the meal instead of raising the price.<br />
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If you're jonesing for a steak, you might do better somewhere else than Outback Steakhouse. I know the next time I want a steak, I'll find another place to go.Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-38894565788441925312017-11-02T20:52:00.004-07:002017-11-02T20:52:55.137-07:00<b>Fifty-Fifty Alert - My Pillow - Not All Bad, But Sure as Hell Not All Good</b><br />
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We both have sleep problems, so eventually the commercials wore us down and we got the buy-one, get-one-free, <a href="https://www.mypillow.com/" target="_blank">My Pillow</a>, then gave them a try. The vote is 50-50. Lynn likes her My Pillow just fine; I gave up on mine within less than a week. So instead of a good deal on a $50 pillow, we got a less-good deal, $99 for one pillow (the other one is not being used, nor is it going to be used, except for the cat, who likes it just fine). Basically, you'll either like it or hate it, and if you can find someone who has one and give it a try before you buy, you will likely be far happier than I am. Ask Lynn and you'll get a very different answer, because she likes her My Pillow.<br />
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One final note - My Pillow is <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=my+pillow+lawsuit&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8" target="_blank">fighting</a> (and settling for seven-figure sums) lawsuits about health and other claims. I know nothing about this, but it wouldn't be fair to my readers (both of you) without mentioning this.<br />
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<br />Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-82417580127808505192017-01-06T16:03:00.002-08:002017-01-06T16:03:55.449-08:00The Fine Art of Losing A Loyal Customer - Big O TiresI have been a loyal customer of <a href="http://www.bigotires.com/" target="_blank">Big O Tires</a> - the local operation on North Nellis Blvd. in Las Vegas - for more than 20 years. The reasons are simple. They are close, they provide good service at good prices, and most of all, they respect me as a customer and as an individual. As I get older, that respect has become more important to me - life is too short to be treated rudely by people who are nonetheless eager to take my money. But that had not been a problem ... until late last month.<br />
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I was getting ready for a 3,000-mile trip to see the kids and grandkids over the holiday, and I needed an oil and filter change and new tires - so I headed to Big O. It was about 5:40 p.m., and the store had always been open until 7, so I saw no problem. When I got there I saw they now closed at 6, so I figured I'd get the oil changed then, and I'd get the tires the next day. <br />
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However, I was turned away. They said they couldn't change the oil before six, when they closed. There was no sense of recognition that they were creating a problem for me, nor were they apparently aware that, in addition to turning me away, they were being rude. This was an entirely new attitude - they'd always been accommodating, until the time when I really needed them.<br />
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As problems go, this was a small one. Jiffy Lube was more than happy to take my money for an oil change, a new filter, a fuel system cleaning and new wiper blades - all for about the same, or maybe a bit less, than Big O would have charged. And I had no problem finding a tire store - at 6:30 on a Friday night - who'd sell me four new tires, two new wheels (I'd had one stolen while I was in the hospital - talk about adding insult to injury) because I wanted a full-sized spare for the trip. <br />
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Big O lost all of that business - in the grand scheme of things, this is not a problem for Big O (they can live without $750 or so) - but they've also lost my future custom - so no more tires, no more oil changes, no more servicing every 3,000 miles, no more me. That won't shut them down, either.<br />
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HOWEVER ... if you want good service and a modicum of respect, you can no longer count on Big O Tires to give you what you're looking for. There are many competitors - so, like me, go looking for someone else to provide your nuts-and-bolts, bread-and-butter car service.Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-85777324766613384632015-12-18T00:49:00.000-08:002015-12-29T23:39:37.279-08:00Olive Garden - Thanks for Nothing (literally) <span style="font-size: large;"><b>But Wait ... It Gets Much, Much Worse ... (or, how to use a "make-good" to destroy customer loyalty forever)</b></span><br />
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Here is the blog I posted immediately after a bad experience. There is an update, which only makes things much worse. So, if you have already read this, scroll down and read more. Otherwise, realize this is a disaster (for Olive Garden) in three acts ... but it's a great lesson on how to piss away three decades of solid customer loyalty in under two weeks - and, apparently, without even trying.<br />
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Sometimes small mistakes have big consequences. Like "forgetting" the salad dressing for an anniversary dinner.<br />
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Today (as I write this) is my wedding anniversary. Since Lynn was feeling a bit under the weather, we decided to get carry-out from Olive Garden. They were having a salmon special that Lynn loves, so the choice was obvious.<br />
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I got the food - it's delivered to you at the bar - and usually the server unpacks the take-home bag, but this time she didn't. I notice this, but didn't take any action. After all, Olive Garden had never let me down.<br />
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Got home with hot food and sat down for a wonderful anniversary dinner. As we usually do, we ate the hot food first, while it was hot, but we were both looking forward to the salad, which we love. It's our dessert!<br />
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Only this time there was a problem. The good folks at Olive Garden had "forgot" the salad dressing. How you do that, when there is a cut-out in the lid of the salad container for a cup of salad dressing is beyond me.<br />
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You know how a magic moment can be shattered by one otherwise small problem? Well, that's what happened tonight.<br />
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So thank you, Olive Garden, for nothing. For lacking the quality control to ensure such a simple-but-important mistake doesn't happen to people who are counting on you for a good dining experience.<br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Update</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I just sent the following to Olive Garden, and I hope they choke on it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear Olive Garden:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I want to congratulate you for destroying three decades of deep and consistent customer loyalty, and really sing your praises for the way you did this in less than two weeks, and did so without breaking a sweat. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">If you'd set out to drive me away, you couldn't have done a better job. So good job, folks.<br /><br />First, I had a bad experience on December 17. (<i>note - I'll clip this here because you've read it in more detail above - basically, I just reminded them what happened</i>). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">So I contacted Olive Garden via their website, and a few days later I got a call from a woman at the restaurant (Nellis Blvd., Las Vegas). She seemed to have a bit of an attitude, as if calling me was One More Thing she had to do to make her day complete; but, she asked what happened, so I told her. Then, not very graciously, but she kept in check and I figured she might actually be having a Real Bad Day, so I cut her a bit of slack for attitude. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Anyway, she said she'd send me a gift card. That was nice, and for a brief moment I felt good about what they were doing to make good on a mistake that caused me a lot of unnecessary grief on my anniversary. Then she blew it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">What wasn't so nice - especially since she was trying to make up for a mistake and "win me back" as a loyal customer was the way she asked me very specifically what I'd ordered. It came across loud and clear that she was afraid that she might give me "too much." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I didn't ask for a gift card, and I would have been happy with one at any value (i.e., a $20 Gift Card to make up for a $40 meal would have been OK). But she had that "grasping" aura about her, as if this had to measure up. I've got to tell you, that took the luster off the "make good." Olive Garden had not "won back" my loyalty by her miserly attitude, but I figured it was all in a day's work (so to speak). I like the food and I suppose I'd be back despite her, so I let it go.<br /><br />Then, everything started to fall apart all over again. A week later I get an email. It said that it's an e-gift card. Apparently, the corporate assumption was that Everyone On Earth gets their emails on their phone, so they could just flash it. But </span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> I don't, so it was worthless to me. </span></span>I wasn't about to carry my desktop computer over to Olive Garden and hook it up to demonstrate that I'd gotten an e-Gift card, and I didn't feel much like printing it out (it ran to pages and pages) - plus, it occurred to me that a print-out might not be acceptable, since somebody could print out dozens of them. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Instead of a "make-good" that was supposed to make me feel better, this kind of fumbling, bumbling "make-good" was really starting to annoy me. So I called the store and got "Mike," the manager.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I explained what had happened and he remembered me - "the guy who didn't get his salad dressing." I'm not sure if that meant he was bothered that his store had let me down, or if he thought I was a petty jerk. But he seemed like a nice-enough guy, so I continued.<br /><br />I asked him what I was supposed to do with an email e-Gift card. He said, in effect, "just show it to us on your phone." I explained that I don't get my email on my phone - he actually seemed shocked (apparently this is more common than I thought, though how people manage emails on phones is beyond me). I have thousands of mostly-business emails archived on my computer, and I use both screens to read and answer them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">I got even more annoyed at this arrogant corporate assumption that all "real" customers get their emails on their phones, making me a second-class customer, but Mike seemed like he was trying to make things work out, so again I "let it slide" - they were making a hash out of what was supposed to make me feel better about Olive Garden, but Mike didn't make the policy, and you can't fight city hall. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">He said he'd mail me a gift card. I gave him my address and sat back, waiting to get it and imagining the "free" dinner Lynn and I could enjoy there. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">But the next day (today), Mike called me back. He hadn't mailed the gift card. Instead, he said he had to ask for the digital code on the email e-Gift card. That made two assumptions. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">One, (again), that I get my email on my phone, so I could give it to him - and that's just Alice through the Looking Glass kind of thinking. And ...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Two, that I'd saved the email, even after it had proved useless and a replacement was on the way.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">What Mike was doing, clearly, was taking steps to make sure that I didn't use both the plastic gift card and the digital e-Gift card, thereby stealing from Olive Garden the retail price of two meals. There can be no other reason why he wanted that digital code. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />He couldn't have said any clearer that he (and, by extension) Olive Garden, didn't trust me and really didn't care that I knew they didn't trust me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">That kind of "respect" destroyed the last vestiges of goodwill and loyalty. I told him so and hung up. <br /><br />Make-goods are supposed to make an injured customer feel better about the company that "wronged" them, not feel like a suspected thief. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">This may sound petty, but I went into detail for a reason. I work every day with clients who are paying LOTS of money trying to win customer loyalty. Every time Olive Garden runs an ad, they are trying to both attract new customers and - much more often - trying to remind customers to be "loyal" and come back by. Yet so often, this is undermined by:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">a. Ill-advised corporate policies (I have little doubt that Mike was trying to follow a corporate policy when he asked for that code); and,</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">b. Poorly-trained (or motivated) employees like the first one with the attitude problem, or Mike - who should have known how his request for the digital code would be taken.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />It takes major investments in marketing to attract new customers and win back old customers. It takes almost nothing to destroy that loyalty and make mockery of their advertising and marketing investments.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">That's the lesson for the readers. For Olive Garden, the message is a bit more simple: I give up. But I will tell my friends. Count on it.</span></span><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b> Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-27839603186932541252015-11-11T15:43:00.000-08:002015-11-11T15:50:58.542-08:00Change for the Sake of Change - A Bad IdeaThere seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to "change." One school says, "If it's not broken, don't fix it;" the other school takes a different view: "If it's not broke, break it."<br />
<br />
While I often welcome change - especially needed change - I tend to be conservative in my views towards those who change something for the sake of change. Here's why:<br />
<br />
<b>Fragile Customer Loyalty: </b>Customer loyalty is hard-won, fragile and remarkably powerful when it comes to supporting a business or product. A while back, I did a survey of 3,000 people in Palm Beach County Florida who'd been with the same doctor for more than 11 years. Of these (the doctors were horrified to learn), a clear majority would change doctors (breaching that loyalty) in order to cut their wait-time by just 15 minutes, or their co-pay by just $25. Clearly, in this case, the loyalty doctors assumed was theirs (allowing them to keep customers waiting or charging them all the market would bear) was only skin-deep. If that.<br />
<br />
<b>Real Customer Loyalty: </b>On the other side of the coin, real customer loyalty has people choosing - without thinking about it - the store they'll shop at, the fast-food drive-through they'll patronize, or the product they'll buy. That's what sellers want - loyalty so deep that customers won't even consider other options before laying down their magic plastic.<br />
<br />
That is loyalty worth having.<br />
<br />
Yet when companies adopt change for the sake of change, they are destroying the too-fragile link that bonds customer to product or vendor. That can have ruinous financial implications.<br />
<br />
<b>Example One - Smith's Grocery Store (a Kroger company):</b> I have been shopping at one grocery store for 16 years, for two reasons. First, it is the closest to my home, making it convenient. However, there is another grocery store (inside Walmart) that's less than a quarter-mile more distant from my home. Location convenience is not a big issue here.<br />
<br />
The second, and most important reason for patronizing this store is simple: After 16 years, I am comfortable in knowing that I can instantly find any product I might want, because I already know where it can be found on the shelves. I don't have to think about it, I don't have to go searching for it. This means that it takes me about 20-30 minutes to find my weekly $200 worth of food items, check out and be heading back home.<br />
<br />
However, within the past month, the store (probably at the behest of "corporate" - in this case, Cincinnati-based Kroger) experienced a store layout make-over - and suddenly, the products I sought out were not where I'd been used to finding them. It took me more than 20 minutes longer - basically doubling my time in the store - to do the family's weely shopping in the "new" store than in the old.<br />
<br />
Frustrating. But more important, it shattered the bonds of loyalty. I didn't shop there because I knew the people - turn-over in that line of work is too great. And I didn't shop there because of quality - the brand items are the same, and frankly, Smith's shopping bags are so flimsy that I have to request that everything be double-bagged ... or I can look forward to chasing canned goods down the driveway as they roll toward the street out front of my house.<br />
<br />
Now that the only good reason for shopping at Smith's - the convenience of knowing where items I generally buy can be located - was gone, I realized that I might as well check out the Albertson's a couple of miles down the street from Smith's. The drive isn't that much longer, and because I no longer had the bonds of loyalty to hold me back, I'm now "shopping" for a new grocery store. It might wind up being Smith's, but don't count on that.<br />
<br />
<b>Example Two:</b> For decades, I have been a loyal customer of Vaseline's lip balm, which comes in a soft-plastic tube. This tube fits easily in my pocket, and because it has a screw-top lid, I don't have to worry about the lid coming off, allowing the petroleum jelly to get all over my wallet and pocket knife (the other two "residents" of that pocket). This product is important to me because I live in the desert (Las Vegas) - the average humidity is about 9%, and petroleum jelly lip balm is essential to day-to-day comfort.<br />
<br />
I chose Vaseline because it was based on petroleum jelly, rather than was. I'd learned a couple of decades ago that the major lip-balm brands, such as Blistex, use a kind of wax that shuts down the body's natural production of lip-lubricating oils. In effect, it's addictive. If you use it long enough and regularly enough, you'll wind up having to use it all the time. However, this is not the case with petroleum jelly. And while there may be other brands of petroleum jelly-based lip-balm on the market, I chose Vaseline ... then stuck with them because I was a satisfied, loyal customer.<br />
<br />
Not anymore. When I went to a couple of drug stores looking for replacement tubes, I couldn't find any. Eventually, I asked a clerk for help and was told that Vaseline had stopped making the tubes in favor of a small plastic box, about the size of two sugar cubes side-by-side. Apparently, they expected me to make the switch-over. However, there are several problems with that:<br />
<br />
<b>One: </b>To use this box-packaged petroleum jelly, I have to swipe it with my finger, then apply it to my lips. Which means my finger really ought to be clean before I apply it, and it means that I'll then have a finger coated with petroleum jelly - I'll need something to wipe it off. Taken together, this suggests that I need to access a restroom where I can wash my hands both before and after each application. NOT convenient. Or, I can take my chances on finger-cleanliness and wipe my applicator-finger off on the inside of one of my socks, or the inside of one pant-leg.<br />
<br />
<b>Two: </b>Packaging - the lid is snap-on, and it easily snaps off in my pocket if it rubs my wallet or pocket knife the wrong way. That's one problem. The other is that, because of it's hard-shell cube-shaped design, it often pops out (unnoticed) when I grab my wallet, pocket knife or keys. Within days of purchase, I'd already lost my first jelly-cube.<br />
<br />
<b>Three: </b>Flavor - the old stand-by petroleum jelly had essentially no taste, which suited me just fine. I didn't want a lingering flavor. However, in the stores, there are now two options - plain or petroleum-jelly-plus-cocoa-butter. Maybe the cocoa butter is supposed to enhance the product's lip-protection quality, but it definitely imparts a taste. And for those stores which only have one shelf-spot for the product, what they offer is the cocoa-butter product. Which I don't want.<br />
<br />
<b>Bottom Line: </b>I am now in the market for both a new grocery store and another brand of petroleum jelly. The store loyalty would never have been in play without this unnecessary and (for me) unwelcome change. As for the lip-balm, I was perfectly satisfied with the "old" product, but I can't find it anywhere, and I'm not wild about its replacement. The loyalty is gone, and I'm now trying other manufacturers' products, as long as it's petroleum jelly-based and sold in a tube. So long, Vaseline.<br />
<br />
<b>The Risk of Change</b><br />
<br />
These two examples highlight the risks of change. When I lost my bearings in the grocery store, I no longer had a reason to maintain my loyalty. The "change" Smith's wanted might inadvertently also be my "change" to a competitor's store. The "change" Vaseline came up with - actually, two changes, packaging and product composition - already have me scrambling for an alternative product (one that's blended and packaged to meet my preferences) - so, for them, "change" means "we've just lost a long-term client, probably forever."<br />
<b> </b><br />
For some reason, the corporate gnomes at Kroger decided that a make-over change was good - they probably assumed it would bring in new customers. However, they didn't understand that such a radical change could lead customers like me to start shopping around for another store. I'm assuming that if the suddenly lost-in-the-store customers hang on through a few shopping trips, they'll start to figure out where "their" products can be found, and their convenience-based loyalty will be reborn. Perhaps, but for certain they're going to lose some customers.<br />
<br />
The same goes for Vaseline, but even more-so. I was a loyal partisan in favor of Vaseline's lip balm; now I'm actively looking to replace them.<br />
<br />
So marketers beware - change for the sake of change will cost you customers you don't need to lose. If Vaseline had seen a market for their petroleum jelly cubes, they could have expanded their product line, losing no current customers while also attracting new ones. But they chose change, and now they're scrambling to make up the market share they just drove away.<br />
<br />
Smith's couldn't do that, but they might have implemented changes gradually, with helpful on-site signage saying "pudding has moved to Aisle 3, middle of the aisle" or something like that. But by making all the changes at once, they have put customer loyalty "in play" ... and that's never a sound marketing strategy.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Note: I have contacted both <a href="https://www.kroger.com/" target="_blank">Kroger's</a> (for Smith's) and <a href="https://secure.vaseline.us/contact" target="_blank">Unilever</a> for Vaseline, but have received no reply. Should that change, I will update this blog.</b></i><br />
<br />
<br />Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-6645952294481329612015-09-18T13:36:00.000-07:002015-09-25T03:08:19.399-07:00The Risks and Challenges of Working with Overseas Service Providers <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">A Case Study – With Practical Lessons</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Introduction – the Scope of the
Challenge</span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In my career, I have worked with clients and
service providers in many off-shore locations – on every continent except
Antarctica. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Countries where I’ve done
business include:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Canada</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Dubai – United Arab Emirates</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">People’s Republic of China</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Belarus</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Romania</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">United Kingdom</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Nigeria</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Colombia</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">India</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Philippines</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In addition, I literally “grew up” in the
world of foreign commerce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My late
father owned and operated a company that connected European and American
construction-supply manufacturers with overseas clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He represented European firms such as Sweden’s
Dynamit Nobel in bringing innovative roofing solutions to American architects
and construction firms – while at the same time, he sought out unique-to-America
products, representing the products and their manufacturers to European
architects and construction firms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cooperative international trade was part of my
growing-up daily dinner-table discussions.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Later, in one of my first jobs after college
graduation, I worked for a state agency – a division of the South Carolina
governor’s office – that maintained off-shore offices in Western Europe and
East Asia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, we aggressively
recruited European and Asian companies, encouraging them to set up production
facilities in South Carolina, such as the $4 billion dollar Michelin Tire
production facility.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Beyond those experiences, I have taught
business and marketing at several major universities, including Middle
Tennessee State and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In these, I have both taught about conducting
cross-border business and I have taught students from many countries, who added
their own unique perspectives to classroom discussions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In several of my published business books, I
have also addressed some of the benefits and challenges of working across
borders with both clients and service providers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, in addition to working with
off-shore companies, I have provided guidance to other off-shore companies
through universities in India and Colombia, as well as through a professional
society of marketers in Nigeria.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As a result, over a period of more than 40
years, and having worked directly with many overseas clients and more than a
few off-shore service providers, I’ve learned a fair number of business lessons
about dealing with companies on six continents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This case study is infused with that experience and those lessons.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">With the increase in globalization we see
today, a steadily increasing number of American businesses are now doing – or
are considering doing – business with off-shore clients and service
providers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of them are just now discovering
both the benefits of, and the problems with, this kind of commerce. These are
the same challenges and benefits I’ve had to deal with for more than four
decades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The lessons illustrated in this case study
are intended to assist American firms to more successfully do business overseas
– with a specific focus on working with off-shore service providers.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This Case Study:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The purpose of this case study – with lessons – is to help
American companies, as well as American business executives and entrepreneurs to
do business with off-shore service providers. Specifically, I want to help them
be more aware of the challenges – as well as the benefits – they are likely to
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of this case study are
a series of lessons that can be applied to any off-shore business agreement.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">After an overview of the benefits and risk of
working with off-shore service providers, this case study focuses on a single,
specific off-shore agreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was
an agreement where nearly everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As such, this failed relationship makes an
excellent case study illustration of the challenges faced by American
businesses looking for specific services – or lower prices – when dealing with
a service provider in another country.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The American firm featured in this case study
agreed to participate on the condition that they not be identified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“This is not about us – or even about the
company with whom we had so much trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather, this is about our willingness to help others American businesses
to learn from our example,” according to that company’s COO, a partner in the
firm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This firm did provide access to
the initial contractual agreement and to a representative sample of email and
other communications between the two firms.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">However, the other firm in question did not
agree to participate in the case study – in fact, when the case study was
mentioned, they got defensive, confrontational and even threatening.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This company – Screaming Eagle Productions (</span><a href="http://screamingeagle.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://screamingeagle.co.uk/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">), located in Bristol, England –
is named, because, in my opinion, they are a company that American firms –
based on one American company’s challenging experience – should think twice
about before doing business with Screaming Eagle Productions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
Keep in mind that this case study is very close to a “worst case scenario.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not all overseas engagements are fraught with
problems. In fact, many of them are very successful, with few – if any –
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My own 40-plus year experience
working with off-shore clients and service providers represents a more balanced
experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My two really problematic
engagements were with a client that was an arm of the People’s Republic of
China, and with an IT service provider firm in Cebu City in the Philippines.
