We say “thank you” automatically, but shouldn’t we apologize too when we don’t meet reasonable expectations?
I posted last week about my weather.com app fail. Basically, I set-up a “pro subscription” and paid, but the app was still serving up ads and I didn’t have access to the pro version’s frequent updates. I sent an email outlining the challenge. I then received an auto response stating they’d get back to me within 90 days.
90 days to respond was the first failure.
If you can’t respond to a paying customer’s complaint within 24-hours, you suck. 90-days is unacceptable for any business. There’s not a company on earth that will give you an additional 90-days to pay them what you owe. They shouldn’t expect to give less than they receive.
So I cancelled. They are not getting my money when I can’t access their product.
Today I got an answer to my email request — it took them 6 days to respond.
Their email was long and involved. It said, “I believe you were impacted by a problem we were encountering with receipts for the subscription system.” Ok… you BELIEVE my challenge with your product was YOUR fault. Next was a list of 4 things I needed to do to fix their issue — followed by 3 more line items I needed to complete to again fix their issue.
Not one time did they say, “We’re sorry you’re experiencing a challenge while using our product.” Not once did they say, “We are so sorry for the inconvenience we’ve caused.” They didn’t even say, “We understand your frustration and are here to help.” Nope. Just a list of steps I had to complete to get what I paid for.
And it wouldn’t have cost them anything. Saying you’re sorry is free. Apologizing doesn’t cost a dime. Having empathy for your customers when you screw up should be automatic.
Just like weather.com, Mother Nature is unapologetic.
Mother Nature doesn’t understand or share our feelings regarding the product she delivers. Matter of fact, from what I understand from “My Radar,” the app I paid for and actually got (Mac version / Windows version), she’s going to be delivering even more product in the days to come that we also won’t be happy with. 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): Dogs use their sense of smell to perceive events and substances across intervals of time. Each day, even in the same place, smells help dogs understand the passage of time.
The big scary storm is turning out to be not so scary after all. At least so far anyway. While this slushy stuff may change to snow later today, right now it’s just a whole lot of wet. I watched a Facebook video of my buddy, Alisa, making her way to work in Seymour this morning and she said all is clear.
The Weather Channel fail…
Alisa does a whole lot better relating weather conditions than weather.com. Yes, seriously. Because I HATE ads and prefer up-to-date weather info, I decided to pay for their Premium Pro Annual service. Opening up the app, I’m still getting ads… same ole’ thing I got before.
It’s nearly impossible to contact anyone there — the only link where you can email about an issue is “feedback.” Oh, I have feedback, alright! I noted my issue and promptly got a reply…
Thank you for taking the time to write to us, our team has received your request. Our goal is to respond to all questions and concerns but due to volume we may not be able to answer all inquiries. We are, of course, delighted to hear back from you when we reach out. But if your response is delayed by more than 90 days, it will open a new case.
The Weather Company Support Team
MORE THAN 90 DAYS??
It could be May before y’all fix what I paid for? I don’t think so. I gave them 24-hours and cancelled my subscription. I plan to focus my efforts on booking consulting for the company — you know… on how to treat customers. 🙄
TIL (Today I Learned): Amelia Earhart and Eleanor Roosevelt once during a White House event, commandeered an airplane, and went on a joyride to Baltimore.
Meteorologists came up a tad short with today’s forecast. We actually got more snow than predicted and y’all know that makes me happy! 🙂
I may go outside with a yardstick later (no promises!) but I’m guessing at least 3 inches and probably more?
It’s still snowing but tapering off here in the Ville around 10:00 AM and the temps are hovering right at 32 degrees. I can see there’s not a creature stirring at the Pesky Neighbor’s house.
Ben was the only one out and about on the roads this morning that I’ve spoken to. He said travel was worse early this morning than when we had the bigger snow (the sub-zero snowfall) at Christmastime. Hope everyone stays safe!
This concludes the special weather alert for 1/22/2023. 😉
I’m feeling all kinds of bad for Santa this year. Not sure why I can’t just get what I want… a foot of wet snow with temps hovering at 31 or 32 degrees. But no! We’re looking at almost hurricane force winds to blow around some dry snow over a sheet of ice.
I can promise you Santa prefers what I want over what Mother Nature has planned.
My favorite brother cancelled his flight and won’t be in Indiana for Christmas again this year. Tammy’s already in Ft. Wayne with her kids and grandkids so she’s going to share in the winter pain… but alone. Scott will be suffering in Vegas where temps are cooler than normal… highs in the mid-low 60’s. 😏
What if we lose power?
We have a generator but it’s one of the things that didn’t get moved from the Pesky’s garage yet. I guess we’ll be screwed here since it’s not like I could take it from them… they’re old and fragile. 😉 I guess we could crack a window and bring the solo bonfire stove inside… it’s not like it would hurt the floors and there aren’t walls anyway. Heh.
I worry more about outside dogs than anything else.
Dogs that are chained or kenneled outside are a huge concern when conditions are awful. Humans can be cruel and thoughtless. If you worry about that too, rest assured that the hounds around here have it made.
TIL (Today I Learned): The Earth is actually 3 million miles closer to the Sun during the winter (Northern Hemisphere) than in the summer.
There’s a whole lot of talk about the weather — and not just here in south-central Indiana. When the National Weather Service says to pay close attention to the weather situation in your area, you’d better listen!
“Prepare now with necessary supplies to protect yourself from the dangerous cold.”
No worry about the necessary food supply here after our Walmart excursion. Also purchased was a bajillion rolls of Charmin Ultra Soft so we’re good in that regard too.
And I’ll be sure to have my family close by — some jolly and some downright grinchy…
This morning the special weather alert said the wintery weather would begin on Tuesday evening. By 4:00 PM, it was changed to Thursday evening. Either way, it ain’t lookin’ good for the Ville.
“Dangerously cold wind chills well below zero, strong wind, and accumulating snow.”
If that’s not enough to scare ya — and it scared most people because local stores are crazy busy and already getting low on all those necessary supplies they were warned to have on hand — this part came next in the special weather alert:
“Wind chills of this magnitude can cause frostbite in less than 5 minutes. Hypothermia can occur if precautions are not taken.”
Then there was mention of “Artic air” and “additional snowfall” and “consider alternate travel plans.” And all I can think of is…
BRING IT! 🙂
TIL (Today I Learned): Chubby Checker – best known for his 1960 version of the song ‘The Twist’ – once sued an app named after him which estimated someone’s penis size based on their shoe size.
