I thought I would open it back up again. Feel free to leave a message if
you would like.

Since some members here have been using it as a reply to my comments, I
wanted to publically announce that I no longer beleive in the WOW
philosophy I once promoted.

Does it really have to come down to this?
Now we can't say anything edgy at all on this site...

The TOS of PlanetFeedback and My3Cents.com are extremely similar...
Are they affiliated at all? I just signed up for an account there today.

Something is not right when Venice disappears...
She has been on this site as long as I can remember, and has always been an
interesting voice here...
I know her blog was a little edgy - maybe something got out of hand and it
was necessary to shut it down, at least for a while. And I hope she wasn't
suspended, but I have no idea what happens...

Why dont you do some snooping and find out!

I know of one that is suspended right now, but their blog is still up.


Good Day

is still around. SHE chose to close her blog.

I didn't think this would be appropriate to post on the letter itself, so
here it is.

http://bit.ly/6ERZ8

I think it might be the same DAVID T. who will never go back to target
because once again, he did not get an exception.

This week I have marching band rehearsals all week from 8am-9pm... This is
the first time I've checked anything online since Saturday. I'll likely be
back sometime next week.

Came across this - thought it was fun.

I was reading some comments on the site and Venice's Blog about the
transparency of the kitchen table. I think their meetings should be no
secret convention. I think they should publish minutes after each meeting
for review by the community. It need not be a transcript, more of a
summary. Possibly a summary of every idea, and then the decision made by
the table and the consensus as to why or why not.

Also, I have had great success by contacting the kitchen table. It was my
suggestion to have the anonymous suggestion tool. After reading some
concerns from members over on Venice's blog, I thought that would be the
perfect way to eliminate any bias that the table might apply to a
suggestion based on the suggesting member. A few members had concerns that
their feedback would not be considered because of who they are. By allowing
the suggestion to be completely anonymous, nobody should feel threatened.
Rowdy brought up the subject of IPs - I would think PFB would not stoop
that low.

To address the concern of PepperElf on the announcement page, I suggested
this feature using my personal email address to the entire table and to
Greg. My name was not trumpeted, so I can confirm there is no policy that
your name will be used if you do not use the contact form.

I think that the fact that an important feature, that even Venice of all
people agrees with, was put in place overnight by the kitchen table, shows
that positive change is coming about. If the table or PFB didn't care, they
would not be implementing these ideas.

To all those who are concerned, I would give it time. The table has been
all positive for me, no complaints here.

My opinion of the kitchen table is that it has potential. I understand and
agree with many of the points that have been brought up about its
downsides. I think it has the potential to be positive though, and possibly
outweigh the benefits.

A downside I though of other than personnel issues is the fact that
suggestions are not made public. This can be positive as well, but the
negative aspect is that users cannot see what has been suggested and what
is not possible instead of having to suggest it again. If it were a public
forum, then ideas would be brought up less frequently then the table
getting emails day after day about common requests/ ideas.

Here is my thoughts on the "process" of the table. I think it is great that
these users will be able to discuss issues and suggestions from members and
collect them over time. My opinion is that they should be able to discuss
but not permanently enact policy, or have a final say.

When an idea comes in, the table discusses it at the meeting, etc. These
five voices can then determine whether or not it is practical or possible.
The discussion will be better than Greg alone going off and making
decisions about suggestions - at least there will be a discussion
beforehand. Instead of ideas just being put in to place, there will be
consideration by members, by telephone, not just behind a comment with
username and avatar.

Sure, I understand the concerns about who was chosen, their power, their
attitude, etc...
But I think we should just give it a chance. Nothing new has happened, no
good or bad has come about because of the table. Why don't we see how this
works out. Maybe they will come up with some great ideas and a true
improvement will come about?

We just don't know at this point, so I think we should stop judging, send
our suggestions to the table, and wait and see how things turn out.

Something I see on here often.
An iPod Touch is an MP3 Player.

An iTouch is not the same thing.
An iTouch is a wireless keyboard by a completely different company.

I received a very nice mailed response to my Talbots letter.
They apologized, gave an explanation, and provided me with the opportunity
to mail in my return if I had not yet made it into the store. This is great
service because 1. They care 2. They read PFB letters.

