Lots of companies make the mistake of believing that just creating an online version of your services is enough to minimize costs, increase ROI and expand your market share.  What they forget is that bad implemented solutions (or weakly integrated channels) can hurt the customer experience more than the lack of service in the first place.

Today I experienced an attempt from American Taxi (americantaxi.com) to offer an online service with a process so loosely thought out that is leading to the “Perfect Storm” of bad customer experiences.

Being a satisfied American Taxi customer for the past 4 years, I did what I always do when in need to schedule a Taxi to the airport:  I call the number I have stored in my Cell Phone contact list and provide my on-file information to the attendant.  This time a new offering deviated me from my usual process right on the first step…

Here’s a description of what happened:

• I call the number and get a very long automated message announcing the availability of their new online service and  enticing me to use the site instead of the phone to order a taxi.

Hmmm…  Interesting… I didn’t know they had a way to do that online.  It may be useful to have it all set up so I can use it later if needed…  Let’s test it!

• I immediately hang up the phone without hearing any other options and type “www.americantaxi.com” on my browser.

Not very pretty.  Looks kind of amateurish, but the options are clear, no doubt what I need to do… Let’s move on!

• I click on “Order a Taxi” and then “Sign Up“
• I enter my phone number and click “Continue”
• The system shows me my Last name and address and 2 buttons: “This is me” or “This is NOT me“

Not bad…  Very easy and simple to use… The displayed information is a bit weird, part of the address (City, State and Zip Code) is truncated showing only the first letter and my last name is slightly misspelled…  Well,  despite small errors, this is clearly all my information so no big deal, I can always fix the information after I  register…

• I click the “This is me” button
• The systems returns a message “User Already Exists” accompanied by “If you forgot your password, please click here“

OK.  So it’s saying that I already have an online account (despite the fact that I never created one) with no help or hint on how that could have happened.  My only option from this screen is a link to retrieve my password, so let’s try it! (Who knows, maybe they created the account automatically and this is the only way to reset the password for first time users… hmmm…)

• I try the “forgot your password” link
• It leads me to a page asking me for my email

hmmm… How can they have my email if I never registered before.  Well, maybe I provided it over the phone at some point although I can’t remember anything like that.  Well, It won’t hurt to try and now I invested way too much time on this to give up…

At this point it is pretty clear to me that the process is flawed and that they’d probably migrated their call-center database to the internet without considering how the lack of user information in one system would affect the customer experience flow online.  Or, even worse, they created the new feature online and integrated their systems without mapping how their customers would navigate from one channel to the other and how they would interact with the new service for the first time, thus not planning accordingly for it.

Even though I know what is going to happen from this point on, I am now curious to see how far the problem goes, so I shut off my technical side, put my “User Tester” hat and go ahead as a regular internet user would.  I try all my emails and keep getting the same expected answer:  “the email provided could not be found”

OK… Nothing else I can do here.  Better get some help”

• I grab my cell phone and redial American Taxi’s number.
• The automated system AGAIN recommends me to use the website (I’M TRYING!!!!) and instruct me to press 1 to never hear that message again.  I press “1″ immediately and the system forwards me to a live person.
• It takes me a while to explain what’s happenning and even more to understand what the Call-Center rep is saying to me.  He  seems to have no idea the website exists or how to help me.  He gives me the company’s main number (the one I had just called) and asks me to call and press the option to talk to a representative (which is what I had done).

Ok.  They probably outsourced their call center operations to India, since the guy on the other side of the line has an accent so heavy I can hardly understand, but that is not an excuse for not knowing about the service that their own system was trying to sell me…
Disclaimer: I am Brazilian and also have a thick accent that a lot of people have trouble understanding, but then again, I’m not working on a call-center trying to explain to users how to register on my website.

• I decide to test my luck and call again, hoping to get some other person that can help me.
• The automated system YET AGAIN recommends me to use the website and instruct me to press 1 to never hear that message again…  I press 1 AGAIN and once more the system forwards me to a Call-Center representative
• I explain my situation to this new guy (apparently in India again, with a slightly heavier accent than the first one), and he tells me that I am having this problem because I already have an online account that was probably automatically generated at some point by their system, but without any real information besides my last name, phone number and address (which is exactly the information I provide every time I schedule a taxi pick-up).
• I ask if it’s possible to delete this account to create a new one or to provide me with the system generated login and password so I can go online and fix the information myself.
• He says he cannot help me since I am calling from my cell (which is not on file) and asks me to hang up and call again from my HOME phone number (the number on file).