However, even there, in both cases, we were able to work through those problems
and reach positive resolutions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">So, instead of being warned off from dealing
with off-shore service providers, look to the lessons here, then plan ahead to
avoid or overcome these kinds of challenges.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Benefits:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Let’s say it up-front:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there
are a significant number of sound reasons for working with off-shore service
providers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some off-shore providers
offer unique services not readily available in the US.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others offer more standardized services, but
at significantly lower rates, which is why cost is one of the primary reasons
for working offshore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance,
there are remarkably well-trained and talented programmers and IT tech service
providers in South Asia, many of which offer quality services for pennies on
the American dollar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">However, there are also serious
down-sides in working with off-shore service providers.</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Challenges:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">These down-sides go beyond the challenges of working with someone
in a radically-different time zone, though that can also be a frustrating and
unsolvable problem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There can be
cultural and language barriers as well, even when all parties speak English. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For instance, we’ve all fallen victim to
overseas call centers and telemarketers where the “English-speaking” operators
speak a very different, often incomprehensible language, one that has little to
do with American English.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">However, there are other, more serious
problems that all boil down to the “guarantee.” </span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Vetting Service Providers – </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When dealing with American-based
service providers, it is SOP to review their records with their local Better
Business Bureau. Many firms also quiz their local Chamber of Commerce. It has
also become routine to search online for reviews and testimonials, their
D&B rating – and even to check on current and former legal actions that may
have been brought against the firm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
However, when dealing with prospective off-shore service providers, many of
these routine ways of vetting them are unavailable – or at least unknown – to
American companies and their execs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Just as important, many execs prefer to have
face-to-face meetings with those potential vendors prior to signing the
contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is even possible to meet
with the service providers’ current or former clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For many business executives, there is no
substitute for pressing the flesh and meeting eye-to-eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Savvy business decision-makers must – as part
of what makes them successful – have well-honed skills when it comes to
“reading people.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">However, this reading of character can be far
more difficult when all you have is an email, or a very-long-distance phone
call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even Skype is no substitute for
meeting face-to-face before signing a contract.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Along with this, it is harder to vet an
off-shore service provider by checking with their current and former
clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Generally, the bulk of those
clients are continents away, in radically different time zones. Some
local-to-them current and former clients will prove to be uncomfortable sharing
negative information about a fellow “local” company, especially to foreigners
from America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being able to engage these
reference clients in productive and candid discussions about the service
provider’s strengths and weaknesses can prove to be difficult, if not
impossible.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When Communications Break
Down:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When those normal business-to-business
problem resolution solutions are either exhausted or fail to provide relief, a
major challenge – as one American firm learned – was that the contractor can
just unilaterally break all forms of contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s hard to demand resolution when your calls go unanswered and your emails
ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Enforcing Agreements – </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When dealing with off-shore
service providers – especially those who are in default on their agreements – there
is no reasonably-priced, practical and standardized way to go about enforcing
those agreements.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It can be done, and in specific countries
there are established avenues to help resolve such issues – but when there are
national boundaries to cross, these apparent solutions can too often prove
ephemeral.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is addressed more fully
in the conclusion to this case study.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Issues:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>The issues involved in doing business
with off-shore service providers – especially when it comes to a guarantee of
service – revolve around:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Timeliness</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> – does the project complete on
time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not, and if you’re not the reason
why it’s late, what recourse is available?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Coordination</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> – is the time zone difference
going to present a real communications problem?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is the vendor under consideration clearly willing to work very late or
come in very early to be available to their American client during American
working hours?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Quality</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> – is the end-result product
going to be professionally executed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>More important, will it also “work” across the boundaries of cultural and
linguistic differences?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Cultural Map”</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> – different cultures have
different standards which are often subtle, but they are nonetheless very real.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can pose real complications when doing
business off-shore, and it doesn’t just apply to audio tracks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Visual images are also reflective of cultural
biases.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For example, in an off-shore
video production aimed at US-based internet usage, cultural differences can be
critical.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Houses and buildings can look
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Technical equipment definitely
looks different. Even people – based on their clothing and hair styles – look
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Words don’t always mean the
same thing, and common word-choices in an overseas country can be truly
“foreign” to an American audience. For instance, the term “bloody” has very
different meanings in the US and the UK.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Nobody is “wrong” in a clash-of-cultures
situation like that. However, those differences can nonetheless create
insuperable barriers to business success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While a computer program may know no “cultural” issues, other business
service products do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it so often is
when dealing with off-shore call centers, effective communications may not
always be easy – or even possible. At issue when working with an off-shore
company is whether their own cultural map will “bleed over” into the service
they provide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can they overcome this
ingrained cultural bias and produce an “American” product?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Sadly, the answer is “not
always.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are solutions, but too
few service providers avail themselves of those solutions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Twenty years ago, I was
contracted to create a massive four-color brochure to promote a business joint
venture between a Texas-based American firm and a business that was owned by
the government of Belarus, with headquarters in Kiev.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This brochure had to “work” in English –
which was why I’d been retained to create it – but it also had to work in both
of the subtly different Belorussian and Russian languages, and I don’t speak
either one of those languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Fortunately I was able to hire a local college professor who was native
to Kiev.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was able to ensure the
correct translation – and transliteration, which helps to eliminate cultural
bias in word choices, even in translations – into both of those two Slavic
languages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">However, in my experience,
off-shore service providers rarely retain the services of skilled American
communicators who can help to ensure that their end products and services fit
an American model.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Guarantee </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">– if you’re not satisfied with
the work’s quality or timeliness, how can you be sure to get a make-good re-do
or – at last resort – getting your money back from a provider doing business a
continent or two away?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The following case study will examine a
series of mis-steps between an American start-up company and an off-shore
animated video production service provider based in Bristol, England.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Case Study – Screaming Eagle
Productions</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">All of these potential problems – and more –
arose with an engagement by an American start-up firm with Screaming Eagle
Productions (</span><a href="http://screamingeagle.co.uk/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://screamingeagle.co.uk/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">), an animation video producer
located in Bristol, England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American
start-up operated as a medical tech-service firm located on the American west
coast; the video was to help them reach out to potential patients with specific
information about their one-of-a-kind medical service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">These two companies were located more than
5,000 miles apart, separated by eight time zones – from England’s GMT Time Zone
to America’s Pacific Time Zone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was further confused by the different
countries’ differing use of Daylight Savings Time – just knowing what time it
was 5,000 miles away often required an internet search.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Background</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">A Short, Quick Video:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In August of 2014, this west coast start-up company reached out to
Screaming Eagle Productions, seeking the production of a three-to-four-minute
animated video that would introduce the viewers to that firm’s core services.
During negotiations, Screaming Eagle Productions claimed extensive experience
in creating these short, sales-oriented instructional or informational videos
for use in the US market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Screaming Eagle Productions came recommended
by a colleague of one of the American business’s four partners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Phone contact was made – and during the
“courtship” phase of what came to be the agreement, there was no problem
experienced across the eight time zones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The executives at Screaming Eagle Productions made themselves available,
even on the weekend, at hours that suited the Americans’ business execs’
schedules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This 24/7 accessibility
created an expectation on the Americans’ part that the time zone difference
would not be a problem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">According to the Americans I interviewed for
this case study, the Screaming Eagle Productions team was very effective during
the sales process. They convincingly built a sense of confidence that they
could indeed get the job done, despite their distance from the American west
coast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Questions about cultural
compatibility – their ability to produce a video that reflects American
sensibilities – were also seemingly laid to rest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Negotiations lasted several months. However,
this time between the opening of the negotiations and the closing of the
agreement was more because the Americans had many other time-demand priorities
that developed while starting their new business than because of any problems
with the negotiations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">A Tight But Doable Deadline:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the initial negotiations, and based on a script draft the
Americans had produced, they were promised a production turn-around of sixty to
ninety days – certainly before the end of 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were very specifically assured that the production would be
“American” in its look and feel, and that the resultant introductory video
would be useful in the company’s distinctively American target market.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“We work with American companies
all the time,” Screaming Eagle Productions claimed, offering that “fact” as a
guarantee that the product would be one the American start-up firm could use.</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Screaming Eagle Productions also guaranteed
that the product would be delivered at the negotiated price and within the
agreed-upon time frame.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, they also
pledged that, based on their extensive experience with American client
companies, working across eight time zones would not prove to be a problem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This American firm’s assessment:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Screaming Eagle Productions could do the job.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Agreement:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Finally, the set-price contract was signed, one that provided for
the production of a three-to-four minute animated video that would introduce
the company’s new and innovative service product to the market.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The American business partners, based on
these and other promises, executed that contract. With the contract, they
provided Screaming Eagle Productions with an up-front down payment – 50% of the
agreed-upon total fee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The contract
called for the video to be completed before the end of 2014.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Based on their representations, as well as
the sample videos the showed us, along with on our initial and very cordial
discussions, we had every confidence that we would get the product we
contracted for, on time and on budget,” according to one of the partners, who
also serves as the chief operating officer for the start-up business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Having been born in Europe myself, I had no
qualms about dealing with an off-shore company,” he explained.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">To date (it’s now mid-September, 2015), all
the Americans have seen are several rough video drafts that included – in its
latest version – only the first 90 seconds of the script’s three-to-four-minute
video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Americans’ overall experience – once the
contract was signed and the half-of-fee down payment delivered – fell very
short of what they had expected. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Screaming
Eagle Productions seemed to lose that “do anything to make this work for you”
commitment that had been so evident during negotiations. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Repeatedly, the Americans found themselves up
against barriers that were far more difficult to overcome for the simple reason
that the service provider was located 5,138 air miles away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were problems that, if the service
provider had been an American firm – headquartered locally, or at least in a
nearby time zone – would have been far easier to resolve.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Some problems are best resolved
face to face,” the American firm’s COO said, “but this wasn’t possible with Screaming
Eagle Productions.”</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Among the problems this American healthcare
service-related start-up experienced:</span><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Delays</span></b></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A project contracted to take just a few months has already taken a year
– and after that year, the project is still not even half-way completed. Now,
there is apparently no chance that it will ever be completed</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Suitability:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A project that was intended for an American market was loaded with the
production company’s own subtle – but very real – cultural map, especially in
terms of phrasing and images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end product, as seen in the rough drafts
we received, would be, at best, confusing to our clients – but more likely, the
final product would prove to be unusable</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Communications difficulties</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">: When playwright and philosopher
George Bernard Shaw said that “the United States and Great Britain are two
countries separated by a common language,” he knew exactly what he was talking
about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">There were times when the
partners thought they’d achieved a common understanding. However, all too
often, that assumption ultimately proved to not be the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, the challenge of working across
eight time zones proved nearly insuperable.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Guarantee:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A request for either delivery of a finished product or – at the last
resort – a refund of the up-front payment has been ignored. There is no
apparently easy and cost-effective way of enforcing demand of repayment. If Screaming
Eagle Productions won’t take responsibility for breach of contract – and to
date, they have not – it will continue to prove difficult to secure a positive
resolution.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“I have done business all over the world,” the partner and CEO of
the American company explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, he has created several successful businesses, each of which conducted
business on three continents – he was no stranger to doing business with
off-shore service providers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“However, nothing in my experience prepared me for the difficult
challenges we faced in trying to bring this video from concept to broadcast,” he
said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Our
relationship with Screaming Eagle Productions finally proved to be a “perfect
storm” – virtually all of the things that could possibly go wrong with a
two-continent business transaction, did go wrong.”</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
The CEO was quick to point out that these problems aren’t about his company –
and they are not really about Screaming Eagle Productions. Rather, this <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">business deal gone sour</i> is an
illustrative example of all the many things that can go wrong when working with
an off-shore service provider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
“I hope other business execs can learn from the challenges we faced, and the
problems we are still facing,” he told me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“There are many valid reasons for doing business with companies located
throughout the world, but there are always risks involved as well, including
some that, frankly, we hadn’t expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Certainly, these were all problems that were much more difficult
to overcome because we were dealing with a business 5,000 miles and eight time
zones away,” he explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If the same
problems had cropped up with a local company, or even one located anywhere in
the United States, they would have been solved more quickly, and more
satisfactorily,” he said.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Over a period of months – often with six weeks or more between
drafts – several other revisions of the video were presented by Screaming Eagle
Productions to the client.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a few
exceptions, each of these succeeding rounds of rough drafts did not include many
of the requested revisions and updates based on previous input offered
concerning earlier drafts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few edits
were included – including some major ones – but most of the edits were being
left for the production of the final draft, at least according to Screaming
Eagle Productions.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
“This choice led to some serious confusion on our part,” the CEO
explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We began to feel that they
weren’t listening to us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know they
told us that all the changes would be made before the final draft – which has
yet to be forthcoming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when
they made some changes but not others, we were not only confused – we grew
increasingly skeptical that they were paying attention to our requested changes,”
he pointed out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Timeliness</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Three Month Project:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">From the first discussions in
August, 2014, Screaming Eagle Productions maintained that they would be able to
complete the three-to-four-minute video within no more than three months.
Specifically, they promised to complete the video, by the end of November, 2014.
