Whilst EMI commissions (important, they have little to capability to do anything themselves) games and videos for promotion – the mindset has not shifted – games and videos need to be monetised as the goal. They are still raising interest to monetise one type of asset. In the meantime the gaming market has doubled the music market and more consumers are streaming video to their handsets than ever before – so device manufactures and network operators are growing.

EMI will sign 360deg deals because generically it is a good idea for them to do so (did they read this somewhere?). But whilst there remains limited capabilities internally to exploit them and whilst the ‘recorded music’ part of the business remains the emotional and political power centre of the business – ROI will be well down on what it should be (oh they forgot to conduct internal analysis). I am surprised that finance guys (read CEO) are still writing and approving 360 contracts ahead of capability investment (poor strategy).

EMI won awards for marketing insight, surely this insight tells them that most consumers either do not value music like they used to or are looking for something more than just the music. But still, nothing beyond the play button. Is this lazy, stupid or incompetent? Someone must be to blame.

It’s too far gone, let the culture go with the company.

The French Alps are great, but Austria is better. The only downside is that you have to put up with some Schlager music until about 10pm but soon thereafter (in Ischgl it was like flicking a switch) it changes to good ol electronica. Perfect.

Don’t mess around, if you wanna party, board, not spend the earth getting liquoured up – then Austria is your best bet.

Try Ischgl, St Anton, Mayrhofen for starters. There are plenty more.

If anyone reads my blogs you know I am a bit of penny pincher. Well that’s probably the impression you get. In reality I get frustrated with unempowered employees and businesses that fail to take the customer perspective when setting policy and/or taking decisions on how to deal with customer issues.

Recently I purchased 8x custom made spring loaded blinds for my flat. They just dont do the job. Some spring up at death defying speed, others require a deft touch to get to stay down or go back up or stop in a particular spot. Others don’t go up linearly and crush the edges of the blind. In summary, the concept is good but they just don’t work, at least not for me.

So what would you expect from a UK service company? A complete 8x blind replacement with corded pulley blinds? No questions asked. A sincere concern for my satisfaction? 1 week turn around. Apologies for the inconvenience? Well not me, but that’s what I got.

Really really good customer service. Wow! Expectations exceeded.

Thanks Web Blinds!

http://www.web-blinds.com/

15mins later the phone ran out of credit (orange sends a text message when you are low) because my email account sync’d and I had downloaded a google maps update (data usage). Apparently the store person (a new employee apparently) was meant to tell me to dial a number (cost at 25p) to choose a plan before I used the phone (I found this out after 3 calls to the store before someone told me the procedure). Result: after 5 phone calls to Orange customer service over 3 days explaining the situation (25p/call) a billing investigation was launched. Ok fair enough.

5 days later nothing (they told me 48 to 72 hrs). 3 more calls (25p/call), we will escalate. Fair enough. Calm.

3 days later nothing. 2 more calls (25p/call), oh yes, billing have determined that because the account was used to access data you received benefit from the credit applied, no refund due. Oh and because you bought the phone from a store (as opposed to online) there is no cooling off period.

£20 doesn’t mean that much to me that I want take this further with Orange, especially for the hassle. But really, I don’t get it, what’s wrong with Orange customer service? I never topped up the phone again with them, I’ve unlocked the phone and gone to a competitor. Is it really that hard to provide a decent customer experience, not even that, do the smart thing to keep the customer and build loyalty.

Cut and dry customer service results in a cut and dry consumer. See ya later Orange, never again.

Every track has a writer, the writer’s rights are managed by publishers. In some cases the publisher is the same brand as the company that owns the recorded music rights (e.g. Sony Music and Sony Music Publishing) but they aren’t incentivised to work together nor take a holistic view of the artist – they have separate P&Ls. This stifles innovation at the core.

Similar ownership issues arise for EVERY other piece of content created outside the music that goes into recording and marketing an artist. The album cover artwork, the video clip, the interviews, the photos, behind the scenes footage, the making of, everywhere there are people with ownership and rights interests. The industry understands how consumers consume (broadly) but they can’t create propositions to meet those needs as the complex licensing precedents (or the fear of setting any) increase cost when trying to create richer value propositions.

The general precedent set: anything that isn’t recorded music is for marketing. As soon as you bundle the same material in with the product (the very same material that was previously free and cost zero to the label) the label has to pay someone.

For a simple example, if a record company wants to bundle a digital and physical version of an album together they double their publishing costs. The publishers view the sale as two versions of the album and request double payment (silly from a consumer perspective). Same goes with video clips (publishing applies at the same rate as track) or even interviews where there is music playing in the background, behind the scenes etc etc. (except of course if it is used for promo).

