TescoDigital – Destroying Brand Trust 101

So after my rant about the silly episode in trying to purchase a digital copy of Lily Allen’s new album, and with all that off my chest maybe I should highlight a couple of bits that really irked me.

Listen and React Appropriately

As mentioned I can accept technical failings when attempts are made to correct them.  But sloppy or incomplete answers, not actually reading the information given and acting upon it are straight from the “Helpdesks for Dummies” manual.

If someone gives you the error message, and a very specific one at that, come clean about the fault and any resolutions.  Don’t hide behind 1001 questions that aren’t related.

Even more importantly if you think you’ve solved  the problem at your end, for goodness sake check it works before letting the customer know.

Terms and Conditions

In the course of investigating the in’s and out’s of this little episode I chanced to actually read through TescoDigital’s terms & conditions.  Now like most corporate entities they are long, onerous and not really designed to be read by humans – after all why would a normal consumer want/need to read them, Tesco is a trusted brand.

Well they are shite quite honestly.

Phrases like;

The Tesco Digital Site is provided by Tesco without any warranties or guarantees.

and,

To the full extent allowed by applicable law, you agree that we will not be liable to you and/or any third party for any consequential or incidental damages (including but not limited to loss of revenue, loss of profits, loss of anticipated savings, wasted expenditure, loss of privacy and loss of data) or any other indirect, special or punitive damages whatsoever that arise out of or are related to the Tesco Digital Site.

have NO place in T&C’s of reputable, reliable and trustworthy businesses in my opinion.  If you building a brand which you want people to trust stand behind it, offer up warranties and guarantees, even better just be known for putting things right.

Deliver, Don’t Ditch

Wayne’s final solution was to unilaterally cancel the sale (albeit with a refund) and bale. In effect Wayne’s actions could be perceived by me (the customer) as,

“Tesco has done it’s bit, we can’t be bothered trying to solve OUR problems anymore and for three quid why would we so here’s your money back, be  on your way.”

Yes I refer to Tesco not TescoDigital because as a customer I’m seeing the brand not the outlet and let me tell you the image of that brand isn’t looking so great from my end right now.

They broke the contract = bad.

They destroyed the brand trust = disastrous.