Allowing for delays and production slippage, the Americans expected their final
draft no later than the end of December, and planned to launch it on their
website and YouTube immediately after the first of January, 2015</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Yet, as I write this, Labor Day, 2015 has come and gone – the
stores are already selling Halloween decorations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>More than eight months after they’d planned
to start using the video, the four partners have yet to see more than the first
90 seconds of the project, and the indifferent quality of those 90 seconds was
not in any way acceptable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">More
than nine months into the three-month project, they still have no clear idea of
how the final product will look or sound.</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Certainly, some of the project’s delays could have been caused by the
Americans’ requested edits and changes. However, since many of those changes
have yet to be implemented, it is difficult to see how those requested edits
turned a three-month project into one that’s been in the works for more than
nine months.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Further, in every video production, clients request changes – that
should have been factored into their promised time-to-deliver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The
biggest part of the delay has been the weeks – and more typically – months that
stretched between each time the Americans receive a new, updated in-progress
draft.</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">A local service provider would be able to move this project ahead
by virtue of regular in-progress meetings, and by the ease by which the
Americans could pick up the phone and ask for a status update.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, once the courtship period ended,
because of the eight-zone time difference, such calls were only possible by
pre-arrangement.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Content</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Cultural Map:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It became clear from a review of
the various video drafts the Americans received, the video’s content suffered
from its creators’ cultural map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Despite
the strong cultural ties between the two English-speaking countries, the
English have a subtly different from the American cultural map.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This factor was reflected in both word choice and visual
images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">These
choices seemed to put lie to Screaming Eagle Productions’ claim that they
worked regularly with American companies, and could deliver an “American” product.</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Visual Cultural Map:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The visual image problems were
pervasive, and – from my perspective when I reviewed them, and from the
perspective of the clients – troubling. It turned out that, when Screaming
Eagle Productions produces an “animated” client video, the firm uses
pre-existing visual templates in the creation of their videos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Naturally, these templates reflect their own cultural
sensibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was most obvious in
their selection of buildings, furniture and medical equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For instance, the hospital bed and bedside
life support equipment looked nothing like anything the American company’s
prospective clients would recognize.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">There
were a myriad of other examples of visual images that weren’t quite right.</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“The medical “characters” had an alien look that was nothing like
the look of American medical personnel,” the CEO explained. “Their
character-template choice was odd, to say the least.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This problem extended to the look of building exteriors and
interiors.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The COO finally wound up having to find and email images of
American hospital equipment, American furniture and American hospital
buildings, along with a host of other quintessentially “American” images.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Screaming
Eagle Productions’ up-front promise that they did much work for American
companies seems increasingly less plausible as we worked through their
succeeding drafts”</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Other Problems:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>There were other, less obvious problems
with the content. I reviewed these examples and agree with the Screaming Eagle
Productions’ American client that these were problems that should have been
caught and fixed before the production company shared their drafts with their
client.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the visuals seemed odd,
but others were truly problematic.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In
an opening scene image, the prospective “patient” was holding a beer bottle in
a position that was embarrassingly phallic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Another example of this cultural disconnect was the visual use of
name-brand electronic equipment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Logos
were left on images of equipment, such as a Samsung TV set.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To use that image without change, the
Americans would first have had to secured permission from Samsung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Communications</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Time Zone Tag:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">It turned out that working across
eight time zones did prove to be an almost insuperable problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, calls had to be scheduled in advance –
the American client couldn’t just pick up the phone and call Bristol England,
not with any hope of getting someone involved with the project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Next, those scheduled calls which did take place were almost
always well after the end of the business day in Bristol.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this reason, typically, only one member
of the creative / production team would stay after hours to take the call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“This led to breakdowns in Screaming Eagle Productions’ internal
communications, which impacted the result we were seeing,” the CEO said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What one man heard, other men and women on
the creative production team did not hear. Apparently – based on the work
produced – what the creative team heard was, charitably, almost – but not quite
– in the same ballpark with what we’d actually said.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Almost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But not quite.</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This poor internal communications at Screaming Eagle Productions
could happen anywhere. However, it was made worse by the Americans’ inability
to communicate directly with all the creative production team members. This
continued to bedevil Screaming Eagle Productions’ efforts to create a usable
video.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“We
also had a kind of revolving door when it came to critiquing and editing early
drafts of the video</span></i></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Specifically, Screaming Eagle Productions would send us a draft
video,” the COO pointed out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We’d take
the time to have our entire team – including two of our partners and our entire
marketing team – review the video and analyze each nuance. Then we would write
up a detailed and exacting critique on a scene-by scene basis, pointing out
errors, difficulties and challenges we felt the video had yet to overcome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Then we’d schedule a follow-up phone call with the creative
production team at Screaming Eagle Productions. On these calls, our intent was
to discuss these problems with our entire team and their entire team,” he said,
“allowing us to brainstorm, and to reach a shared understanding of what was
needed. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“However,
these calls generally involved only one Screaming Eagle Productions team member
– for us, these calls ultimately proved to be an exercise in both futility and
frustration.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“We always hoped to have the entire creative production team on
the other end of the phone – our full team was always on the phone from our end
– but with one sole exception, this would not be the case,” the clearly
frustrated COO explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Americans were unable to make sure that the people who’d
actually do the work understood – and had the chance to ask questions about – the
client’s expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“That
eight hour time difference really worked against us, not just once, but
repeatedly.”</span></i></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The frustration would only get worse when the next draft arrived.</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“When we got the next draft, many of the earlier errors and
problems remained,” the CEO explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We
were told that this would all be fixed in the final draft, but their seeming inability
to make requested changes created a real problem in communications, credibility
and customer satisfaction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We frankly
began to wonder if we’d ever get what we were looking for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it turned out, apparently we never will.”</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Refund</span></b></span></span></div>
<span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2;"></span><span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK1;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As the project approached its first
anniversary, the Americans became increasingly concerned over their investment
in time and money. Six times, the COO reached out to Screaming Eagle
Productions by email, asking for status reports and plans to move forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“Six times over a period of two
months we sent emails asking Screaming Eagle Productions to move forward – and
six times we were ignored.”</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Finally, the COO wrote them a put-up or
pay-up email, demanding either the finished project or a full refund.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That, too, was ignored.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For their apparently wasted effort, the
partners wanted either a usable finished project within the immediate future,
or they wanted a refund on their hard costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“If this were a local firm, we would have
options that aren’t easily available to us in this situation,” the CEO said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Still, we do plan to pursue our legal
options, and are currently reviewing our next course of action.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
Communications – or the lack of communications – has been a barrier to
resolution.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“It’s hard to discuss a problem with someone
who ignores you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only after we
advised them that, absent some immediate resolution, our company would
participate in this case study, that Screaming Eagle Productions finally replied,”
the COO explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“However, instead of trying to resolve
our issues, their reply was hardly satisfactory. It was a combination of
defensiveness, accusations and even threats of published retaliation.”</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
Having reviewed that correspondence myself, I am forced to agree with that
characterization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The communications was
filled with blame and finger-pointing, along with threats of unspecific
retaliation should the company move forward in participating with this case
study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“At no time – once they resumed communicating
with us – did Screaming Eagle Productions say they’d either complete the
project to our specifications or refund the now-wasted money we have already
invested in the project,” the CEO agreed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“There’s no way we can get back the time my
partners and I – and our marketing staff – have put into this failed project,
but we had at least hoped to recoup the money we wasted on a firm that
increasingly appears to have never intended to complete the project.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">“This opportunity cost – staff
time that could have been more productively invested on other marketing efforts
– was easily valued at several times the up-front investment that we made with Screaming
Eagle Productions.” </span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Conclusion: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The funds the start-up company invested into
this project were insignificant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Our
participation in this white paper is not about the money,” the American COO
explained.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“However, we are eager to
share with other American companies our unsatisfactory experience with this
video production company’s ‘bad business’ approach to doing business. We hope other
small, start-up or high-tech businesses will find this to be a useful
cautionary tale.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">This stark example makes the case for strong
agreements, graduated payments and other client protections.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These are addressed in further detail in the
next and final section of this case study.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">As this white paper “goes to press,” the
American company is currently exploring its legal options to recover funds paid
and damages incurred because of non-performance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the money involved is not a real issue,
“this has, for us, become a matter of principle,” the COO pointed out.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Lessons Learned</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">There are a number of salient lessons learned
– lessons that any American firm can take to heart before contracting with an
off-shore service provider.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Vet the Service Provider: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Talk to at least three American
clients, asking for their strengths and weaknesses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make sure they are really capable of
providing the services promised, on time and on budget, and to a quality
expected of the three (or more) reference clients.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Contact the local-to-the-service-provider
Chamber of Commerce, and ask if there are any local organizations that field
and try to resolve complaints – the local equivalent to the Better Business
Bureau. Contact this organization and ask for information on complaints and
resolutions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Search the Internet for praise or complaints
– testimonials – of former clients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a
company has a pattern of bad corporate behavior, someone will have noted this
on the Internet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Structure the Contract –</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Payment Schedule:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Instead of
half-up-front and half-at-the-end, negotiate for a stair-step of payments, each
based on achieving the next milestone on the path to completing the
project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will provide a stronger
“motivation” for the service provider to live up to their promises.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Refund Clause: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Also, structure in the agreement
a refund clause to be executed on a material breach of contract. This kind of
clause will help with any post-failure arbitration or adjudication.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Non-Performance Penalties: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Also structure the agreement to
include built-in penalties for broken schedules.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give them 30 days’ grace, but then start
deducting 10 percent for each subsequent month’s delay in completing the
project. If nothing else, this will result in a more realistic project
timetable.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Project Management System:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Set up a joint “cloud” project management system – several good
ones are available commercially at very reasonable rates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Build into the contract that the service
provider will log updates on all work being done, allowing the client to
monitor progress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This can also be used
for in-process communications, which will help avoid problems that waited until
the next completed draft (or equivalent) to be completed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Team Calls:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Build into the contract a schedule of regular “all-hands” team-to-team
calls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ensure that the service
provider’s entire team is on each call – this will help to eliminate confusion
that comes naturally when one person tries to summarize an entire call for his
or her colleagues.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Legal Review:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>Finally, have the agreement reviewed by
an attorney who is experienced in cross-border contracts. This is not a common
specialty, but such a legal review will help head off problems that are built
into the contract.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">If nothing else, these built-in metrics will
provide an early warning that the vendor is – or is not – complying with the
terms of the agreement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early warning
can help nip problems in the bud, before they get out of hand.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">However, if it all goes south, be ready to
take action to enforce your agreement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">For instance, include an arbitration
requirement – this will help you avoid costly legal fees and the risks of a
trial.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are international
arbitration standards, and certified arbitrators. Specify the qualifications of
the arbiter who will determine if – and how much – of a refund is appropriate.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Recourse:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Recourse:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Identify local-to-the-vendor governmental and private sector
organizations that might be able to help resolve any problems.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Reporting Bodies:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Identify the local equivalent of the Better Business Bureau and
the local Chamber of Commerce. They may be able to help resolve issues related
to the non-delivery of paid-for services.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Meetings: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Arrange for regular “all-hands” meetings.
These will have to be by phone or Skype (if the computer is being used to share
images of the project, Skype may not be an option unless each side is working
with two computers).</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Legal Notice:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Identify options for arbitration and for having local attorneys
write and deliver demand letters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Legal Resolution:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">File for a refund in American courts – small claims court if the
amount is below their upward limit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
will find it difficult to enforce overseas, but such action might favorably
influence arbitration.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">If you’re in need of enforcing an off-shore agreement, try the
following specific recommendations:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Off-shore Chambers of Commerce </span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">– these may be found in the
provider’s country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In some countries,
there are also equivalents of Chambers of Commerce or Better Business Bureaus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, their ability to enforce American
contract claims against local Chamber members or local businesses may sometimes
prove effective, but on many other occasions they are clearly not effective.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo3; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Great
Britain, for instance, has 52 chambers of commerce – but whether they will do
anything to help an American firm in a dispute with a local company has yet to
be established.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">That
country’s embassy</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> – they have
a commercial department that might choose to advise you on organizations, such
as local equivalents of the Better Business Bureau – or even local government
organizations – that might be able to help you</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Internet
search</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> – you can
use the Internet to search for local-to-the-vendor “Bad Business” websites
where people can post positive or negative reviews – use this bad review as
leverage to force a resolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In many
cases here in the states, I’ve posted to my own Bad Business blog – then told
the vendor – and got resolution in exchange for removing the blog. One
resolution was valued at nearly $2,500</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The
Legal Option:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In most countries, there are
courts that can at least theoretically work with American firms to consider
enforcing a signed service agreement with a local firm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the costs of seeking and securing
local off-shore legal counsel can be expensive – and it’s chancy as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level2 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Solicitors
and barristers – “English” for attorneys – will, for a fee, represent an
American company against a British one in their local courts. Yet that is an
expensive roll-of-the-dice “solution” that could wind up costing far more than
any settlement might be worth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">o<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">In the worst
case, those attorneys – who are themselves off-shore service providers with no
direct accountability – offer no more easily-enforceable guarantees of quality
service than do the service providers who have already let you down.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> When dealing with off-shore
service providers, you ultimately have to count on the integrity of those
service providers to ensure that contracted services will be delivered, on time
and on budget, and to the quality anticipated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To a lesser extent, that is true of any service provider, but the
problems clearly become much more difficult to resolve across oceans and
national borders.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Some service providers I have encountered –
in my own business, as well as in my research for this white paper – seem to
intentionally choose to do a poor job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Not expecting repeat business and unconcerned about the risks of the
contract being enforced, they seem intent on securing up-front funds, cashing
their checks, then failing to deliver anything, or at least anything useful.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Bottom Line</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The bottom line is simple: by working with an
off-shore service provider, you may find it difficult to enforce your contract.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make sure the signed agreement takes this
into account – the stronger the agreement, the more likely that the local
courts, arbitrators and non-profit business organizations will find in your favor,
and help you with ultimate resolution.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">When dealing with off-shore service
providers, once burnt, twice shy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take
steps in advance to help avoid being burnt.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Einstein defined insanity as
doing the same thing over and over, yet expecting a different result – and we’d
be crazy to use off-shore creative services in the future. </span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">American service providers might cost more in
terms of cash, but the ability to more easily either receive a usable product
