That ol’ time snake oil GAR-an-tee!
Quick, what is your immediate reaction to this? Me? I see “scam” flashing in bright red lights. They’re going to have all kinds of conditions before (if ever) you get your money back. (Imagine “GAR-an-teed!” drawled by a sweaty Burl Ives, in a wrinkled white suit, holding a bottle of cure-all and you’ll be on my wave length.)
My blogging buddy, Bruce Fryer (you meet the nicest people here in blogville) recently suffered through Logo Limbo. He made the mistake of taking an online logo factory at their word. Of course, once they got him hooked, it was too late. That guarantee? Oh, sure, but they’d also keep $75 of the original $400 price. Bruce, being smart, got his money back but only because he stood up for himself.
Which brings me to the sorry state of service in America. People whine about it but most will just pay up and move on. Which isn’t good for us as either vendors or customers. If you’re a vendor and offer a guarantee - mean it (and allocate contingency costs accordingly). If you’re a customer - be accountable, be reasonable and don’t let that sweaty fella in the white suit get away with it. Otherwise, things will never get better.
View the Blog Roll
March 2nd, 2006 at 8:29 am
I always say to clients, “Guaranteed… or what? You’ll donate $1000 to my favorite charity?” Sad to think “Satisfaction Guaranteed” has become such an empty phrase. And it’s not even enough to say “or your money back” and MEAN it. There almost has to be a remarkable quality to this phrase… something that goes above and beyond the simple promise of returning all your money.
If a business is gonna talk the talk, they better walk the walk…
March 2nd, 2006 at 9:38 am
If you may a big point about talking about something like this, rather than doing, it’s time to read the fine print. Contrast this to LogoJeez “Pay AFTER You Receive Your Designs - if you are not satisfied, you don’t pay any amount.”
Now that’s pretty darn clear.
…Bruce…
March 9th, 2006 at 11:08 am
[…] Related Posts: No, we never, ever want to talk to you, our customers. That ol’ time snake oil GAR-an-tee! People who need people Customers – service versus processing […]