Public Relations Princess

TSA & Airlines Discriminate Against Girls With Curly Hair

Preparing for a recent trip to Washington D.C., I made my first-ever attempt to board a plane without checking my bag. I went to Target and spent a fortune on those special little 3 ounce bottles and travel-size beauty products.

When I got to the TSA security gauntlet in Des Moines, a very official TSA agent pulled me out of the line for a "special" screening. Then I was delivered some bad news. "You're only allowed a sandwich bag size bag of liquids," Mr. Screener infomed me. "You have more than twice the amount that is allowed. You are going to have to check your bag."

Not only was this going to make me potentially late in boarding my plane, but the TSA was essentially forcing me to pay a $25 bag fee. I think they must make a special commission on curly-haired girls like me. Here's the secret memo:

To: All TSA gate screening agents

From: The Money Grubbing Airlines

We have noticed that women with curly hair rarely can get through security with the regulation sandwich bag full of toiletries. Snag any of these violators and we will go half-sies with you on the bag fee that they'll have to pay for violating our arbitrary rules.

Secretary Napolitano can't understand why all these frilly chicks are bitching about the regs. Why can't they just use soap and a washcloth like the rest of us? 

So here's what I tried to bring through security:

1. Shampoo
2. Conditioner
3. 2 bottles of hair gel
4. Toothpaste
5. Facewash stuff
6. Facescrub stuff
7. Lotion
8. Babyoil (makeup remover)
9. Bodywash 

As you might surmise, this lack of product for my curly hair would be a disaster. So, instead of throwing my newly-purchased, carefully filled bottles away, Mr. TSA agent perp-walked me over to the exit lane (after my gloved groping by someone who actually turns out to be a Facebook friend) and I was forced to return to the check-in line at Delta, now filled by last-minute slackers.  

So I can only imagine how much money is being made from curly-haired girls like me. How could I possibly survive with this teeny little bag of toiletries? I mean, come on. This is ridiculous.

By the way, TSA, you're sending mixed messages to the public. Here is the picture on your website that says what the bag should look like. The bag pictured clearly contains more than three containers. That is what I looked at before packing. So get your story straight, and stop embarrassing your well-intentioned passengers.  

Dell CAP Days: Listenpalooza

Upon the invitation of Dell, I was asked to participate in the very first Dell Customer Advisory Panel (#DellCap on Twitter). My complaints about Dell's products and service preceded their invitation, and I'll have to admit I was surprised they invited me to participate. I honestly didn't think it would do any good. Oh, and by the way, YES, I did get to meet the one and only Mack Collier in person!

I'm back home from Austin now. What a great city! My husband has a big crush on Sandra Bullock and was very jealous that I was in the same city where she has a home. I can see why she likes it...what a cool place!

The people at Dell couldn't have been any kinder. They truly listened to our concerns, and even had an artist capture our ramblings in a unique way, and shared those drawings publicly. In fact, the Dell folks encouraged us to blog or tweet the entire proceedings.

I originally thought that I would be one of a much larger group of people and that the gathering would be rather cold and impersonal. I was surprised to find myself in an elite group of a dozen people, who, like me, had complained about Dell via social media such as Twitter or a blog. The group ranged from a very successful management consultant and Fast Company blogger to a self-made coupon queen. There were also a couple of social media consultants like me. There were also just regular people, not involved with the social media industry in any way, but had utilized social media in frustration.

The day was structured but there was plenty of time for us to have an open forum to voice our concerns, in fact, the very first session was an opportunity to talk about our main concerns. Very quickly, the conversation centered around two themes: The outsourced customer service function (time lost on the phone and frustration over a scripted call),inferior products and proper use of social media were the three main themes.

The participants made it clear that the current customer service experience at Dell has several major flaws:

1. The time spent by the average customer to RESOLVE an issue is unacceptable
2. Oftentimes, the person who is answering the phone is not well trained
3. For some people, the slight voice delay, coupled with the strong accent of some customer service reps, is a deal-breaker during a frustrating encounter
4. There is no sense of urgency or "escalation" from the reps. There is a vast difference between user tech savvy and ability. When something is seriously wrong, the person calling should be offered some choices.
5. "North American support:" Dell business customers get a much higher level of competent support than home customers do.

