• What would it take for you to abandon your favorite brand?

    Posted on March 30th, 2009 by and currently 14 commenting.

    Over the weekend, brother Armano expressed his displeasure that the new MacBook Pros don’t come with a video projector adapter.

    Now I’m not here to debate whether or not that’s a ripoff or not. It just got me to thinking about what it would take to get you to turn on your favorite brand. David was pissed at Apple, but did he turn around and take back his brand new, shiny computer? Nope.

    So what would it take? Think about your favorite company, product or brand in the whole-wide world. Now think about what it would take for you to never, ever use them again. Crappy customer service? A bad user experience? A “lemon?”

    A big part of what a brand is, is your memories of that brand and how you identify with it. If those memories are positively strong, it might take a lot before you abandon that brand. There’s even many, many stories of people blaming themselves (user error) if their computer blows up or their transmission falls out or their clothes come out of the wash destroyed. That’s loyalty.

    Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that companies who have spent years earning your trust have the right to screw you over just because they think they can get away with it. That’s not right. Quite simply, my question is what would it take for you to leave them and never, ever look back?

  • http://tv.factor77.com @MattWilsontv

    I certainly wouldn’t drop my favorite brands because of one screw up… it’d have to be something unforgivable.

    It’d be like dropping Michael Jackson b/c his sister showed her nipple at the Super Bowl. I mean comeon, the guy gave us Thriller!

    Doing something that was against what the brand stood for in the first place is what would turn me off. Brands need to stay true to their roots, what they were all about in the first place, that’s what’ll keep their core customers happy, but it doesn’t always work out that way. Plenty of companies abandon who they originally went into business for. It’s like a underground rock band selling out and going mainstream… that’s the kind of stuff that’d make turn me off to a company.

    Know who you are and stick to it.

  • http://iamdave.tumblr.com @iamdave

    A obtrusive lack of consistency would be the case for me.

    Given that I voted for Obama, I’d best tread carefully so that I don’t seem like a bandwagonning F**K, which I am not. However, I was heavily pro Obama during primary season entirely because of his desire and his appreciation for scientific innovation in multiple communities, renewable energy, commerce, medicine, and even economic endeavors. At the same time, he emphasized the need to purge DC of lobbyists and special interest groups trying to effect public policy.

    However, this is where I pulled an about face: even though Joe Biden is pro RIAA and squashing piracy, he seems to have a very objective stance about it. While I’m not saying downloading music should be condoned, but the fact that Obama did nothing while his administration hired two former RIAA lawyers to the justice department; the RIAA has proven time and time again that they are not willing to capitalize on the innovations of the open-source community and develop an effective revenue model using these outstanding technologies. At the same time, the talk surrounding Obama’s decision to search computers suspected of “infringement” flies right in the face of his rhetoric during campaign season.

  • http://www.worthwhile.com Chris Rackley

    This one’s not too hard for me.

    I used to shop at Autozone for my car supplies. About a year ago, my car just kept dying in the middle of the road. We took it in and had an alternator test done. They said we needed a new alternator. I bought one (for a ridiculous price) and got $20 back for giving them my old, “dead” one. Spent two hours trying to put it in . . . and only got five miles before I died again. And again. And again. Everytime I would tap my brakes, I’d die. I took it to another dealer who showed me the real problem, a $400 short that had to get fixed. I called Autozone THAT DAY, and demanded my “just fine” alternator back, along with my money. They said “sure.” I got there the next day, and it had been “sent off for recycling.” I told them that was fine, but I wanted my money back. They argued (and semi-validly) that they couldn’t pay me to take away their alternator, that they couldn’t just give me my money back. But they totally screwed me over: Some half-wit told me I needed a new part when I didn’t . . . and I wanted my money back. It’s not my fault they threw the alternator out, especially when I called them just a couple hours later and they said they still had it and would trade me.

    After taking it up the corporate ladder, I was able to get HALF my money back. But what they’ll never, EVER get back . . . my business.

  • http://www.800ceoread.com Jon

    Once a company, or a friend, lies, they’re done.

  • Jim Slagle

    In these times of tightening the belt, I think we are more likely to see some brand abandoning. I guess I somewhat abandoned Toyota last time I needed a new truck. I was driving a standard cab Toyota Tacoma which I loved, but with small two children I was in need of more room. The cost difference between the Tacoma with the extra cab and a similar sized Dodge Dakota was considerable. So I went with the Dodge (which is where my dad’s loyalty lies) and have been lucky not to have any problems at all in 3 yrs now.

    As far as computers go… I believe it would take God himself to tell me Apple was the “Forbidden Fruit” before I could switch to a PC.

  • http://www.statusbureau.com Josh

    Jon got it. When your brand lies, your brand dies.

