Whether to own-up or not?
A year and a half a ago, the wife and I purchased a Quinny Buzz for our first born. We were very happy with it and recommended it to a couple of friends who bought it too.
Now that our little one is a bit bigger and winter is drawing in - we noticed that the straps were getting very tight, without any visible means of lengthening them. A quick Google search found this link, and several others with the same story. There was a production error on the 2007 models meaning the straps were too short. Dorel, the UK importers of Quinny, were matter of fact when I called them and they've ordered some new parts for me. No trouble at all. (Call 01842 763 281 in the UK).
Now Dorel / Quinny must have sat around a table and decided what to do when they realised this problem. And in my opinion, they've picked less than wisely. Their options were:
1. Keep as quiet as possible, hope no-one notices and sort out those that do efficiently. (Which is what they've done)
2. Shout loudly that they've made a mistake and get all the products sorted.
Option 1 minimises the shock. The shock that sending out all those extra parts means to profit and resource. But it also alienates your tribe (visit Seth's blog for more on tribes). For those that find out, they tell the same friends as before and so the parts are still required, but you've lost some love and trust. Others will suffer in silence, ultimately not using their pushchair anymore and certainly not recommending it to friends.
Option 2 keeps your tribe of recommenders, keeps everyone happy, keeps the Buzz visible in all the smart London parks, keeps your business going in the future.
It seems to me that Quinny / Dorel forgot the Cluetrain. Forgot that their customers move a lot faster than they do, forgot that they can talk to each other (a lot).
