What a Way to Run a Direct Mail Campaign

My friend Marc recently had a moving experience. That is, he bought a new home, and went through the usual gymnastics of dealing with brokers, lawyers, utility companies, and movers, to name but a few. His new mailbox was full of "welcome to your new home" offers for various services and discounts, including a free oil change, and a 10% off coupon for one of the big box stores.

On closer examination, Marc realized that the coupon wasn't really a coupon. It was an offer for a coupon. To receive the coupon, he had to go online and fill out a form, which he did. Time went by, but the coupon never arrived. So he went back online, looked up the company's customer service email address, and sent a note explaining that he had never received his 10% off coupon. Not long afterwards, Marc received an automated response telling him that his problem couldn't be helped by the computer-based customer service people, he would have to make a phone call.

Ring. Ring.
The customer service rep listened patiently to Marc's story, put him on hold for a while, apologized, and promised to send out the coupon, "which should arrive in about six to eight weeks." (How difficult, he wondered, would it be to put the thing in an envelope, and mail it out? Or, better yet, since the original requirement was to submit an electronic form, how difficult would it have been to simply email the blasted thing?)

Perhaps reading his mind, the customer service rep went a step further, and offered to send a gift card in the amount of $35, to be used while waiting for the coupon. The gift card was delivered by UPS a few days later, but long after the 8 week waiting period had ended . . . Marc still had no coupon. So, he made another call, and this time was given a different number to call, with a specific extension to punch in.

The person who answered this call had no idea why Marc was given her number, and he was eventually switched to a very polite representative, who sincerely apologized, and said a coupon would be sent right out. He should receive it in a week to 10 days. To make it clear that this time it would indeed arrive, he was given a confirmation number.

It never arrived. Not in 6 to 8 weeks. Not ever. Marc happily used his gift card, and decided it just wasn't worth any more of his time and energy to pursue the coupon. And because of the hassles, any further shopping would be done in a different Big Box store, one that made no offer, and lived up to it.

End of story? Not quite.
All of a sudden, emails started flooding Marc's inbox with "helpful" tips, sale opportunities, and miscellaneous benefits to shopping at the store that offered the coupon but never sent it. Not a big fan of spam, Marc attempted to unsubscribe, only to get a screen asking for all sorts of information, other than the email address to remove from their "subscriber" list. Unable to break through the information barrier, and unwilling to give out his address and phone number in fear of yet more intrusions, he returned to the phone.

If you were hoping for a happy ending, guess what? There is one! This time, after repeating much of what you just read to a very patient representative, he was offered another gift card, this time for $200, and most amazing of all, the card arrived just a few days later. Marc has still not received the coupon, but it doesn't bother him nearly as much.

Moral: Persistence pays off!
For your own happy endings with corporate America, get yourself a free copy of the 2008 edition of the Consumer Action Handbook, which offers the best advice on how to lodge winning complaints. It includes the names, headquarters, addresses, phone numbers, Web sites, and email addresses of virtually every top flak-catcher at hundreds of corporations, as well as key federal, state, and local government agencies and nonprofits that might help solve consumer problems. There are also plenty of detailed tips about shopping from home, identity theft, telemarketing, credit, privacy, product safety, scams, cars, insurance, banking, phone service – you name it.

You can access the handbook online, but I think the printed copy belongs in every house. Uncle Sam must agree. He'll send you up to five copies for free. Makes a great housewarming gift.

Let us know of your recent experiences in trying to get your complaints resolved. If you haven't already succeeded, maybe we can help!

Nancy Castleman – Co-author of "Invest in Yourself: Six Secrets to a Rich Life" and founder of Good Advice Press. Nancy has spent the last 23 years teaching people how to get out of debt, save money, and live better on less. She writes on all these subjects for CreditBloggers.com.

Comments

[Jim ~ mydebtblog.com]

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.