[Brazelton] Maker of game controllers declares war on Penny Arcade
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He has a newborn and plays video games for 5 hours a day.
LIVIN' THE DREAM
http://www.natesnetwork.com/Poor-customer-service
I'm pretty sure that this has been posted before, but I'm halfway through reading this. When I say that Christoforo is very likely the worst person to represent a company ever, I DEAD SERIOUS!
I'm pretty sure that this has been posted before, but I'm halfway through reading this. When I say that Christoforo is very likely the worst person to represent a company ever, I DEAD SERIOUS!
Dave
Staff member
I think this is going to be very good for our buddy Kurtz.
Kurtz has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, but he's generally not an ass about it. Paul on the other hand, is an abrasive and abusive bully who is full of a strange mix of hot air and shit. I think that as Kurtz looks at this situation he can see that sometimes it's better to not say anything at all.
Frankly I've seen a HUGE difference in Scott's communications since he moved in with the PA guys. Khoo is a fricking master of PR and I think he's having a positive effect on PvP. It's really a great thing.
Hey, maybe Paul could hire Khoo...
Kurtz has a habit of sticking his foot in his mouth, but he's generally not an ass about it. Paul on the other hand, is an abrasive and abusive bully who is full of a strange mix of hot air and shit. I think that as Kurtz looks at this situation he can see that sometimes it's better to not say anything at all.
Frankly I've seen a HUGE difference in Scott's communications since he moved in with the PA guys. Khoo is a fricking master of PR and I think he's having a positive effect on PvP. It's really a great thing.
Hey, maybe Paul could hire Khoo...
I doubt Scott's going to benefit much from this whole scenario. After all, I doubt he thinks he sticks his foot in his mouth very often.
It's sort of like if you think you're a good driver, when actually you drive like a blind fifteen-month-old who's sending SMS's at the same time with both hands. When you drive past the scene of a crash, you don't think to yourself, "Wow, maybe I should drive more carefully." You think to yourself, "Ha, good thing that's never gonna happen to me!"
But yeah, associating with the PA guys can only be a good thing. Tycho, Gabe and Khoo know their stuff.
It's sort of like if you think you're a good driver, when actually you drive like a blind fifteen-month-old who's sending SMS's at the same time with both hands. When you drive past the scene of a crash, you don't think to yourself, "Wow, maybe I should drive more carefully." You think to yourself, "Ha, good thing that's never gonna happen to me!"
But yeah, associating with the PA guys can only be a good thing. Tycho, Gabe and Khoo know their stuff.
The only person that's going to benefit from this is Paul Christoforo. Villains make money in our society. He'll be offered interviews, places on reality TV shows, a book deal, etc. All because Dumbass Krahulik thought that it was appropriate to basically turn his version of Anonymous against another dumbass.
Guess what? What Paul did wasn't exactly dastardly criminal masterminding.
Guess what? What Paul did wasn't exactly dastardly criminal masterminding.
like any reality TV show is going to care about someone that the internet got mad at and forgot about after a couple days
Being a colossal dick is not against the law (thank God.) But it can be worthy of scorn.
this guy will not be on any reality TV show except maybe one that airs on PSN exclusively
You say that like there's some kind of quality level to be a reality TV star.
All I can say is I'm leaning more towards the issue as interpreted here: http://kotaku.com/5872042/
1. Customer pre-orders product
2. Product misses ship date
3. Customer emails customer service, get's terse response that doesn't say much other than a date
4. Customer emails customer service after that date and requests an update
5. Customer service BERATES customer for asking for an update
Keep in mind that this is a pre-order - the customer has put money on the table. The customer service should simply have said, "Yeah, hey, sorry, our latest date is now in January." at MINIMUM.
But instead - after putting money on the table - the service insults and berates the customer, treating their request for an update as a childish thing.
THEY PUT MONEY ON THE TABLE.
The transaction has been half completed. There is NO call for customer service to berate the customer for asking for a new delivery date.
There is GREAT call for the customer to ask, "You've missed two delivery dates - can you give me another date, and what is the chance you'll meet it?"
When my clients pay me, I don't get to thumb my nose at them and tell them to suck it up and wait once I've gone past my estimate.
This guy is getting blasted because he took the customer's money, then slapped the customer when he failed to deliver his product and the customer asked a reasonable question about delivery.
When you choose to act out, you better be prepared for the blowback. There are entire websites devoted to consumer stories where manufacturers and retailers have done the wrong thing after receiving payment for products or services. His behavior is under no circumstances acceptable.
