In an era of new media that allows instant feedback, better customer communication than ever before and usable, self-service websites -- why would any company in its right mind put any customer through rebate form hell?
We know -- you'll hope we'll forget to send them in, and you get to pocket our rebate. How does that make customers feel about their purchase? Not very good.
Here's our T-Mobile story:
A member of our staff bought two new T-Mobile phones (one for him, one for his wife). To get the best price on the phones, contract extensions were required. Not a problem, he's happy with T-Mobile. Each phone carried a $50 rebate, which required:
- A form with name, address, etc., plus account numbers, IMEI numbers, etc.
- A copy of the store receipt.
- The original sticker from the box the phone came in (which required a 10-minute adventure with an X-Acto blade to remove.
Now, after filling out the forms (one for each rebate) and making all the copies, he gets to mail them off to T-Mobile (after reading how T-Mobile is not responsible for lost or misdirected mail). Then he gets to wait four to six weeks (longer than a billing cycle) for the rebate.
Is there any reason in 2006 that this process can't be completed online, other than the fact that T-Mobile (and everyone else offering rebates) really hopes as many customers as possible will forget or not bother? A quick visit to the T-Mobile site reveals customers can:
- Pay their bills online.
- Change, add or delete services online.
- Upgrade phones online.
- Check minutes used online.
- Set up email accounts online.
You get the picture. And insult to injury? Call T-Mobile's customer service line, and while you're on hold (!), they'll tell you how you can do just about anything you want at www.t-mobile.com! In fact, you can even CHECK THE STATUS of your rebate online -- you just can't fill out the forms there.
Ouch.
To be fair, T-Mobile is not alone, but that doesn't make it right. Our point is this: every company using this tactic should seriously question spending millions on advertising to get people to buy a product only to irritate them after the sale. Our staffer with the new phones? Loves them. Still likes T-Mobile's service. But, he's spent the last two days telling anyone that will listen what a pain T-Mobile is for making him waste this much time to get what was offered to him. Is that worth whatever you make from forgotten refunds (and let's be honest -- the customers that do forget, how good do they feel?).
If, as a company, you want to offer a special price, fine. If you want to do some data capture in return for the special deal, that's OK as well. But when you sell an expensive handset and get a multi-year contract extension, you've already won. Don't end the transaction by irritating your customers.
We wonder just how successful the first "we don't make you jump through hoops to save money" promotion might be? Maybe it's time someone found out.
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