WTF???? Customer Service??!! What's That!!??

Something happened today that hasn't happened to me in years... I received customer service. Now, I know I got a glimpse of it from Adobe a few months ago, but I had to push to get it, after being transferred to several different people in different departments.

I ordered a book of TV and radio contacts to move to the next level and try to get some national media spots to talk about the book, give dating advice, talk about upcoming projects, and just all around entertain. The contact list is not cheap; it is $350 for a year. It's $700 if you want monthly free updates for a year (the industry changes fast and it's wise to keep updated). I ordered the book w/out the udpates. Well, they screwed up and didn't mail it to me Monday like they were supposed to; so, when I called them about it, they apologized and today, they called to tell me they will be giving me the updates for free. So, I got $350 of free updates w/out having to make a complaint or anything (and I wasn't going to; it was a minor error). I must admit, it was very cool and felt great. You'd think more companies would have customer service. Also, when I called their 800-number, I got a person! No "type in the bra size of your mother's maiden's name's best friend's neighbor," or anything like that. Pretty impressive!

Apple's Lame Mac Commercials

I have grown tired off Apple's commercials with the two guys pretending to be computers. One is a young, attractive man, intended to lure us in to buying a Mac. Ooh. Yes, I suddenly want a Mac. The other man is older, wears glasses, and is dorky. He represents PC. Boo! BOO! I smashed my PC after seeing this clever commercial and went out to by a Mac. Unfortunately, none of the four stores I went to carry Macs.

What a clever marketing plan. Yes, it is very clever to compete in this manner. It is not at all the lamest form of advertising to attack the competition. It doesn't look at all desperate. And, the smartest thing in the world a company can do in its advertising, is to mention the name of the competition, oftentimes more than mentioning their own name. Yeah, that's what you should do in an ad. Attack the competition, mention their name a bunch of times, and then don't do anything to stock the most frequented stores with your brand. This way, when people who see the commercial run out to buy a Mac and can't find one in convenient stores, they will just stand there, staring at a bunch of machines put out by the competition that you mentioned a bunch of times. Yup, get them eager to buy computers, then out to the stores to just stand there and stare at your competition's machines. It would not even occur to these eager customers to buy a PC . . .

What a great ad for PC's--er, I mean Macs. Great ad.