I’m getting tired and very stressed with all these steps…  I can understand the need for security that forces me to call from a number the system can recognize and allow them to accurately identify me before providing access information to the site, but I don’t think any other customer would have tried that hard!!  I’m very persistent…

• I hang up,  grab my home phone and call the number again.
• SURPRISE, SURPRISE! The automated system once more recommends me to use the website and instruct me to press 1 to never hear that message again…  Once more I press 1 and this time, instead of forwarding to a live person, it goes through a never ending stream of options.  I press 7 for help.
• Another guy in India answers with heavy accent (I swear this was the worst one of all) and asks me something I really couldn’t understand.
• After repeating myself a few times (and asking the guy to repeat himself a few more) I was able to explain the situation.
• The guy first recommended me to do what I had already done (try to sign up), then to use the “Forgot your password” (which I couldn’t) and finally asked me to just login because I already had an online account (that’s what I’ve been trying to explain all along!!!).
• After a few more communication misunderstandings, He finally told me that my both my login and password were in fact my phone number

Wait… What???? All this security procedures and hoops they made me jump when their system generated login and password are the dumbest and most unsafe credentials EVER??? I don’t know what to think anymore…

Any perception I had from their 4 years of good service is being quickly erased and it’s all downhill from here.

I take a deep breath and continue…

• I ask him to wait on the line until I try it.
• I try.  It didn’t work…
• The system returns “Invalid Username or Password“
• I tell the guy what happened and ask him if I should maybe add dashes or dots to the number for it to work.
• He says: “hmmm…  Just a moment please…” and HANGS UP!
• My phone goes mute for a second and then I hear the automated system telling me “You’ve. Been. Disconnected…  Goodbye.“

Ok.. Now I really give up!

No need to say that, for all purposes, I am an unsatisfied customer who is never going to use their service again and has vouched to tell everyone how much their service sucks… (even though my problem wasn’t with their core service but with an extra feature I never thought to use until then)

The real issue here is:  By advertising a new (simpler) way to do something at the exact moment I intended to do it, they created both the need and the expectation of the service in the customer’s mind.  From that point on, my experience is defined by their PROMISE of an improved experience and not by any past good experience.

Past good experiences will fill up users’ reservoir of goodwill and allow you to make a few mistakes without jeopardizing the whole experience, but no amount of goodwill lasts forever and badly planned experiences can start a chain of events that will burn your users’ goodwill as fast as a Hummer burns gas.

If you don’t have the budget to correctly plan and implement the user experience, you are better off not offering any new online feature at all.  And if your competitors are starting to do it and you are afraid of being left behind, then MAKE THE BUDGET.   Either they will be successful and increase their market share (at the cost of yours) or they will fail to provide a good experience after creating a new demand and expectation in their customers’ minds.  Either way the bar will be raised…

…Does anyone know a good taxi company to recommend me?

Last week I participated in a very good discussion about the value of a service from both the agency and the client’s perspectives (see the post that originated the discussion and the follow-up post, both by @ginidietrich from Arment Dietrich PR).

It’s very interesting to see how passionate people are about the value of their work (and about the perception of value for the same service in the client’s eyes).  Despite how much this topic is discussed, I don’t think we will ever see a simple answer for it.

The problem here is that there are several different ways to understand “Value” in a service, so a “Value-based” pricing model will never be unique from agency to agency or client to client, and not even within the same agency and the same client.

To understand the value of a service, we need to consider 3 factors:

1. Expectations – No matter the case, value is a matter of expectation. Setting the right expectations from the start is, in my experience,  the only way to ensure satisfactory results and to avoid discussions on the actual value of the service provided.  (I wrote about it 2 years ago – click here to see the post)
   Now, how to set the right expectations? It is a mix of confidence in your own capabilities and knowledge of the market you work in. Each professional will deal with this in its own way, but successful professionals can set right expectations without any effort, because they know their capabilities and limits as well as the current state of their markets. This, of course, doesn’t take into account unforeseen circumstances, but remember that acknowledging the possibility of unexpected outcomes and planning for them is ALSO part of setting right expectations to your clients.
    
