Nobrainer’s Think Tank

I know I’ve beaten the OnRebate.com bullshit into the ground, but hopefully this will be my last post. For the most part, everything got straightened out on April 3rd. My check was sent. It arrived by mail yesterday. However, some things continue to play out…

On April 1st I sent an email to CustomerService@help.onrebate.com. Why I expected Customer Service to help me I do not know. But now, April 11th, 10 days after I sent my email and 8 days after I actually got the issue resolved, Customer Service came through!

Thanks for your email.

Dear Customer,

Our records indicate that your payment was sent on 04/03/2007 in the amount of $ 6.00, check # 10527258.

Thanks
Onrebate

maria
OnRebate.com

Unfortunately, these kinds of things are not at all limited to OnRebate. I’m personally sick of websites that offer “contact us” or “email us” options that are next to worthless. The odds of getting a useful response approach infinity-to-one. Of course such things are not new. My first experience with such dimwittery was about 10 years ago when I used — gasp! — AOL. I had the nerve to ask why their little mailbox icon had the flag go up when new mail arrived. Not surprisingly, the response didn’t answer the question. Instead it informed me how AOL mail worked. It is for these kinds of reasons why:

80 percent of companies surveyed believed that they delivered a “superior experience” to their customers. But, when customers were asked to indicate their perceptions of the experiences they have in dealing with companies, they rated only 8 percent of companies as truly delivering a superior experience

[The Brand Builder Blog: The Delusion Bug]
[John Winsor: Quote of the Day]
[CRMguru.com: Don't Miss the Opportunity to Create a WOW! Experience]