The second main topic of conversation was the reliability of Dell's products. Here are the main complaints I heard (and some I have experienced first hand)

1. Shipping delays (sometimes more than a month behind what was promised)
2. Part failure within the first year of ownership (this happened to me times three)
3. Software problems (Vista to Windows 7 upgrade problems)

Social media usage was the third hot topic. Though Dell gets widely credited for its innovative use of social media, that's not what we heard from Dell staff. They admit they dropped the ball and went after shiny objects, while allowing their social media customer service efforts to languish. While they were busy creating fan communities, giving speeches and receiving accolades, many people like me were stuck in what is known in the biz as "Dell Hell."

Dell has recommitted to using social media in customer service settings, more than doubling their social media listening team to be able to respond to customer concerns with actions, rather than just pacifying or ignoring complaints. I do believe they are improving this area and are committed to making things right for those who complain in the social media space. If those customers are anything like me and my fellow DellCappers, they went through the proper channels for service, and only turned to bitching online as a last resort.

I came to Austin with no expectations and kept an open mind. I meet and talked to many passionate and committed "Dellies" who are, no doubt in my mind, absolutely dedicated to making things better for their customers. I still have a few pending issues to resolve with Dell, but have decided to take those offline now. I feel very good about wrapping it up on a positive note.

One of my new Dell friends sadly noted that it might be too late to regain my business, but she wanted to learn from my experience so that future customers would be served better. Thanks, Dell, for a great experience, and I'll be watching online for more satisfied customers in the future!

Dell CAP Days

A few months ago, I told you the sad tale of how I went from a Dell brand advocate to a very dissatisfied customer. A couple of weeks ago, Dell asked me to participate in a Dell Customer Advisory Panel (CAP) at the home office in Austin TX. I am on my way there. I wanted to give my readers a chance to participate in CAP remotely by sending me their suggestions on how Dell can reclaim OUR trust and improve its products and services.

I have three main beefs with Dell. Briefly, they are:

1. Their products are unreliable: Out of five laptops I've purchased in the past two years, two were stolen and the other three had major flaws in hardware within an average of six months after purchase.
2. Dell's decision to outsource its main customer service function to India is not working for me and thousands of other Dell customers.
3. Dell's widely hailed social media effort has some major flaws when it comes to helping people who are having problems.

I have some suggestions on how Dell can improve its products and service. I hope they are truly open to listening to me and my fellow Dell customers. I have my doubts. I talked to two of my Tweeps in the last week who told me that Dell separated its CAP Days group into "complainers" (Tuesday) and "fans" Thursday, complete with a welcome Tweetup Wednesday night. Alas, my Dell plane ticket whisks me home a few hours before the Tweetup. Boo Hoo. I guess the complainers will all miss out on the fun.

I do give Dell credit for at least have the courage to invite me down to talk. I hope it helps to actually meet me face to face, so they can see I am a real person, not just a whiner.

I will probably not live tweet or blog the events on Tuesday, but will try to hop on and update my blog or Tweet periodically. Please leave your suggestions on how to help Dell improve in the comments section of this post. You can bet I will include them and Dell with most certainly be reading them as well.

Stay dry, Iowa.

The PR Princess,  In Transit

Jodi and Steve's Dell Fail Story

I never had any intention of being a consumer advocate for those who have had problems with Dell computers. But this story, sent to me by a young lady I have never met, was too compelling to leave alone.

After I posted on my blog about my bad experience with Dell, people started coming out of the woodwork. "The same thing happened to me!" many of them say. This story is about a young couple named Jody and Steve, who live in Indiana.

Here is the text of Jody's email:

Hi Claire:

I just read your blog and I am having the exact same issues. I've had 5 replaced hard drives in less than 2 years. The most recent on in September. Which was the worst timing ever. My husband died September 1, 2009. My computer crashed September 24, the day before our 1st child was born, erasing every photo I have taken of my husband in the last 2 years. I lost everything.

