“The operating system for money is obsolete.” I wish he had another 2 hours at the end to finish his thought…
September 1, 2009
I’m Calling Bullshit On Virgin America
From the "Our Difference" section of www.virginamerica.com
SEE UPDATES BELOW. VIRGIN AMERICA MAKES GOOD ON “OUR DIFFERENCE” PROMISE.
I’ve been a huge fan of flying Virgin America since I flew with them earlier this year. The whole experience – the style, lighting, wifi, etc. – won me over immediately.
I first booked a flight with them around this time last year to visit my 77-year-old father who lives outside of Seattle, WA. Our trip was unfortunately postponed by my mother being admitted to the hospital for late-stage cancer symptoms. It took a few phone calls and a bit of persuasion for the airline to give us credits toward later flights, but I got them.
I’ve been able to redeem some of them since, but because the original trip was scheduled over the Labor Day weekend, we still had a large balance left over for future flights.
A few weeks ago, nearly a year later, we noticed that the credits were going to expire on August 27, and we were planning another trip to visit my father. Unfortunately, this also coincided with the passing of my mother on August 13. Needless to say, we had other things to deal with right after and we missed the August 27 date. But not by much. We realized our mistake only two days later and called to see if we could still redeem them for our trip to Seattle.
My wife spent over an hour on the phone after initially being told “no, but try this person/number and maybe you can.” She was bounced around from Guest Care rep to Guest Care rep, on hold, disconnected, on hold, disconnected… She even faxed them my mother’s death certificate.
Finally, this morning she was simply told “No. It is not our policy to extend credits past their expiration date.”
Okay. We screwed up. We had a good excuse, but we – I – screwed up. After all, an expiration date is an expiration date and we’re talking about an airline, right? Airlines are notorious for not caring about their customers.
And that would be fine if it weren’t for that damn message above from their website. Words like “bring great service back” and ”challenge the status quo and always stand up for our guests.” make me expect more. Words like that make me expect service that keeps notes on me as a valued customer. Notes that might suggest: This guy has had a rough year. He wouldn’t have the credits if he didn’t have to cancel a trip due to his ailing mother, and now he’s only 2 days past expiration due to her death. Maybe it’s worth $303.99 to keep an otherwise very loyal customer, loyal.
It’s easy for companies like Virgin America to talk the talk. It’s harder for companies like Zappos to walk the walk. Guess which company has earned my ardent loyalty?
So I’m calling bullshit on Virgin America. You can keep your mood-lighting, your 3000 MP3’s and your wifi. I think I’d rather do without and wait for Zappos to launch an airline.
UPDATE: Perhaps I was premature in my judgement of Virgin America. They have contacted me via Facebook and we’re working toward a solution. I will update this post as soon as I get confirmation.
UPDATE: Well it might’ve taken a little nudging over the webernets, but Virgin America came through in a big way and lived up to the “Our Difference” claims above. I’m back to being a huge fan of the airline, and truth be told, I was dreading the idea of a personal boycott. I’ll be blogging about this experience and the power of social media on the Trustworthy Blog in the next few days.
August 16, 2009
Mom
Bonnie Jo Showers, moments before becoming Bonnie Skodis in 1963.
My mom died last Thursday afternoon, around 4:30 PM, at her home in Burbank, California. It was nearly a year after being diagnosed with pancreatic and lung cancer. My older brother, Eric, was there with her. Only moments before, he eased her pain by telling her if she wanted to let go, it was okay. And that we all loved her.
The most courageous thing she ever did was raise two out-of-control sons from early adolescence on, all by herself. After the divorce from my father, she went back to work and still managed to nurture her boys the best that she could – which was more than good enough given the level of dysfunction that engulfed our family. For that, I am eternally grateful.
She taught me right from wrong. She encouraged our creative spirit. She inspired my liberal outlook on life and politics (even though she moved across the aisle later in life). But maybe the greatest gift she gave Eric and I was exposing us to popular culture with passion and vigor – a gift that has served us both well throughout our lives.
We grew apart in later years, as commonly happens when one starts his own family and priorities shift. It saddens me, but we had many moments over the last year to discuss openly and honestly how we felt toward one another. I’m confident that when she finally did let go, she felt free of loose ends and did so in peace.
Obviously, this isn’t everything I’m feeling these last few days, but it’s some. Or at least the stuff I feel like blogging about. I wasn’t sure if I would at first, but it has certainly been cathartic to write down even this much.
