Any guesses as to which guy is Steve Jobs and which guy is the customer? Hint: Steve Jobs always wears black.
If you read Part I of this series, in closing, I asked whether the "bumper" solution was a good decision from a management standpoint. My opinion? Yes, but only if you look at it from a purely financial perspective. From a customer service/relations standpoint, it's a disaster.
Let's review the progression of events, from initial customer complaints to Apple's eventual response:
- Denial – "There is no problem."
- Blame the Customer – "You're holding it wrong!"
- It's all in your Head – "Our s/w is erroneously telling you that you have a problem."
- Blame your Competitors – "Everyone else has the same problem."
- Denial II – "There is no problem, but we'll give you a free bumper."
What's the 1st thing that comes to mind? This isn't indigenous to Apple. I've heard this song before. Where do think the joke, "That isn't a bug, it's a feature." comes from? I just think that with Apple's dedicated user culture, they have a better chance than most to pull it off; but that doesn't make it right.
I've spoken to career Apple customers who are so incensed by what they term the arrogant attitude of the company (usually referring to Jobs, specifically) that they've finally had enough. Apple can afford to lose them, but that's not really the point, is it?
So where's the eDiscovery tie-in? Where do I start? You might be in a corporate IT department. You might be inside counsel. You might be outside counsel. You might be me – a consultant, positioned somewhere in-between all of them. What are you going to do when management adopts the attitude:
- Denial – "We don't need to implement this."
- Blame the 'Customer' – "The client doesn't want it."
- It's all in your Head – "We don't need to comply with the rules."
- Blame your competitors – "Nobody else is implementing it."
- Denial II – "We'll take our chances. If litigation arises, we'll look at it then."
The difference between Apple and you? They have a public relations issue and face class-action lawsuits. You – and/or your management are likely to face serious sanctions. But don't worry; that's only if something goes wrong…