2. Trust – A good level of trust is essential to both sides. The agency needs to trust the client and, even more, trust the client’s products or services being advertised. No matter how much effort is put into the message, customers won’t be coming back and the campaign success will be short-lived if the service is not good enough for them.  Agencies that work with products they don’t believe are just fooling themselves (and their clients) and, in the long run, are compromising their relationship, results AND the perception of value to their services.
   On the other hand, the client need to trust the agency and its methods so they can give them enough room to do what they believe will work better.  Clients that question the agency’s strategy every step of the way don’t really trust the agency’s capabilities and intellectual authority.  They are looking not for brains to bring them solutions, but hands to implement their own ideas and strategies. There’s no real perception of value in this kind of relationship and there will never have any.  If you need to do a project like this, charge an hourly rate…
   My analysis here is that you CANNOT work based on value when there’s NO trusted relationship established with the client yet.
    
3. Risk – As with everything, a value-based pricing model is about taking risks (for both sides) and making them worthwhile taking (again, for both sides). The best approach is the one where the agency minimum costs are covered (no one will risk for long if they have to pay to keep working), the main fee is based on achieving expected results and there’s a percentage (bonus) based on overachieving milestones. Clients usually don’t have any problem in paying more for these stretch goals as long as they believe they are proportionally getting (way) more in return.
   Another approach is to agree previously upon separate cost streams based on risk:  
   -  A minimum monthyly retainer cost for allocation of resources for the whole duration of the project (no matter how long);
   -  A main fee based on specific goals and milestones ;
   -  A percentage of revenue, based on a pre-agreed KPI for results clearly above original goals.
   This way each party shares the risk of a minimum cost for believing in the engagement (or the need of the engagement), a fair price for its success and a premium for any extra ROI provided.

I know this answer is not a simple one, but I learned over the years that nothing is simple in our line of work, that client relationships can never be understood by simple numbers and practical wisdom (or just plain common sense) and real empathy are our best tools in the process of understanding the perceived value of our servies (see Barry Schwartz’s video presentation on Practical Wisdom at TED).

All in all, it is good that it isn’t easy or we would all be out of jobs…

Follow Luis on Twitter at www.twitter.com/luiserpa

Why put the responsibility on customers to check out recalled products that can hurt or, sometimes, even kill them? 

Yes, companies (or interested parties) try all they can to push the information to all involved so they can take action before something happens, but why not use the power of technology to avoid a potential customer experience nightmare?

Well, some ideas around that are starting to brew among California lawmakers:  program supermarkets computers to trigger an alert when recalled products arrive at the checkout counter.  This would be a perfect way to stop tainted food from ever reaching the consumers’ table.

The idea seems sound and is actually not that difficult to implement.  Most big chains already have systems in place to process marketing and loyalty promotion associated with products at checkout. Adding another trigger is mostly a matter of finding an effective way of distributing updated lists of recalled products.

Besides the obvious reasons to do this (say: saving lives!), it could save the companies a lot of money in handling after-the fact complains and, in the worst cases, negative publicity. 

I can’t wait to see something like this being implemented outside of California and beyond just supermarkets and grocery stores.  With something like that, the next peanut/pistachio salmonella outbreak may look a lot less scary on your grocery shopping experience. 

Wouldn’t you agree?

See original post at Vox Inc - Customerspective Blog
Follow Luis on Twitter at www.twitter.com/luiserpa

Some companies may say that a good experience is priceless, but it seems that someone at Belkin really thought that he could get a few good experiences for a lot less and now the company is paying a steep price to recover their customers’ trust.

The (dumb) idea was simple in concept: use Amazon’s Mechanical Turk Cloud Service to recruit “reviewers” for Belkin’s products.  The hired reviewers’ task was pretty simple: give the highest possible rating available to the products as if they had bought them.  The price tag for each review: just 65 cents!  (see full description of the offer in the image below)

The history was first published by The Daily Background and then reported on TechCrunch. Looks like it was all the action of a Business Development Representative named Michael Bayard and not a company-wide strategy, but the damage it caused is still the same.  After the spread of the article through the web, Belkin posted a reply taking action to fix the situation without denying or explaining how it happened in the first place.

The point of the story here should be obvious but I will spell it out it anyway: A good Customer Experience CAN’T be produced artificially!  It is always the result of good services and care provided to your customers and the results you get will always mirror your real intentions.  Alienated and wronged customers usually spread the word pretty fast. The whole incident is being called now “The Mechanical Turk Shilling” and the negative comments about it on the Blogosphere and twitter have been growing exponentially since Saturday.

