Voice-In: Unethical Practices in the Ethical Medium?

I'm sorry it took me so long to publish this post, but my paid-hosting service wouldn't save it; I guess the third time really is a charm. Been having a lot of issues with TypePad. And I'm far from alone.

With all the ups, downs, lost posts and time long lost I started to wonder: does TypePad pro-rate my bill when its 24-7-365 service falls short? Be it the entire service experiencing an outage, or a portion thereof? I pay for the full package. Not just a portion. So surely it must. Right? Wrong. At least not on any of my credit card statements.

Take Time Warner Cable, a company that also makes the brand promise to be available for our viewing pleasure 'round the clock. When it goes down, in part or in full? It reimburses me. When my electric takes a dive and I'm left in the dark? Con Edison lightens my bill. Heck, Con Ed even reimbursed me for perishables lost in the '03 Blackout. I'm still wondering how they recovered from that shortfall.

So, in not pro-rating our bills when not maintaining full-service integrity, is TypePad committing an unethical business practice? Worse still, is it committing this offense in this, the most ethical medium going?

Mind you, we TypePad users don't want reimbursements, we simply want for every feature of the service promised to us to deliver--and to be better communicated with when it doesn't.

I've written to TypePad. Several times. They'll likely tell me that in my service agreement (who reads those?), I agreed to pay when I couldn't use the product. But I hope not. Because I like TypePad. I've offered to give them several recommendations to ensure their brand improves, maintains users and, well, delights us. And I'll do it for free.

I'll spend time with them on the phone. I'll even take an extra day to meet with them when I'm on the West Coast next week. We'll see if they respond. Be foolish not to get closer to their markets and get 100%-discounted advice from a marketer who is otherwise paid well for it (that said, please don't tell my clients I'm giving away freebies; I'll be hanged!).

For all you TypePad users: If you'd like to offer some suggestions on how they can improve our experience...feel free to leave it in the comments. I'll keep on them. Naturally, I'll be sure to give each person credit for their recommendations--they're yours, after all (and anything else would be....you guessed it...unethical).

Comments

[David Reich]

As you know, I'm no expert in the mechanics of blogging, but is Typepad the only company that offers this service? The best way to tell a company their serice or their product isn't up to par is to find another provider, if possible.

"If possible" may be the operative phrase here, unfortunately.

[CK]

Hey David: Thanks for your "voice-in". No, TypePad is far from the only game in town. It is one of the "paid" services however, so we come to rely on it. I went with a paid service to be sure that issues and communications with customers were at optimal levels.

And the issue is that TypePad was great at first, now it's getting spottier. And the communications with customers over these issues is not where it needs to be.

I can surely switch to another service, but that's a bit painful (it took a lot to get this blog where it's at) and, well, I shouldn't have to. Users should get what they're paying for...the full service with full features...and be communicated with/reimbursed when it's not. Isn't that what we come to expect from any company providing a brand promise to us? I do hope that TypePad will address these issues as I've referred many customers and I would like to continue with the service.

And I'm working to get to TypePad's marketing department to understand their billing practices while offering recommendations to improve on all fronts--thought I'd try working with TypePad before switching.