Fumble drills in Corporate marketing materials and public image building. It is so fascinating to see a major corporation shoot themselves in the foot over a couple of bucks, or for a stupid policy, or just because they think no one will notice.
Ebay:
I have been a happy Ebay buyer for about 4 years. All in all it has been a good experience, a very good experience even. I put my success and satisfaction rate at 99% or better. So, I turn to Ebay quite often when I want something that I think I can't find in typical retail or on line shopping. It has worked well. I often refer people to Ebay for purchases. It has been fun, too, something I don't have at Big Box stores very often.
It has worked well enough that after 130+ transactions, paid in full, I received a notice from PayPal, Ebay's payment system telling me that they need to improve it:
"Hello Mike Jaquish,
We wanted to let you know that (we think you are really dull) you're just $228.16 USD away from hitting your initial PayPal sending limit of $10,000.00 USD. This is the maximum amount of money you can send or use for purchases before you need to become Verified.
Why do I need to verify my account?
We place initial limits on all accounts to increase security and help prevent fraud. Once you link and confirm a bank account or get approved for PayPal credit, your account will be Verified and you'll be able to make as many payments as you like with PayPal."
So, after 4 years of reliable immediate payment, from the same credit card account, with no complaint of fraud and no security issues, they tell me they must "Verify" me. They have to get their fingers into my bank account, or I have to have THEIR credit card. "Give us the keys to your kingdom or no more Dell computer auction bidding for YOU! You may NOT give us $10,000 again unless we feel secure!"
Did George Orwell just make it onto the Ebay board of directors? The doublespeak is mind-bending. They can "Verify" all they want. And I can "Vilify." Dumb, dumb, dumb Ebay. Are you also telling your Sellers that you are pro-actively turning away buyers with 100% ratings ("Pays Lightning Fast!!!!")?? Buyers who have spent $10,000 on auctions and Buy It Nows? Why not?
Verizon:
Better yet, is this Verizon kerfuffle over a lousy $350. Was anyone sober the day they put their heads together and decided, "Let's abuse young war widows for cheap publicity?" Nice brainstorm folks.
"Die Fighting in Afghanistan, Pay $350 Early Termination Fee." GREAT PR Headline!!!! A lesser vendor with no "big picture" perspective would have sent flowers, condolences, support, etc. But this nimble multi-, multi-billion dollar firm is quick to protect the franchise.
To Verizon's Credit, they backpedaled and reconsidered. But, they surely need to empower frontline customer service to offer a little empathy.
How does this fit into real estate? I don't know, but I bet we must offer better customer/client service to stay in business.
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