Marketing FAIL

I have to admit, when I was in my graduate Marketing class, I was convinced that the field was populated by smoke and mirrors, voodoo and magical fairy dust. In a word, such a fuzzy soft science that I could not wrap my Type-A, rule following brain around it. Eventually, I sussed out what I needed to know and made a good grade, but it was challenging.

This falls under the "I know what DOESN'T work" category. So, listen up, retailers. If you are going to start a loyalty program and deliver emails with valuable coupons to your consumers, make sure it works.

I joined the Pep Boys frequent flier program because my husband spends a lot on auto parts. It seemed like a good idea to get some discounts. They sent me an email coupon three weeks ago good for $35 off of service or parts. When I clicked on the "redeem now" link, it took me to a page that said their website was down and to check back later. Hey, I work in IT. Websites do go down once in a while. I left the email in my inbox so I'd remember I had it and didn't think of it again until this morning.

My husband told me he had diagnosed his truck's problem and a $200 radiator was in our future. I told him, "Wait a minute, I need to print out this $35 off coupon." Then I went to the email and clicked on the "redeem now" link, and guess what I got? Three weeks later? The same website down message. So I called the 800 number and spoke to a representative.

Yes, they know their website is down. Unfortunately, there is nothing that they can do for me. I don't really believe that is the case. So I asked for the supervisor or manager on duty. When she got on the phone, this is what she said, "What I can do for you today is cancel your loyalty account and reissue it. Then, in a few days, you'll receive the discount coupon for joining the program." Really? The best you can do is to have me cancel, rejoin, and get a new member's coupon sent out by mail? When I want to spend $200 at your store this morning??

Wake up, marketeers. This is unacceptable. If you have some kind of customer loyalty program, then you are well aware that across the street from your auto parts store is another store where I can choose to spend my hard earned dollars.

If you want to lure my business, and I know you do because I'm your target demographic--household income over $100,000 a year, more cars than drivers, homeowner with disposable income and a good credit score--then you are going to have to get ahead of your technology. Guess what Brittany the customer service supervisor told me today? Pep Boys rewards site has been down for more than a week, that she's aware of. Really? Your uptime statistics must suck pond water.

Here's a thought: don't offer a program that is not going to reward your regular customers unless you have the technology to back it up. I did go to Pep Boys this morning to buy a radiator. I felt the need to yell at the store manager since I'd already unloaded on Brittany. At the register, they offered me a loyalty card application and my venom spewed forth. With my voice raised at the register that shatters glass, I informed her what I thought of their loyalty program.

I'm pretty sure they were glad to see me leave the store. I felt better. The truck runs better. I still have my shiny new loyalty card. I'm just wondering if I'll ever bother to use it again, because their emailed rewards don't appear to be very rewarding.

--Sandee Wagner