Mad Dad Gets Fab TV

Too much of a good thing, without strong, specific customer contact, caused Charter Communications Inc. some bad press in Alabama at the end of its up-until-then highly successful Father’s Day Essay promotion.

            You may recall the operator solicited customers to write a short essay lauding their dads, with the winning missive to earn the family a new 65” HDTV television set.

            But when the contest attracted more than 10,000 entries, the operator decided to expand the prize pool so that a handful more of the most deserving essayists could win smaller prizes for their fathers. The newly expanded prize pool was announced at the same time the grand prize winner was identified, Abe Manogue of Bristol, TN.

            Apparently the fact Charter had added new, smaller prizes was missed by one of the winners notified, the Lewis family outside Athens, Alabama. When informed they had won a prize, they apparently assumed it would be the 65” inch set. Charter had informed each of their key divisional markets that they could designate local essayists for honorable mention, with those two essayists to receive prizes determined at the divisional level ranging from free Charter services to a smaller, 19” set.

            The Lewises were definitely disappointed when the smaller set was delivered, and went to the local press to communicate their belief they had been shortchanged by the operator. They alleged they’d been told by the local marketing manager that he didn’t have enough money in his budget for a big-screen, hence the smaller set.

            The local paper, the Athens News Courier, ran their complaints in a story headlined “Cable System Fails to Deliver Promised Prize to Local Winner.” (This is another reason why you should return local press calls—the story was all the Lewises’ perception of the incident).

            The story resulted in negative Internet buzz (they were slammed especially hard by The Consumerist web site) and in letters of complaint to CEO Neil Smit.

            Marty Richmond, communications director for Charter, responded to the corporate letters, explaining that the Lewis family was always supposed to get the smaller TV set.

            “Regrettably, this was not clearly communicated,” he wrote.

            Richmond said the company worked with the family and, in the name of good corporate relations, upped their prize. They now are in possession of both the 19” flat panel AND a 42” set. Richmond said those items are “more aligned” with the Lewis family’s expectation of the prize.

            It just goes to show you can’t be too specific when dealing with valuable merchandise and customer expectations.