or receive a refund may prove to be more than worth the extra costs that might
be involved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That decision is yours –
but if you consider doing business with an offshore service provider:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Conduct due diligence</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Build in all the protections that
you can into the final agreement</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .25in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Make an informed, eyes-wide-open
decision</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">One last observation: If the service provider
balks at providing contractual guarantees of performance – with teeth for
non-performance – this should be an early warning to expect trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be prepared to walk away from even a “sweetheart
deal” if you’ve got no good way of enforcing it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Note:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">During
the research and development of this case study, I was party to communications between
the American client and Screaming Eagle Productions. These communications
regarded the issues raised in this case study, and included notification that
the case study was in process. However, instead of cooperation, the responses I
saw were confrontational and defensive, and those comments were not cleared for
print.</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Appendix</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The following are sources in the United
Kingdom that are available to help American firms with problems they encounter
when doing business with vendors or service providers based in the UK.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">These explain where you can complain to
government and other<br />
entities about a "limited company" </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
</span><a href="https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-a-limited-company"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">https://www.gov.uk/complain-about-a-limited-company</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br />
and<br />
</span><a href="http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/how-to-complain"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/how-to-complain</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Firms can call the UK’s Citizens Advice helpline:
0345 04 05 06.<br />
<br />
You also can ask the UK's Ombudsman Services – here’s what they recommend</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
</span><a href="http://www.consumer-ombudsman.org/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.consumer-ombudsman.org/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br />
and<br />
</span><a href="http://www.ombudsman-services.org/about-ombudsman-services-os.html"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.ombudsman-services.org/about-ombudsman-services-os.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br />
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Also, there's "Which?" -- a kind of
British Consumer Reports Magazine equivalent – this publication sometimes
exposes rip-offs. Their Media Relations page is here:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><br />
</span><a href="http://press.which.co.uk/press-office-contacts/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://press.which.co.uk/press-office-contacts/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br />
More about them <br />
</span><a href="http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">There are 52 chapters of the BCC (British
Chambers of Commerce) <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<a href="http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/about-the-bcc/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/about-the-bcc/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Their contact information is here:<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<a href="http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/contact-the-bcc/"><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/contact-the-bcc/</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"> <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">You can search local chapters’ websites for
participation or non-participation by the service provider.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "Cambria","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">There are similar organizations in many of
the more developed countries which are concerned about their commercial “good
name;” however, the risk of irresolvable problems rises when dealing with firms
in less-developed countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do a bit of
research and identify appropriate local-to-the-vendor organizations before
signing any agreement.</span></div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0United States37.09024 -95.712891000000013-36.418582499999992 99.052733999999987 90 69.521483999999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-58872529298995637882014-12-29T21:19:00.000-08:002014-12-29T21:19:16.583-08:00Denny's Turns Into Dont-eat-here's ... and Here's WhyTonight I made the great big mistake of eating at Denny's. Usually, this is a not-half-bad place to eat, with decent food, (usually) good-sized portions, and service that's better than you might expect. However, tonight, everything went wrong ... including their web-based "email" complaint system, which crashed on me two-thirds of my way through writing a complaint - which is probably just as well, as the type on the "form" is so small, and of such a faded gray, that I couldn't read what I'd written well enough to be sure I'd gotten my message across.<br />
<br />
Tonight's disastrous visit to Denny's would have been a "comedy of errors," except it's not funny. EVERYTHING that could go wrong, did. Sometimes in more than one way. <br />Here's what happened.<br /><br />First, I was given a "special" holiday menu and ordered the turkey and dressing. I'd planned to get something else, but this looked good.<br /><br />Then, I asked what I could get as a substitute for the cranberry sauce (I'm diabetic and can't eat it, but I've never liked it, even when I could eat it). I was told that, with Denny's entire menu at hand, they couldn't substitute anything it because "We don't carry applesauce." <br />
<br />
I didn't ask for applesauce, nor would I have asked for it. ANYTHING would have been preferable to cranberry sauce (even applesauce), but apparently making a simple substitution is beyond the abilities of both of the wait staff (one, whom I presume was the floor manager). Frustrated, I told them to just throw mine away. <br />
<br />
To make up for the smaller serving (sans cranberry sauce), I ordered two pancakes ($0.69). However, nobody offered to swap those pancakes for the unwanted cranberry sauce. How "thoughtful." With them, I ordered extra butter - since I don't eat syrup, I like the extra butter to keep the pancakes from being too dry. More on that later.<br /><br />Then, after 20 minutes of waiting (thinking it was taking a long time to get my food), I was told that Denny's were in the process of phasing out the special menu (so why even give it to me?) and, because of that, they'd ordered no more turkey, so ... for me ... there was no turkey. An entire day after not having ordered more turkey, nobody had bothered to tell the wait-staff that there was no turkey? Really? Unbelievable. <br />
<br />
Worse, it took them 20 minutes of figuring it out before they could tell me.<br /><br />So I ordered the senior spaghetti as a replacement for the turkey. Nobody bothered to tell me that at Denny's, the "senior" serving is actually smaller than a kid's portion - I'm not sure where it's written that "seniors" have smaller appetites than kids (THIS senior sure doesn't) but by the time I got my order, it was too late - in more ways than one.<br /><br />BTW - I got my salad (comes with the senior spaghetti) right away - but almost immediately, my main course was brought out, before I could half-finish my salad. MOST restaurants time their service so patrons can finish one course before being served the next ... but I guess, for Denny's, that's right up there with NOT knowing you're out of turkey.<br /><br />Then, I was brought the pancakes - which I'd ordered as a replacement for the cranberry sauce, When I re-ordered, I'd assumed I was starting from scratch - bad me. If you've never had pancakes with spaghetti, you're missing a culinary delight. (BTW - when I ordered the pancakes, I asked for extra butter - but when they arrived, I got no extra butter and - since, as a diabetic, I don't use syrup, those were DRY pancakes).<br /><br />BTW - I had iced tea with my meal, and I told each of my two wait-staff persons that I did NOT want lemon. Care to guess how many lemons I got (if you guess "less than five" you'd be wrong).<br /><br />Finally, I asked to order a to-go item. When asked, I said I wanted the salmon. I was then asked what sides (please note that no menu had been provided, and that there are two different salmon dishes on the menu - I guess the wait staff figured that I was psychic when it came to the sides, and that they were psychic when it comes to which salmon I wanted). I finally had to ask for a menu when the waitress couldn't tell me what sides there were, other than broccoli and mashed potatoes.<br /><br />Could it get any worse? Yes - twice.<br /><br />First, my bill arrived (after waiting for another 20 minutes after my dishes had been cleared away) and I had been charged for the turkey you didn't have, instead of the kiddy-sized "senior spaghetti" I did get. When I pointed this out, the waitress kind of huffed and said it was only $0.49 difference ... (sigh) ... as if this was my fault, and that I was being unreasonable. Nonetheless, I insisted on a corrected bill.<br /><br />Five minutes later, she brought me back my check, and said it was "comped." In Las Vegas, where I live and where I had dinner, "comped" means just one thing - that the meal was being given to me for free in recognition of all the problems I'd had. "At last," I thought, "they're taking responsibility for their non-stop string of (ahem)-ups.<br /><br />But something about that didn't feel right, and this feeling caused me to ask again what she meant about "comped," and she explained that she'd "comped" me the $0.49 (rather than re-doing the check) - and she said it like she was doing me a favor. Having heard "comped" after a nightmare meal, then finding out that this was her way of fixing an incorrect bill ... well, my heart just soared with joy.<br /><br />But there was one more thing wrong. I got home with the salmon for my sick-in-bed wife, and when she went to dig in, there was no fork, no napkin - nothing with which to eat her meal. I was in another part of the house, she was hungry (by now it was nearly 8 pm, after a nearly two-hour meal ordeal) so she had to do her best to eat fingers-only.<br /><br />So I ask you. Is this the quality of service that Denny's wants to be known for? More to the point, is this the kind of service you want from a restaurant like Denny's? Sure, it's not Outback Steak House or some other higher-end chain restaurant, but still ... is this acceptable? To you? <br />
<br />Not to me!Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-9600984723867404442014-11-25T09:37:00.001-08:002014-11-25T09:37:38.979-08:00Black Friday Starts on Thanksgiving Day for Kmart Employees<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">In an effort to grab
the customers early, major retailers have kept lowering the bar on “open” hours around Thanksgiving. <br />
<br />
Until recently, “Black Friday” – the day after Thanksgiving – had not only been the biggest shopping day of the year, but an “event” that seemed to fuel customer interest in starting their shopping on that day. But in the past couple of years, big-box retailers have begun inching into what had been “forbidden” territory – the secularly-sacred family day of Thanksgiving (the day before Thanksgiving is the biggest travel day of the year).<br />
<br />
This year, Kmart has gone a major step further – they will open at 6 a.m. on Thanksgiving day and remain open for 42 hours, covering 18 hours of Thanksgiving and all 24 hours of “Black Friday.” And they have done so
with no concern for their employees, or for the PR backlash.<br />
<br />
As a marketer, I can understand why Kmart wants to grab those “first fruits" dollars of holiday shopping. The dollars you don’t capture up front will be spent somewhere else. Which is why some retailers are hosting a Black-Friday-on-Wednesday sale (the window for “first day” keeps getting pushed back – in five years, expect to see the Christmas shopping season start on January 2nd). Already, Amazon declared the entire week a "Black Friday," jumping the gun on both Black Friday and Cyber-Monday. And they are far from alone - my email inbox is bulging with pre-Black Friday sales, all from retailers and e-tailers trying to grab those first fruits before they're spent elsewhere.<br />
<br />
Who actually plans to go shopping on Thanksgiving (other than women who don’t like football, who decide – after dinner – that Extreme Shopping is more fun than schlepping beer and Doritos for the menfolk who can’t bother themselves to get out of their seats) remains a mystery to me. Not sure
who Kmart and the others plan to grab as first-minute shoppers, but I’m assuming this is more a defensive strategy (fearing Walmart and Target will do this whether Kmart does it or not).<br />
<br />
But as a PR guy, I can see what this is doing to employees, what this “tells” people who still take Thanksgiving-at-home-with-the-family as a God-given right (actually, as a Federal holiday, it’s Congressionally-given right, but let’s not quibble). The media has been quick to pick up on
this, for example, this story from <a href="http://insider.foxnews.com/2014/11/17/delaware-woman-starts-petition-against-kmarts-thanksgiving-black-friday-hours">Fox News</a> - and no media I’ve found has been swift to defend Kmart. This will, I think, result in a consumer backlash
as well – Kmart doesn’t have a “lock” on gift-goodies (they’re pretty generic), and that makes it easier for sympathetic consumers (like me) to show their pique by shopping elsewhere.<br />
<br />
For instance …<br />
<br />
As one of those who doesn’t work retail, I not only resent those companies which force employees to work on the most family-oriented (and, let’s admit it, football-oriented) holiday of the year. Having worked in retail in my early jobs, my resentment for what Kmart is doing is going to transform itself into a boycott – this holiday season, I’ll preferentially shop at stores who don’t impose 18-hour Thanksgiving work-days on their employees.<br />
<br />
But what should employees do? They could speak out, at risk of their jobs
– but if they do, their employer will suffer financially, which could lead to store closings and smaller work-forces.<br />
<br />
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span>Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-80148987932244930892014-11-14T15:14:00.002-08:002014-11-14T15:14:19.179-08:00Tilting at Windmills - Fighting the Rising Tide of Add-on Charges for Using Plastic MoneyThe problem can be small - KFC, for instance, now charges $0.39 per transaction if you use a credit card or debit card. Or it can be big. Wo Fat, an otherwise great neighborhood Chinese restaurant in Las Vegas, now refuses to accept plastic money for charges under $10. That new rule nearly turned into an embarrassment for me last night, as I generally don't carry cash.<br />
<br />
But whatever the reason, too many retail businesses have forgotten that the banking fees for taking credit cards or debit cards has always been part of the cost of doing business - and frankly, on a per-transaction basis, not a very big cost of doing business. Now, they are starting to charge clients for using plastic money, or they're putting floors on chargeable transactions.<br />
<br />
What they don't realize is that consumers may not like this - in fact, a growing number of consumers <a href="http://blog.credit.com/2011/09/many-consumers-outraged-by-bank-of-americas-big-new-debit-fee/">really object</a> to this practice. I'm one of them.<br />
<br />
It's really not about the money - hey, it's only $0.39 per transaction. No, it's about respect. This fee makes me feel like either a "second class customer" - not as good or worthy as cash customers; or it makes me feel like a dupe - an idiot willing to pay a surcharge for a common transaction most retailers ignore by absorbing the cost. <br />
<br />
Just because it's legal for a company to do this doesn't make it a smart move. In the case of KFC, I'm now preferentially buying "family meals" at A&W/Long John Silver, right across the street from my local KFC. A&W doesn't charge me a fee, and their food is excellent (for drive-through) and comparably priced.<br />
<br />As far as Wo Fat is concerned, I've been a regular customer for 23 years - they serve the best egg fu yong in town. But their lunch is $5.50 and their dinner is $7.75, so either way, I'll have to pay cash or go somewhere else. Since I don't routinely carry cash (because everybody now takes debit cards), I'll have to find another good Chinese restaurant. In Las Vegas, that won't be hard.<br />
<br />
A word to the wise retailer. Do not risk pissing off loyal customers over anti-consumer policies that at best pay you a marginal fee ($0.39 for a $25 meal at KFC) or help you avoid fees for smaller transactions. <br />
<br />
And to KFC - it will take 65 meals to make up, at $0.39 each - just one weekly transaction you're losing when I take my business across the street. And since I was buying the $25 family meal each week, you need a LOT of new customers to make up for the one you've just pissed off.Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-65038655256177970002014-10-15T19:03:00.000-07:002014-10-15T19:04:45.441-07:00Skype's Message to Users: What Do You Want For Free? Your Money Back?I suppose everybody in greater metropolitan Christendom knows about Skype, and probably has a Skype application on their computers and/or phones. Skype seems to provide a useful service at a reasonable price - free being "reasonable" in my book.<br />
<br />
But recently, they've begun an insidious effort to take over their users' computers (in a small way, but who asked them to, eh?).<br />
<br />
They've begun circulating upgrades, and these "demand your attention" by popping up, un-asked-for, on your desktop. Bad enough, but apparently justifiable.<br />
<br />
After all, what do you want for free? Your money back?<br />
<br />
But now they've taken it a step further. If you do try to upgrade, unless you are VERY careful, they will - as part of this upgrade - automatically make Bing (instead of Google) your default search engine, and MSN (instead of Dilbert or Drudge or DancingCatsOnCatnip.com) your default home page.<br />
<br />
Who asked them to do that?<br />
<br />
Well, obviously, the corporate masters (the ones with fat checkbooks) at MSN and Bing. But I mean, if I wanted those, I'd have set them up myself, right? But I don't. I want Dilbert and Google, and I DID set them up myself.<br />
<br />
What's that got to do with upgrading Skype? Not much. But they seem to feel it's OK to try and sneak this one past you. <br />
<br />
After all, what do you want for free? Your money back?Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-60692519212089880072014-09-25T13:24:00.000-07:002014-10-01T15:07:25.860-07:00Business Wire - A Division of Publicly-Traded Berkshire Hathaway - Creates a Tangled Web of Deception<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Note - this blog was updated on October 1, 2014, following further conversations with several increasingly-senior executives at Business Wire, including two calls with BizWire COO <a href="http://newsroom.businesswire.com/leadership/executive-committee/phyllis-dantuono">Phyllis Dantuono</a></span></span></i></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*** </span></span></i></b> </span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Scottish 19th Century Poet Sir Walter Scott might have had </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://secure.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/template.ACCOUNT_VERIFY/?login_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.businesswire.com%2Fportal%2Fsite%2Fhome%2F">Business Wire</a></span></span> in mind when he wrote:</span></span></div>
<br />
<dl><dd><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">Oh, what a tangled web we weave</span></span></dd><dd><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: large;">When first we practise to deceive!</span></span></dd></dl>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">It turns out that, over at <a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/">Berkshire Hathaway</a> (<a href="https://www.nyse.com/search?q=brkb&site=IntercontinentalExchange|NYSE|instruments|theICE|theICEProductGuide|theICEReports&client=nyse_frontend_html&proxystylesheet=nyse_frontend_html&output=xml_no_dtd&filter=0">NYSE</a> <a href="http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/brk.a">BRK</a>), <a href="https://secure.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/template.ACCOUNT_VERIFY/?login_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.businesswire.com%2Fportal%2Fsite%2Fhome%2F">Business Wire</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">- at least</span></span> when it comes to</span> "practi<span style="font-family: inherit;">s</span>ing to de<span style="font-family: inherit;">ceive"</span> - has been "<span style="font-family: inherit;">practi<span style="font-family: inherit;">sing" </span></span>overtime. At least that is my personal perspective, based on an in<span style="font-family: inherit;">creasing body of experience with the firm, related to the issue b<span style="font-family: inherit;">elow.</span></span></span></span><br />
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="st"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">One
reason <span style="font-family: inherit;">any PR professional might choose to</span> use Business Wire – a </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/">Berkshire Hathaway</a></span></span> Company – and one reason why
so many PR people are willing to pay a premium to use this most expe<span style="font-family: inherit;">nsive of news-release distribution services</span>, is th<span style="font-family: inherit;">eir <span style="font-family: inherit;">claim<span style="font-family: inherit;"> that </span></span></span>when you do place a
release with <span style="font-family: inherit;">BizWire</span>, at least 294 news aggregator websites will (beca<span style="font-family: inherit;">use they're under contract to Business Wire) </span>pick up your release and run it onl<span style="font-family: inherit;">ine</span>. T<span style="font-family: inherit;">hese nearly 300 news aggregator sites are primarily the online sites of <span style="font-family: inherit;">news media outlets - national, state and local - and all this implies that your press release will <span style="font-family: inherit;">appear on these sites, and be searchable at those sites.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That is the promise they offer<span style="font-family: inherit;">. More important,</span> that is the result they show in their NewsTrak dashboard. This seemingly useful tool comes with each release<span style="font-family: inherit;">, and p<span style="font-family: inherit;">u<span style="font-family: inherit;">rports to document just how often the release has been accessed, as well as <span style="font-family: inherit;">offering links to</span> online news sites where the release has be<span style="font-family: inherit;">en posted.</span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Among other fe<span style="font-family: inherit;">ature<span style="font-family: inherit;">s, t</span></span>h<span style="font-family: inherit;">is see<span style="font-family: inherit;">mingly-<span style="font-family: inherit;">informative</span></span></span> NewsTrak report
shows (<span style="font-family: inherit;">complete with</span> interactive logos) that <span style="font-family: inherit;">the release has be<span style="font-family: inherit;">en picked up by </span></span>all <span style="font-family: inherit;">294</span> of those<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">under-contract </span>news aggregator</span> sites.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I <span style="font-family: inherit;">was so impresse<span style="font-family: inherit;">d when I first learned about this service four years ago that I</span></span> blogged about this<span style="font-family: inherit;"> feature. I </span>cit<span style="font-family: inherit;">ed</span> the advantages of a service with
so many news aggregator sites under contract with them,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and <span style="font-family: inherit;">made the case for PR pros to use BizWire specifically for this reason</span></span>:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://pr-marketing2point0.blogspot.com/2010/11/press-releases-new-online-advertising.html">http://pr-marketing2point0.blogspot.com/2010/11/press-releases-new-online-advertising.html</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I also mentioned <span style="font-family: inherit;">t<span style="font-family: inherit;">his feature</span></span> favorably in a book I g<span style="font-family: inherit;">host-wrote earlier this year, <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<a href="http://www.beautifullyprofitable.com/">Beautifully </a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.beautifullyprofitable.com/">Profitable / Forever Profitable</a>." </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Clearly, I was a big fan of th<span style="font-family: inherit;">is news aggregator</span> service (at least as it had been laid out to me in 2010).</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Unfortunately,</span> it turns out that there’s now a problem <span style="font-family: inherit;">w<span style="font-family: inherit;">ith that promise</span></span>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Today, o</span>f those 2<span style="font-family: inherit;">94 news aggregator sites</span>, <span style="font-family: inherit;">a vast majority </span>of them do not actually <span style="font-family: inherit;">post the releases<span style="font-family: inherit;"> as implied by the NewsTrak report. Some don't p<span style="font-family: inherit;">ost the release at all. In those cases, the NewsTrak link rou<span style="font-family: inherit;">tes you to <span style="font-family: inherit;">other locations - including we<span style="font-family: inherit;">b pages <span style="font-family: inherit;">hoste<span style="font-family: inherit;">d by Business Wire itself</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">For
