They Weren't Pranking - They Were Serious!

These companies weren’t pranking, and it wasn’t for April 1^st. They were serious.

A large soft drink company, number one in the industry for over a century, decided its well-loved tried-and-true product needed an update. It didn’t take long for their loyal customers to protest.

There was nothing wrong with the old product. It was good enough to last all those years without any changes.

With its tail between its legs, the company backed away from their “new and improved” product and went back to the old “classic” formula. And they hoped their little goof didn’t scare off their customer base. It took some work to woo back the regulars, who still felt betrayed. Many jumped ship and went to the competition.

The company actually tried to make any evidence of their misstep disappear. No mention was ever made again. The public was supposed to forget it ever happened. Packaging and containers of the new product were gathered up and destroyed. You’d be hard pressed to find anything in collectors’ stashes of these rare keepsakes.

It was not a prank, but many felt it was. Many once-loyal customers never went back. It never affected me as I’m not a fan of carbonated sugar-infused beverages, but it was perceived as a slap in the face by many.

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A large electronics chain was advertising a VCR for $129. The store near me had ONE. That’s right, one VCR at that price. They did have VCRs in stock that could be had for $179. We overheard a customer complaining loudly to a sales associate about this bait-and-switch deal.

My wife and I were there to buy a small color television, and not a part of the VCR scam. They had a few in stock and off we went with our new purchase.

Within about three weeks, the color on the TV started to fade to green. We called the store and they said to bring it back, which we did.

The sales associate who waited on us claimed he couldn’t find any evidence of our purchase on his computer. I showed him the receipt. As if by magic, he found the information on his computer screen.

He told us if we didn’t have the original box it came in, with the TV’S serial number printed on it, he couldn’t take it back.

We had the box.

“Oh.”

Then he said we had to have the Styrofoam corners and the plastic bag it was packaged in.

We did.

“Oh.”

If we didn’t have a warranty, he couldn’t…

Our state has an automatic ninety-day warranty law on electronics the stores have to honor.

“Oh.”

He claimed that if we didn’t have an extended warranty plan…

I don’t often buy these plans, but this time I did, and showed him the paperwork.

“Oh.”

After trying every way he could to weasel out of honoring our return, he finally gave in and presented us with a same-model replacement in exchange for the defective unit.

I’m not sorry to say this chain went out of business. One big reason – their bait-and-switch tactics.

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My daughter worked for a large retail store running the HR department. For the first Christmas shopping season she worked there, the store offered the usual wonderful gift item no one could live without. And they had a limited supply; only twelve would be available on the first day of the sale.

Upon arriving at work, she saw a long line in front of the building, far more than twelve people ready to do the mad crush and grab that special item.

The doors were unlocked and the pandemonium ensued. The twelve items were gone in no time, leaving many people disappointed and upset. They’ll just have to come back tomorrow, when more will be available. But while you’re here right now, why not start your holiday shopping with us?

My daughter is not a fan of this style of retail. This one event led her to think about employment elsewhere, which she obtained a few months later.

The fact that there was a pallet of this wonderful item in the warehouse, seventy of them to be exact, and the corporate policy of only releasing a few at a time changed my daughter’s mind about long-term employment with this store.

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There’s a TV streaming service that’s rubbing salt in the wounds of longtime customers. They provide many TV channels that have been very popular, and they are removing them from normal cable service, forcing people to buy into their streaming service if they wish to keep viewing them.

For the low low price of only $4.99 a month, and $6.99 a month for commercial-free service. The key words here are “Starting at $4.99 a month”. Starting? That can only mean the price will go up to who knows how much. Once you cancel your cable service and they have you, those switching over will feel the pinch.

They run their annoying commercials at every commercial break on so many channels. One night, I sat through FOUR of them in a row. Enough to scare me away from doing business with them.

They advertise on social media as well, and the hundreds of comments following each ad all prove how much of an insult this is to the consumer. Few if any comments posted say how pleased they are with it. Shouldn’t the company plant a few nice comments? It’s obvious they don’t, as it’s obvious they don’t read how the general public feels about what they’re doing.

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The governor of my state felt that since we were one of the lowest in gasoline taxes, he felt we should be more in line with other states and increased the tax base by 25 cents per gallon. We already had the highest property tax rates in the country, as well as other state taxes that are in the top ten nationally.

The gas tax went up and the first things I saw as far as road repairs (why the taxes needed to be increased in the first place, so they claimed) were new mile markers (just what we needed!) and some new traffic lights. The potholes and rough pavement remained. A local bridge remained closed and out of service for almost a year, causing traffic problems that weren’t there before.

This governor is quite wealthy and lives in a home that has everything a wealthy man and his family could want. Huge property on a lake, huge house, luxury cars, exclusive town, the works.

The curious thing is what he pays in property taxes. Sixty thousand dollars a year. A year! Wealthy or not, I would work on a way to make property taxes fair. The only thing he could get from his town that I don’t get in mine, is probably backyard trash pickup. We both have police, fire, road departments, street lights, all the services you’d expect from the town. What does he get that I don’t, my taxes not even ten percent of his. Gee Gov, doesn’t that hurt a little? How about looking into the tax problem for the rest of us?

He gives a daily TV news conference, mainly about the attempts to stop the spread of Covid-19. He babbles on for thirty or forty minutes without a commercial break from the news outlet that’s carrying the show. When he’s finished, he asks the reporters on hand for their questions. The TV station then goes to commercial and we don’t see or hear the serious questions. Hiding something, are they?

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The five examples cited above attempted things most of us feel are unethical, or just plain stupid. Change a proven formula after a hundred years, bait-and-switch yourself right out of business, lose a valued once-loyal hard-working employee over a shady corporate policy, find new ways to charge more money for something people already had, and lose your upcoming reelection by a landslide.

These people and businesses have either imploded or are about to. Can you say backfire?