I've been having a few challenges with the appliances in my life. Which has highlighted, once again, the difference between what most organizations SAY they will do, and what they ACTUALLY do.
The Dishwasher Repairman who didn't show up, after we'd waited patiently for days
This morning, the repairman for the Miele "e-mailed in sick", and got himself a four-day long weekend with this well-timed illness. Naturally, we did not find this out until we'd been making followup calls to find out why the repair person was more than an hour late.This is the kind of situation consumers really hate, me among them. First, you are powerless, completely hostage to the company and their parts inventory. Will the sick repairman actually have the right parts when he shows up at the house? Or will we have to wait again? I started wondering if there is any way to thwart this insane system by choosing where I buy the appliance.
The HP planned obscene -- oops I meant planned obsolescence -- issue
I've been a loyal fan of hardworking HP printers for as long as I can remember. The first laserjet worked for about a decade before we sent it to printer heaven. For the last two purchases, I only briefly considered another option, and that was the Xerox solid ink option (not a great idea for a boutique office like mine, as it turns out).
I've been so impressed with the cartridge return option, and HP's commitment to reducing waste, being green, and on and on. I had a nice warm feeling every time I packaged up the old cartridge and sent it back. I suggested HP as an example of a green company to another client. Seriously!
What the heck was I thinking? I just fell for the PR messaging.
"We didn't sell you the cartridges, that's not our problem"
The fuser on the HP Color LaserJet 3600n has packed it in. The replacement part is $350, plus a maintenance kit for $50, and a minimum one hour of technician time -- bringing the total to $500. If I find a huge box and haul the machine in myself. If I get onsite service, it's more. This is roughly the cost of a NEW printer.Here's the problem: the color cartridges in the dead printer are about half full, representing an investment of about $400. I thought perhaps there is another HP machine that uses the same model of cartridge? No there is not -- they are no longer manufacturing for that configuration.
I thought there might be some kind of program to give these back or provide a credit for them, or ANYTHING. Nope. Nada. In fact, so nada that the good people there told us "We didn't sell you the cartridges, it's not our problem".
Don't they WANT the cartridges? No, actually.
What about the TONER? No, actually.
Wait a minute - what about all that green strategy you keep telling me about?
My long fandom for HP has come to an end, I think. I'm now so annoyed I feel like buying another brand just to get payback.
How consumers get payback
Consumers often feel this kind of annoyance at perceived injustices from big companies. Research suggests, and my own experience confirms, that consumers attempt to balance the score. They do this by creating negative word of mouth (perhaps you've seen my Twitter feeds on the HP topic? And now this blog?). And they switch brands. but they don't stop saying bad things about you.Customers for life is an interesting concept. But enemies for life is much more common.
My take:
When you are designing an amazing customer experience, be sure to design in the end. The maintenance. The repairs. The replacement model. The parts disposal. Because nothing lasts forever, except perhaps consumer memories of how you treated them. And those memories are expensive to restore. (Just look at the effort Ford has needed to restore their reputation.)