I am betting that Belkin will be paying way more than 65 cents now to fix the situation, and nothing guarantees that their product reviews will ever be totally trusted again…

**UPDATE: It seems that Belkin was not the only one to try to leverage Mechanical Turk’s services to unethically increase scores. There are people paying good money to cheat a Twitter competition, the Shorty Awards.

See original post at Vox Inc – Customerspective Blog

In the midst of the economic crisis, while most banks are trying to keep attracting customers by offering higher interest savings and money market accounts, one bank (PNC) is thriving by focusing on delivering a unique online customer experience, specifically designed to target the generation Y (people aged 18 to 34, according to PNC demographics).

PNC created a product called Virtual Wallet that boldly discards all usual conventions from the banking industry, such as checking or savings accounts, and offers 3 types of accounts (dubbed “Spend,” “Reserve” and “Growth”) combined in a single solution.  They focused on two simple concepts:

• Twentysomethings consider bank sites clunky, and they typically don’t know how to manage their money (’We need help helping ourselves’)
• The Gen Y really understands how to take advantage of online resources.

The solution takes advantage of concepts borrowed from other online services, games, social networks and even e-Commerce sites with features like Wish-List, Financial Calendar, Money Bar, Danger Days and “Punch the Pig.”   That strategy is luring 130 new customers a day (20,000+ Virtual Wallet customers since July) to an account that otherwise could hardly compete with more aggressive banks in terms of paid returns. 

Defying conventions and betting on exceptional experience can cost a lot initially (PNC expects the project to cost about 15 Million overall), but the ROI is unquestionable: PNC estimates to break even 1 year faster than a similar investment on a new brick-and-mortar branch would have.

From that example (plus everything that we preach here at Vox), I can get 3 great lessons to any company in any industry:

1.  Don’t be afraid to defy conventions!  Know your customers, understand what they what and what they need and create NEW experiences that fit their expectations
2.  Test your concepts with real customers, watch how they react and behave and adjust your solutions accordingly
3. The best strategy in times of crisis is still to offer a truly great customer experience.  Marketing gimmicks and discounts can only go so far as… well, superficial wins…

 So… What strategy will your company follow to get over this crisis?

 See more about it in this article from BusinessWeek or in this blog post from Customer Experience Matters.

Sometimes companies will bend backwards, and spend a lot of money, creating ad concepts that will highlight how great their Customer Experience is, but no matter how much one invests on marketing campaigns, if the ACTUAL experience doesn’t correspond to what you’re promising, the message you send to your customers will be completely different.

One of those situations just happened to UPS and is quickly propagating through the internet (thanks to Jason Harle for pointing it out to me):

Step 1 – Take a look at this flash banner ad (It was originally found at The UPS Store website)

Step 2 – Watch this video (available at YouTube and at The Consumerist)

Step 3 – Repeat and laugh…

…

Now, do you think anyone, after seeing this, will believe the ad? Yeah, definitely a market budget “well” spent!

Stop right there!

If you were looking for some “how to improve your love life” article, you came to the wrong place. Rather, I would like to explore how the emotions involved in customer relationships are strangely similar to those you have with your loved ones.
…
Well, customers may be willing to share the object of their affection with a couple million other people, but the difference ends there… Like in romances, customers will become jealous if you favor others over them. If your company sees more value in acquiring new customers than in keeping a current one, the current one will leave.

Take for example wireless companies. To get into the proverbial bed with you, they lie and say they’ll treat you right. They offer you free phones, cash back, gifts and promise to take care of you and make you happy forever after. However, as soon as the sun comes up, or you’ve signed a two-year contract, you are tossed aside and simply added to the list of their many conquests. You, as an individual customer, don’t matter anymore.

Being treated this way is bad enough but then, adding insult to injury, the company continues to flirt with others right in front of you; making the same empty promises they made to you.

If your girlfriend or boyfriend treated you this way, how would you respond? Exactly!
Now, how do you think your customers will respond?

Oh sure, you may be able to fool a few and keep them with you for a while. But, as soon as the competition starts making its move and offering better perks, your customers are as good as gone.

Long romance or one-night stand?

Does offering all these perks to attract new customers really pay off when you treat them like that and they leave you in two years? Why not reward loyal current customers by giving them special offers or at least the same advantages as new customers when they renew their contracts. Better yet, why not offer them incremental benefits throughout the years?

