WTF Corporate Decisions That Drove Away Customers.
By Edtrader Oct. 2nd 2023
In business there is a certain give and take when it comes to dealing with customers. The people in charge have to make smart decisions when it comes to business with customers. The following companies clearly picked the wrong decisions when it comes to their customers.
By Edtrader Oct. 2nd 2023
In business there is a certain give and take when it comes to dealing with customers. The people in charge have to make smart decisions when it comes to business with customers. The following companies clearly picked the wrong decisions when it comes to their customers.
#7. Misjudged what their names means to customers.
Look at the CL of the word 'click'. Resembles a D!
Look at the CL of the word 'click'. Resembles a D!
The Great Gritzbe's Flying Food Show was a popular restaurant in Chicago. Richard Melman opened it in 1974 featuring a cheese bar and a dessert bar. With a gray stone interior and a friendly staff, it enjoyed success.
However in 1983 Melman changed the name to The Not So Great Gritzbe's. The name (in his mind) was an idea to get folks to laugh at the humor and decide to go in. He notes that looking back if he had not done that it would still be in business. And that people laughed alright. But they decided to keep walking instead.
Naming a food place with the words 'not go great' in the title. How would think customers would want to eat there? He might as well have a sign up that said he have rat turds in the food.
The big boys have made this mistake as well. CNN notes that several brand names that are different in translations has came back to bite. Buick had to make the quick changing of the name of it's LaCrosse to the Allure. As it was released in Canada and LaCrosse is close to the term of masturbation used in Quebec.
Mercedes-Benz shortened the name of its Grand Sports Tourer, to GST. They had to change that after those in Canada passed on the car. As GST to them is the acronym for the largely hated tax. Known as the 'gouge and screw tax'.
And who could forget that Gerber tried to sell food to teenagers. An entire division of their corporation was constructed for the venture When one thinks of 'Gerber' baby food comes to mind. So why did they think they could sell food to teenagers in glass jars. Which was bigger versions of the baby food jars. Added with the name affiliation between Gerber and babies.
Teens and taunts unfortunately go hand in hand. Imagine the taunts of teens towards teens that are eating baby food at lunch.
But that's also what Mercedes-Benz thought when it shortened the name of its Grand Sports Tourer, which launches in 2005, to the sleek, succinct GST. The French, presumably, don't have a problem with those initials, but in Canada (again!) GST is the acronym for the widely loathed goods and services tax, also known as the "gouge and screw tax." Which presents Canucks with the prospect of calculating the GST on the GST.
#6. Misjudged the fears of their customers.
One flight company (Pacific Air Lines) learned the hard way that using the fear of flying (handing out joke survival kits on board) gets your company in the loss column. Fear of flying is a fear that tons of people have. And with the increasing terrorist attacks and missing planes even more people are on edge with flight. But that didn't stop Malaysia Airlines, who at the center of 2 tragic lost airlines in 2014, formed a certain contest. 'What and where would you like to tick off on your bucket list, and explain why'?
However in 1983 Melman changed the name to The Not So Great Gritzbe's. The name (in his mind) was an idea to get folks to laugh at the humor and decide to go in. He notes that looking back if he had not done that it would still be in business. And that people laughed alright. But they decided to keep walking instead.
Naming a food place with the words 'not go great' in the title. How would think customers would want to eat there? He might as well have a sign up that said he have rat turds in the food.
The big boys have made this mistake as well. CNN notes that several brand names that are different in translations has came back to bite. Buick had to make the quick changing of the name of it's LaCrosse to the Allure. As it was released in Canada and LaCrosse is close to the term of masturbation used in Quebec.
Mercedes-Benz shortened the name of its Grand Sports Tourer, to GST. They had to change that after those in Canada passed on the car. As GST to them is the acronym for the largely hated tax. Known as the 'gouge and screw tax'.
And who could forget that Gerber tried to sell food to teenagers. An entire division of their corporation was constructed for the venture When one thinks of 'Gerber' baby food comes to mind. So why did they think they could sell food to teenagers in glass jars. Which was bigger versions of the baby food jars. Added with the name affiliation between Gerber and babies.
Teens and taunts unfortunately go hand in hand. Imagine the taunts of teens towards teens that are eating baby food at lunch.