I call Dell. 9 hours over 3 days and I FINALLY get some help. They dispatch someone to my house. They give me refurbished equipment AGAIN!! Now 6 months later same issue. Do you have the email address for Brad Laurich Community Liaison Dell? I truly need some help. I can not afford to buy a computer. I should NOT have too. I paid a lot money for this thing, bought the warranty and it suppose to work! Thank you for your blog! I hope you win your case! I've listed the link for my husbands obituary and a picture of us just so you know I'm not blowing smoke.

Jodi

Does Dell really have to get out its rule book to know that this lady is truly deserving of a new machine? Or to have new hard drive sent to see if any pictures could be recovered?

In my situation, it's been "One Week Since Dell's Talked to Me" and I'm still waiting. I did discover that Dell is doing a terrific job letting customers vent on its Facebook "Fan" page, but that there are no fans to discover once you get there, just a bunch of very mad people.

Dell, I'm waiting for your help and a fair resolution to my problem.

How Dell Computers Lost My Business Forever

Today, I was forced to tell a company that I have done business with for five years that I would have to sue them in small claims court for losses I sustained to repair two brand new computers.

Dell is a company that had so much promise. It has squandered that good will not only once, but twice. A few years back, with their stock prices in the tank and complaints about bad service at an all-time high, Dell's management made a decision to start listening to bloggers and try to improve their service.

Along the way, they lost their reasoning skills. At least in my situation, they've lost their common sense.

My story is a bit complicated. I bought three new laptop computers from April 2008-May 2008. A slight detour occurred in the Fall of 2009 when two of the three computers were stolen from my home. The replacement computers turned out to be clunkers.

For simplicity's sake, I'll name my computers for easy reference. My computer is #1, my oldest daughter's is #2, and my youngest's is #3.

Computer number one started acting up soon after I bought it. While typing on the keyboard, all of a sudden, the cursor would jump around and go somewhere else. It didn't seem to correlate with touching the mouse keypad on the computer. It was random and maddening. This still happens all the time. Dell has acknowledged this problem and offered to send me a new computer. There are thousands of posts on this site from hundreds of others who have experienced the problem too.

Computers number 2 & 3 were stolen from my home in August. Both of my kids were set to start college in less than two weeks after that. So, I called Dell to try to get some guidance as to how I could replace both machines for less money (I have insurance which covered it, but after a $1000 deductible obviously had less money to work with). I tried to call Dell, but didn't want to talk to someone in India. But I called the customer service line anyway. No one there really understood my problem.

I finally got a hold of a guy named Jubal in Dell's twitter sales team. He was a nice guy,and I ordered two more brand new machines. This is when the problems all started.

I had already purchased Office student and Home for the original stolen computers, but Dell did not send me a disk, they just pre-installed them. So now I was faced with the prospect of buying the software again, or just using my disk. I used mine to install on both of their machines. So Dell, now you know why you should always send the software you sell people!!! BECAUSE I MIGHT NEED IT AGAIN!!!!! Plus, it's MINE. I bought it.

Then, computer #1, still having the annoying jumpy cursor issue, now started having a much more serious problem. When my iPod is plugged in, I cannot access Windows Explorer. However, before I figured that out, I called Dell. I talked to a lovely young lady on Diwali. She had to work that day because so many of her co-workers had the day off. Since I spent six hours on the phone with her that day, we became friends. Turns out, Diwali is one of the most important holidays in India. I almost felt sorry for her because she had to spend six hours on the phone with me, but then I was charged $183.14 for the privilege. Only hours after completing Dell's suggested "fix," my computer started doing the same thing over again.

In early February, computer #2 mysteriously went black. It would not start. It was dead. Then a week later, computer #3 had the famous "blue screen of death" and would not start.I reached out to @teamblackhawk on Twitter and received no response.

Since I had already experienced Dell's inconvenient and inaccurate diagnosis and inability to fix machine #1, I asked a friend who he recommended. That is how I connected with Jason of Iowa PC Services. I left the machines in his care more than two week ago. The diagnosis? Machine #2's hard drive had failed. All data lost. Machine #3 was a software failure. Not a surprise since it has Windows Vista in it. I had ordered a Window 7 upgrade a few weeks before and not had the chance to install it. I had not been send another upgrade for machine #3, and when Jason inquired in February, they told him the offer had expired January 30, 2010. Thanks, Dell, for going the extra mile. How hard would it have been to just send the damn thing out?