It costs six times more to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one.¹

So, investing in customer retention not only saves your company money, it also leads to loyal, life-long customers and a higher return on investment.

In simple language: Set the right expectations, and be ready to invest as much in retention as you do in acquisition!

After all, one of the most basic rules of relationships is that if you are happy with what you have, you will be less tempted or willing to risk your relationship for instant gratification.

Is it time to break-up?

SPRINT has taken a somewhat unique approach to the customer relationship; they’ve flipped the table and are dumping their unhappy customers, (SPRINT is starting to cancel customers’ contracts when they call customer service too often).

I wrote an article about this topic last year (Bad, Bad Customer… No Soup for You!), explaining how companies were starting to identify customers who don’t measure up or are deemed too high maintenance.

I am not taking sides on this matter², but you can bet that outraged high maintenance customer is going to tell everyone she knows about your service and your company has a lot more to lose in brand awareness and public image than she does.

Having said all this, I ask again: Is it worth losing the one you’re with?

^{1 – Stevens, M. Extreme Management: What They Teach At Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Warner Business Books, March, 2002.
2 – You can read views of both sides on Seth Godin’s Blog “Treating different customers differently” and “The first thing“, and also at the consumerist.com.}

Originally published at Vox Inc Customer Experience Articles

As expected, what really stands out about the new Apple iPhone isn’t the multitude of features squeezed into it, but rather its usability and the overall Customer Experience provided.

Apple understands the importance of superior usability to enhance the Customer Experience and has done an excellent job of this since rolling out the first Macintosh.  Their approach has created a strong community of believers – and that’s the whole point!  Apple doesn’t have customers, they have Evangelists! When Apple receives a negative review, their customers fight to defend the company and their products.

If this doesn’t prove the importance of Customer Experience I don’t know what does.

Apple’s commitment to Customer Experience is why, on my opinion, their decision to enter the wireless market and partner with AT&T is so risky. I am very curious to see how the marriage between Apple and AT&T will play out from a customer perspective, as both companies seem to have very different ideas about what constitutes a GOOD Customer Experience.  Apple is a shining example of a company that creates passionate users by providing an excellent overall Customer Experience. While AT&T, like the majority of wireless providers I have tested, boasts about their customer service, but often fails to meet even the most basic customer expectations.

Will Apple bring AT&T up to their level or will AT&T’s poor customer service leave a permanent scar on Apple’s Customer Experience reputation?

Only time will tell…
 

Originally published on Vox Customerspective Blog 

In my last post (“Welcome Back! Long Time, No See“), I commented on how face-to face interactions are being affected by the reliance on technology, subsequently missing real customer relationship development opportunities. After posting it, I realized that it wasn’t very fair. Technology and CRM tools can be useful for improving the Customer Experience in real world situations with creative implementation. So I decided to devote a few brain cells towards imagining some scenarios that could be implemented with today’s tools and technology.  Here is what I came up.

Grocery Stores:

After a busy day at the office, Beth (our imaginary customer) is driving home when she decides to stop by the store for some groceries.

On entering the store, she goes directly to the first available Customer Service Kiosk and, having forgotten her “Preferred Client” card, uses her index finger to log in. The system shows Beth her current shopping list with her son’s wish list, added earlier at home over the Internet. The system offers Beth some interesting new products fitted to her needs and a list of personalized coupons. She then prints out her shopping list and coupons, sorted by the store’s aisle layout so she won’t have to backtrack.

As she shops, a chip embedded in Beth’s cart stores her information and a wireless device indicates her location in the store.

Beth is speeding through her list until she notices that one item is out of stock. Of course, the list shows several recommended substitutions for the missing item, but Beth is not sure which to choose.  She decides to ask for help and presses a Customer Help button on her shopping cart. A nearby attendant, alerted by an automated text message on his two-way radio, approaches her.

“Good evening, Ms. Johnson, It is good to have you back!” says the attendant.
“Are you by any chance wondering about a substitution?”

“Oh yes, thank you!  I was looking for a dandruff shampoo for my husband, but his favorite brand is out of stock,” she tells him.

“Not a problem!” He swiftly picks up his hand computer and downloads her list and shopping history. “We have several other good brands, but I see here that your husband bought ACME shampoo the last time he was here. Was he happy with that purchase?”