example, three <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/">Fox TV News</a> local affiliate<span style="font-family: inherit;"> stations' websites</span> are shown on my most recent NewsTrak dashboard report<span style="font-family: inherit;">. H<span style="font-family: inherit;">owever,</span></span> when you click on those logo-links,
instead of going to the released news story on th<span style="font-family: inherit;">ose</span> station<span style="font-family: inherit;">s'</span> websites, you go
here: <a href="http://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks">http://markets.financialcontent.com/stocks</a>
... and when you get there, good luck finding the release. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I have no idea what <span style="font-family: inherit;">this site is, or <span style="font-family: inherit;">who owns it (it may be a front for B<span style="font-family: inherit;">izWire, or it could be as <span style="font-family: inherit;">legitimate as t<span style="font-family: inherit;">he New York Stock Exchange - it's hard to tell<span style="font-family: inherit;">).</span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">If <span style="font-family: inherit;">your re<span style="font-family: inherit;">lease is </span></span>there o this financial site at all, it's n<span style="font-family: inherit;">either</span> visibl<span style="font-family: inherit;">e nor ea<span style="font-family: inherit;">s<span style="font-family: inherit;">ily searchable. <span style="font-family: inherit;">W<span style="font-family: inherit;">orse,</span></span> if you search on the TV st<span style="font-family: inherit;">ations' <span style="font-family: inherit;">websites for the release (using it's title as a se<span style="font-family: inherit;">arch term)<span style="font-family: inherit;">, you get nothing. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Desp<span style="font-family: inherit;">ite the NewsTrak report's claim, the release is not where they said it would be - and, presumably, where my client was paying for it to be.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br />
But<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">unfortunate<span style="font-family: inherit;"> as this lack of performance is,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> for some me<span style="font-family: inherit;">dia<span style="font-family: inherit;"> listed on NewsTrak, </span></span>this <span style="font-family: inherit;">situation only</span></span></span></span></span> gets worse. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">For example, w</span>hen you click on the <a href="http://www.reviewjournal.com/">Las Vegas Review Journal</a> logo on the <span style="font-family: inherit;">NewsTrak report</span> (which I<span style="font-family: inherit;"> did because my client i<span style="font-family: inherit;">s in the Vegas SMSA)</span></span>, you do not go to the Review Journal website<span style="font-family: inherit;">, nor do you go </span>to a financial site<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead, you go </span>to a<span style="font-family: inherit;">n internal <span style="font-family: inherit;">page hosted on t<span style="font-family: inherit;">he</span></span></span> Business Wire <span style="font-family: inherit;">web</span>site: <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/lvrj/20140917005210/en">http://www.businesswire.com/news/lvrj/20140917005210/en</a> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">T</span>here,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> on <span style="font-family: inherit;">that site, </span></span>you have no RJ branding – just this: <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<h1>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/lvrj/20140917005210/www.lvrj.com/" title="Home">Las Vegas Review-Journal - Las Vegas News, Business, Entertainment
Information</a></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Apparently, what you're really paying for is yet anot<span style="font-family: inherit;">her posting on a BizWire web<span style="font-family: inherit;"> page - a placement on their own site, with no links to <span style="font-family: inherit;">the RJ<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span> </span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*** </span></span></i></b> </span></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i>As a<span style="font-family: inherit;">n aside, I have pu<span style="font-family: inherit;">blished what <span style="font-family: inherit;">appeared</span> on the header of that page</span> because, within just 30 minutes after my discussion with Business Wire's regional manager, Jerry J<span style="font-family: inherit;">ohnson, <span style="font-family: inherit;">my client's press release<span style="font-family: inherit;"> - </span>which had been published on th<span style="font-family: inherit;">is Bizwire page<span style="font-family: inherit;"> - </span>suddenly disappeared. </span></span></span></span></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead, what you now see is this: </span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><span class="epi-error"> </span><br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="epi-error">The content you request is no longer available. You are welcome to login to our site to see other news of interest.</span></span></span></b></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">That <span style="font-family: inherit;">hap<span style="font-family: inherit;">pened within</span></span> 30 minutes after my call with t<span style="font-family: inherit;">heir regional manager, a call which didn't end well. </span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Several<span style="font-family: inherit;"> senior execs at Biz Wire, including the COO, <a href="http://newsroom.businesswire.com/leadership/executive-committee/phyllis-dantuono">P<span style="font-family: inherit;">hyllis Dantuono</span></a> herself, claims that this pull-down <span style="font-family: inherit;">w<span style="font-family: inherit;">as either a coincidence, or the action o<span style="font-family: inherit;">f the Las Vegas Review Journal.</span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span>You may draw your own conclusion about this.</span></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></i> </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*** </span></span></i></b> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Finally,
if you go directly to the RJ site, or to an<span style="font-family: inherit;">y of</span> the Fox <span style="font-family: inherit;">Network stat<span style="font-family: inherit;">ions' linked news</span></span> sites, or to any one of the other <span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>hundreds </i>of </span>sites found on the NewsTrak report, and
then if you plug in the key words (i.e., the press release's headline) to their “search” function, what you get
is ... nothing. <span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Though they claim it as a valid "use" <span style="font-family: inherit;">of the press release, on </span></span>he RJ's site, t</span>here<span style="font-family: inherit;"> is</span> not even a link to the BizWire created and hosted page. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Th<span style="font-family: inherit;">ose NewsTrak-claimed media outlets</span> don’t
acknowledge having anything to do with the release<span style="font-family: inherit;">, nor do they have e<span style="font-family: inherit;">ven a link to it on their own page or in their archives. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">B<span style="font-family: inherit;">usiness Wire, <span style="font-family: inherit;">v<span style="font-family: inherit;">ia</span></span> their NewsTrak dashboard report,</span></span> tells you otherwise <span style="font-family: inherit;">(by providing links that supposedly go to the releases<span style="font-family: inherit;"> at those sites). This <span style="font-family: inherit;">tracking report claims</span> </span></span>that your release <span style="font-family: inherit;">wa</span>s basically plastered all over the
Internet, featured <span style="font-family: inherit;">on at least 300 or so news media websites</span>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That’s a big part of what you pay for<span style="font-family: inherit;">, and if you take the NewsTrak dashboard report at face value, that's what you've received. <span style="font-family: inherit;">In fact, this (at one time remarkable) feature has been how I have been justifying BizWire's premium rates to my clients.</span></span> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">But - as I learned rather pa<span style="font-family: inherit;">infully -</span> what you really get from th<span style="font-family: inherit;">ese supposed<span style="font-family: inherit;"> placements on news media websites</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">is<span style="font-family: inherit;"> n</span></span></span>ot<span style="font-family: inherit;"> much</span>, apparently, at least not<span style="font-family: inherit;"> much</span> of any real PR value.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And certainly what you get - at least if you believed, as I did, in the reality behind the NewsTrak report - is nothing like what you thought you
were getting.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">*** </span></span></i></b> </span></span></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">As an ending note,<span style="font-family: inherit;"> all</span></span> of this - both what <span style="font-family: inherit;">Business W<span style="font-family: inherit;">ire promises and what Business Wire actually delivers - </span></span>was explained to me i<span style="font-family: inherit;">n great detail</span> by Jerry Johnson, regional manager of
Business Wire<span style="font-family: inherit;">. H</span>e very candidly told me exactly how <span style="font-family: inherit;">their news aggregator "benefit"</span> really works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He <span style="font-family: inherit;">then tried to </span>justif<span style="font-family: inherit;">y this seemingly </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">bait-and-switch business offer </span></span></span></span>(it appears to be so to me, anyway, though it may not rise to the legal definition of bait-and-switch)<span style="font-family: inherit;">.<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">He justified this </span></span></span>by
saying “everybody does it<span style="font-family: inherit;">,</span>” an excuse my mother taught me to a<span style="font-family: inherit;">void<span style="font-family: inherit;"> ba<span style="font-family: inherit;">ck when I was 9 years old.</span></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After offering this justification, Mr. Johnson</span> also refused to even consider a make-good<span style="font-family: inherit;">. H<span style="font-family: inherit;">e then went</span></span> further and refused to send<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="font-family: inherit;">my concerns, and my request for a make-good,</span></span> up the corporate ladder to someone who might actually help me reso<span style="font-family: inherit;">lve this situation amicably and professionally<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">He also got nasty and vulgar, but that's real<span style="font-family: inherit;">ly beside the point.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<i><b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">That refusal to even consider a make-good to satisfy my concerns that my client's money was wasted was the genesis of this blog. </span></span></span></b></i><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">If Bu<span style="font-family: inherit;">s<span style="font-family: inherit;">iness Wire seems to offer one thing but actually delivers some<span style="font-family: inherit;">thing else (and that <span style="font-family: inherit;">"something" is </span>of much less value), and if they then do<span style="font-family: inherit;"> not stand behind their ser<span style="font-family: inherit;">vice when a client like me complains, I fe<span style="font-family: inherit;">lt other PR pros ought to know this, too.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><i><b>UPDATE - October 1, 2014</b></i></span> </span></span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Since I first wrote this blog, and after sending Mr. Johnson a further email trying to obtain<span style="font-family: inherit;"> equitable </span>some resolut<span style="font-family: inherit;">ion,</span> I have spo<span style="font-family: inherit;">ken with a BizWire regional VP<span style="font-family: inherit;">, Brenda in San Francisco. She<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span>much more politely and professionally backed up what Jerry <span style="font-family: inherit;">Jo<span style="font-family: inherit;">hnson said about <span style="font-family: inherit;">the fairly useless "reality" behind the bold promise reflected in the NewsTrak report. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She then referred me to the corporate executive (S<span style="font-family: inherit;">andy) </span>who <span style="font-family: inherit;">appar<span style="font-family: inherit;">ently handle<span style="font-family: inherit;">s</span> th<span style="font-family: inherit;">e news aggregator relationships. She gave me a <span style="font-family: inherit;">great many nuts-and-bolts pieces of information in an effort to claim real value from somethi<span style="font-family: inherit;">ng that has no value. However, </span>in the end, sh<span style="font-family: inherit;">e didn't dispute the fact that a l<span style="font-family: inherit;">ink to the RJ, or to Fox News in Las Vegas, didn't actuall<span style="font-family: inherit;">y go where <span style="font-family: inherit;">they "suggested" that it went.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then, today, I <span style="font-family: inherit;">had several conversations with the COO of the company, Phyllis<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Dantuono. S<span style="font-family: inherit;">he is a charming individual, and spent <span style="font-family: inherit;">quite a bit of time with me<span style="font-family: inherit;">. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the beginning of the call, h</span>er in<span style="font-family: inherit;">itial stated goal was to <span style="font-family: inherit;">get me to stop reporting on this via emails to lists of <span style="font-family: inherit;">pu<span style="font-family: inherit;">blic relations pr<span style="font-family: inherit;">os</span> by persuading me of her personal ethics (which I have no reason to doubt<span style="font-family: inherit;">) and her company's integ<span style="font-family: inherit;">rity as <span style="font-family: inherit;">well (of which I<span style="font-family: inherit;"> remain</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">un</span>convinced)</span></span></span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In that initial part of the conve<span style="font-family: inherit;">rsation, she a<span style="font-family: inherit;">lso suggested that the <span style="font-family: inherit;">facts</span> I've been<span style="font-family: inherit;"> sharing with my fellow PR pros were</span> some<span style="font-family: inherit;">how "libelous." <span style="font-family: inherit;">To that, </span>I told her flat-out that the truth is a defense against libel, and that the First Amendment was on m<span style="font-family: inherit;">y side.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I didn't quail at the hidden<span style="font-family: inherit;"> threat of legal actions, s</span></span>he quickly<span style="font-family: inherit;"> dropped that <span style="font-family: inherit;">line o<span style="font-family: inherit;">f discus<span style="font-family: inherit;">sion,</span></span></span> though I expect to hear it again if I refuse to back off.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">She also said I was trying to "blackmail" her (or her company) by posting <span style="font-family: inherit;"> emails to colleagues about what really happened<span style="font-family: inherit;"> when I tried to resolve a problem with BizWire<span style="font-family: inherit;">. She specifically said</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> that she res<span style="font-family: inherit;">ented<span style="font-family: inherit;"> this so-called blackmail. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I counter<span style="font-family: inherit;">ed that, since I was told there was no possible resolution (by Jerry <span style="font-family: inherit;">J<span style="font-family: inherit;">ohnson, <span style="font-family: inherit;">who wa<span style="font-family: inherit;">s not contradicted by</span></span> his bo<span style="font-family: inherit;">ss<span style="font-family: inherit;">, or by </span>a senior c<span style="font-family: inherit;">orporate exec)<span style="font-family: inherit;">,</span> I was publishing the truth a<span style="font-family: inherit;">s <span style="font-family: inherit;">I knew it </span></span>with no expectation of gain. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I wasn't threatening them w<span style="font-family: inherit;">ith </span>"pay me or I'll blast you<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span>" <span style="font-family: inherit;">Instead, my approach has been,</span> "since you won't resolve this, I'm going to let my c<span style="font-family: inherit;">olleagues know how you do business, and let them decide for thems<span style="font-family: inherit;">elves how to <span style="font-family: inherit;">proceed." That, I told her, was not blackmai<span style="font-family: inherit;">l.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She also backed off of that charge when I explained how <span style="font-family: inherit;">illogical it was.</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">L<span style="font-family: inherit;">ater in t<span style="font-family: inherit;">h<span style="font-family: inherit;">is</span> series of calls</span>, she r<span style="font-family: inherit;">e-stated her goal</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> - this time, she wanted to <span style="font-family: inherit;">satisfy my concerns (assuming that if she <span style="font-family: inherit;">was successful in s<span style="font-family: inherit;">a<span style="font-family: inherit;">tisfying me</span></span></span>, <span style="font-family: inherit;">I'd drop thi<span style="font-family: inherit;">s whole issue</span>)</span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yet oddly, for someone who says she want<span style="font-family: inherit;">ed</span> to <span style="font-family: inherit;">satisfy my concerns, she still wasn't open to any meaningful make-good on <span style="font-family: inherit;">a press release that</span> I feel was <span style="font-family: inherit;">largely a waste of my client's money. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She did at one point offer a $200 discount on a future release, but I told her there will be no future releases. Wi<span style="font-family: inherit;">th the transformation of their news aggre<span style="font-family: inherit;">gator feature from something of real value to somet<span style="font-family: inherit;">hing <span style="font-family: inherit;">with</span> no practical value (though <span style="font-family: inherit;">the <span style="font-family: inherit;">NewsTrak report makes it</span></span> appear<span style="font-family: inherit;"> that they still</span> offer value - until you check under the hood)<span style="font-family: inherit;">, there is no reason in my mind to pay the BizWire premium<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Ab<span style="font-family: inherit;">sent that now-nonexistent "benefit,"</span></span> other services<span style="font-family: inherit;"> can</span> competently distribute my clients' press releases for far less cost.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She ended our calls today by saying she wanted to discuss this with others, then get back to me in a day or two. T<span style="font-family: inherit;">h</span>is is wh<span style="font-family: inherit;">en the <span style="font-family: inherit;">whole situation</span></span> g<span style="font-family: inherit;">ot</span> <span style="font-family: inherit;">surreal<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">She's <span style="font-family: inherit;">the COO of <span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">a multi-million-dollar</span> company<span style="font-family: inherit;">. S</span>he's been with them for 28 years<span style="font-family: inherit;">. Y</span>et she apparently d<span style="font-family: inherit;">oesn't ha<span style="font-family: inherit;">ve the authority</span></span></span></span> to authorize a $1,500 refund to a dis<span style="font-family: inherit;">satisfied client, at least not without talking about it to others in her firm. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The <span style="font-family: inherit;">ap<span style="font-family: inherit;">parent fact th</span></span>at a <span style="font-family: inherit;">divis<span style="font-family: inherit;">ion o</span>f a huge <span style="font-family: inherit;">public com<span style="font-family: inherit;">pany doesn<span style="font-family: inherit;">'t allow <span style="font-family: inherit;">their</span> COO to authorize a $1,500 refund is almost mind-boggling. It also s<span style="font-family: inherit;">ays something almost f<span style="font-family: inherit;">rightening about their resist<span style="font-family: inherit;">ance to offering m<span style="font-family: inherit;">eaningful make-goods to their dissa<span style="font-family: inherit;">tis<span style="font-family: inherit;">fied clients.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">But <span style="font-family: inherit;">refund or <span style="font-family: inherit;">not (and I honestly don't expect <span style="font-family: inherit;">one - <span style="font-family: inherit;">th<span style="font-family: inherit;">e whole question of "refunds"</span></span> only came up <span style="font-family: inherit;">when she asked m<span style="font-family: inherit;">e what it would take for me to be "satisfied"<span style="font-family: inherit;">), BizWire <span style="font-family: inherit;">no longer provides a valued servi<span style="font-family: inherit;">ce</span> th<span style="font-family: inherit;">at was offered</span> as recently as 2010</span></span></span></span></span></span>. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The appearance of the service remains, but the re<span style="font-family: inherit;">ality is not there.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll update this blog as I get additional information. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">In case you're wo<span style="font-family: inherit;">nderi<span style="font-family: inherit;">ng who <span style="font-family: inherit;">th<span style="font-family: inherit;">is company is, </span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">BizWire is owned by </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml">Warren Buffett</a></span></span>.</span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Berkshire
Hathaway (NYSE BRK) is legendary business mogul <a href="http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml">Warren Buffett</a>'s self-described "diversified
company with major interest in GEICO, life insurance, annuity sales and
sales of jewelry." It has a generally sq<span style="font-family: inherit;">ueeky-clean rep<span style="font-family: inherit;">utation, b<span style="font-family: inherit;">ased on Mr. Buffet<span style="font-family: inherit;">t's own formida<span style="font-family: inherit;">ble reputation (<a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/">Forbes says his net worth is $67.4 </a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/">bi</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/">llion dollars</a>, making him the third wealthiest persons on earth)</span></span>. However, I wonder if he kn<span style="font-family: inherit;">ows that<span style="font-family: inherit;"> - through his Business Wire business unit - Ber<span style="font-family: inherit;">kshire Hathaway also apparently excels in </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>deceiving - if not actually defrauding (<span style="font-family: inherit;">that would be fo<span style="font-family: inherit;">r a court to decide)</span></span> -
his Business Wire press release service <span style="font-family: inherit;">clients</span>. </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Berkshire Hathaway</span></a> wholly owns <a href="http://www.bnsf.com/">BNSF</a> (the