Recently, I had two complains that I felt were serious enough to wirte a
formal paper letter along with my PFB letter. These letters were my Sbarro
letter and Sonic letter.

I know that some companies do not get the PFB letters, but a paper letter?
I cannot beleive they would not respond to actual US mail correspondence.

I think this is an indicator as to why the service is so poor.
If the franchise office or corporate headquarters does not care enough to
answer letters, they likely do not care about service. I think that this
eventually will trickle down to the franchisee or store level manager,
leading to a never ending cycle of mediocrity and poor service.

At a corporate training seminar for my company, we were discussing the ways
to handle guest complaints.
The method we were trained to use that "shows we care" is to say-
yes, to say... "What do you want me to do about it?"
I was shocked. I thought about this site and how many people have written
about that in the past. Even if said with the right tone, it is eventually
going to come off wrong on somebody who is totally irate or livid.

It is supposed to guarantee maximum satisfaction by giving them the
opportunity to decide their own solution, which is not a bad idea in itself
since we are now empowered to do whatever we need to do to make them happy
without having to call the manager for a discount authorization, etc.

I think there are a lot of better phrases that can be said, such as;
"How can I resolve this for you today?"
"What would you like to see happen to make this right?"
"I'll solve that problem immediately, is there anything else you would like
me to do?"
etc.

I just was so surprised to hear them tell us to use that phrase, as it is
going to come across bad just because of tone or interpretation...

A link to my first letter;
http://www.planetfeedback.com/kentucky+fried+chicken/blog/offensive+commerc
ial/302854

As discussed with another poster on the TOS announcement blog, this was my
first letter that was met with many nasty comments.
I left for a while because I was so turned off to the fact that nobody
agreed with me, but instead insulted me.

I came back though and gave the site a second chance.
It is under a different account however because when I "came back", I used
a different email address.

I am trying to decide whether or not to go to a new job. A new location of
a major hotel chain is under contruction in my town. I have been offered a
job doing many of the same things I do now at Holiday Inn, but with
slightly better pay and some more responsibilities. I am somewhat hesitant
simply due to the change, the new training involed, and leaving all of the
people I work with now. Do you think I should go for it? Any thoughts?

One thing I think adds to the twist of PFB, which makes it more fun, is the
fact that it is basically a shot in the dark as regards to the comments
when you publicly share a letter. When you think you have a good point and
something was wrong, everybody else manages to show you that YOU are wrong,
not the company.

And in other instances, you will gain support.
What I try to consider when making a comment is the fact that the OP truly
believes in the complaint, and since we are not there, there are other
factors that simply cannot be expressed in a letter.

A recent example was my Bank of America letter regarding the quarter rolls.
I thought the teller was being a total bitch for ignoring me when I needed
something so simple close to closing. I thought I had the perfect
complaint. But by seeing what other people had to say made me realize I was
in the wrong just as much as she was by my persistence. It changed my
opinion on the issue completely.

So people can have a complaint and get support, and some people will have a
complaint, and have the community disagree. The people who are simply
stubborn, or have factors we do not know about, will never agree, but I
think it is best when you can agree with the consensus, and find that maybe
you were part of the problem as well.

I never imagined I would be a "regular" on a forum...
I just counted, I have made over 1300 comments here. Wow.

I have a question as to what you think of this situation;

A hotel guest checks in to a limited service hotel, which offers a free
breakfast every day from 6AM-9:30AM. There is a sign in the lobby
indicating this, the GSR tells them this upon check-in, the sign in the
room says so, and so does the in-room guide.

Do you think a complaint is justified when this guest comes at 10:00 AM and
cannot get any food, and send a complaint directly to corporate (through
their own form) saying the "breakfast girl was rude and told me to go pound
sand?"

Should the hotel have given the guest something to go above and beyond? Or
was the "breakfast girl" right in denying this guest food since it was past
close?

I find that for many of my letters posted here, I receive an email
response, or at least a snail mail response.
Many of the OPs come back, but it makes me wonder? Do people who write
crazy letters get responses but others do not? I have had many companies
respond when I never thought they would.