I felt my last resort was to start tweeting my displeasure. On February 17, @LionelatDell started following me and got me connected with Brad. I had a very frank conversation with him about how this whole situation had inconvenienced me.

Here is the text of his email to me, with a fairly decent offer. But he ignored my request to be reimbursed for the estimate $650 repair that Jason is making to computers #2 and #3.

Claire, I have looked into this and here are the current solutions we would like to offer.

1. Exchange your system to a new system (same model) with Windows 7 (Please note new exchanges can take 10-15 business days). Please note that the remaining warranty will transfer to the replacement system. (Claire's note: If this is not an admission that my computer is a lemon, I don't know what it is)

2. Credit the Dell on Call charge (call to India) to the original form of payment.

3. Send out the other Windows 7 Upgrade disk that your daughter is entitled to.

4. Send out Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 (this is the version of the software that allows 3 licenses to be used in the same household) located here: http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Business_and_Office/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A0754540 If receiving this software is not going to work, let me know and we can credit your account $140.00 instead.

Please let me know if this is agreeable, and if it is, the shipping address you would like to use. On a side note this is not something we normally offer and a big exception to our normal policy, but after discussing this with you I feel these will be the best solutions for you. If you have any questions please let me know.

Brad Laurich Community Liaison Dell Inc.
1-800-822-8965 x72-33949

This last paragraph is very telling. Notice, there is no apology for the time I've wasted trying to get this situation fixed. And for good measure, they've let me know that making something right and trying to make a customer happy is not something they normally offer.

When I emailed back to inquire about the $650 expense I'm incurring for fixing computers #2 and #3, here was Brad's response:

Unfortunately this is not something we will be able to do. We can still put through the other items I sent in my previous email, but we cannot pay for charges to a 3rd Party Service Provider.
Brad Laurich, Dell 

Ok then, Brad, Lionel, and Michael Dell, that is not acceptable. I will be following up with letters to the Better Business Bureau, the Iowa Attorney General's consumer division and will be filing a claim in court to get my $650 reimbursement. I refuse to be held accountable for the mistakes of a multi-billion dollar company that should know better.

Dude, I'm gettin' a Mac!

Please feel free to leave your Dell Hell story here. Please feel free to blog or tweet about it as well.

Legendary Bad Service

It's not very common to see the owner of a restaurant yelling in a customer's face and shouting "Hasta Luego" after them as they leave.

It's even rarer still to have the "offending" customer be a teacher, patronizing a restaurant on a Monday at noon. After all, most teachers are unable to leave the school building most days.

Let me set the scene: A group of Des Moines Public School teachers were in an all-day in-service meeting in downtown Des Moines, and decided to have lunch at a popular eatery. One member of their party, unfortunately, had a hair in their salad. When she pointed in out to a server, she rolled her eyes, said it "wasn't her fault, and that she didn't put it there."

Shocked by the server's response, the teachers asked to speak to a manager, who didn't appear from the kitchen until they had paid their bill and ready to leave. That's when things got a little out of control.

Here is a direct quote from the email that was forwarded to me soon after the incident:

"Several minutes later, an angry man came out and introduced himself as the owner. He repeatedly stated that he was understaffed that day and that was why our service was so poor. Each time we attempted to refocus on our server’s response to the hair, he would reply that the entire staff was stressed out because “all of these teachers keep showing up unannounced to eat."

"We told him that our concern was not with the speed of service, but with the response of his server when we told her there was a hair in the salad. From approximately 5 inches from my face, he yelled, “Let me ask you something! Did she charge you for it?” I told him that we were not charged for it, but the server’s response was inappropriate. He angrily said he did not see what the problem was. He said if “anyone” lets him know of the Des Moines Public Schools in service next year he will be ready for us. We told him that would not be necessary for us, because we would not be coming back."

When the teacher arrived home, she wrote an email and forwarded it to as many people as she could, some were fellow teachers. Then someone started a Facebook group called "Keep Legends American Grill Teacher (and customer) Free."

From a customer service standpoint, this was a total meltdown on the part of Mark Rogers, the owner of the establishment. Not only did he come completely unglued and act unprofessional, he set a stupendously bad example for his young staff. He should have used the whole situation as a "teaching moment." Pun intended.