railroad giant that<span style="font-family: inherit;"> merged</span> the Burlington Northern and the <span style="font-family: inherit;">Acheson<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">, Topeka and Santa Fe r<span style="font-family: inherit;">ailroads</span></span></span></span>), as well as <a href="https://www.lubrizol.com/">Lubrizol</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> - the specialty chemical giant -</span> <a href="http://www.dairyqueen.com/">Dairy Queen</a>, <a href="http://shop.fruit.com/">Fruit of the Loom</a>, <a href="http://www.helzberg.com/">Helzberg Diamonds</a>, <a href="https://www.flightsafety.com/fs_index.php?sw=1280&sh=720">FlightSafety International</a> and <a href="http://www.netjets.com/">NetJets</a>. <span style="font-family: inherit;">The firm also</span> owns half of John
Kerry's wife's <a href="http://www.heinz.com/">Heinz</a>, and has strong positions in <a href="http://www.mars.com/global/index.aspx">Mars, Inc.</a>, <a href="https://www.americanexpress.com/">American Express</a>,<a href="http://us.coca-cola.com/home/"> Coca Cola</a>, <a href="https://www.wellsfargo.com/">Wells Fargo</a> and <a href="http://www.ibm.com/us/en/">IBM</a>. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And <a href="https://secure.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/template.ACCOUNT_VERIFY/?login_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.businesswire.com%2Fportal%2Fsite%2Fhome%2F">Business W</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="https://secure.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/template.ACCOUNT_VERIFY/?login_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsecure.businesswire.com%2Fportal%2Fsite%2Fhome%2F">ire</a>.</span></span></span></div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-57939439673951079342014-07-23T13:42:00.002-07:002014-07-23T13:42:41.118-07:00Is your free speech worth $50? Southwest Airlines Thinks SoI see now where Southwest Airlines is apparently routinely violating the first amendment rights of passengers. <br />
<br />
<img alt="Southwest Airlines" class="profilePic img" src="https://fbcdn-profile-a.akamaihd.net/hprofile-ak-xfa1/t1.0-1/p320x320/1476139_10152139121963949_108781665_n.png" /><br />
<br />
Apparently an A-list Southwest Customer and his kids got removed from a flight because he tweeted his dissatisfaction about the way a gate agent treated him. HE is (was) an A-lister, but his kids weren't, so the gate agent wouldn't let him board with the A group (and his kids, age 6 and 12). He told the gate agent that he was going to Tweet his dissatisfaction, and apparently he did.<br />
<br />Anyway, after he boarded, the "jack-booted thugs" came and yanked him and his kids off the flight (I imagine the father could handle that, but imagine a 6-year-old facing this). <br />
<br />
Off the plane, the gate agent said she wouldn't let him and his kids back on unless he deleted the tweet (which he refused to do, and in fact, tweeted again, letting the world know). Southwest later "apologized" (without any suggestion that the gate agent was wrong, or would be replaced with a bobblehead or a potted plant or something else more likely to provide good customer service and respect customers First Amendment free speech rights). They also offered this guy and his kids $50 each in make-good coupons. He turned them down, and said he'd never, not ever, fly Southwest again. <br />
<br />Apparently, he won't sell his freedom for $50 a head.<br />
<br />
I'm going to remember this the next time (and every time) that I think about flying.<br />
<br />
I usually do fly Southwest because of cost and convenience, but I'm not one to trade my freedom for a pocket full of marbles (as Paul Simon sang). I used to think Southwest was all about customer service ... apparently not.<br />
<br />
Here's the story: http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/07/23/tweet-gets-family-booted-southwest-airlines-flightNed Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-15020765445782750522014-04-30T23:00:00.000-07:002014-04-30T23:00:18.923-07:00The Judge and the Book of Mormon ... OR ... How NOT to Raise Funds<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
A conservative candidate for Judge in Clark County
Nevada – a good man (and not a Mormon) has made a potentially election-killing
decision.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s tied a major campaign
fund-raiser to the Book of Mormon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
More on that in a minute.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Sure, there are more Mormons in Clark County Nevada
(home to Las Vegas) than you can shake a stick at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a century and more, casino owners have
been glad to hire Mormons as dealers – they’re honest with their employers, and
(the word is) they have no compunction about cheating the heathens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may have that wrong – I may be referring to
Jack Mormons – lapsed Mormons who nonetheless hold onto major of the faith’s
tenets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that’s really beside the
point. Anyway, casinos are Mormon-friendly employers – however, even without
casinos, this would be Mormon Central. Just down I-15 from Utah, Clark County was
first settled (other than by the Paiutes) by Mormon settlers who built the Old
Mormon Fort not a half-mile from what is now Las Vegas’s Fremont Street
Experience.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
However, for every Mormon in Clark County, you’ll find at least one non-Mormon
who’s all but fed up with their door-to-door evangelism – not to mention the
arrogance of mere children who arrogantly believe that they can teach their
elders something about a life they have yet to live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Taking it a step further, there are more than a
few Clark Countians who live in fear of Mormon bosses – one of my closest friends
has a Mormon boss, and he lives in fear of being the only executive on the
department’s team who isn’t at least nominally a Mormon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Harassment isn’t too strong a word, and while
I doubt if this is “official” LDS policy, it happens – just as does “shunning”
of non-Mormons by neighbors in heavily-Mormon communities (that I can speak to
from personal experience).</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
But that’s not really the point. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, the Mormon faith isn’t even the point.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
The point is that politics and religion don’t mix – they never have. It’s only
worse when the religion is controversial.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Any religious faith, if pushed hard in a political
campaign, can become polarizing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even a
fairly neutral belief such as conservative or reformed Judaism, or mainstream
protestant Christianity, even these can become polarizing in a political
campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bring in a controversial faith
– be it the late Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority” or pretty much anything having
to do with Islam, the Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses (to name a few), and you’re
going to polarize a segment of the political electorate.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
Polarizing the political electorate means driving potential voters away – for reasons
having nothing to do with the qualification of the candidate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jack Kennedy lost votes because he was a
public and believing Catholic. Mitt Romney lost votes because he was so closely
identified with his Mormon faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joe
Lieberman, a great and good man (for a liberal), lost votes because he was
well-known to be a faithful Orthodox Jew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In an election that close, his faith might have been the difference
between President Bush and President Gore.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
Is any of that right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course
not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even, “Hell, no!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
But it is very much human nature, which is why
every savvy politician who wants to win tries to avoid “taking sides” in a
religious debate. They recognize that any such debate will only hurt them with
some voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
At least if it’s the candidate’s own faith, most
do better by embracing their faith than to be seen running from it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
But when a candidate makes religion an issue – and
the faith isn’t his own – that’s just a bad political choice.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Enter this conservative candidate for judge, this
good man who’s not even a Mormon.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
Today he posted on the Facebook discussion group “Clark County Politics” a
fund-raising promotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reads:</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-add-space: auto;">
“Donate
to ____ 4 Judge between now and May 15, 2014, and WIN 2 BOX SEAT TICKETS FOR
THE PRIMARY ELECTION NIGHT SHOWING OF <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE
BOOK OF MORMON</b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Support ____4Judge
and win a chance to see the most popular show of the year with him on Primary
Election night.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Ignoring the poor grammar and punctuation, here’s
the kicker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE BOOK OF MORMON</b> he’s referring to is
a Broadway stage show, and a touring company of the play will be in Las Vegas
on primary election night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not being a
fan of Broadway shows, this was all news to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But if I’d known that, it wouldn’t change my negative reaction to this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
All I knew was when I saw the promotion on the
website, I saw <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE BOOK OF MORMON</b>
and a photo of one of the Mormon teen-boy missionaries, nametag, white shirt,
white socks and black tie – book in hand – on the promotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t read the fine print about it being a
Broadway show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
All I did was see this message, then react
immediately and viscerally to it. Seeing the promotion but not really reading
it (yet), I knew I had no desire to win a copy of the Book of Mormon – so the “incentive”
offered nothing to me. More to the point, I couldn’t for the life of me figure
out what a non-Mormon and otherwise reasonable conservative candidate for judge
was doing pushing a minority and clearly controversial faith – let alone doing
so in the midst of a purely secular election.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
So I asked him, and he explained that it was a popular show, and a good
fund-raising incentive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Frankly, I wasn’t
buying it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
Then another conservative climbed into the conversation, noting that “this big
hit Broadway play was prepared by liberal play producers in anticipation of
Mitt Romney’s presidential run in 2012 – I’m surprised that you are not
sensitive to the derogatory impact …”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br />
I don’t know if that’s true. Imagine – liberals wanting to mock a Republican presidential
candidate – hard to believe, isn’t it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
However, whatever the play is supposed to do or
say or be, I do know this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If two
conservatives – well-known local activists who both were prepared to support
this candidate’s run for judge reacted this badly, and for completely different
reasons – then this has to be a bad idea.</div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-46830322455642123382014-04-30T22:37:00.001-07:002014-04-30T22:52:09.544-07:00Arby's - when is 9:54 pm really 10 pm?When is 9:54 pm. really 10 p.m.?<br />
<br />
When I drive up to your drive through, clearly ahead of the 10 pm closing, and I'm told by the staff that you're closed. The staff was standing in the parking lot smoking. My watch and car clock, both set to satellite time and therefore accurate, said it was before closing. Your well-lit store and prominent street sign said you were open. Everything said you were open - except for your staff, apparently eager for an early closing and a quick cigarette.<br />
<br />
Did I mention that they were clearly far more annoyed with me for disturbing their early break than they were courteous to me?<br />
<br />
Did I mention that this was the third time I'd come by before closing, only to be told that you were closed?<br />
<br />
Three strikes and you're out applies equally to baseball and burgers - or in this case, to sandwich shops.<br />
<br />
You spend millions in advertising to attract customers, but it only takes a few lazy crew members and a manager who turns a blind eye on early closing to lose customers you already have. But don't worry. I'll be sure to tell everyone I know (via this blog) ...it's the least I can do to repay your staff's courtesy and attention to service.<br />
<br />
ADDED NOTE: I got an email from Arby's after I used their online form to file the complaint you just read. It was nice that they sent me a note. Not swift that they thanked me for my input instead of expressing concern that I'd had a bad experience - perhaps then suggesting that they'd get to the bottom of this for me. But then ... showing that they REALLY DO NOT HAVE A CLUE when it comes to customer service, they posted a harsh and aggressive confidentiality notice on the bottom of the world's most innocuous "customer service email" ... really swift there, guys.<br />
<br />
Here it is - we report, you decide ...<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
Dear Arby's Guest,<br />
<br />
Thank you for the feedback you shared with us regarding your recent
experience at one of our restaurants.<br />
<br />
At Arby's, your point of view and your experience matter to us.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Sincerely,<br />
<br />
Arby's Guest Support<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Notice:
This e-mail message and its attachments are the property of Arby's or one of
its subsidiaries and may contain confidential or legally privileged information
intended solely for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not an intended
recipient, then any use, copying or distribution of this message or its
attachments is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error,
please notify the sender and delete this message entirely from your system.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">PS - nobody can send you an unsolicited email with any expectation of privacy - so not only is this strategically stupid, it's also legally indefensible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I'm just saying ... go to Arby's at your own risk, knowing how deeply the staff and corporate management care for your comfort and convenience. </span></div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-49153150804097064152014-04-29T19:53:00.000-07:002014-04-29T19:53:20.315-07:00Take Chili's Restaurant - Please ... Picture five adults, having attended a beautiful and moving Easter Eve church service - filled with love, joy and happiness - heading to our neighborhood <a href="http://www.chilis.com/">Chili's</a> to top the evening with good food, well-served, in a pleasant atmosphere.<br />
<br />
Now picture that bus plunging off the bridge and being dashed on the rocks down below.<br />
<br />
Finally, picture the company adding insult to injury with their inept "online customer service" operation.<br />
<br />
Get the picture?<br />
<br />
Here's the story - and here's why you certainly do NOT want to repeat our mistake. Take Chili's off your list of places to go to enjoy good food and good service. Ain't gonna happen.<br />
<br />
We arrived at 8:30, well after the crowd had left. There were many tables vacant (unbussed) and it took three people ten minutes of desultory "cleaning" to get the table cleaned and set up. Clue Number One: "sudden service" was not on the menu.<br />
<br />
We were told that three waitresses would take care of our needs. Clue Number Two: that meant each one of them assumed the other two were taking care of us.<br />
<br />After we ordered our food, we got our soft drinks - drank them - then waited, and waited, and waited ... finally, I had to ask another waitress to tell our waitress we needed drinks. So two of them came, then all three of them again forgot all about us.<br />
<br />
After entirely too long with no food and not much to drink (even in the Spring, Las Vegas has a very dry climate, and people get thirsty easily), I asked to see the manager. The greeter paged him. Five minutes of standing there later, the greeter took it upon himself to go hunting down the manager, who'd ignored the page.<br />
<br />
He was a big, blustery man, and came charging out of the back with the bitt in his teeth - it took him a bit to calm down (didn't know if he was mad at me, or just entirely too emotional). Told him what the problem was, and he said he'd "go check it out and get right back to me." I didn't want to know what was wrong - I wanted it fixed. But later I'd wish that he'd even done that much.<br />
<br />
Still we waited. Finally diner for four arrived. There were five of us, but only four dinners arrived. Of these, one was a salad, one was just about right, one was barely tolerable, and one was so cold it had to be sent back to be reheated. Clearly, that food had been waiting for us to demand that it be produced. However, the fifth dinner (fajitas, which have to be served sizzling) didn't come for another five minutes - clearly, they hadn't started them until the other food had been delivered.<br />
<br />When the fajitas came, they were not served with a plate (if you've never had them, they bring you a hot skillet with sizzling meat, onions and pepper strips, a "tortilla" dish (with lid to keep them fresh) and a plate on which to assemble the fajitas. No plate. I had to use the lid from the tortilla dish (I could have asked for a real plate, but I was half-past starved by this time).<br />
<br />
Finally, we waited forever it seemed for more drinks, and our check. Still, no manager with his explanation. So once again, I asked the host to chase the guy down. Now I could tell he was really exasperated with me - the "tell" was his overpowering condescending attitude. I reminded him that he said he'd "get back to me" and he brushed that off, literally, like an annoying fly. Then he told me that he'd taken something off the bill (I knew that to be a lie - I already had the bill in-hand). We waited another ten minutes until the waitress got around to producing a second bill, with the least expensive item - the salad, the only thing that wasn't done wrong) taken off the bill. <br />
<br />
That made it all better.<br />
<br />
Back home, I went to the Chili's website to post a complaint. <br />
<br />
HINT TO COMPANIES WITH COMPLAINT FORMS ONLINE: Do NOT limit the size of the complaint to 1,000 characters (that's like nine tweets). I did what I could to lay it out in 1000 characters, getting even more annoyed as I did so. Finally I got it all in there.<br />
<br />And waited.<br />
<br />
And waited.<br />
<br />Then I got an email asking me for the name of the server, the name of the manager and the receipt number. Uh, yeah. I've got that.<br />
<br />
Finally, after several more exchanges that made me SO much happier, they sent me an apologetic-sounding form letter (as if such impersonal messages could be "apologetic" - I mean, how much added effort would it take to address my specific experiences?) telling me they would send me gift coupons or some such.<br />
<br />
It arrived today. Not an apology at all, but a "thank you" for "sharing your comments" and "providing feedback." Plus, a carefully-metered out set of two $10 gift certificates and one $5 gift certificate. Five adults had their evening ruined. The cheapest entree was comped. Then we get $25 - not as a make-good, but as a "thank you."<br />
<br />
If you choose to eat at Chili's, do so at your own risk. What was once a decent operation has become a total disaster, unable to serve food hot or on time, and even worse, unable to handle a legitimate customer complaint in a way that makes the customer feel better about the experience.<br />
<br />You've been warned. Stay away from Chili's ... Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-5932449778761725432013-12-23T18:26:00.000-08:002013-12-23T20:12:02.626-08:00Ron Q. Quilang - Candidate for NV Senate - Unleashed an Attack Dog ... on my Wife!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><b>The politics of A&E and GLAAD Come to Republicans in Nevada</b></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><b> </b>An Object Lesson on Why Employees With Tempers Should Not Have Access to Your Social Networking Connections ...</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>A Relatively Civil and Frankly Unimportant Online Dispute Turned Ugly When A Candidate's PR/Publicist/Strategist Attacked My Business and My Wife ... on Facebook</b></div>
<br />
I don't usually get "personal" in these blogs - these are about businesses, and my complaint is with the staff member of a Republican candidate for the Nevada state Senate. To the extent that a political campaign is a business, this does "fit" - but more important, this is an object lesson on why employers should NOT let employees (especially those with tempers) represent them on social networking sites. It is also an object lesson in the importance of being responsive to online issues. Where Cracker Barrel quickly learned their lesson and repented, this candidate said "he'd look into it" hours before his attack dog attacked my wife on Facebook, over a minor dispute about a posting on a Facebook site, one that was neither vulgar nor offensive.<br />
<br />
Here's the story ... <br />
<br />
<b>The politics of A&E and GLAAD Come to Republicans in Nevada</b> - A Republican Candidate's PR Guy just attacked my wife on Facebook because the PR guy and I exchanged a few more-or-less civil words earlier today, but they turned out to be words he didn't like. They weren't vulgar of offensive - he just didn't like them. So he attacked my posts, trying to damage my business - then he went a step further and attacked my wife. Earlier, I had warned the candidate that his guy was freelancing his anger, but all I got was an "I'll look into it."<br />
<br />
A few hours later, his attack dog bit. So much for responsiveness.<br />
<br />
For proof, here is a cut-and-paste from my Facebook page - note the first one is aimed at my wife, Lynn, who was not part of the conversation, nor is she part of my business, which Haynes is trying to damage.<br />
<br />
<ul class="uiList _4kg _704 _4ks">
<li class="pvs notification" data-gt="{"alert_id":"274896248","app_id":"19675640871","unread":"0","context_id":"64755723102","from_uids":{"100002142114502":"100002142114502"},"notif_type":"feed_comment_reply"}" data-notiftime="1387848825"><div class="clearfix phm compact_notif">
<div class="clearfix _8u _42ef">
<div class="info">
<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV" id="js_5">Andre Haynes</a> (friends with <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100006338076271" href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006338076271">Ron Q. Quilang</a>) also commented on <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1115632945" href="https://www.facebook.com/lynn.barnett.754">Lynn Barnett</a>'s <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lynn.barnett.754/posts/64755723102?comment_id=31614691&offset=0&total_comments=2">status</a>: "If you are seeking services from the top..." <a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="https://www.facebook.com/lynn.barnett.754/posts/64755723102?comment_id=31614691&offset=0&total_comments=2&ref=notif&notif_t=feed_comment_reply"><span class="fss">7:33pm</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="pvs notification" data-gt="{"alert_id":"274896004","app_id":"2719290516","unread":"2","context_id":"349898035111803","from_uids":{"100002142114502":"100002142114502"},"notif_type":"open_graph_comment"}" data-notiftime="1387848691"><div class="clearfix phm compact_notif">
<div class="clearfix _8u _42ef">
<div class="info">
<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV" id="js_4">Andre Haynes</a> replied to your comment on <a href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/03/ceo-gun-manufacturer-speaks-out-after-nfl-bans-super-bowl-ad?fb_comment_id=fbc_615978478458281_5403571_616148915107904" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fox News Insider</a>. <a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffoxnewsinsider.com%2F2013%2F12%2F03%2Fceo-gun-manufacturer-speaks-out-after-nfl-bans-super-bowl-ad%3Ffb_comment_id%3Dfbc_615978478458281_5403571_616148915107904&h=QAQHWnT95&s=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="fss">7:31pm</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="pvs notification" data-gt="{"alert_id":"274896003","app_id":"2719290516","unread":"2","context_id":"616148915107904","from_uids":{"100002142114502":"100002142114502"},"notif_type":"open_graph_comment"}" data-notiftime="1387848691"><div class="clearfix phm compact_notif">
<div class="clearfix _8u _42ef">
<div class="info">
<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV">Andre Haynes</a> replied to your comment on <a href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/03/ceo-gun-manufacturer-speaks-out-after-nfl-bans-super-bowl-ad?fb_comment_id=fbc_615978478458281_5403571_616148915107904" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fox News Insider</a>. <a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/03/ceo-gun-manufacturer-speaks-out-after-nfl-bans-super-bowl-ad?fb_comment_id=fbc_615978478458281_5403571_616148915107904" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="fss">7:31pm</span></a></div>
</div>
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</li>
