The fun continues! After Iva got such bad service from Thomas Travers of RQW Books, I blasted my email response (see below) to all my friends and family. Meanwhile, Iva ordered the book from another vendor. It was advertised as “like new”. The whole book is highlighted throughout, the practice tests have all been answered in pen, and pages 100-140 have been ripped out of the book.
That cost us $37.00. I guess that ordering through the Internet is hit-and-miss sometimes.
In the strangest occurrence of serendipity, I was at work this morning (I teach computer software applications to business clients) when my training manager asked me if I’d be willing to take on a business skills class. I have been shying away from those classes, because they don’t involve any microchips at all. They are boring lecture-and-PowerPoint presentations like “Grammar Skills” and “Selling in a Telemarketing Environment” and “Managing Performance”. You know, that Who Moved My Cheese? crap.
Besides, what the hell do I know about business? I know enough to show up on time, try not to sexually harass anyone, take out my earrings, tie a tie, and make computers do things efficiently. But then she told me what the class topic would be:
“Customer Service Skills”.
I laughed out loud and told her of the experience. I showed her this blog and she was absolutely shocked. She said this would make a great negative example for the class. So I agreed to take on the class. Now, not only will my friends and family know Mr. Travers’ name, his company’s name, and the email addresses to write to, but I will be passing this anecdote along to eight-to-twenty-four clients from all walks of life, many of them mid-managers and vice-presidents of their own companies. Now, multiply that times the twelve times the class is offered per year, times all the people they will tell it to, and my satisfaction grows.
The moral to the story: don’t pick on the wife of a computer-savvy man with a poison pen and a website!
I’m getting all sorts of great responses to my post as well. My mom chimed in with:
I have read your e-mail to Mr. Travers and, again, ouch! I just can’t believe that someone would be that stupid to put that kind of comment in writing. Even if one wasn’t the type of person inclined to reply to people represented by Mr. Travers, this fellow just begs for a lesson. I loved your reply and have shared it with my boss here. His wife, Sara, comes in to do the books a couple of times a week and I showed it to her today. She has already sent an e-mail to the infamous Mr. Travis telling him that she had been thinking about buying a book from his company but, having seen your e-mail, she would not now or ever buy a book from him. It should make him start thinking about just how powerful the internet is. Word-of-mouth now has a global reach not just a local one.
Excellent! Here’s another from a friend:
They actually sent you those responses???? I have NEVER seen that kind of thing, definitely passing this on,…
Keep ’em coming in, folks. I’m passing all of this along to Mr. Travers.
____________________________________________________________________
|
_ | "RADICAL" RUSS BELVILLE | Read More at http://radicalruss.net/blog/
| Portland, Oregon U.S.A. | Permission is granted for reprint of this
| © 2004 by Russ Belville | post, as long as this footer is included.
