Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I was really glad to see GIlbert’s post. This was a real PR opportunity lost. There have been many similar examples in other industries. Some companies saw it as an opportunity and got all kinds of PR worth millions.

Toyota did a good job a couple three years ago. They came right out, admitted they’d made a mistake in real human language, not filtered corporate PR crap. They apologized and got tons of kudos from the online community.

You may remember the Tylenol scare. What a horrible thing for people to die from using a tampered product. Tylenol faced it head on , did the right thing as best could be done. They’re still a trusted product.

There are lots of other examples good and bad over the years.

So many things are changing in today’s world. There’s so much transparency so much conversation and openness. That sounds like a great world, as long as you can see mistakes as an opportunity.

Thanks for this site, I’ve enjoyed reading it and hope I deserve your welcome in leaving my 2 cents.

Cathy

I agree.

In case there is any confusion, there were two videos; the Husker
GM’s own “Welcome” video on their website and the YouTube
parody.

There is something to be learned from the GM’s video. His
choice of hair style, over-gel’d & spiked, became another
lightning rod, driving further comments & parodies. Too
stereotypical, especially for his age. It might have been okay
for a Scion GM in an urban, hip-hop market. BMW? No. Corn
Belt? No.

Husker pulled the GM’s video from their website early in the
chronology, but by that time, it had already Jumped the Shark.

Only my mother calls me “Jeffrey” !! HAHA

Thanks for blogging this Jeffrey… good stuff.

“winner was contacted, by email, with the the statement
“Congratulations”

:: I believe that this is an automated eBay feature and happens
:: essentially, instantaneously. It certainly does not help Husker.

“Then that email was followed by a second email and phone call
stating the listing was an error”

:: And an alledged boast that eBay will side with Husker because
:: they are part of a multi-billion business group. Was mgt aware?
:: Apparently, not yet.

“… it happened and we are all learning from it, not matter what
side of the story has more weight to it.”

:: That’s why I’m here. I’m thinking of old nautical charts where
:: cartographers noted, “There Be Dragons Here.” Those cautions
seem appropriate for eBay and internet sales.

“I think that is a setup fault in the eBay listing vendor they’re working with.”

“It only takes 1 person, 1 posting to really screw things up.”

:: I agree. It seems that VT allows their GMs the discretion to
:: choose if/how to run their eBay and internet stores.

:: The post by the BMWCCA President in Lincoln was enlightening.
:: After visiting the store and chatting with those involved, his
:: (calming) post implies that their internet guy was operating
:: both solo and unsupervised – and that he initally tried to hide
:: the auction problem(s) from mgt.
::
:: I am wondering: How well did mgt truly know their employee?
:: Did mgt realize the potential risk(s)? How diligently did mgt
:: select and train for this role? All rhetorical questions.
:: Specific answers are not expected, general discussion is
:: appreciated.

:: I am not suggesting that posting on eBay requires the rigor and
:: procedures of USAF Missle Lauch Officer teams, but an eBay
:: rep that is operating solo has fewer checks & balances than the
:: typical retail sale. Maybe I’m reaching too far with this next
:: point – casino security is exceptionally wary of possible
:: undisclosed relationships between dealers and cheats. Should
:: mgt consider more scrutiny of their internet auction practices?

:: In the apparent chronology, lawyers for both participants are
:: engaged now. They agree to close the deal at the auction terms
:: and instruct the buyer to contact the GM and pay the deposit.
:: It is alledged that the GM refused the deposit. If true, boy
:: did Fil ever miss an opportunity. I can imagine what he was
:: going thru, but that alledged action strikes me as having been
:: the tipping point – the alledged moment when the campfire
:: began to grow.

:: If either party recorded that call and the lawyers find it during
:: discovery … game over for whoever is lying. Given that NE is
:: the home of many call centers, I will guess that single-party
:: notification rules allow for permissive recording (by Husker).

:: Caution; changing topics slightly …
::
:: It seems their eBay sales guy also has two MySpace pages,
:: one of which could pose an ethics challenge for an Eagle
:: Scout. He seems ripe for a Honey Pot attack. i.e. an
:: ESPECIALLY knowledgeable customer [cheat] could have
:: targeted him for hardball negotiating [extortion] to keep this
:: matter away from his wife. If his wife didn’t know and approve
:: of his MySpace friends, “Sorry,” is unlikely to be satisfactory.
::
:: It is unlikely that mgt will ever know if a trusted, solo internet
:: rep is being extorted to choose between his wife and family
:: vs. the possible loss of paycheck. If he takes the high road and
:: reports it to mgt; and mgt then choose to engage LE, it wil be
:: virtually impossible to keep it from the media. Few wives will
:: hang around for public humiliation.

:: In this stream of conciousness post, it seems to me that
:: internet sales reps are especially vulnerable to extortion.
:: Everything needed to assess their possible vulnerability is
:: available to anyone on internet. And that assessment can be
:: accomplished siliently and anonymously from a distance. I
:: wonder if mgt knew he had a MySpace page?
::
:: MySpace is just the tip of the iceberg. Many states have
:: websites that allow broad searching of criminal histories.
:: Yup, There Be Dragons Here.

:: The various eBay and internet listing services and sales training
:: vendors are almost certainly building Powerpoint decks and
:: preparing to storm the gates with packaged “solutions” for these
:: matters.

“I’d be hiring one of the brightest marketing firms in the business and figure out how to someway turn this bad publicity into a
something positive, it would have to be edgy…but I think it could
be done.”

:: I agree, but think that the Honest-Abe approach would be more
:: effective in Corn Country and the Rust Bowl. Edgy would
:: certainly be effective for large metro/urban markets.

You’re spot on w/your comment about an immediate reaction – looks like they missed the window of opportunity to simply fess up, take ownership (and the lumps) and embrace their new-found viral “celebrity” status.

Jeff and Alex – nicely handled on your part.