<li class="pvs notification" data-gt="{"alert_id":"274895893","app_id":"2719290516","unread":"2","context_id":"142934502565869","from_uids":{"100002142114502":"100002142114502"},"notif_type":"open_graph_comment"}" data-notiftime="1387848632"><div class="clearfix phm compact_notif">
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<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV">Andre Haynes</a> replied to your comment on <a href="http://americanoverlook.com/north-carolina-passes-law-to-ban-islamic-law/103143?fb_comment_id=fbc_1382315801997794_170308_1429894077239966" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Overlook</a>. <a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="http://americanoverlook.com/north-carolina-passes-law-to-ban-islamic-law/103143?fb_comment_id=fbc_1382315801997794_170308_1429894077239966" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="fss">7:30pm</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="pvs notification" data-gt="{"alert_id":"274895892","app_id":"2719290516","unread":"2","context_id":"1429894077239966","from_uids":{"100002142114502":"100002142114502"},"notif_type":"open_graph_comment"}" data-notiftime="1387848632"><div class="clearfix phm compact_notif">
<div class="clearfix _8u _42ef">
<div class="info">
<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV">Andre Haynes</a> replied to your comment on <a href="http://americanoverlook.com/north-carolina-passes-law-to-ban-islamic-law/103143?fb_comment_id=fbc_1382315801997794_170308_1429894077239966" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">American Overlook</a>. <a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="http://americanoverlook.com/north-carolina-passes-law-to-ban-islamic-law/103143?fb_comment_id=fbc_1382315801997794_170308_1429894077239966" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="fss">7:30pm</span></a></div>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li class="pvs notification" data-gt="{"alert_id":"274798510","app_id":"2719290516","unread":"2","context_id":"404486166349185","from_uids":{"100002142114502":"100002142114502"},"notif_type":"open_graph_comment"}" data-notiftime="1387848582"><div class="clearfix phm compact_notif">
<div class="clearfix _8u _42ef">
<div class="info">
<a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV">Andre Haynes</a> replied to your comment on <a href="http://www.teapartycrusaders.com/u-s-news/lefts-mock-outrage-phil-robertson-said-tipping-point/?fb_comment_id=fbc_404480439683091_2004013_404486166349185" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">teapartycrusaders.com</a>. <a class="uiLinkSubtle" href="http://www.teapartycrusaders.com/u-s-news/lefts-mock-outrage-phil-robertson-said-tipping-point/?fb_comment_id=fbc_404480439683091_2004013_404486166349185" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="fss">7:29pm</span></a></div>
</div>
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</ul>
<br />
Is that how you want your Republican Candidate to hire and manage his staff? Is this the kind of Senator you want - a man who says "I'll look into it" but does nothing to keep his staff from attacking not only a fellow Republican the PR guy didn't like, but attacking his wife as well?<br />
<br />
I don't think so. At least I hope not.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE - </b>Andre' Haynes admitted to stalking my wife online in a Facebook Exchange - here are his comment: <br />
<br />
<a class="UFICommentActorName" data-ft="{"tn":";"}" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=100002142114502&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][0]" href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV" id="js_99">Andre Haynes</a><span class="UFICommentSocialContext" data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][2]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][2].[0]"> ·</span><a data-hover="tooltip" data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][2].[1]" data-tooltip-alignh="center" data-tooltip-uri="/ajax/mutual_friends/tooltip.php?friend_id=100002142114502" href="https://www.facebook.com/browse/mutual_friends?uid=100002142114502" rel="dialog"> </a></span><br />
<div data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]">
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0].[0]">If
you apologize for the blatant disrespect and remove the post that you
published on Ron Q. Quilang's page and the bog... <b>then I will remove my
post and no longer comment on your page or <i><u>your wife's</u></i>.</b></span></span></span></div>
<div data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]">
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0].[0]"> </span></span></span></div>
<div data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3]">
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[1ez04].[1][3][1]{comment10152422087790968_34941585}.[0].{right}.[0].{left}.[0].[0].[0][3].[0].[0].[0]"><i>(Please note that his idea of blatant disrespect is posting a message on an open Facebook Group in which I was a member, a message with useful content on how to write campaign speeches and raise campaign funds ... the disrespect is that Andre' Haynes sees himself as a campaign guru and felt threatened by my comment - when he asked me to stop posting, I did, but now he wants me to apologize for engaging in free-market capitalism, while following Facebook's rules ... go figure)</i></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006338076271&fref=ts&ref=br_tf">Ron Q. Quilang</a>, candidate for Nevada Senate from Las Vegas, has an attack-dog campaign manager named <a href="https://www.facebook.com/andrehaynesEMGNV?fref=ts&ref=br_tf">Andre' Haynes</a> - earlier today, we exchanged a few more-or-less civil words (no cursing, nothing vulgar, no insults - just a disagreement) over what was after all only a misunderstanding, but soon I could see he had no principles, so I just let it drop. <br />
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However, I did warn his candidate by Facebook IM that his attack dog had gotten out of his kennel (so to speak) and asked him to put a muzzle on Andre' before things got ugly. The candidate said "he'd look into it" - but two hours later, his guy tried to bite me.<br />
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I'm just guessing here at the guy's motivation, but (I'm also guessing that Ron the Candidate didn't do anything to make him back off), because apparently, my decision to end the debate offended Andre' too. And, because he really didn't like what I said to him, he started attacking my wife online. <i> </i><br />
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<i>Shades of the far Left - attack the family</i>.<br />
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Then he started going to dozens of Facebook conservative political discussion groups, attacking me directly and trying to hurt my business.<br />
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<i>Shades of A&E and GLAAD</i>.<br />
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As I said, I tried to get to Candidate Ron Q. Quilang to call off his dog (we traded IM messages on Facebook), but clearly, whatever he did was ineffectual, because he did nothing (nothing that worked) to stop his attack dog.<br />
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If this is the kind of Republican he is (not stopping his attack-dog PR/publicity guy from attacking family members while trying to ruin the reputation and business of a fellow Conservative Republican), then you need to think long and hard about voting for this guy.<br />
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If he can't or won't control his people, how will he represent us?<br />
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I would not have said anything about this (Reagan's 11th commandment) if Andre' had only attacked me. But he attacked my wife. That is out-of-bounds. It is harassment. It is NOT a Conservative value.<br />
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Think very long and very hard before supporting Ron Q. Quilang.Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-19562643936126845892013-12-22T00:17:00.003-08:002013-12-22T10:04:57.840-08:00Why Businesses Should Avoid Taking Sides - Humiliated Cracker Barrel Publicly Backs Down After TheyThumbs Nose at 200-Plus Million Current and Potential Customers<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Why I Won't Be Eating At Cracker Barrel Again ...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>My Cardiologist is Thrilled, But I'll Miss Their Great Food</b></span></div>
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<b>Update: Within 24 hours of this being posted (but I'm not trying to take credit - thousands also posted) - Cracker Barrel reversed itself</b>. <b>From a PR point of view, this was a sound move - trying to stop the damage in its tracks, and their statement on Facebook (scroll down for the text) was forthright-sounding, and it made no excuses. But larger issues remain, and this won't go away. For instance, why did Cracker Barrel decide to step into a huge cultural battle when it had no dog in the fight? The only logical reason for this knee-jerk and un-motivated action is that the management instinctively sides with GLAAD - which is at odds with their corporate image ... or, that they were behind-the-scenes threatened by GLAAD and acted under that pressure. Either way, they've lost the respect of millions of customers, and it will take more than a Facebook post to get it back.</b><br />
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<b>Another note - this is a major loss for GLAAD, when a national corporation decides to listen to millions of customers rather than a small one-issue pressure group. It could also pave the way for A&E to cut their losses and reverse their position before they lose the Duck Dynasty franchise entirely. But so far ... nothing on that front. </b><br />
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For no practical reason I can discern - at least not one linked to discriminating against Christians - <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/12/21/cracker-barrel-pulls-duck-dynasty-items/4162125/">Cracker Barrel</a> has just banned Duck Dynasty merchandise from their stores. They did this for a single reason: Phil Robertson, patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan, dared to speak out about what the bible says about sin, and to affirm how he believes what the bible said. When asked by an interviewer for a GQ magazine article - the Duck Dynasty patriarch didn't bring this up on his own - Robertson noted that in several places, the bible provides believers with a long list of sexually-related transgressions (sins) that can be committed by people, and both he and the bible say all of these sins were equally wrong, and no different in God's eyes than any other sins. </div>
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These sexually-focused sins include every kind of sex except sex between a man and woman who are married, one to another. This list includes sleeping with prostitutes (both male and female), extra-marital sex, pre-marital sex, homosexual sex and bestiality. However, I think it's important to note that the bible doesn't single out homosexuality as an especially bad sin, and it didn't specifically link that sin to bestiality, and neither did Robertson. The media did that.</div>
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Oddly, Cracker Barrel decided to go public with this decision on the same day that Walmart announced that it had sold out of the same Duck Dynasty-branded products nationally, and on the Internet. Like Cracker Barrel, and facing the same pressure, Walmart could also have chosen to pull the products. A company that makes $17 billion dollars in profits can afford to lose a bit on a few products. After all, they have a great many Gay customers, at least some of whom will be suckered in by GLAAD's hyperbole and A&E's craven venality. </div>
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However, the Bentonville retailer has a great deal of experience to standing up to - and staring down - "kill 'em all" one-issue pressure groups. Looking at the demographic balance sheet - 200 million-plus bible-believing Christians vs. maybe 10 million Gays - they decided the risk of offending Gays over a trumped-up issue was worth the reward of selling out a profitable product line and - even more important - letting bible-believing Christians know Walmart stood behind the idea of free religious expression. </div>
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By selling out that Duck Dynasty product line, essentially everywhere, and doing so within days of the kerfuffle erupting, Walmart's experience suggests that the Gnomes of Bentonville were correct in their balance-sheet decision to allow customers (not the company) to make the choice of buying or not buying Duck Dynasty products.</div>
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Walmart's commercial experience suggests that the Duck Dynasty-branded products are, at least currently, in huge demand. That more-or-less proves that Cracker Barrel didn't pull the products because they were poor commercial performers. Casting about for a valid reason, it seems clear the Cracker Barrel executives pulled the Duck Dynasty gear because they believe that they have both the right (<i>they do - we still have a free-market</i>) as well as the self-appointed duty to punish Christians who dare to speak out about what their bible says, and what they believe about what the bible says. </div>
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While that's legal, that's also pure, unmitigated religious discrimination. If this discrimination had been focused on Jews or Muslims, it would have been called "hate speech," but against Christians, it's not a problem. Ask yourself: would any mainstream American company ever dare single out and punish - for his beliefs - a Jew or a Muslim? Of course not. But apparently, the Cracker Barrel CEO and his minions believe that Christians are fair game. </div>
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Here's what they said:</div>
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"<i><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Cracker Barrel’s mission is Pleasing People. </span>We operate within the ideals of fairness, mutual respect and equal
treatment of all people. These ideals are the core
of our corporate culture</i>."</div>
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Let's analyze that statement. "<i>Cracker Barrel's mission is Pleasing People</i>." Question - how many of America's 200-plus million bible-believing Christians feel "pleased" by this blatant discrimination against one of their co-religionists? The odds are that very few bible believing Christians would feel pleased. Admittedly, tens of millions of Christians are too disengaged to have any opinion, but that still leaves tens or even hundreds of millions of Christians to be offended. </div>
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The very fact that the total audience numbers for Duck Dynasty are higher than the total number of Gays in America - and the fact that viewers of the show are just a small fraction of believing Christians - suggests that Cracker Barrel is on the wrong demographic side of this issue, and that millions of customers and potential customers will not proved to be pleased. </div>
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Beyond that, of course, any reasonable person who's ever been to Cracker Barrel knows that their core business audience is far, far, far more likely to be Christian and Duck Dynasty fans, or at least individuals who resent discrimination against fellow Christians who's only "sin" was to express their belief in the words of the bible, than they are to be activist Gay supporters of GLAAD. Consciously offending a significant portion of their core audience is just not a sound business decision.</div>
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Next, they said: <i>"We operate within the ideals of fairness, mutual respect and equal
treatment of all people." </i>Again, let's examine this.</div>
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Does discriminating against Phil Robertson for honestly expressing his beliefs that are clearly spelled out in the bible equate with "fairness, mutual respect and equal treatment?" Have they ever banned products from others who spoke out in favor of their religion? Have they ever banned a Jew or Muslim for speaking out in favor of one of the more controversial tenets of their faith? Of course not.</div>
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Now, because discriminating against Phil for his beliefs is - by extension - discrimination against all people who share his belief in the integrity of God's word as presented in the bible, how do those 200 million-plus self-professed Christians feel about Cracker Barrel's actions? Honestly, many of them won't know and, even if they did know, many of them won't care. However, the same lack of interest holds true for the Gays. Only a small portion of Gay Americans subscribe to the GLAAD self-appointed mandate to crush anyone who speaks out in opposition to one of their shibboleths. </div>
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Most Gays, like most Americans, are content to live their lives in a society that really doesn't care about Gays one way or another, and certainly doesn't discriminate against them they way they did 40 years ago. Laws have been passed, and Supreme Court has overturned state laws that discriminate, even in the privacy of the bedroom. In short, those days are, for the most part, behind us. </div>
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Further, as noted, some Christians who do learn about it won't care about the Cracker Barrel's actions, and a great many more of them won't ever learn about it. As much as those of us who live and work in the blogosphere like to think otherwise, not every American is politically-aware. Still, while perhaps a simple majority of the 200-million-plus Christian Americans won't care, we can count on at least tens of millions of Americans who will deeply resent this. They will not see the "fairness, mutual respect and equal treatment" in this action by Cracker Barrel. </div>
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Nor should they.</div>
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Finally, the Cracker Barrel statement said: "<i>These ideals are the core
of our corporate culture</i>." Clearly, that's not true - not unless Cracker Barrel views these ideals as applying only to politically-active (and aggressive) one-issue minority-privilege pressure groups like GLAAD, but that culture does not apply to the vast majority of Americans who don't threaten others when their perceived rights are trampled upon.</div>
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In short, the Cracker Barrel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Dilbert-Way-Weasel-Outwitting-Pants-Wearing/dp/006052149X">weasel-word</a>-loaded statement has no substantive value. It rings hollow, because their harsh and discriminatory actions speak far louder than their lame words of justification.</div>
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But what does this all mean? A&E is already losing viewers - and, as I write this, it appears that A&E executives have killed their golden goose - the highest-rated show in cable history is in a death-spiral, because the Robertson family seems set on not participating in a program that doesn't include their Patriarch - and A&E has backed themselves into the corner by jumping through a flaming hoop to suspend Robinson without even talking with him. </div>
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NPR did this when someone senior took offense at an honest statement by Juan Williams, long-time left-wing liberal commentator. Williams is someone whose job was to offer left-leaning opinions - he was supposed to be opinionated. He was not someone whose job was read the news - and who is therefore supposed to be dispassionate. </div>
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Here was his "sin." As a man hired to offer opinions and commentary, Juan Williams honestly admitted that he had an irrational fear whenever he saw men dressed in Muslim garb gathered on a plane with him. He didn't say it was right - he certainly didn't call for actions against Muslims - he just admitted an honest fear. For that honesty he was almost immediately fired. </div>
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Almost immediately after he was fired, Juan Williams was given a better and higher-paying job by the supposed right-wing Fox News, where he was given the absolute freedom to present any views on issues, providing an intelligent and courageous counterpoint to the right wing slant of the network.</div>
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Also, almost immediately, the public outrage over Williams' firing led to a dramatic drop in donations to NPR, as well as attacks by even liberal media. They empaneled an internal review board and quickly decided that their CEO had acted precipitously, but not wisely, and terminated her contract. Too late, of course, because NPR had already both lost an articulate member of their team, but their reputation for anything approaching fairness was badly tarnished. </div>
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It may come back some day, but not yet.</div>
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I predict that the same thing will happen at Cracker Barrel, for roughly the same reason. NPR is a non-profit and depends on donations from supportive listeners. Cracker Barrel is a for-profit and depends on revenue from satisfied customers. Anything that cuts into that revenue stream threatens NPR and Cracker Barrel.</div>
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I also urge those of you who are currently Cracker Barrel customers who also either believe in the bible, or - absent that - believe in a man's right to state his religious beliefs without losing his job - to <a href="http://www.crackerbarrel.com/404/?item=%2fcontact%2f&user=extranet\Anonymous&site=website">write to Cracker Barrel</a> or call them and tell them what you think. I suggest that you don't threaten them, or use vile language, or act anything other than professional. Tell them, instead, how you feel about their actions, and how those feelings will guide your future restaurant-selection decisions. Be polite, firm, and let them know. This is far more effective than signing an online petition (those don't hurt, but they don't help as much as people often think.</div>
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Cracker Barrel is a publicly-traded company. Executives leading that company - including the executives who decided to punish Robertson even at risk of falling profits - have a legal and fiduciary responsibility to preserve and enhance those investors' money. If, as the result of their action, the company starts losing customers, market share, revenue and profits - and I predict it will, as it's already lost me - then the Board and the shareholders can be expected to ask some sharp questions. Because there are no good answers for a for-profit company to trade away profits, revenues and customer good-will to advance someone else's political agenda, I predict there will be fewer executives still working at Cracker Barrel after the board - or the shareholders - get through evaluating the results of this recent action. </div>
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You heard it here first (I hope).<br />
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<b>Update - Here's what <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%22When%20we%20made%20the%20decision%20to%20remove%20and%20evaluate%20certain%20Duck%20Dynasty%20items,%20we%20offended%20many%20of%20our%20loyal%20customers.%20Our%20intent%20was%20to%20avoid%20offending,%20but%20that%27s%20just%20what%20we%27ve%20done,%22%20noted%20the%20company%20in%20a%20post%20on%20its%20Facebook%20page%20Sunday.%20%20%22You%20told%20us%20we%20made%20a%20mistake.%20And,%20you%20weren%27t%20shy%20about%20it.%20You%20wrote,%20you%20called%20and%20you%20took%20to%20social%20media%20to%20express%20your%20thoughts%20and%20feelings.%20You%20flat%20out%20told%20us%20we%20were%20wrong.%20We%20listened,%22%20the%20company%20continued%20then%20announced%20that%20Duck%20Dynasty%20products%20will%20be%20returned%20to%20its%20stores%20while%20apologizing%20for%20offending%20the%20shows%20conservative%20fans.%20phil%20robertson%20(Photo:%20iamsecond.com)%20%20Phil%20Robertson,%20the%20Duck%20Commander,%20speaks%20in%20an%20iamsecond.com%20video.%20%20%22Today,%20we%20are%20putting%20all%20our%20Duck%20Dynasty%20products%20back%20in%20our%20stores.%20And,%20we%20apologize%20for%20offending%20you.%20We%20respect%20all%20individuals%20right%20to%20express%20their%20beliefs.%20We%20certainly%20did%20not%20mean%20to%20have%20anyone%20think%20different.%20We%20sincerely%20hope%20you%20will%20continue%20to%20be%20part%20of%20our%20Cracker%20Barrel%20family,%22">Cracker Barrel</a> said in apologizing.</b><br />
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"When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck
Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was
to avoid offending, but that's just what we've done. You
told us we made a mistake. And, you weren't shy about it. You wrote,
you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and
feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong. We listened," the company
continued then announced that Duck Dynasty products will be returned to
its stores while apologizing for offending the shows conservative fans.<br />
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"Today,
we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores. And,
we apologize for offending you. We respect all individuals right to
express their beliefs. We certainly did not mean to have anyone think
different. We sincerely hope you will continue to be part of our Cracker
Barrel family," </div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-5147137632928968202013-12-19T22:14:00.000-08:002013-12-19T23:54:07.307-08:00Bad Business - Duck Dynasty Dropped Over Freedom of Expression Issue<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>A&E Shoots Self in Foot - Having First Put Foot in Mouth ...</b></span></div>
