Here’s a prize example of delighting the customer. Not.
I’ve had a Sunday-only home delivery
subscription to the Washington Post for more than four years. That
subscription comes with full digital access to WaPo (including archives).
I finally decided I don’t want
the physical paper because I get all my news online and I see no reason to just
send it straight to the shredder and then to the composter. So I called WaPo’s
subscription line (you can sign up online, but to unsubscribe, you have to call),
which—from the accents—is somewhere in the Philippines. When I explained what I
wanted, the guy (I forget his nom-de-contact-center, but the woman I first got
was Shirley) told me that my options are: basic digital (“complete” access,
except no archives; so, not complete), at $100 per year; premium digital
(“complete” access plus archives), at $150 per year.
However, because I’ve been
such a great customer, he could give me a promotional rate of premium access
for $101.60 per year; that rate stays the same forever. But I have to keep
Sunday delivery.
I’m not going to make you go
through the entire surreal conversation; I’ll just say that I’m getting the
promo rate, and I have to remember to call in once a quarter to put the Sunday
delivery on a “temporary” three-month vacation stop.
Gawd.
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