The Light Is Green

Worst customer experience ever (Part 3)

A brief recap of my worst customer experience so far, which occurred over 3 visits to a major auto dealership (I'll add a fourth as a special bonus just for you! :) ...

• Part 1 involved arriving a few minutes before opening time and being summarily dismissed (and dissed) by the Parts counter guy.
• Part 2 was a few days later, whereby I waited half an hour without so much as a nod in my direction. But when I left a salesman ran after me and begged me to come back.

The next day, I went back to the dealership, and luckily the guy who had alertly fetched me in the parking lot saw me right away and directed me to an available sales rep.

I sat down and we discussed what I was looking for, then went into specifics about my trade-in. And that's when he hit me with Car Sales Trick #28, asking me what the value of my trade-in was. Obviously, he was hoping for a low figure, and if conversely I high-balled, he'd just go to his industry-standard book of used-car values that everyone in the known universe knows about. Should I have done my homework? Possibly. Still, it seemed like a cheap trick and so I left.

I'll be buying my next car from their competitor, a smaller but friendlier shop.

Unfortunately, a week later (still hadn't bought my new car) I was forced to go back to the "bad" dealership, just for a planned service visit (no other shops had availability), but they still managed to surprise me with some silliness...

Part of the service was an oil change. When I went to pick up my car saw they had stuck one of those reminder stickers on the inside of my windshield, but the writing was so faint, just scratches in fact, as to be totally illegible. I asked the technician and he apologized, but the plastic stickers were too slick to take ball-point ink.

I had to laugh! What kind of answer was that? This dealership has been in business for over 20 years, I wonder if this problems dates back to Day 1?

Incredibly, they're the #1 or #2 dealer in a couple of makes, and continue to grow, all of which underscores 3 facts:

1. Many countries in emerging markets have a long way to go regarding customer satisfaction.
2. These countries are still very generous, in the sense that the market accepts vendor behavior that would be inadmissible in major markets.
3. There's a great opportunity for forward-thinking dealers to come in and blow this type of old-schooler out of the water.

Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, auto dealer, auto dealers, car dealer, car dealers, motor vehicle dealer, motor vehicle dealers, customer satisfaction

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Mustang concept

Ford will unveil their 2007 Mustang at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week. Actually the official name is "Mustang by Giugiaro", after Fabrizio Giugiaro, styling director at ItalDesign SpA and originator of the radical new design.

Standout design features: the car is orange; the roof is a single curved glass panel bridging windshield and rear window; the doors are vertically hung and open at the touch of a button.

Worst customer experience ever (Part 2)

Part 1 of my worst customer experience involved arriving a few minutes before opening time at a major auto dealership, and being summarily dismissed (and dissed) by the Parts counter guy.

But, thinking I maybe had overreacted, I went back a few days later, this time making sure to arrive during normal business hours. I got there around 6:30 PM, parked in a paid lot across the street (they don't have client parking), and went in...

... and stood there for exactly 30 minutes without anyone even acknowledging my presence. I timed it. There were several customers ahead of me, and all salespeople were "taken".

I left shaking my head (to myself I hope), paid the parking, and as I was getting into my car saw that a sales guy had run out after me, apologizing and asking me to go back. I said no and left, but decided to go back the next day for a final try...

Tags: auto dealer, auto dealers, car dealer, car dealers, motor vehicle dealer, motor vehicle dealers

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IE 7 crashes

I installed the new Internet Explorer 7 a couple of weeks ago as part of the automatic WindowsUpdate.com process, and although I like the new features (multiple tabs is my favorite), it just won't stop crashing.

I've been checking Microsoft's site for IE7 patches or updates, and so far nothing. So I've finally decided to bite the bullet and make the move to Firefox, something friends and colleagues have been suggesting for quite some time... will post more as I try it out.

Visionary plan to import Chinese cars derailed

As you may know, legendary automotive entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin recently set up Visionary Vehicles in order to bring low-priced Chery cars from China to the U.S.

Autoweek now reports that this project seems to have gone south, as Chery has announced plans to work with several automakers, notably:

• Fiat, who will be buying 100,00 engines a year from Chery.
• DaimlerChrysler, who aims to produce the Dodge Hornet through Chery.

Autoweek says that Chery may have broken off talks with Visionary because DaimlerChrysler will be importing several Chery models, branded as Dodges, to the U.S.
Visionary's revised plan is to design its own models, manufacture them in China, and sell them in the U.S. Possible candidates: Chery, First Automobile Works, Shanghai Automotive, and Geely.

Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, Chery, Chery Automobile, Chery Automobile Co., Yin Tongyao, Malcolm Bricklin, Visionary Vehicles, DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat

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China's Chery to build compacts for Chrysler

As posted previously, it looks like DaimlerChrysler will be commissioning Dodge-branded compacts from Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co., for the Western European and North American markets.

According to Reuters, DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche just about confirmed this at the Beijing motor show, though no date for an agreement was given.

Chrysler is already doing something similar with 2 Hyundai models:

• The Atos mini is sold as a Dodge in Mexico
• The Getz hatchback is assembled and sold as the Dodge Brisa in Venezuela.

Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, Chery, Chery Automobile, Chery Automobile Co., DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler, Dodge, Dieter Zetsche, Hyundai, Atos, Getz, Brisa

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Choosing a photo sharing site

I really don’t have the time to waste spend carefully analyzing the various photo sharing sites in the market today, in order to find the one that best fits my needs. That’s why I initially and quickly chose Flickr, based mainly on its hype and it’s nice and informative website.

I liked Flickr right off the bat, but soon learned that it lacked a feature I felt was very basic: When you want to organize your photos, the Free version limits you to a measly 3 albums. That’s just not enough, so I am hereby retracting what I said in my previous post myself regarding Flickr.