Then, he apologized to the teachers on TV. He should have made a personal phone call or at the very least sent an email. Also, he should have joined the Facebook page and offered a sincere apology on behalf of his entire staff, and noted what he is doing to mitigate the problems so no one is ever treated like that again. The obvious strategy is employee training on what to do and say when a customer finds a hair in their salad. Since he is the boss and can't technically be fired, I would suggest anger management counseling and a long vacation for Mr. Rodgers.

Finally, as a gesture of goodwill, Legends should cater a hair-free lunch to the teachers' school. After all, teachers don't get out much for lunch.

The way I see it, there are at least 5 lessons to be learned here:

1. Make sure your staff is well-trained.
2. Right wrongs quickly and with a sincere apology.
3. Don't mess with teachers.
4. Get your business on Facebook.
5. Don't be a dickhead.

I was interviewed about this today on KCCI for a 5 o'clock story. I'll see if I can post a link later.

Update: here's the link to Steve Karlin's story. I was also misquoted in the text. The "10-15% of people will love you and 10-15% will hate you" language belongs to my esteemed colleague Eileen Wixted. And as usual, she's correct.

A Sad Customer Service Lesson

Tonight I had dinner with my daughter and her friend Jessica. Last Sunday night, Jessica and her friends were hanging out, watching football and having a good time. Jessica's friend Lindsay left her friends to go pick up her boyfriend, driving into worsening road conditions and probably going a little too fast. Eight hours later, worried sick and unable to sleep, her friend's roommate called. She had just received a call from police officers, who were on their way to the apartment she and Lindsay shared.

As you can imagine, the news was not good. She plummeted over a freeway bridge and her car flipped over, killing her. Jessica and her friends spent the rest of the night alternating between throwing up and crying.

Two days later, after the sober reality of what had happened was sinking in, Jessica and her boyfriend arrived at a U.S. Post Office to mail a pair of red shoes to the funeral home in Kearney, Nebraska, where Lindsay's body was being prepared for burial.

Being 21 years old, they arrived at the post office with the items in hand, but no box or packing material. They stood in line behind several other customers and the clerk eyed them a few times, slightly shaking his head at Lindsay's belongings.

Once the reached the counter, the postal worker sarcastically broke the news: It was 4:30 and they didn't have time to get the package ready. And besides, they weren't doing any overnight deliveries to Kearney, Nebraska. What happened to "If it fits, it ships?" Hmmm...

After tearing across town, they reached a Fed Ex store, where the clerk helped them out with the appropriate packaging and got the items sent. 

My heart broke for Jessica tonight, but the PR Princess in me was incensed. Could it have been that hard for the postal clerk to have handed them a box? Or asked where the package was going? Or admitted the U.S. Postal Services hires Fed Ex to make some of its overnight deliveries?

Bed Bath and Beyond's Wedding Registry Sooo Much Better Than Target's "Club Wedd"

In case the FTC is reading this post, I am not being paid to write this. :~)

I admit I drank the Target Koolaid. Since deciding to boycott Wal-mart more than five years ago because of their labor practices, workplace discrimination and pricing strategy, Target seemed like a palatable alternative. Since then, several of my readers have pointed out that Target has been accused of some of the same things as Wal-Mart. So my eyes have been opened.

This post is simply about the superiority of service and product selection of another of Target's competitors in the home goods arena.

For some reason, I have been slow to recognize Bed Bath and Beyond as a category leader. The only reason I even ventured there in the first place was to buy gifts for friends who had registered for weddings there. This weekend, I chose a couple of things from my cousin Melisa's registry. I was impressed by the vast selection and attentive service I received.

As I left the customer service counter with Melisa's registry in hand, I was approached twice by observant sales people who must have noticed that I was searching for gift. I was pointed to the proper section, even though the clearly marked sections would have led me there soon enough. Found what I needed quickly and went to the check out. Checked out even quicker because there were actually enough checkers on duty to help a Saturday crowd. Conversely, Target rarely has extra sales people on hand to actually help customers in the aisles.