He'd getting it harder than he probably deserves, but what do you expect a customer to do when you insult them, give them no information, and no way to seek reparation? They are going to find an outlet for their unhappiness.
At one point I created a website blasting State Farm Insurance for some problem which their local agent refused to help me with. I sent a tweet or two, and within hours of creating the website and sending the tweet my issue was resolved by the corporate office, and the local agent learned some "new" processes they "hadn't been aware of" when I originally brought the issue up. I'm still with them, though with a different agent, because they immediately sought to resolve the issue and did to my complete satisfaction.
This customer email blasted a LOT of people with the exchange, and luckily he got a bite from Penny Arcade, simply because this stupid marketer used the name PAX.
Taking your problem to the internet can and does work, and the marketer better realize sooner rather than later that if they aren't careful in all their communications, they may get bitten, chewed up, or eaten live by the people who have been burned before with no resolution, who are more than happy to support a fellow consumer in their crusade against a relatively minor issue.
2. Product misses ship date
3. Customer emails customer service, get's terse response that doesn't say much other than a date
4. Customer emails customer service after that date and requests an update
5. Customer service BERATES customer for asking for an update
Keep in mind that this is a pre-order - the customer has put money on the table. The customer service should simply have said, "Yeah, hey, sorry, our latest date is now in January." at MINIMUM.
But instead - after putting money on the table - the service insults and berates the customer, treating their request for an update as a childish thing.
THEY PUT MONEY ON THE TABLE.
The transaction has been half completed. There is NO call for customer service to berate the customer for asking for a new delivery date.
There is GREAT call for the customer to ask, "You've missed two delivery dates - can you give me another date, and what is the chance you'll meet it?"
When my clients pay me, I don't get to thumb my nose at them and tell them to suck it up and wait once I've gone past my estimate.
This guy is getting blasted because he took the customer's money, then slapped the customer when he failed to deliver his product and the customer asked a reasonable question about delivery.
When you choose to act out, you better be prepared for the blowback. There are entire websites devoted to consumer stories where manufacturers and retailers have done the wrong thing after receiving payment for products or services. His behavior is under no circumstances acceptable.
He'd getting it harder than he probably deserves, but what do you expect a customer to do when you insult them, give them no information, and no way to seek reparation? They are going to find an outlet for their unhappiness.
At one point I created a website blasting State Farm Insurance for some problem which their local agent refused to help me with. I sent a tweet or two, and within hours of creating the website and sending the tweet my issue was resolved by the corporate office, and the local agent learned some "new" processes they "hadn't been aware of" when I originally brought the issue up. I'm still with them, though with a different agent, because they immediately sought to resolve the issue and did to my complete satisfaction.
This customer email blasted a LOT of people with the exchange, and luckily he got a bite from Penny Arcade, simply because this stupid marketer used the name PAX.
Taking your problem to the internet can and does work, and the marketer better realize sooner rather than later that if they aren't careful in all their communications, they may get bitten, chewed up, or eaten live by the people who have been burned before with no resolution, who are more than happy to support a fellow consumer in their crusade against a relatively minor issue.
I don't disagree with anything you're saying Adam. What I am saying that the majority of the anguish over this $10 is being exacerbated by slacktivist nerds fighting against a 'foe' that they're inventing. OMG STEROIDS. OMG WIFE BEATER. OMG SPELLINGZ. Finding reasons to pound on a perfect stranger is what bullies do.
Holy crap, a customer service agent was rude to a customer. Stop the presses. The only reason this matters to certain people is because it's an opportunity to "fight" and "win" on the Internet. Doesn't make it any less retarded.
Holy crap, a customer service agent was rude to a customer. Stop the presses. The only reason this matters to certain people is because it's an opportunity to "fight" and "win" on the Internet. Doesn't make it any less retarded.
The $10 was brought up well after the initial problem, but I thought this was a $80 or so pre-ordered device that kept missing its delivery dates?
I don't disagree with you that this level of animosity is clearly undeserved. This guy is the whipping boy for every bad transaction every gamer has had over the last few years. He has become the popular cause, and when people put a face on bad customer service, it's going to be his face for some time.
It should, however, prove positive for consumers in the long run, as no one will want to be the "next christophoro," and marketers are going to be changing how they interact with fans.