But that's also what Mercedes-Benz thought when it shortened the name of its Grand Sports Tourer, which launches in 2005, to the sleek, succinct GST. The French, presumably, don't have a problem with those initials, but in Canada (again!) GST is the acronym for the widely loathed goods and services tax, also known as the "gouge and screw tax." Which presents Canucks with the prospect of calculating the GST on the GST.
#6. Misjudged the fears of their customers.
One flight company (Pacific Air Lines) learned the hard way that using the fear of flying (handing out joke survival kits on board) gets your company in the loss column. Fear of flying is a fear that tons of people have. And with the increasing terrorist attacks and missing planes even more people are on edge with flight. But that didn't stop Malaysia Airlines, who at the center of 2 tragic lost airlines in 2014, formed a certain contest. 'What and where would you like to tick off on your bucket list, and explain why'?
The competition was open to folks in New Zealand and Australia. With the prizes of iPads or free economy class tickets on their airlines. Bucket List is something associated with death. As these are the things you want to do before you die. Many people do this after '6 months only to live' cancer diagnostics.
With its recent tragic history, Malaysia Airlines should have stayed away from death. Not forgetting a lacking level of sensitivity towards the situation. This little potion did nothing for the company.
After the backlash the contest was changed to to-do list instead. However, the damage had been done. After cutting 6,000 workers the airline is still trying to regain its ground.
#5. Misjudged the customers country.
Fosters beer company spent millions to open a business in Vietnam. Using the same campaign and identity as 'The Australian styled beer'. Needless to say, the prospect failed. The slogan caught the attention of the Vietnamese customers alright. But just as soon as they opened, they ran into the same problem other companies that tried to incorporate there for the previous ten years. The Vietnamese people for as long as they could remember had been forced into accepting what other people thought was best.
First it was the French that pushed their way in. Then America through the Vietnam war. The Vietnamese people thought that they were giving into another foreign brand and were losing their identity. Then there is the financial way Fosters was miss-matched. Vietnam's living standard was low. Now here comes this high end, expensive beer. The people couldn't afford it so they drank elsewhere. So, the Vietnamese business soon went bye-bye.
Then you had Walmart that tried to be a player in Japan. But the slogan 'Every Day Low Prices' as Business Week and Bloomberg said to Japan means cheap quality. Making them wary about shopping there. So, there was millions of bucks flushed down the toilet. $117 in 2004 alone.
Foster’s also made a big mistake in defining the targeted clients and the establishing the distribution network. While Foster’s targeted high-income earners, it teamed up with the Tien Giang and Da Nang Breweries, which were known as the manufacturers of popular beer products.
It seemed that Foster’s made its presence in Vietnam at the wrong time, in 1998, when the Vietnamese living standard was low. Therefore, Vietnamese still turned their back to the high-end product.
Finally, Foster’s had to quit the Vietnamese market in 2007 after 10 years of making helpless efforts.
#4. Misjudged the honesty of its customers.
W.T. Grant went from a respectable chain of stores into an 800-million-dollar pit. It started in 1906 as a .25 cent general store. And grew into over a hundred stores with one billion in profits before founder William Thomas Grant retired in 1966.
It was 1969 and there was a low level of people not paying back the credit the store gave them. It was also a time that the management looked to grow the company ten-fold. So, it was urged that every customer should be gave a credit line. More folks with a credit line = more customers.
Problem was there was no set guidelines of who should be allowed credit. They would give a credit line to whoever walked in the door. And if store managers didn't, they would be held responsible. No checks to see if the people were bad credit risk or anything. Plus, there was such a lack of bookkeeping that a person could have a credit line in every store. So, you could go to all 100+ stores and charge a cart full of stuff. Then never return.
Before they saw that more and more customers were not paying back their tabs it was too late. So, by 1974 they lost 800 million over credit. Furthermore, the people that did pay it back had such a low interest rate that it was hardly profitable. 1976 the doors closed on W.T. Grant.
#3. Misjudged that customers would use their service legally.
Flooz.com is similar to today's bitcoins. You'd pay to have online currency and you could use it for gifts. Such as you do with prepaid gift cards. From 1998 to 2000 Flooz was a profitable company. But lacked in one crucial area.
