I just discovered Satisfaction: http://getsatisfaction.com/

through Jeffrey Veen: http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000974.html

I really look forward to this picking up.

Speaks to how much “corporate” language or language void of human eccentricities is the status quo.

I happily switched to the iphone and att and now I am paying less than half of what Verizon was going to charge for a far SUPERIOR phone. Plus my finacee, all my family, and all 3 roommates are on att. So, I should save some minutes now

Did you know you can check the status of your shipment online?

Well, I know the status, I checked that online. Now how about a solution to get my parcel to the customer?

Then again, some people there do make a difference and try to get things solved, while others…are just answering the phone.

Otto

So, I went and checked out the iphone. Wow. That this is pretty damn cool. There are a few things about it that irk me. Like the battery, No Outlook syncing (I know I suck since I use a PC still right?), no third party applications except on web and a few others. But, what really blew me away were the service plans for the iphone. They kick ass. I want data, but I am not willing to pay $50 more for it with Verizon.

I have been a Verizon FAN for 5 years now. By Fan, I mean that I would tell people how much I love their cell phone service and that customer support has always been good to me.

Now, with my curiosity peeked from testing the iphone, I called Verizon to get a plan for my Pocket PC Phone that matched that of their competitors. I tell the first CSR that I have been a loyal FAN for 5 years with no billing troubles with me. She agrees to that. So, I tell her about ATT’s plans and how I was thinking about jumping ship. I asked her if Verizon could match or come down to the vicinity of the ATT plans. She said it would cost $50 for data on top of the $75 I pay already for 100 minutes less for equivalent iphone plan. So, I asked to speak to a manager. I told him I had been a fan of Verizon for 5 years, always paid my bills, and before I jumped ship, want to give them a chance to competitively match or come close to the ATT plan. I told him I wasn’t trying to ask for something ridiculous, but this was a competitor and this is what the market is asking. He tried to help and said the best he could do was add an extra 100 minutes and give me data for $45 a month. I told him that just wasn’t going to cut it. He offered me a free phone or a generous amount off a new Pocket PC phone. I told him that phone wasn’t really the issue and the extra 100 minutes were not either, but the data service was. He tried to use the iphone costs $600 dollars and is expensive route. I cleverly pointed out that they were charging me $50 more per month and 12 months X $50 = $600. Interesting. The iphone would easily pay for itself in a year. PLUS I could sell my current Pocket PC Phone and 10gb ipod for roughly $300 total (according to closed ebay auctions). Then, he offered me a free month service to stay. I again told him I don’t mind paying for my service, as long as it was competitively priced. He told me he couldn’t match Att’s plans, valued my business, and was truly sorry. I then asked if my contract was up and he stated that had been for close to two years. Again, I tried to show him I had been loyal to Verizon even though there was no contract binding me in place and I was giving the opportunity to keep my business by offering me a competitively fair (fair being the keyword) market price for their solutions. Again, no go. So I told him thank you and it was unfortunate to have leave their services and go to a competitor.

As a service provider myself, if I had a loyal, good customer who was willing to let me keep their business, I would most definitely do it as long as it was fair and within the markets price range. If Verizon would have done this for me, I would have been a HUGE FAN telling everyone I know about the awesome service and support from Verizon. Instead they lost a customer of 5 years. Too bad. I think this is a good lesson to anyone starting a web service. Create fans and keep them. Try not to turn away customers who are willing to pay fair market prices and increase your brand equity by being a fan.