However, the animosity is clearly deserved. He's getting more of it than he deserves, but what I'm getting at is that at a basic level it's not undeserved.
Besides, he had 5 chances, by my count, to back off and apologize before it blew up.
Not only did he skip those opportunities, but he turned them around and used them to say, "screw you - I'm right to be treating a customer this way."
He kept pulling the trigger in the gun, and eventually his game of russian roulette caught up - and while it was just a simple game to him, the bullet turned out to be real.
PA may have loaded the bullet with more gunpowder than he realized, but he still pulled the trigger himself.
Except he is all three of those things and therefore valid targets for the response to his behavior.
I have to be honest, I am befuddled as to why Adammon would defend this guy.
Adammon, are you trying to take Charlie's sword?
I think it's a little over the top, but to think people are awful for commenting and getting involved in this d-bags actions seems a little strange to me. It could have just as easily been any one of us he was a total peckerhead to, and I for one see this as one of those few positive times where the internet mob attacked the right target and ultimately helped the person who deserved it.
Dude seemed like a major dick. He then proved himself to be a major dick.
Most people have run in with these guys all the time and never are able to do anything about it. Mike gave them a chance to do something about it for once.
They apparently took him up on the offer. Doesn't bother me much I guess.
Most people have run in with these guys all the time and never are able to do anything about it. Mike gave them a chance to do something about it for once.
They apparently took him up on the offer. Doesn't bother me much I guess.
I'm not defending the guy. I work in PR; what he did is my nightmare that every week I'm called upon to undo.
1) What Mike from PA did (posting the whole exchange to PA) was uncalled for. He either didn't know what kind of response would come out of it, making him an idiot. Or he knew and he's an asshole. Having seen him do similar things in the past, I'm leaning more towards he's an asshole. The internet is full of dumbshits who look for an excuse to be dumbshits.
2) Every dumb shit with a keyboard or a phone haranging Paul either through Twitter, phone calls/emails to his home, harassing his gf, etc. Yes, we get it; you were bullied by Steve in Grade 3 and now this is your chance to get even with anothe bully. You could have done something about it at the time, but instead you take the path of least resistance and wait 10, 15, 20 years to lob verbal grenades into a situation that you have no part to play in. But whatever gets your limp dick hard I guess. This is what admittedly motivated Mike from PA. Makes my stomach turn. Christoforo looking and sounding like a fucking meathead justifies the transference I suppose.
3) The thing that really pisses me off: the only person getting anything out of this is going to be Christoforo. Yes, he lost a job he was terrible at. And then he was interviewed by Forbes magazine, MSNBC, International Business Times with kid gloves. Victims sell. The victim here was Dave, who received rude emails from a customer support rep, and now it's Paul, who has been bombarded with everything from hate mail to phone stalking. Has Dave been interviewed by Forbes?
It's like the Streisand Effect in reverse.
1) What Mike from PA did (posting the whole exchange to PA) was uncalled for. He either didn't know what kind of response would come out of it, making him an idiot. Or he knew and he's an asshole. Having seen him do similar things in the past, I'm leaning more towards he's an asshole. The internet is full of dumbshits who look for an excuse to be dumbshits.
2) Every dumb shit with a keyboard or a phone haranging Paul either through Twitter, phone calls/emails to his home, harassing his gf, etc. Yes, we get it; you were bullied by Steve in Grade 3 and now this is your chance to get even with anothe bully. You could have done something about it at the time, but instead you take the path of least resistance and wait 10, 15, 20 years to lob verbal grenades into a situation that you have no part to play in. But whatever gets your limp dick hard I guess. This is what admittedly motivated Mike from PA. Makes my stomach turn. Christoforo looking and sounding like a fucking meathead justifies the transference I suppose.
3) The thing that really pisses me off: the only person getting anything out of this is going to be Christoforo. Yes, he lost a job he was terrible at. And then he was interviewed by Forbes magazine, MSNBC, International Business Times with kid gloves. Victims sell. The victim here was Dave, who received rude emails from a customer support rep, and now it's Paul, who has been bombarded with everything from hate mail to phone stalking. Has Dave been interviewed by Forbes?
It's like the Streisand Effect in reverse.
I never defended him, just attacked the PA douchebags
S
SeraRelm
Or he's a douche who acted like a douche and won't stop acting like a douche. So he gets shit on for acting like a douche.
World moves on.
World moves on.
"Wow" customers, indeed. As in, they'll smack their foreheads, shake their heads and say, "Wow."
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