No form of identifications or back up in case of theft. There was no matching the IP address to the country of the credit card owner. No secure encryptions, or any other measures to verify the credit card user. And to protect their customers from fraud.
The New York Times reported that $300,000 of stolen credit cards were used to by Flooz currency. It was a crime ring that operated in Russia and the Philippines. Basically, Flooz was being used to launder money. Once the ring was busted Flooz had to forfeit the money.
The whole thing came down as people started to see charges on their credit cards. Flooz's credit card processor alerted them of the problem, but it was too late. $1 million was ceased of Flooz's accounts. But people were still using their legal Flooz dollars. So, the company had an unbeatable cash flow problem.
They overlooked customer security, and some took advantage.
Add that with the limited number of retailers that actually excepted Flooz dollars. And in August 2001 Flooz closed. But to finally kick its customers in the crotch none of the Flooz bucks were refunded.
#2. Underestimated customers trial complaints.
The Premier cigarette hit stores in 1988. Built as a smokeless device for the better of mankind. It wasn't an e-cig like we have today. It was something cigarette shaped you loaded with tobacco, and it heated, not burnt it. Using a carbon like substance inside. So, you got the nicotine without the smoke, so they said.
First off it became a handy weed smoking device. You could burn the weed and not create the smell and smoke of a joint. But that is a side note. The reason why this did nothing, but lose money, for its creators is that they didn't follow their market research.
They tested it like you do most products. And the reviews tanked among the subjects. With complaints that it tasted like burnt charcoal. And it was too hot to handle after a few puffs. So, the research showed that it wasn't a good product. But yet they shipped it anyways. Not to forget they sent it in such a high volume.
Retailers had to take the amounts that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company were selling. It didn't take long for retailers to label it a dead duck. With sales that were next to nothing. So, they sent boxes and boxes of the things back. Plus, it still gave off smoke. But the company responded to complaints, that well, it's a different smell than tobacco smoke. With the underestimations this business failed. Taking $1 billion bucks down with it!
#1. Misjudged the power that po'd customers had.
eToys was launched in 1997 and cited to be the future of toy sales on the internet. However, the company went out of business and was sold to KB Toys in 2001. Christmas of 1999 spelled the failure of the company.
Thousands of parents had purchased their kids Christmas presents with eToys. Just to be told that the toys simply wouldn't arrive by Christmas. News headlines called them "The Grenches That Stole Christmas. It was a PR nightmare that all parents across America didn't forget. By Christmas of 2000 parents were just too afraid to order from eToys.
The fact is eToys had spent $150 million to build two distribution centers in mid-2000. Instead of winning back customers and repairing their name it was decided we need to spend more money.
They overlooked that they should have reassured previous customers. And new customers didn't come.
With its recent tragic history, Malaysia Airlines should have stayed away from death. Not forgetting a lacking level of sensitivity towards the situation. This little potion did nothing for the company.
After the backlash the contest was changed to to-do list instead. However, the damage had been done. After cutting 6,000 workers the airline is still trying to regain its ground.
#5. Misjudged the customers country.
Fosters beer company spent millions to open a business in Vietnam. Using the same campaign and identity as 'The Australian styled beer'. Needless to say, the prospect failed. The slogan caught the attention of the Vietnamese customers alright. But just as soon as they opened, they ran into the same problem other companies that tried to incorporate there for the previous ten years. The Vietnamese people for as long as they could remember had been forced into accepting what other people thought was best.
First it was the French that pushed their way in. Then America through the Vietnam war. The Vietnamese people thought that they were giving into another foreign brand and were losing their identity. Then there is the financial way Fosters was miss-matched. Vietnam's living standard was low. Now here comes this high end, expensive beer. The people couldn't afford it so they drank elsewhere. So, the Vietnamese business soon went bye-bye.
Then you had Walmart that tried to be a player in Japan. But the slogan 'Every Day Low Prices' as Business Week and Bloomberg said to Japan means cheap quality. Making them wary about shopping there. So, there was millions of bucks flushed down the toilet. $117 in 2004 alone.
Foster’s also made a big mistake in defining the targeted clients and the establishing the distribution network. While Foster’s targeted high-income earners, it teamed up with the Tien Giang and Da Nang Breweries, which were known as the manufacturers of popular beer products.
