Buzz Builder

Kimpton's Hotel Vintage Park in Seattle Misses Opportunity to Create Postive Word of Mouth

We spent last weekend in Seattle on vacation and stayed at the Hotel Vintage Park, a Kimpton property.  Upon check-in, the front desk clerk did well maintaining her calm while a disgruntled guest screamed about a "totally unacceptable" room.  My wife looked at me and rolled her eyes, and we both felt sorry for the abuse heaped upon the hapless hotel employee.

While check-in was very slow since the front desk staff didn't seem to be well-trained in a new computer system, at least they were friendly.  We were pleased when we learned that we would be given a king-sized bed rather than the queen that we had expected.  So far, so good.  However, when we entered our room, we were instantly disappointed.  Our second floor room was actually on the ground level since the hotel is perched on a steep hill.  In fact the windows looked out on sidewalk that had a higher elevation than the floor of the room.  When we saw a homeless man push his shopping cart by the windows, we imagined a night full strange bumps in the night.  Sleepless in Seattle, indeed!

Immediately, we called the front desk clerk and asked that our room be switched.  We reminded her that we had requested a room on one of the upper floors when we made the reservation weeks ago.  She said that she would see what she could do and would call us back.  After 20 minutes waiting in the room with no call from hotel staff, we walked back to the front desk to resolve the matter.  We were beginning to understand the possible reasons why we saw such a tweaked customer while checking in.

Although we were ultimately moved to a fine room on seventh floor, we couldn't help but think that the Hotel Vintage Park fell into trap that befalls many businesses.  The hotel's entire second floor of rooms would disappoint most travellers since they're so close to a noisy downtown sidewalk.  Yet, the charge for these rooms is the the same as more desireable ones higher up.  Furthermore, the hotel does nothing to warn guests about what to expect when assigned a second floor room.

If a business has a product that it knows to be subpar, it should be honest so its customer know what to expect.  Furthermore, it makes sense to discount the product since there will always be some people who will be thrilled to pay less even if a product has flaws.  In fact, if Kimpton's Hotel Vintage Park just took its winery theme to its logical extension and called the second floor rooms its cellar rooms and put cellar prices on these accomodations, it would spread positive rather than negative word of mouth.

Nike: Just Do It Equally for Male & Female High School Athletes

Associate Editor Susan Nielsen of The Oregonian wrote a well-elaborated editorial on 6/18/06 pointing out that Nike, the Oregon-based sports apparel giant, generously sponsors about 150 high school basketball teams nationally. According to Nike, about 75 percent are boys teams.

Nielsen wrote, "The boys on these sponsored teams don't have to shell out $100 or more for a single pair of sneakers. They can just lace up and play. Sometimes these lucky boys get multiple pairs of free shoes, plus cool bags and warm-up gear, too. "

"Girls at the same school, playing the same sport without a corporate sponsor, have to get their athletic shoes the old-fashioned way.  By paying for them," Nielsen added.

While Nike policy doesn't violate the letter of Title IX, a 1972 congressional Act of Congress focusing on equality in sports, it certainly is a bad PR move. In an age when school funding is falling increasingly under the budget knife and high school sports team are starved for resources, it doesn't make sense that Nike would give money to male teams only. Imagine the outcry if Apple Computer decided that only boys could use its donated computers.

Yes, money and shoes don't grow on trees. Yet, given Nike's leadership status in sports apparel and its profitability, when it comes to treating male and female high school athletes equally, Nike should just do it.

Headsets.com Beats the Competition like Hello Direct with Better Customer Service

  Five years ago, I met Mike Faith, an entrepreneur with a vision to build a company with superior customer service in an industry in which his competitors focus on cost-cutting measures. Today, Headsets.com, a San Francisco Internet retailer of headsets for phones and computers, is aiming to displace industry leader Hello Direct as the leading headset seller.

In an excellent article in the April 2006 issue of Fortune Small Business, Ellyn Spragins interviews Faith who said "Our competitors are cost cutting and reducing customer-service levels. We are doing the reverse, upping our staffing levels and creating a more knowledgeable customer- service staff."

Faith's  commitment to customer service is noticeable when you call his company at 1-800-Headsets. Over the past year, I've called three times seeking assistance in trouble shooting a Plantronics wireless headset that I got from Headsets.com a couple of years ago.  I'm impressed that I always have gotten a live customer service person in less than three rings. Even better, the person who picks up the phone is  knowledgeable and friendly. Twice the person who took my call was able to troubleshoot my problem over the phone so I could fix my my headset on the spot. Another time, the customer service person was able to ascertain that my equipment had a manufacturer's defect and sent me a replacement piece that allowed me to fix the problem.

Faith is doing a great job at selling headsets with service. Perhaps someday he can start a business teaching business giants like Microsoft and Dell to improve their customer service.