  • http://www.wrightplacetv.com Dr Letitia Wright

    Once it no longer has what you need essentially, then its over

    Dr. Wright
    The Wright Place TV Show
    http://wrightplacetv.com/wright-place-cruise
    http://www.twitter.com/drwright1

  • Ed

    I used FEDEX exclusively over the last fifteen years, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on sending out notebooks computers, desktop computers and HDTVs for review to major sites like CNET.com and trade shows such as International CES. Despite a great rep from FedEx assigned to our corporate account, major glitches still occured.

    I overnighted a PC for Intel to show on the NBC Today Show during CES. It was sent for First Overnight Delivery, but didn’t arrive at NBC until 5:00 p.m. that day. We missed being on The Today Show. Prior to CES, FedEx lost several of our prototypes and delivered other new review products to the wrong hotels in Las Vegas.

    FedEx once delivered a notebook computer being sent to PC Magazine for review to another tenant in PC Magazine’s building. It ended up being stolen. Even though it was sent insured it took months to recoup a portion of the notebook’s cost. We lost out on being in a comparison test with PC Magazine. I have written documentation on all of these screw-ups. We also regularly had to seek refunds when products were delivered late.

    The final straw came recently when FedEx failed to deliver a gift,, never contacted me for instructions on what to do despite my contact information being on the airbill, refused to refund the cost for sending the gift, and now has mailed me a bill for returning it to my address. I found sending the gift via USPS cost only about 25% of what FedEx charged and it arrived with no problems. Why should I spend significantly more for service which has declined to a point it is now worse than the U.S. Postal Service. With God as my witness, I will absolutely, positively NEVER ever authorize for ANYTHING to be shipped via FEDEX again.

  • http://www.refreshweb.com/blog Sara Rasco

    When a company really and truly shows that they don’t value you as a customer, it’s over. You can waive a grouchy employee or a bad experience, but if addressing the problem doesn’t get anything changed, or if it’s their policy to kick you in the teeth and abandon you as soon as the sale’s done, they don’t deserve your business.

    Right now, Adobe is in the sights of my white-hot anger laser. I have CS3 products, downloaded from the site, so there’s no backup disc for a reinstall or to even use the second instance of my license now that CS4 is out. None. Their tech support has been moved to India in the last couple of years, so there are significant communication hurdles. They have the permanent download link, and I cannot have it without the original receipt number from over a year ago. Period. Doesn’t matter that I have all of the serial and ID numbers, that the product is registered.

    If my HD crashes, I have to pay almost $400 to upgrade to a product that doesn’t really have any added benefits (CS4). I can’t use my second install to work on my laptop when I travel. It doesn’t matter that I’ve spent thousands of dollars with them over the years, and I didn’t save any money buying by direct download. If they weren’t the industry standard, I’d buy from a different company next time. It’s making me sad, not only for the irritation, but because they make products that I truly love and enjoy using.

  • http://twitter.com/thewikiartist Josh D

    The longer the relationship and the more rooted in childhood, the closer you are. All the harder when the relationship falls apart. Oh George WHY!!!

  • Kevinia Frazer

    Over the last decade I have made a decision to drop many of my favorite brands and the basis of my decision in doing so came down to one common downfall…Ethics. In my opinion the key to a companies success and demise. Ethical business practice is a right of both the consumer and the employee of said company. I personally believe that the overall business practices of a company is a key indicator of the quality of service and product you will receive. I keep an eye out for companies that do massive lay offs, have employee disputes and are involved in internal class action suits. This is an area that is overlooked by many, but a key indicator of the companies values.
    I believe that if a company does not value their employees- the front line of their company, really what value do they have for their customers? When you really take a closer look you will find that the overall value of these companies is not up to par to the products and services of their sometimes much smaller competitors. There was a time when you heard the phrase “A happy employee is a happy customer” This is still true today. However the popularity of greed has killed the employee/employer relationship. It has diminished the importance of customer service. I believe that our current economic transitions will open alot of eyes and we will see a forced return of the practice of Business Ethics…and it will be those companies that understand what employees and consumers are seeking are very much the same and the key to success. The next few years will be very interesting as we see which companies are going to either make much need changes in their business practices and prevail and the downfall of those who dont. We are entering a time of opportunity where “Branding” will be overshadowed by “Reputation”.

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  • Kimbal

    As Kevinia posted, the quickest way to lose me is when it becomes clear that the business practices are unjust. If I found out that Apple was committing a sever injustice to provide the product I use I would abandon the brand. Regardless the usefulness of the product, if you carry the weight of greed, abuse, and poverty on your shoulders to continue using it, its not worth it. And although many companies have good financial ethics in relation to spending money or corporate greed, such as wal-mart, they must also have comparative ethics regarding the treatment of those who provide products and services.

  • AJ

    I’d say if a second company were making a functionally equivalent item at a 1% reduction in price, I’d leave my most favorite company in the world. I don’t owe them anything. It’s business.