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Ned Barnett, Adjunct Professor of Business, Marketing and Public Relations, UNLV & MTSU</div>
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Author, Finances for Non-Financial Marketers</div>
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and ten other books on PR, Marketing and Advertising </div>
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This blog-site tends to cover mistakes that businesses make in dealing with their consumers - so the blogs I post here are usually aimed at dumb practices by bricks-and-mortar or clicks-and-mortar businesses. This blog is a bit different, but A&E is a business, and it has consumers, and in the past few days it has created a foot-in-mouth firestorm that is going to cost A&E millions of dollars of business and revenue - they will also alienate a lot of customers, and in doing so suffer a permanent loss of business.<br />
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<b>First, a disclaimer.</b> From 1973 until his death earlier this year, my oldest and closest friend was Gay, and while he didn't advertise this, he made no secret of it. He was also a member of a Christian Church, and prayed that God's infinite grace would save him. It's impossible for an honest man to have a Gay man who was, for 40 years, my very closest friend, my frequent business partner and my co-worker and also harbor ill-will toward Gays. I hold no such animosity.<br />
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But, like hundreds of millions of other Americans, I also believe in the bible - and I have a good idea of what the bible says about sin in general, and that one particular sin (among all the particular sins). Finally, I know that all people (including me) sin. So anything you read here that you "think" is anti-Gay is either your mistaken impression or, more likely, my own poor choice of words.<br />
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<b>Now, another (the last) disclaimer.</b> I have never watched Duck Dynasty - from what I've seen, I don't much care for reality TV, but beyond that, I'm not a hunter. By choice, I don't tend to watch shows about hunting. I prefer target shooting. I'm not anti-hunter, either - my son's a bow-hunter, and I'm proud of his skill - but hunting is just not my "thing." <br />
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However, I am passionate about the First Amendment (I make my living as a writer and communicator). In one sense, I do not see this as a First Amendment issue - a private company can fire or hire whom they please, and only government censorship is prevented by the First Amendment.<br />
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The idea that a man should be punished, publicly and financially, for expressing his own deeply-held religious beliefs, that is anathema in a country protected by the First Amendment's "free exercise" of religion clause. In addition, that this man was punished for sharing his mainstream Christian beliefs that are spelled out repeatedly in the bible - in a country with a nominal majority of Christians - well, that says something deeply serious about the culture war against those persons of faith in America. That's my other disclaimer, or caveat.<br />
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<b>On with the show (so to speak). </b> Those two disclaimers aside, and more to the point, since 1975, I have routinely been called in by clients and employers to resolve self-generated crises, and this is a great example of just such a self-inflicted business and PR disaster. A&E was pressured to take action when one of its stars honestly spoke of his honest religious beliefs - which is odd since he was hired because of those beliefs and because of the way he expresses them. A&E, in promoting Duck Dynasty, called this employee a "bible-thumper" in their show promotion.<br />
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But they were pressured by well-organized advocates who speak for a minority of Americans, as is their right. They have the same First Amendment freedoms as does Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty, to say what they believe in the public marketplace of ideas. However, unlike Phil Robertson, who asked for no censure or punishment for those who violate God's laws, leaving that up to God Himself, GLAAD insisted that any public figure who disagrees with them must be punished - including being deprived of their income.<br />
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The irony here is rich. By asserting the right to demand that others be punished for disagreeing with them, GLAAD, by necessity, must grant the right for others to demand that GLAAD and its constituents by punished for speaking out their own views. Either that or they're saying that only one set of views (GLAAD's) is legitimate of public protection, and that view can be found nowhere in the Constitution or in statutory law.<br />
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A&E, which is in business to make money, not to advocate for fairness or constitutional principles, felt the pressure from GLAAD, and decided to act. However, they didn't have to boot Robertson off his own show - they could have just decried his position and moved on. But they did choose to punish Robertson, and now, millions of their viewers will make sure that A&E pays the consequences for their one-sided and anti-religious stance.<br />
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<b>The Problem</b><br />
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A&E essentially fired key program cast member Phil Robertson for something he said. Worse, they didn't fire him for anything he said on the show, but for something he said to a reporter from GQ, a magazine interviewing him. Further, they fired him for speaking out about a topic that had nothing to do with the show. What Robertson said was a bit crass, but I take it that "crass" is part of his style, part of what makes the show a financial and ratings success for A&E.<br />
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I have read the <a href="http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson">comments</a>, which offer his perspective on what the bible says about all the varieties of sex a person can have that is outside of marriage. Basically, the bible says that any extra-marital sex is bad, and lists a number of examples, from infidelity to bestiality to homosexuality to male prostitution. <br />
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Here's the rub. A&E has promoted Robertson and his show for their bible-thumping religiously-conservative and very outspoken views. They attracted 11.8 million fanatic followers to the premiere episode of their current 4th season - a landmark viewer record for any cable program - and for A&E, that's a gold mine. According to some sources, episodes of Duck Dynasty have been all five of the top-five A&E shows of all time.<br />
<br />
In creating and promoting the show, A&E executives have all but egged Robertson on to become an outspoken redneck "character," and to do that for all for the almighty dollar. Now, when Robertson does nothing more than express his belief in the bible - which very definitely speaks out against all manner of out-of-wedlock sex, including infidelity, bestiality, homosexuality, the temptations of lewd women (the book of Proverbs is filled with that) and male prostitution. In this, he was acting in character as a bible-believing saved-by-Christ "bible thumper," exactly the character A&E bought and paid for - exactly the character who helped create the most profitable program in A&E history.<br />
<br />
Had any member of the A&E leadership team bothered to check their cash cow, they'd have known that:<br />
<br />
a. He believes what the bible says; and<br />
b. The bible says that homosexuality is a forbidden sin<br />
<br />
If anyone should have been punished (and nobody should) it should be the A&E executive who didn't bother to read his bible before unleashing the Robertson clan on America. Phil was just doing what he's always done - and what A&E had been paying him handsomely for. He was telling the truth as he saw it, citing the bible as his source of truth.<br />
<br />
Apparently, speaking the truth about belief and about what's in the bible has become - if not against the law - then punishable here in the United States, which was once a bastion of religious freedom.<br />
<br />
<b>The Solution</b><br />
<br />
Predictably, the Gay defense groups such as GLAAD immediately denounced Robertson for exercising his First Amendment rights of free practice of religion and free speech. In their eyes, free speech of course applies to anyone who will speak out in favor of homosexuality<b> </b>- as it should, because advocating for rights and respect for homosexuals is absolutely protected speech. However, in their eyes, that freedom only works one way. You're free to support them, but if you oppose what they stand for, you should be pilloried, fired, banished, castigated and mocked in public. That's their position, and they're entitled to it, but it does tend to make them look like hypocrites, and does make it harder for non-members to support their extreme and one-sided position.<br />
<br />
GLAAD also showed themselves to be clueless about Christianity. GLAAD's spokesman Wilson Cruz told the public that "<i>Phil and his family claim to be Christian, but Phil's lies about an
entire community<b> fly in the face of what true Christians believe</b></i>."<br />
<br />
"What true Christians believe?"<br />
<br />
If GLADD's spokesmen and leaders had just read the bible, they'd know that Phil Robertson didn't lie about what the bible says. The bible takes a harsh view on any kind of sexual activity outside the man-woman marriage bed, including homosexuality - but the bible doesn't single that out as an especially damnable sin. The bible - and bible-believing Christians - take it as an article of faith that all sexual activity outside the marriage bed shared by a husband and wife is on God's sin list.<br />
<br />
This isn't "hate" - as far as the bible goes, it's "fact." <br />
<br />
From a purely PR point of view, GLAAD could have decried Phil's views without trying to "out-Christian" a man known primarily for his Christian beliefs. It's just foolish to appear both more knowledgeable about a belief than it's believer, and to also appear so ignorant in public, especially when there are other options.<br />
<br />
But that was GLAAD. Their default message for those it opposes is a commercial "off with his head." No surprises there. But what about A&E? <br />
<br />
A&E, which had many options, decided that it's solution was to suspend Robertson indefinitely. They had other options. Take a look at their public statement:<br />
<br />
"<i>We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson's comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty</i>,"
A&E said in a statement. "<i>His personal views in no way reflect
those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and
champions of the LGBT community ... </i>"<br />
<br />
If A&E had stopped there, they would have expressed their displeasure at Robertson's statement - and his beliefs - and distanced the network from its largest-ever and most profitable star. End of story.<br />
<br />
Except ... they added one more sentence. They took a reasonable statement and pushed it into the realm of trying to destroy someone financially for the sin of sharing his heart-felt religious beliefs, beliefs backed by the bible (the best-selling and most-read book in history). A&E added: "<i>The network has placed Phil under
hiatus from filming indefinitely,"</i> and immediately all hell broke loose.<br />
<br />
Already, the Robertson family has rallied around Phil. They have said publicly: "<i>While some of Phil's unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse,
his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil is a Godly
man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: 'Love
the Lord your God with all your heart' and 'Love your neighbor as
yourself.' Phil would never incite or encourage hate</i>."<br />
<br />
<div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">
Much more important, however, the family is fighting back, with the only weapon they have - threatening to walk, calling into question the very future of the show that is the top-rated cable program of all time, and A&E's biggest cash cow. </div>
<div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">
<br /></div>
<div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">
"<i>We are disappointed that
Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his
constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working
relationship with A&E <u><b>but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show
going forward without our patriarch at the helm</b></u>. We are in discussions
with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.</i>" </div>
<div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">
<br /></div>
Along with that ringing but not unexpected rebuke, CNN reports that more than 350,000 people have already signed online petitions or in some other way "voted" against A&E. Those who are serious won't just boycott this one A&E program - they will vote with their eyeballs and their wallets and take their viewing elsewhere. With 500-plus cable channels, plus Netflix and Hulu and Red Box, those viewers won't be starved for entertainment - but A&E will be starved for the revenue they'll lose because of the way they caved in to a special interest group.<br />
<br />
There's real iron here - is A&E's suspension of Robertson is a kind of hollow suspension. It doesn't include next season's shows (which include Robertson in all of them) because they have already been filmed, and to throw them away to enforce the suspension would cost A&E money. The suspension, if it actually happens, will apply to next season (2015), but only if the show's renewed, and only if anybody still remembers this kerfuffle in 12 or 13 months.<br />
<br />
To me, this is a lose-lose situation, and for a couple of reasons.<br />
<br />
First, this action has already begun to polarize Duck Dynasty viewers who share a strong Christian faith with its star - and it's a fair bet that few of GLAAD's members are avid Duck Dynasty viewers. Beginning now, A&E is losing business, and it will only continue as the controversy roars on.<br />
<br />
Second, this is a "lose" for GLAAD because it exposes the group's intolerance to a wider public than ever before - and as Christians begin to see GLAAD as an oppressor actively stifling public expressions of faith and belief, they will see a backlash from those who neither want to victimize Gays nor to be victimized by Gays.<br />
<br />
Finally he big losers are A&E's shareholders, most of whom (statistically) are more likely to be at least nominal Christians than they are to be Gay, or passionate supporters of Gay advocate groups. Were I a stockholder, I'd already be asking the executives why they'd taken actions sure to "tank" the value of the stock. Wall Street doesn't give a tinker's dam about "causes." They care about profits, and when they see A&E losing viewers, stock prices will inevitably fall.<br />
<br />
I would not want to be an A&E shareholder today, nor would I want to be an A&E executive. Stocks will fall and heads will roll.<br />
<br />
But this should also concern any foresighted GLAAD leader, because as networks see the financial cost of supporting a single-issue advocacy group that has nothing to do with their (the network's) business, those networks will re-think blindly caving to GLAAD in the future.<br />
<br />
In the long run, the big loser is A&E - a bigger loser will be GLAAD (once for-profit businesses see the dollar-and-sense cost of blindly caving to their high-pressure demands).<br />
<br />
But the big winner may be bible-believing Christians, who come to realize that their beliefs are under attack, but that they are also not alone.Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-10023746972554157962013-12-02T01:06:00.000-08:002013-12-02T01:06:11.372-08:00WalMart - "Black Thursday" - Fail!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>WalMart Deprived its Employees of a Family Holiday to Force Black Friday A Day Early ... </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Three Days Later, it's a Ghost Town</b></div>
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<br /><b>Ned Barnett</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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It's no secret that WalMart, the "All-American" store that brought us "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," forced their employees to work all day and all night on Thanksgiving, trying to get a step ahead on Black Friday. The idea was to start the flood to WalMart early, and to keep people coming all holiday season.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Used to be that the local WalMart was jam-packed on the Sunday after Thanksgiving - my son used to work there when in high school, so I tend to keep an eye on things there. Four years ago, the paucity of patrons on that Sunday was a clue that the recession wasn't over (it wasn't) and that retailers would take it on the chin (they did).</div>
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<br /></div>
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Now, needing some new duds for a business meeting tomorrow, I stopped in late - around 11 p.m., intent on breasting the tidal wave of shoppers to get what I needed. When I got there, the parking lot was empty.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtMI08xEywMTNavzAGIV82Upng7KbSp3Tq3LvjKc9w9UNox76r6hi-JzxrSYQZVXOml8z0ymnPX-OmFEJjFejoF62fh7FCrdqqBIME7wQkS9U-coAAs_9UF4hWor9gYeG4hgE7kph9l8/s1600/20131201_232450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTtMI08xEywMTNavzAGIV82Upng7KbSp3Tq3LvjKc9w9UNox76r6hi-JzxrSYQZVXOml8z0ymnPX-OmFEJjFejoF62fh7FCrdqqBIME7wQkS9U-coAAs_9UF4hWor9gYeG4hgE7kph9l8/s320/20131201_232450.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
When I got inside, there were more employees than customers. When it came time to check out, there were two registers open. Having 16 items (not 12 or less), I got into the "large purchase" line - one woman was in front of me, and her total bill was under $6 - it took the clerk no time to serve me.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WubYpKH9HXAfabn494x8qX7oF1J160kdO5n_qjWuZl8Cc9v1DOeCPUQ3slGCn-QGPCN-fIPVTIfeZHVA4D4BVVOkGOzO5NX1lrdo7KMrisTOHunpGijUu2l9X8Af5wufB407b5c6FcI/s1600/20131202_001319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-WubYpKH9HXAfabn494x8qX7oF1J160kdO5n_qjWuZl8Cc9v1DOeCPUQ3slGCn-QGPCN-fIPVTIfeZHVA4D4BVVOkGOzO5NX1lrdo7KMrisTOHunpGijUu2l9X8Af5wufB407b5c6FcI/s320/20131202_001319.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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As you can see, there is nobody in any other line - nobody in the store at all.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the holiday spirit of Robbing Peter to Pay Paul, Walmart robbed its employees of a holiday, for no apparent gain.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Final note. I drove by Walmart on Thanksgiving evening - the parking lot was about as full as an average Saturday mid-afternoon. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />Bottom line - this is a big FAIL for Walmart, and probably for other stores who tried to push back "Black Friday" to Thursday. Next year, will it be "Black Halloween?"</div>
Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-7566310605611411522013-10-23T17:46:00.003-07:002013-10-23T17:46:44.648-07:00Merry Christmas from Amazon (NOT!) - 40% increase on shipping ... just in time for the holidaysOh by gosh by golly ... it's time for rate increase and folly<br />
<br />
I haven't written one of these blogs in a year, which means it must be getting time for some Christmas cheer. <br />
<br />
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<img class="rg_i" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSDyfJj06AI32__AdKofCTaMTbXp90EKxYn-qtU4MEpMyXsV6t6rC2RBssw" style="height: 93px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; width: 93px;" /></div>
<br />
This year, it's from Amazon, just named the "Official Grinch of Christmas 2013!" by Bad Business Alert.<br />
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<img class="rg_i" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR385Nfv19q02FWJTByzBnrKQRoGH3-aXYntizKsrsqudJ8ioNsLADKvfcr" style="height: 93px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; width: 78px;" /></div>
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<img alt="amazon.com" border="0" height="24" src="http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/gno/images/general/navAmazonLogoFooter._V169459313_.gif" width="126" /></div>
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<img class="rg_i" src="https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR385Nfv19q02FWJTByzBnrKQRoGH3-aXYntizKsrsqudJ8ioNsLADKvfcr" style="height: 93px; margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; width: 78px;" /></div>
<br />
With no fanfare, Amazon.com has just raised the "free shipping" threshold from $25 to $35 per order - and by may way of thinking, that's a 40% increase. Ouch. Forty Percent, and just in time for the gift-giving holiday.<br />
<br />
I don't know about you, but between the:<br />
<br />
a. Convenience and the<br />
b. Free shipping for orders over $25<br />
<br />
I've started doing a lot of my Christmas shopping with Amazon. We have no relatives any closer than about 1,500 miles away, which means even if I get a GREAT deal on a product, the shipping from Nevada to Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, West Virginia or North Carolina (where our various relatives reside) kills the deal. But Amazon doesn't charge sales tax (mostly) and if the product is $25 or more, shipping is free.<br />
<br />
Except now, the free-shipping threshold has gone up 40% in one swell foop. Suddenly, Amazon's not such a bargain. Especially since other stores are doing deals where you can order online and pick up locally, saving shipping and, in many cases, sales tax.<br />
<br />
Hey, it's a free country, and Amazon can do what they want when it comes to free shipping. And hey, it's a free country, Amazon, and I can go where I want to go to buy holiday gifts.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Beyond that, I'm a book junkie. I buy too many books, most of them on Amazon. Frequently, I'll pick out a book for $12 or $15, then go looking for another book that will take it over the $25 threshold so I get free shipping. </div>
<br />
But adding another 40% to that threshold makes the nearby B&N much more reasonable-seeming. The 10% off I get for buying the annual discount card zeroes out the sales tax, they've got great bargain sections, and I can actually check out the look-and-feel.<br />
<br />
Or if I prefer, <a href="http://cart4.barnesandnoble.com/op/request.aspx?stage=fullCart&UIAction=editCart">B&N online still offers free shipping on orders of $25 or more. </a><br />
<br />
But there are more local options, such as used book stores. In Las Vegas, that means ... <br />
<h1 class="ss-title" id="ss-name" style="color: #477eb4; font-family: EastMarket; font-size: 46px; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amberunicornbooks.com/#">Amber Unicorn Books</a></h1>
<br />
In Vegas, my favorite used bookstore (Amber Unicorn on Decatur just north of Sahara) offers a 10% discount that takes care of the sales tax, and if I'm just looking for a good read, it's usually cheaper than the combo of Amazon used book and no sales tax (shipping kind of kills the Amazon used discount).<br />
<br />
So we know that Amazon is the "Official Grinch of Christmas, 2013!" and we know that they've now made the bricks-and-mortar competitors, much more competitive. I suppose I should say thank you, at least on their behalf.Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8038320328914488968.post-80215215889039623842012-10-05T03:15:00.002-07:002012-10-05T03:17:31.831-07:00Waitress Asleep at the Switch at the Tap House in Las Vegas<a href="http://www.taphouselv.com/">The Tap House</a> is an Italian-oriented restaurant and bar - it dates back to '64, and comes with a few video games at the bar, some roll-your-own natural tobacco feature (the relevance of which escapes me) and a frequently-used meeting room in the back. Not the best food in the world (or even the best Italian in town), but it's pretty good for the price, and it's convenient. The Tap House is located on West Charleston, between Jones and Decatur. It also advertises itself as the "Home of the Cleveland Browns" in Las Vegas, and as a native of Cleveland, that's a good thing.<br />
<br />
Today I stopped by for lunch, and decided on a special, the French Dip, which came with a choice of sides. I asked if they put anything sweet in the potato salad, explaining briefly that I'm diabetic. The waitress answered, "we don't make it here." Then she added, "it's mustard-based potato salad." Since that usually means it's not sweet, I ordered it.<br />
<br />
When it came, I took one bite and it was sweeter than Frosted Flakes, so I didn't eat anymore. I expected, when the waitress came back, that she'd:<br />
<ol>
<li>Remember that I asked about the sugar content of the potato salad</li>
<li>Recall that I was diabetic</li>
<li>Notice I hadn't eaten more than one bite; and,</li>
<li>Offered me something else</li>
</ol>
I was reading and barely notices when she zoomed in, bussed the table and left the check.<br />
<br />
I had a choice - I could complain, or I could just let it slide. I made the wrong choice, let it slide. Then I discovered, on the way home, that I was both still hungry and frustrated. Wound up going back out for a reliable burger-and-fries, but it wasn't the same.<br />
<br />
So, two pieces of advice. First, if you don't like sweets, avoid the potato salad at the Tap House.<br />
<br />
And second, apparently, if you want good service at the Tap House, be prepared to stand your ground and ask for it.<br />
<br />
One more thing - their customer-comment form online at their website is as annoying as a Nevada Energy's computer-controlled phone-tree system. Not good. Ned Barnetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03061911547748210995noreply@blogger.com0