It is my hypothesis that the email addresses that PFB sends the letters to
in many cases are not primarily for customer service. My thought is that if
they get a crazy one, it gets deleted, but if a clear, concise,
well-written letter that is to the point comes through, they will make an
effort to respond. I haven't always received a reply :)

Anybody else notice the crazy letters are never followed up with a
response?

This has to be one of the most funny comments I have ever read; (from the
breastfeeding while driving post)

"It is my opinion that women that openly breast feed, with a breast or
both breasts visible for all to see, do it to garner attetion to
themselves. In my opinion they tend to be large, unattractive women
looking to be oogled.


Good Day"

I think that this is an excellent philosophy. I see so many letters here
complaining about consistent inferior quality of routinely purchased goods.
If its that big of a problem, why write? Spending money on a competitors
product speaks a lot more than a PFB letter in these economic times.

Continuing on with my thoughts on return policies and people who are better
than them, I thought of a policy I have seen frequently while reading the
back of my receipt.

Specifically at Meijer-
"We stand behind our name, any product with the "Meijer" brand may be
returned without a receipt" (subject to lowest sale price)

I think that stores who are exceptionally strict, such as Target, should
adopt a similar policy. Meijer clearly states their 90 day/ receipt
required policy for all merchandise, however the fact that Target won't
even back their own products amazes me.

If Target sells inferior merchandise, and won't guarantee it at all unless
there is a receipt, it shows that they truly don't even care about their
own brand name. (Although I agree with their policy 99%)

I think it is amazing that so many people come on this site to complain
about return policies and receipts, and how they think policies do not
apply to them.

I think it is the way I have been raised. My dad manages his personal
finances down to the last penny. Cash, credit, debit, everything. Every
receipt is accounted for. I think last year he had around $12 unaccounted
for. Every receipt is saved and scanned in to a database if it is important
enough. And it amazes me...

However when I have personally tried to return purchases without a receipt
or against the policy somehow, I have always accepted it. I regard it as
"OK, that's not allowed" and let it go. I can't believe that some people
demand exceptions and take it all the way to the corporate office. It truly
amazes me to think that these people are convinced that they are better
than everybody else...

I am beginning to concur with RowdyRetailer's opinion that American's
should use cash for purchases. With the current state of the economy, his
philosophy has defiantly paid off. Due to the endless hours of CNN I get to
watch while working at the hotel, I recently heard an interesting report.
Back in the day, Americans would traditionally save for the big purchase
they wanted. They would put in hard work and put money away until they had
the amount needed for that big purchase, and pay it off immediately. The
report also stated that we now live in a society dominated by instant
gratification, where we get what we want whenever we want it. When we want
something expensive, the easy availability of credit makes it so simple to
buy it. Whether it be buying a car or house that is beyond your means, or
ringing up too much debt on your credit card, it satisfies you immediately
and you have to worry about the debt later. Sure you can use credit cards
properly and get cash back and miles, but for most, they do not use this to
their advantage. It is a ploy that results in excessive debt.

I believe that in my life I will take the approach of using my means to
purchase what I need, and stay away from credit. It would be a lot more
satisfying to save for a car or big ticket item and pay it off that have to
live with a constant debt. Additionally, I think it would be the best not
to live above my means in housing.

My thoughts for the day and how being bored at work got my mind going...

I think that the form in which Planet Feedback uses to submit the letters
prompts many letter writers to ask for things that they never would have
asked for, or hesitated to ask for.

The box "Based upon this situation, here is what I would like XX to do:"

I think that this prompt sends the message to the letter writer that they
should ask for some sort of undue compensation, almost sending the message
that they should ask for something, and this is how the process works.

In my opinion, this is there to help format and draw a conclusion to the
letter, but many times it is addressed in advance, and the letter is ended
by a tacky line, such as "Send me a gift card or I will never go back" or
"Compensate me for my mental anguish and my gas".

Planetfeedback needs to put at the top that the conclusion should include a
potential resolution, or put the line Based upon this situation, here is
what I would like XX to do:" in the letter instead of just combining the
resolution and the main body of the letter.

What do you think?