Instead the industry had relied on 3rd parties to meet the demand. If the industry had a consumer facing view of the world they would’ve recognised this discrepancy and done something about it. They never did, it may be changing now but there is a long way to go. Because of it they left the door open for software like Winamp, Media Player and eventually iTunes to take the music listening experience away from the label. They’ll never get it back, consumer hate labels, love artists and have relationships with their media devices.

How can a creative industry working with artists not concerned with money and cents but artistic integrity, square the circle with music products released into an environment where music consumption is rapidly evolving? The answer to date, leave it to others.

Labels don’t have the skills, the culture or the desire to create innovative new products or to take risks. Best to leave it to others….

!?

I went to pick-up my motorcycle yesterday, £420 later, after I told them to diagnose a problem and not to spend more than £150 doing so, I rode it with no discernible difference. The problem was exactly the same! Apparently they test rode the bike for 20mins after all the repairs they had done. I barely made it 5mins down the road before I had to turn back. I am totally disgusted. It is being fixed now at their cost.

In our building we live on the top floor, skylights throughout, we had them all replaced as part of a entire building makeover. Every skylight leaked upon first install. They apparently fixed the problems and had an ‘independent surveyor’ confirm the robustness of their seal. Ok fair enough – sounds good. First strong breeze that comes along and lo and behold the skylight in the toilet lets in the breeze to such an extent the toilet paper looks like a flag on a windy day. First rains that come and lo and behold the skylight in the bathroom leaks so persistently it overfills a cup within 20mins. They also retiled the roof and redid a flat section – guess what? When it rains we can hear dripping on the ceiling – it’s now staining. How crap can it possibly get? They have had to schedule to come back and redo the work.

See my rant on what I think of car hire companies

I paid £100 for a pair of Grinder biker boots. Wore them in painfully (about 7 wears) and on the 10th wear I noticed the front of the sole had torn away from the boot. These are meant to be hard-ass wearing boots, here I am poncing about on my bike with all the gear and I can’t go 10 wears without destroying them. They’ve had to be replaced by the factory.

Apparently it costs £70 to print out a lease agreement and send it to existing tenants for them to sign which I assume requires filing at the other end when we return it. £70 for 5 mins work, 2 bits of paper, the ink on the paper – well you get the point, absolutely ridiculous. We have refused to pay – for now anyway.

It cost £750 to renew my Visa in the UK – probably because even though I have already submitted my degrees, my birth certificate, etc etc I have to resubmit them all again in case anything has changed! Can you believe it! Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you have ever heard? What is likely to happen? My degree was withdrawn perhaps? Maybe I will have gone from being born in Australia to Nigeria? Further more they take my passport for 6 weeks. Don’t worry about work, don’t worry about travel, wait for the bureaucrats to spend £750 of my money taking their right royal time keeping me in the country that they presumably are trying to make it difficult for me to enter in the first place.  Lastly, I better be sure not to get one thing wrong, or leave one thing out – if I do, it gets sent back and I have to pay my fee again. Absolutely ridiculous.

The reoccurring theme throughout – poor products and services creates the need for rework – incredible inefficiency. Perhaps that’s why things are so expensive in the first place – they know they are going to have to have three tries to get it right so might has well price it in upfront. Absolutely ridiculous.

To Whom It May Concern:

RE: Failure to disclose fees at the point of sale

Details

·         Alamo invoice number: l7396186

·         Carhire3000 ref no: 114821247

·         Pick-up location: Zurich Airport

·         Date: 04/03 to 08/03

Background

·         We used Carhire3000’s aggregation service to choose a car rental company, it was a price based decision.

·         We paid via Carhire3000 and received a voucher stating we had ‘PAID IN FULL’ (attached)

·         Upon collecting the car we signed two forms – it was not made clear at that point that winter equipment was extra (and not an option) and there was a service fee for picking up from an airport (and not an option)

Complaint

·         Carhire3000 – Not stating the hire costs of the vehicle in their entirety at the point of sale dilutes the value proposition of the service. Going forward, how do I trust that the price you offer me is the price I will pay? Doing otherwise is paramount to: false advertising; deceptive operations; duplicitous actions; and deliberate misrepresentation.  You have set an expectation at the point of sale and then your partner has destroyed it, which has resulted in a less than satisfactory customer experience – and there is no reason why if you had presented the price of the hire in its entirety upfront. The question is, what do I have to do to know what my hire will cost?

