UKNM: RE: lastminute.com does delight its customers!

[John Braithwaite]

Sam,


Surely Brent failed in this issue as he forgot one of the basics rules of PR

- don't get too defensive or speak unless you have to. The whole

lastminute.com appraisal on this list would have lasted a maximum of a

couple of days and he could have remained anonymous. 

Check out the Boo manoeuvre - keep quiet whilst the storm rages and join in

after it all blows over. We now have a regular contributor from boo and his

addition to this list is one of the many reasons why there are so many

'anonymous' subscribers out there.


Perhaps Brent should have just apologised for the individual problems that

people have experienced. Perhaps he should call in the Customer Relations

and Call Centre Managers this morning and ask them why they were lying to

him about the service over the new year period. Perhaps he should do

something about the French operation (Ian?). As they say on that annoying

Mobile Phone advert - 'it's your call'.


The trouble is the lastminute.com is not a destination site that will please

everyone - it is a site that will please some and not others. It is not

comprehensive. It's a site to visit on a whim and see what happens.

Although, judging by the comments out there, there must be a niche for

people who want to get away on short breaks / holidays by themselves. The

problem of pricing in this area is obvious - in many cases hotels have very

few/no single rooms, therefore as a single person you are taking up space

that could be occupied by two - that is why the price for one is often

inflated - this is often applied by the hotel and not the travel agent /

tour operator (I know, I married an ex-Thomson employee!).


On another note, we are going to have a communications (message board /

chat) area on our site - I am just putting the finishing touches to the

policy document for all subscribers to that service.... huge, comprehensive

and legally binds the user to whatever they write. If you include a email

verification loop for access to the area then you should be safe.... but you

can never tell!


Cheers



John Braithwaite


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

John Braithwaite

http://www.thegoodbookguide.com

Tel:  + 44 20 7490 9901

Fax: + 44 20 7490 9909

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Date: Thu, 06 Jan 2000 21:14:17 +0000

From: Sam Michel <

samchinwag [dot] com

>

Subject: Re: UKNM: lastminute.com does delight its customers!


Without getting involved in the argument, I think we should admire the fact 

that Brent took the time to respond to his detractors publicly on the 

mailing list. Whether you agree with him or not, it would be nice to see 

some of the other senior management at other high profile etailers - 

jungle.com, boo.com, etc. - do the same. 



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