The checker asked if I needed a gift wrap for my items. I did, and lo and behold, they were ready to go in less than five minutes. The "wrap" was a nice purple and white box with a purple ribbon. I'm into minimal packaging waste and recyclable boxes, so that was cool with me. Target does not offer a gift wrapping service, which assures them that I will have to leave the store with at least another $5.00 in wrapping paper and tissue.

I've written quite a lot about Target's nasty return policy. Now that I've found my friends at Bed, Bath and Beyond, I see no reason to ever go there again for a wedding gift. If someone is not registered there, I'll just buy a card and give them money.

Fake Facebook Profiles Are Bullying and Can Get You in BIG TROUBLE

In the world of teen bullying, cyberspace is the final frontier. Not only can you kill with words, but until recently, you can remain anonymous while doing it.

My own kids both experienced cyberbullying at least 8 years ago, before it even had a name. Theirs was through instant messaging, before MySpace and Facebook were options. The difference is huge. IM attacks were between two individuals. MySpace and Facebook bullying is infinitely more damaging.

A new case involves a fake Facebook profile that amassed more than 500 followers before it was taken down. Now, the mom of the victim has filed a lawsuit on behalf of her son, attempting to extract damages against the misguided individuals who posted the fake profile. While the offenders were most definitely in the wrong, and probably should be sued, I have to wonder what Facebook could have done to prevent this mindless incident.

One security measure I thought of: If more than one Facebook profile tracks back to a single IP address, then perhaps Facebook should require the cell phone number of the creator, and send that person a special code to unlock the page. I realize this method would not be fool proof, but it could feature one more explicit warning against fraud.

Is Facebook destined to be a graveyard for abandoned pages, or do you think the company will ever put resources toward preventing fraud and erasing junk pages? It would be nice for them boost their customer service level on this particular issue. From past experience with Facebook's customer service, the answer is almost always, "that is not a priority so we'll get to it when we get to it." For a company that continues to receive multi-million dollar infusions of cash, the answer is no longer acceptable.

Hyatt Fires All Housekeepers in Boston, But Not Before They Train Replacements

In a perfect world, your company's version of events would be heard and believed more than whatever someone else has to say. In Hyatt's world (of hurt), it doesn't matter one bit what the company says. The damage is already done. How to recover from a PR debacle?

Here's what happened. Hyatt has three "properties" in Boston that were taking an economic hit from the recession. Management of the hotels decided to replace the entire housekeeping force in the hotels and hire outsourced replacements, which of course, are cheaper in the short run.

Side note: I hate the word properties. It makes it seem like such a monopoly game, with little red hotels on Park Ave. and Indiana. These are workplaces, employers and destinations. Not properties.

Before the housekeepers were let go, the replacements came in and worked side-by-side with these folks, who were also then forced to essentially train the people who were taking their jobs. But here's the kicker: At first, the workers were told that the newbies were "vacation replacements." What a sick joke.

Of course, the story has reached national proportions, caused protests, and given Hyatt a huge black eye in the public relations department. The bottom line for me is this: Paying people a dollar an hour less to clean rooms is not the kind of cost savings that will allow you to keep a hotel's doors open. It's a drop in the bucket. 

Hyatt has come back with its own version of events, which may or may not be true. But guess what? It doesn't matter. The damage has been done and Hyatt needs to go into hypermode to reverse it.

What could Hyatt have done to prevent this PR nightmare? What can they do now to recover?

To prevent the situation, Hyatt should have:

1. Negotiated a temporary wage decrease or wage freeze with the unionized hotel workers
2. Imposed a temporary surcharge on guests for the shortfall in the budget
3. Communicated with all parties involved and brought them in from day one to help come up with solutions to the problem

To solve the situation and avoid a long-term branding in the most Democratic state in the union, Hyatt should:

1. Immediately reverse course and rehire all the workers and provide bonuses, thanking them for coming back
2. Make a corporate donation to the City of Boston's emergency homeless shelter to extend its message of true hospitality to the unfortunate, and
3. Apologize for the extreme lack of judgment shown and for the unnecessary displacement of the workers

Any short-term costs will be made up ten-fold in potential business retained. As of now, the public is in no mood to forget this callous incident and Hyatt will be the hotel kingdom's poster child of bad behavior.

Will this incident make you think twice before booking a room at a Hyatt?