·         National/Alamo – I signed a form at the point of pickup that clearly stated extra charges for winter equipment and a service fee for pick-up at an airport. Neither charge was made explicit to us at the time – the first time I noticed the charge was when I received an invoice in the mail. Neither charge was optional and I strongly disagree that is satisfactory to be charged mandatory extras beyond the point of sale. It may be entirely legal, but it is not a satisfactory customer experience, it feels like I have been cheated by someone or something.

Concession

·         Both the Carhire3000 and National/Alamo fine print states extras will be charged – however in Carhire3000’s case this fine print is only visible after the price has been agreed in the terms and conditions and in Alamo’s case was not made clear when we picked up the hire

·         The practice is entirely legal – it’s not right but its legal granted

·         Its business as usual – every hirer is subject to the same conditions and charges – it’s not right, but it’s what you do

What do I want?

·         Concession that the practice of charging mandatory extras outside of the point of sale price is misleading and deceptive

·         Concession that the value proposition of Carhire3000’s aggregation service is severely diluted when mandatory extras appear subsequent to the point of sale

·         A refund in light of these concessions for both the service fee and the winter charge fee

Regards,

Joel Ippoliti

From: Julie Thomas [mailto:JulieThomas@traveljigsaw.com]
Sent: 16 March 2009 15:02
To: Joel Ippoliti
Subject: Carhire 3000 ref 114821247

————————————————————————————————-

Dear Mr Ippoliti

Thank you for contacting our customer services department.

In response to your email below I would like to bring the following to your attention. The charges for winter equipped vehicles and the service fee are not included in the rental price unless stipulated in the terms and conditions.

To make sure our customers are aware of what is included and what may be extra we are careful to explain this information in our terms and conditions.

It states:-

Other Fees Payable Locally

* Out of Hours Fees
* One Way Fees (where applicable)
* Additional extras requested at time of booking or purchased locally
* Deliveries & Collections
* Fines, Toll Fees & Parking Charges
* Supplementary Insurance to cover injuries to drivers &/or passengers

* Mandatory winter tyre fee of CHF9.00 + TAX per day for pick ups between 1st November & 15th April. This includes winter tyres, snow chains, ice scraper.

* Bus fee of CHF 7.50 per rental plus tax for Geneva airport pickups.

* All additional extras are subject to a service fee (19%) and VAT when picking up from an airport location.

You will find our full terms and conditions available on our website, which you have to tick to agree to these terms and conditions before you can proceed with your booking. As well as this, as a web based company, we also send you confirmation of your booking in writing and on your car rental voucher. I have attached a copy of your car rental voucher for your information. This voucher was sent to you at joelipol@gmail.com on the 01.03.09 at 12.00pm.

In light of this, we feel there has been no shortfall in the service provided by Carhire 3000, and respectfully decline any reimbursement on this occasion.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention, as the feedback that we receive from our customers is extremely important in helping us improve our services and the products we offer.

Thank you for your valued custom with Travel Jigsaw. If there is anything else we can do for you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kind Regards

Julie Thomas

Customer Service Team

Travel Jigsaw
————————————————————————————————-

From: Joel Ippoliti [mailto:Joel.Ippoliti]
Sent: 16 March 2009 15:49
To: Julie Thomas
Cc: Naran & Toni
Subject: RE: Carhire 3000 ref 114821247

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your response.

I received the voucher – I referred to it in my email to you as well. The terms and conditions you refer to follow immediately on from this – particular paragraph 7 – or about a screen size away.

As someone who has never used your service, upon seeing the ‘PAID IN FULL’ statement above I did not read the T&Cs (fine print) to look for extra charges.  I think it is misleading to suggest the account has been PAID IN FULL whilst in the full knowledge (as per your email below) that the rental has indeed not been paid in full – there are further mandatory charges. It should say PAID IN PART or PAID IN FULL* and directly under the statement make it clear that there will be more charges – not 7 sizeable paragraphs away. So we are clear, I have made this case below:

Unclear disclosure of rental prices

As an online service aggregator communicating the price of diverse car rental companies I believe it is your obligation to allow me compare prices like for like. I chose my service provider based on price. I couldn’t tell company to company, pickup location to pickup location, where mandatory charges would be charged or not. It’s your job to tell me. As a rule I would include all mandatory prices in the quoted price – you have not done this. I accept there will always been extra charges for optioned accessories – of course – I don’t accept there will always be extra charges for non-optional accessories and services – that is what I would call unfair behaviour and not in the spirit of your service proposition.

At the point of sale (where I chose between multiple companies), I ask again, how was I meant to calculate the total price of my rental? Further, when I committed to the purchase, PAID IN FULL is misleading – that was not the total price. Your service proposition is diluted if car rental companies are allowed to hit your customers with mandatory charges outside the selection process – particularly where it is selection based on price.