No, I haven’t changed my views on god or an afterlife. I’ve experienced death before and what I take away is an earth-shattering reminder of our mortality and how quickly it just… ends. So if you’re reading this, I urge you to stop and appreciate those around you who are still alive. Appreciate life for yourself too. Suck it in. Find meaning and wonder in every simple moment. Our time is limited. And no matter what you believe in – whether it gets better, different or worse after the jump – this experience is unique and should be savored. As cliche as it sounds, we should live like tomorrow is uncertain. Because it is.
July 6, 2009
Buddy Christ
“Christ didn’t come to earth to give us the willies!”
Been a while since I saw this classic scene from DOGMA. Love it.
June 27, 2009
Private School
I went to public school until college. My wife went to the same private school from K-12. So obviously, it’s the subject of much discussion as our girls begin their educations.
Now that our oldest has completed a whole year of public kindergarten, we can compare her experience with some of her nursery-school chums who went to private. Given my background, I suppose I’m biased, but I’ve been trying to remain objective as we talk to our good friends who paid close to $30,000 for something we all pay taxes for (public education = ending sentences with prepositions). It’s not easy.
No, it’s not easy to remain objective when our teacher was amazing, nurturing, and above all: effective, and I hear horror stories about her private counterparts. It’s not easy when I hear about the letters that practically demand huge donations after families have already shelled out $30K. And it’s not easy when the child of a higher-strata of benefactor gets unfair, preferential treatment at the expense of the child who only paid the enormous tuition.
Now, I believe in markets and competition, and I’m a card-carrying, borderline Laissez-faire Capitalist. But here’s where it doesn’t work: Education. Why? Because of the incentives. The incentive for a public school administration is to educate. If they educate students, they win. Sure there’s politics and pensions involved, but the core incentive is to provide a solid and safe education.
The incentive at private schools is to make money. It’s a business. And there’s nothing wrong with a business making money, except when decisions are made concerning a child’s education and/or safety based on profit. Now you’ve got a problem.
Imagine the dynamic of this situation, and put yourself in the role of the child in the middle: A parent is getting frustrated because her kindergartner isn’t learning or is having trouble with another child. She’s paying top dollar for this education, so she has every right to march in to see the Headmaster and complain. Right here, the parent is motivated more by a sense of financial, consumer entitlement than rectifying the core issue, which is the child’s welfare. So the Headmaster is put in the position of defending the institution’s efforts to teach the child, and might throw it back on the parent, the home environment or worse, a misdiagnosed learning disability. Or if it’s a problem with another child who’s parents are movie stars, it becomes even more frighteningly simple. Which family has a greater potential, over the next 12 years (more, with siblings!) of donating the most money.
This scares the shit out of me and while I’m not saying I’ll never send my girls to private school, one thing’s for sure: The interview process will make the Headmaster more nervous than it will me.
March 7, 2009
Repairing Consumer Relationships
Trustworthy, LLC
I’m launching a new company this month. It’s called Trustworthy, and you can learn about it here and read the new blog here.
Over a year ago, I was listening to an audio book called Citizen Marketers during my commute. The authors, Jackie Huba and Ben McConnell, were discussing case studies of transparent companies and the customers who love them. One morning in November of 2007, pulling into the Real Pie office building garage, a light bulb went off in my head: Not all companies are equipped, even if they’re so enlightened, to respond to all the customers in social media.
I was inspired to act. Having orchestrated social media campaigns for our clients at Real Pie, I was able to see the potential of offering a social media response service to companies that truly want to engage with their customers in an authentic way – but simply cannot manage it without help.
The concept widened though, when I realized our real purpose would be to repair the dysfunctional relationships between consumers and brands. I knew I was onto something that was much more than another Web 2.0 gimmick.
Holly got excited about it, and we brought in my right-hand man at Real Pie, Rob Flemming as Partner. Soon after, we recruited programming wunderkind, Travis Dent, who rounded out the team.
About a year ago this time, I had hatched a solid plan and we set upon making Trustworthy a reality. But that was just the start. It has taken months of preparation, bootstrapping the company in our spare time. Now, after many late nights and hundreds of gummi bears, we are launching Trustworthy.
This month, we are planting our flag at the South By Southwest Interactive Conference and Trade Show. If you’re attending, please drop by our booth #806 between March 14-16, and I’ll tell you all about it.
February 11, 2009
Happy 200th Chucky D!
Flickr Photo: bucfan57105
“Darwin Day is a global celebration of science and reason…” And lets not forget who was born on the same exact day, making them both Aquarians like yours truly.
January 21, 2009
A Sight For Sore Eyes
Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and President Obama in the Oval Office Wednesday. (Photo: Pete Souza/White House)
New York Times’ The Caucus has a great play-by-play of the first day in office.
