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The Art of Blogging

Part of the MacWhiz Technologies web site. You might want to check out The Art of Turboing; this 'blog is a companion to that article.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Possible scam warning: "MAC Whiz Computers"

Posted by Rob @ 02:53 PM ET [Link] [96 Comments]

I've been alerted to the possibility of a scam artist trading on my good name. MAC Whiz Computers, of British Columbia, started up recently, advertising Apple computers at very low prices.

According to posters in the MacRumors forum, many people have ordered product from MAC Whiz and never received the shipment. MAC Whiz also appears to have used graphics from other websites without permission, and even used another person's photograph for their "owner."

I have received several e-mails from confused MAC Whiz customers who thought that macwhiz.com was affiliated with this outfit. It's not. I've owned macwhiz.com for over five years, and I have nothing to do with MAC Whiz computers. "MacWhiz Technologies" is a trade name I've used for longer than that.

Unfortunately, it appears that it would be prohibitively expensive and time-consuming to assert that right against what seems to me a fly-by-night operation in another country. If any readers have suggestions on that score, please post here -- your message will get my prompt attention.

Friday, December 12, 2003

Some marketing people get it.

Posted by Rob @ 09:58 AM ET [Link] [92 Comments]

While reading Slashdot, I came across a link to an article about TiVo and its customer base. The article is critical of the way TiVo handles an enthusiastic, evangelistic base of fans.

I read through more of the site, www.marketingprofs.com, and I was very impressed with their advice. The folks contributing articles really seem to understand that the Internet changes the rules of customer service. Their weblog has a particularly interesting entry about "customer vigilantes," their term for people who use creative methods to express their displeasure over poor customer service.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

O'Reilly shows how risk leads to rewards

Posted by Rob @ 07:19 PM ET [Link] [66 Comments]

O'Reilly and Associates publishes most of the best computer books on the market. When I need a book on a computer-related topic, I go to the bookstore looking not just for a book, but an O'Reilly book. From experience, I know that their books will be accessible and in-depth.

Not only does ORA publish great books, but they know how to provide excellent customer service. They understand a key point of superior customer service: some expenses contribute a lot to your bottom line in ways that never show up on a balance sheet. [more]

Friday, September 12, 2003

When anti-piracy becomes anti-customer

Posted by Rob @ 01:12 PM ET [Link] [100 Comments]

I can understand why software makers are concerned about piracy. If people don't pay for a product, how can the company pay the programmers who sweated to create it?

I can also understand why some people pirate software. Often, a company prices their program at a "what the market will bear" price. When that happens, it's no shock that some people will take the risk of making an illegal copy in order to use the program once or twice.

Some companies understand this better than others. Apple understood that there are people who need better video-editing software than iMovie, but who aren't about to pay $999 for Final Cut Pro. They came out with an intermediate product, Final Cut Express, that has all the features of Final Cut Pro needed by the advanced amateur, but lacking a few features that the pro market needs. By pricing Final Cut Express within the reach of the average camcorder owner, they've reduced the risk of piracy.

Macromedia, on the other hand, has decided to take the "customers are all thieves" method of piracy reduction. The result is bad customer service. [more]

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Cringely's insight on IT departments and Macs

Posted by Rob @ 12:12 PM ET [Link] [109 Comments]

PBS's Robert X. Cringely has some very good insights on why the Apple Macintosh still hasn't made in-roads into corporate IT. I think his theory has merit: that IT departments choose PCs because they're harder to support, guaranteeing more work for the IT department, and therefore, continued employment. I don't think it's a conscious thing, though.

More on Vonage

Posted by Rob @ 12:04 PM ET [Link] [236 Comments]

My Vonage phone now works, no thanks to Vonage. After a week of enduring polite and friendly but impotent and lackadaisical customer service, they once again told me that I needed to contact my local phone company to determine why local calls wouldn't go through to my new number.

I bought this phone service from Vonage. It's reasonable to expect that, should I have problems with the number working, I would contact Vonage, and they would coordinate with any other involved phone companies to make sure their product works as advertised. My experience seems to show Vonage doesn't share that expectation. [more]

Sunday, August 10, 2003

Vonage: Why Lily Tomlin isn't a good customer service model

Posted by Rob @ 09:13 PM ET [Link] [75 Comments]

Given the poor state of the economy, and the dismal job market for senior UNIX administrators in my area, I've decided to start my own business. I'll be helping people with their Macs (and UNIX boxes), doing Web design, graphic arts, etc.

To get the business off the ground, I needed a business phone number and a fax line. I'd heard good things about Vonage, a Voice-over-IP (VoIP) telephone company. When I was at Global Crossing, we had VoIP phones from Cisco, and they worked pretty well. I'd heard that their support wasn't stellar, but their price was just where I needed it to be. I thought I'd give it a try.

Unfortunately, it seems that they took Lily Tomlin's old "Ernestine" SNL skit to heart: "We don't care. We don't have to. We're the phone company," Lily said. That's the impression I've gotten from Vonage's "dedication" to customer support. [more]

Thursday, July 31, 2003

Shameless self-promotion

Posted by Rob @ 10:35 PM ET [Link] [231 Comments]

While self-googling (wow, that sounds obscene), I found a few interesting references to my site. Here's a few of the most insightful:

Okay, not the most imaginative weblog posting. You'll excuse me if I don't hope to be screwed over by a support rep soon just to have new content. ;)

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