It seemed that Foster’s made its presence in Vietnam at the wrong time, in 1998, when the Vietnamese living standard was low. Therefore, Vietnamese still turned their back to the high-end product.
Finally, Foster’s had to quit the Vietnamese market in 2007 after 10 years of making helpless efforts.
#4. Misjudged the honesty of its customers.
W.T. Grant went from a respectable chain of stores into an 800-million-dollar pit. It started in 1906 as a .25 cent general store. And grew into over a hundred stores with one billion in profits before founder William Thomas Grant retired in 1966.
It was 1969 and there was a low level of people not paying back the credit the store gave them. It was also a time that the management looked to grow the company ten-fold. So, it was urged that every customer should be gave a credit line. More folks with a credit line = more customers.
Problem was there was no set guidelines of who should be allowed credit. They would give a credit line to whoever walked in the door. And if store managers didn't, they would be held responsible. No checks to see if the people were bad credit risk or anything. Plus, there was such a lack of bookkeeping that a person could have a credit line in every store. So, you could go to all 100+ stores and charge a cart full of stuff. Then never return.
Before they saw that more and more customers were not paying back their tabs it was too late. So, by 1974 they lost 800 million over credit. Furthermore, the people that did pay it back had such a low interest rate that it was hardly profitable. 1976 the doors closed on W.T. Grant.
#3. Misjudged that customers would use their service legally.
Flooz.com is similar to today's bitcoins. You'd pay to have online currency and you could use it for gifts. Such as you do with prepaid gift cards. From 1998 to 2000 Flooz was a profitable company. But lacked in one crucial area.
No form of identifications or back up in case of theft. There was no matching the IP address to the country of the credit card owner. No secure encryptions, or any other measures to verify the credit card user. And to protect their customers from fraud.
The New York Times reported that $300,000 of stolen credit cards were used to by Flooz currency. It was a crime ring that operated in Russia and the Philippines. Basically, Flooz was being used to launder money. Once the ring was busted Flooz had to forfeit the money.
The whole thing came down as people started to see charges on their credit cards. Flooz's credit card processor alerted them of the problem, but it was too late. $1 million was ceased of Flooz's accounts. But people were still using their legal Flooz dollars. So, the company had an unbeatable cash flow problem.
They overlooked customer security, and some took advantage.
Add that with the limited number of retailers that actually excepted Flooz dollars. And in August 2001 Flooz closed. But to finally kick its customers in the crotch none of the Flooz bucks were refunded.
#2. Underestimated customers trial complaints.
The Premier cigarette hit stores in 1988. Built as a smokeless device for the better of mankind. It wasn't an e-cig like we have today. It was something cigarette shaped you loaded with tobacco, and it heated, not burnt it. Using a carbon like substance inside. So, you got the nicotine without the smoke, so they said.
First off it became a handy weed smoking device. You could burn the weed and not create the smell and smoke of a joint. But that is a side note. The reason why this did nothing, but lose money, for its creators is that they didn't follow their market research.
They tested it like you do most products. And the reviews tanked among the subjects. With complaints that it tasted like burnt charcoal. And it was too hot to handle after a few puffs. So, the research showed that it wasn't a good product. But yet they shipped it anyways. Not to forget they sent it in such a high volume.
Retailers had to take the amounts that R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company were selling. It didn't take long for retailers to label it a dead duck. With sales that were next to nothing. So, they sent boxes and boxes of the things back. Plus, it still gave off smoke. But the company responded to complaints, that well, it's a different smell than tobacco smoke. With the underestimations this business failed. Taking $1 billion bucks down with it!
#1. Misjudged the power that po'd customers had.
eToys was launched in 1997 and cited to be the future of toy sales on the internet. However, the company went out of business and was sold to KB Toys in 2001. Christmas of 1999 spelled the failure of the company.
Thousands of parents had purchased their kids Christmas presents with eToys. Just to be told that the toys simply wouldn't arrive by Christmas. News headlines called them "The Grenches That Stole Christmas. It was a PR nightmare that all parents across America didn't forget. By Christmas of 2000 parents were just too afraid to order from eToys.
The fact is eToys had spent $150 million to build two distribution centers in mid-2000. Instead of winning back customers and repairing their name it was decided we need to spend more money.
They overlooked that they should have reassured previous customers. And new customers didn't come.