The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
Deal with the Devil
Tuesday - December 13, 2005 01:48 PM in
The typical "Deal with the Devil" story goes like this:
Act 1:The hero is poor, miserable, lonely, and/or lacking something in his life. The devil appears and offers to give the hero whatever he wants. The hero signs a lengthy contract which he either doesn't read, doesn't understand, or thinks won't really apply to him.
Act 2: The hero lives it up. At the end of the act, the Devil reappears and demands the hero's life and/or soul, pointing out a clause in the contract which gives the Devil the right to said life and/or soul if certain conditions are met.
Act 3: The hero doesn't believe how stupid he was. In some stories, the Devil wins and takes the hero (kicking and screaming) to the netherworld. In other stories, the hero beats the Devil on a technicality or by winning a contest, but is forever chastened for his desires in act 1.
Compare this to the life cycle of a credit card customer:
Stage 1: The customer is poor, and/or lacking some material possession in his life. A credit card offer appears in the mail and offers to give the customer money and stuff with low payments and no interest, or even cash back. The customer signs a lengthy contract which he often doesn't read, and almost never understands.
Stage 2: The customer lives it up, buying big-screen TVs, vacations to the Bahamas, etc. The credit card company reappears and demands 30% interest, $35/month in penalties, and other fees and charges, pointing out a technical clause in the contract which gives the credit card company the right to said fees and/or interest if certain technical (and largely irrelevant) conditions are met.
Stage 3: The customer doesn't believe how stupid he was. In most cases, the credit card company wins and the customer pays the fees (grumbling and complaining), and is more careful to read the fine print. In other cases, the customer declares bankruptcy or (in very rare instances) a judge might throw out the debt.
I'm amazed that anyindustry thinks it's a good idea to treat customers the way the Devil treats weak souls. But they do.
Many of these "gotcha" games that credit card companies like to play are relatively new (in the past ten years or so). And since all the largest card issuers play the same games, there aren't many alternatives for a customer who wants a plain-old-nothing-hidden-no-gotchas account (the same thing can be said for checking accounts). But markets are self-correcting (so the economists tell us), and I'm predicting that it won't be long before consumer anger--and possibly legislation--will put and end to this state of affairs.
By the way, my personal strategy is to cancel any credit card which plays "gotcha" with me. I rarely slip up these days, but even if I do, the credit card company gets to charge 1.5% per month interest when (for example) I send in my payment a week late. I see no reason why they need to add a $35 late fee on top of that. So when I get such a fee, I immediately close the account.
I've found that some of my credit cards have stayed in my wallet for decades, while others disappear within a few years. And when I cancel the account, I make sure to tell the agent that the reason I'm closing the account is that I don't do business with companies which play games with me.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Act 2: The hero lives it up. At the end of the act, the Devil reappears and demands the hero's life and/or soul, pointing out a clause in the contract which gives the Devil the right to said life and/or soul if certain conditions are met.
Act 3: The hero doesn't believe how stupid he was. In some stories, the Devil wins and takes the hero (kicking and screaming) to the netherworld. In other stories, the hero beats the Devil on a technicality or by winning a contest, but is forever chastened for his desires in act 1.
Compare this to the life cycle of a credit card customer:
Stage 1: The customer is poor, and/or lacking some material possession in his life. A credit card offer appears in the mail and offers to give the customer money and stuff with low payments and no interest, or even cash back. The customer signs a lengthy contract which he often doesn't read, and almost never understands.
Stage 2: The customer lives it up, buying big-screen TVs, vacations to the Bahamas, etc. The credit card company reappears and demands 30% interest, $35/month in penalties, and other fees and charges, pointing out a technical clause in the contract which gives the credit card company the right to said fees and/or interest if certain technical (and largely irrelevant) conditions are met.
Stage 3: The customer doesn't believe how stupid he was. In most cases, the credit card company wins and the customer pays the fees (grumbling and complaining), and is more careful to read the fine print. In other cases, the customer declares bankruptcy or (in very rare instances) a judge might throw out the debt.
I'm amazed that anyindustry thinks it's a good idea to treat customers the way the Devil treats weak souls. But they do.
Many of these "gotcha" games that credit card companies like to play are relatively new (in the past ten years or so). And since all the largest card issuers play the same games, there aren't many alternatives for a customer who wants a plain-old-nothing-hidden-no-gotchas account (the same thing can be said for checking accounts). But markets are self-correcting (so the economists tell us), and I'm predicting that it won't be long before consumer anger--and possibly legislation--will put and end to this state of affairs.
By the way, my personal strategy is to cancel any credit card which plays "gotcha" with me. I rarely slip up these days, but even if I do, the credit card company gets to charge 1.5% per month interest when (for example) I send in my payment a week late. I see no reason why they need to add a $35 late fee on top of that. So when I get such a fee, I immediately close the account.
I've found that some of my credit cards have stayed in my wallet for decades, while others disappear within a few years. And when I cancel the account, I make sure to tell the agent that the reason I'm closing the account is that I don't do business with companies which play games with me.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 01:48 PM by | | | |