I find your response to be unsatisfactory. Your claim to make your customers aware (size 8 font – paragraph 7) is overcompensated and subverted by your desire to make them aware simultaneously that they have paid in full (size 24 font) – refer above again. Do you believe the way you have set this up and communicated it to be fully transparent? i.e. stating mandatory charges in the terms and conditions statement is transparent, fair and open behaviour when you run a price based aggregation service where price comparison is at the core of your proposition?

Joel

————————————————————————————————-

From: Julie Thomas [mailto:JulieThomas@traveljigsaw.com]
Sent: 17 March 2009 10:05
To: Joel Ippoliti
Subject: RE: Carhire 3000 ref 114821247

Dear Mr Ippoliti

I am sorry you feel we have mislead you, but the fact remains the same. You have received the terms of this rental not once, but twice. If at any point prior to picking up this vehicle you were not clear on the inclusions or exclusions of this rental, then our agents in our call centre would’ve been more than happy to assist with further advise. As it stands, you did tick a box to say you have read and accepted the terms and conditions, and we have put full information on these terms pertaining to extra costs payable locally.

We feel you have been correctly informed and feel there has been no shortfall of service or information provided. I therefore again, respectfully decline any reimbursement on this occasion.

Kind Regards

Julie Thomas

Customer Service Team

Travel Jigsaw

————————————————————————————————-

From: Joel Ippoliti
Sent: 17 March 2009 10:56
To: Julie Thomas
Cc: Naran
Subject: RE: Carhire 3000 ref 114821247

Hi Julie,

Thanks for your prompt responses. This part of the service has been good.

I agree the information to calculate the total costs of the rental were included in the terms and conditions.

Of course I had no reason to call customer service at the time because I thought the price had been stated in full and I had “PAID IN FULL”.

My rental was through Alamo. When I went direct to their website this is how they displayed the same rental agreement as I obtained through you.

Clear disclosure of rental prices

In comparison your website excludes the airport tax and winter equipped tax, consequently gives a cheaper price and then states “PAID IN FULL” with terms and conditions stating otherwise. If you were a price conscious shopper where would you originate the rental? I went to you because I thought it was cheaper.

Going forward I know that your website will not clearly state and define what charges are included. Instead I will use it to find the cheapest service provider and then go direct as it seems they are more tightly regulated than your aggregation service. Alamo’s pre-purchase pricing information is transparent – an aggregated price and then broken down line item by item, including all mandatory prices quantified, nothing hidden, no calculations to be made, all upfront – nice. Your example (see below) which is an aggregated cost, not broken down, nor with other costs quantified is not transparent. Stating otherwise is disingenuous in the context of the counter example above.

Needless to say I have articulated this complaint in the context of the Alamo representation to the relevant authority in the UK to see if they are more receptive to my argument. I’ll let you know how I get on – and all for £10 – your company must really value its customers!

Joel

eBay – now a classic auction site. eBay the classic classifieds site!?

Well it seems, dependent on where you live, each of us will have a different answer – but at the core we will still be dealing with an eBay company….

eBay launched Kijiji in 2005 firstly to Canada, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Taiwan in early 2005.  Later that year, Kijiji spread to Austria, Switzerland and India. In July 2007, eBay launched Kijiji U.S.

eBay acquired Marktplaats in 2004 the leading e-commerce site in the Netherlands and one of the country’s most visited sites

eBay acquired Gumtree in 2005 a local community classifieds that operates in the U.K., Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Poland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.S

eBay acquired LoQUo in 2005 and is present in 28 cities throughout Spain.

eBay acquired Mobile.de in 2005 and is the No. 1 classifieds motors site in Germany.

So through a strategy of acquisition and launch during 2005 eBay has made large movements into the classifieds space.

Am I 4 years behind the curve here? Probably – but I wonder where to next for eBay?

It is fairly common to hear that in upturn there are also many opportunities to seize.

So what’s the point of making either statement? Certainly for the former it is to remind people to not give up hope, that there are still opportunities. If it is made for any other reason, it is point poorly made.

Let’s call a spade a spade: there are far fewer opportunities in a downturn, those that exist are far riskier and you are almost certainly better off buying gold and stacking it under your bed than trying your luck in such a market.

There are opportunities regardless of the economic environment – no-brainer, poor point, doesn’t help anyone.  In a downturn the opportunities that exist are probably riskier, there are fewer of them and the market is going to be likely harder to crack – make no mistakes about it.

Should that stop you from launching your new business? Well if you still do you better make sure you’ve done your homework – if not, don’t bother.