“Yes, I think he said he still preferred the other one, but this brand was ok,” she says.

“If you like, I can get one for you. If not, I personally think this other brand here is very good. It’s a little more expensive, but it is more effective,” he adds.

“Oh, thanks! I will try that one,” Beth decides.

Satisfied with her choice, Beth walks towards the checkout and a small display on her cart indicates which cashier has the shortest line. At the checkout, the smiling cashier greets her with a “Hi Ms. Johnson, did you find everything you needed?” while quickly scanning her purchases. As the cashier thanks her, she adds, “Did you know that you can call us ahead of time and have your whole list ready for you by the time you arrive?”

She didn’t know that, but she is already considering doing that the next time she shops.

. . .

Forget all the Sci-Fi movies’ wildest predictions (although Minority Report has an interesting take on possible future customer experiences), the example here is imagined, but quite feasible with today’s technology. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is already doing something like it already. 

Are you? 

Maybe I am a pessimist, but I think many companies today focus all their efforts and budgets on projects that don’t solve their main problem. They wait too long to realize when they need specialized help. It’s like being concerned with making dinner while the house is on fire. You don’t call 911 until the whole house has burned down. Do you think the firemen can help you now?

If you work in a corporate marketing department with more than 1,000 customers, you probably spend your days looking for creative ways to obtain new customers and increase revenue. Doubtless, you’ve read at least one Customer Experience article lately and you agree that the best way to keep your customers is to improve customer interactions to meet their expectations. However, all your annual budget and goals are directed to acquire new customers, not retain current ones.

What most companies fail to understand is that the road to credibility and profit lies in devoting at least some of their investment and attention to Customer Experience. The numbers confirm this: It costs 10 times less to maintain a customer than to obtain a new one. It also costs 10 times more to recover one lost customer.

So now, all you have to do is get a holistic view of your customers, evaluate all their interaction points with your company, and implement a strategy that would be valid across all channels. Shift your perspective. It may sound overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

There are two ways to get hold of the idea and change how you approach your business:

1. Step-by-Step
   • Improve the Customer Experience in small projects. Look for low hanging fruit
   • Constantly review and gradually expand the scope — as you measure results
2. Top-Down
   • Gather related data and numbers
   • Show the merits of customer-centricity to top management
   • Implement a company-wide Customer Experience strategy

Either way, you must realize that the fire is already burning. The market is changing. Customers are becoming more demanding and savvy. Companies are speeding up to adapt and you cannot risk being left behind. It’s a mindset change but it just takes the effort to look at things from a different angle. Refocus how you use your marketing budget. Think about how you’ll see a better return on your investment as you grow your business.

Don’t wait for others to make their move. Most of all, don’t wait for your customers to make their move! Call 911!

*Originally published in May 19, 2006 at http://www.voxinc.com/customer-retention-shift-your-perspective.htm

I just read a entry on Seth Godin’s Blog that can be very helpful for people working with Call Centers and Customer Services.

As always, Seth’s guide is simple and obvious, as it is supposed to be. But again, it may not be so obvious, given the number of companies that still have no clue on how to do it right…

I usually say that I am a very practical person. I am proud of my capacity to research the best possible deal before purchasing anything. Moreover, when asked, I always say that price DOES matter to me. It matters a lot!

Well, if this is true, why do I frequently end up paying more for the products and services I buy?

To answer that, I started recalling my last purchases.

• First, my wife’s birthday present – OK, that doesn’t count… I couldn’t be concerned with price on a special date. It HAD to be the right gift!
• Second, our last vacation - Yeah, I didn’t get the cheapest package available, but it was our vacation! Why not seize the moment and get something better.
• Finally, our last grocery purchase - That should be an easy one… Hmm… I could have bought less expensive stuff, maybe used some coupons. But what can I do if the products I like most are not on promotion. After all, I can’t spend all my valuable free time saving a cent or two.

After analyzing that, I came to the conclusion that nothing really went wrong and that, despite my bravado about low prices, what really matters to me is the tingling feeling that I made the right choice and bought what I really wanted or what I really needed, for me and for my loved ones. There is no better deal than that!

Yeah, well. I think I am no different from any other consumer after all…

*This post was originally published at the Customerspective Blog

A Man in Malaysia Gets $218 Trillion Bill. How does something like this get past the billing department?!?

See the story here.

*This post was originally published at the Customerspective Blog