So I turned to a help item I recently glimpsed on Google Blogger to find out what they recommend (maybe I’m a sucker but I trust them). It surprised me that they didn’t list Flickr on their suggested list. Hmm, maybe they agreed with my estimation? Or maybe it’s that rival Yahoo recently bought Flickr… :)

Google lists these fine sites, plus I’ve added Flickr.

• DotPhoto

• Fotki

• Ofoto

• Shutterfly

• SmugMug

• Flickr

So I began a quick and dirty review of each, now that I was so much more knowledgeable :) after my Flickr “disappointment”.

Here’s a rundown of each with my conclusions. Disclaimer: I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on this so I’m surely being unfair. But I’m guessing a lot of people are in the same boat, and hope my brief experience will help steer them in the right direction.

My main requirements are quite straightforward, ranked in this order:

• Good organization options. Unlimited albums.

• Good upload tool.

• Easy interface for admin and users.

• Free, at least for basic usage. Not that I’m cheap!

Round 1: The Weed-out.

1.     Dotphoto. Website is a little clunky but seems to offer what I need. Merits a second look.

2.     Fotki. Awful name. Rejected! Wait, just kidding… Looks like they offer unlimited albums. They have multiple Upload tools, though the help on this is confusing. (Note to self: there’s a lot to be said for a good online Help tool. Think about this for current projects).

Would have preferred just one upload method like Flickr (please don’t make me think!) Merits a pass to Round 2.

3.     Kodak EasyShare. I like Kodak. They offer a single upload tool, good. But the site seems geared towards people who want to let others print their photos. Not my case. Rejected!

4.     Ofoto. Looks like Kodak bought them.

5.     Shutterfly. The home page doesn’t really tell you what you can do… not a good sign. Tried to dig a little deeper, their Help system is pretty bad. Can’t find answers, but I like the interface so I’ll give it a pass to Round 2.

6.     Smugmug. Paid. Rejected! Plus, I don’t like the name.

7.     Flickr. Nice interface. Fast. Lets you choose resolution when you upload: I don’t need high-res as my stuff is web-only, so this is a good idea to reduce time and bandwidth… no one else seems to offer this. But they only have 3 albums in the free version. Flickr seems to me the best of the slot, but the album limitation means: Rejection! At least for now. Am I nitpicking?

Round 2: The Finals

Recounted in real-time, step by step, as I go through each site...

1.   Dotphoto

Pros: They offer a watermark function, in case anyone downloads my professional-looking photos. Nice feature!

Cons: No online nor PC-based batch upload. The Email upload option doesn’t sit well with my finely tuned sense of elegance. They have an FTP upload option, I try it and the FTP link they provide is dead.

Result: Discarded.

2.   Fotki

Pros: Album creation is easy.

Cons: I try to upload photos through their recommended Java applet. It works, but since you can’t choose resolution (like in Flickr) it is terribly slow going. Plus I’m probably sucking up a lot of bandwidth, hope our Netadmin doesn’t catch me! After waiting a while, I cancel. Also, I think the Java applet has converted my computer into a turtle.

Result: Discarded.

3.   Epiphany...

I suddenly come to my senses: What am I doing? Why don’t I just pony up $25 for Flickr Pro and stop whining? Which I do. Checkout is confusing as Paypal is involved even if you pay by credit card, but I persist and am now a happy (again) Flickr user!

4.   Insights:

Insight #1: The Internet is not about “free”, it’s about “useful”. We should stop emphasizing “free”, and start rewarding “useful” with our money.

Insight #2: There’s a lot to be said for clarity and usability of a website. This means letting your visitor know ASAP what you do and how they can benefit, and making it easy to find answers to the questions you know (or should know) they have.

Insight #3: Online help systems are great, and they can be done right (Typepad) and wrong (Fotki).

Here's the first version of our Flickr site.

Tags: flickr, photo sites, photo sharing

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Flickr not so great

I like it, but just realized that Flickr limits your photo organization options to just 3 albums. Not enough for my needs, which are pretty basic indeed.

Sorry, but I take back my previous post and will look for a different photo sharing site... more later...

Tags: flickr, photo sites, photo sharing

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Shanghai Auto's export plans

Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) will be exporting its own-brand, mid/high-end Roewe, which is based on technology from defunct British carmaker Rover, once it has achieved success in the Chinese internal market, but not to the U.S., at least for now.

So says SAIC executive vice president in charge of overseas operations Philip Murtaugh, and Forbes. Murtaugh is the former head of GM's China operations

Shanghai Auto owns a controlling stake in Korean carmaker Ssangyong, and this figures to be a major factor in the Chinese firm's global expansion plans. Murtaugh says that Ssangyong and SAIC will:

• Share production and design costs and improve procurement by combining supply bases and jointly sourcing all common components.
• Work together to develop global marketing strategies and standardized after-sales network.
• Jointly generate USD 5 billion from exports and overseas operations by 2010.

Ssangyong workers recently ended a strike protesting job cuts and an alleged attempt by SAIC to steal technology.

Tags: automotive, auto industry, automotive industry, China, Chinese auto industry, Chinese automotive industry, Shanghai Automotive, SAIC, Philip Murtaugh, Roewe, Roewe 750, Rover, Ssangyong

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Flickr is great

Finally gave flickr a workout out and really, really liked it. Before choosing flickr, I did a quick and dirty review of other photo sites, and though the depth of my analysis may make my conclusion unfair, I think flickr is the best of the crop.

Why? It's very intuitive, lightning fast, they have a great upload tool (you have to install it on your computer), and organizing photos is a snap. The only drawback I found was that if you want to create more than 3 "groups" of photos, you need to upgrade to the paid version.

I uploaded a bunch of photos from recent trips, you can check them out here.

Tags: flickr, photo sites, photo sharing

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