Epic PR fail from Ocean Marketing (Penny Arcade hilarity)

Average Joe said:

a fair portion of my job is customer service

easily the one part of my otherwise awesome job i truly dislike

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Really? I loved customer service when I was in it. Do you get a lot of bad customers or something? I loved making regular customers happy, and enjoyed the challenge of handling the difficult ones, too. It's one of the few jobs I've had that I truly enjoyed.

Soilwork said:

Really? I loved customer service when I was in it. Do you get a lot of bad customers or something? I loved making regular customers happy, and enjoyed the challenge of handling the difficult ones, too. It's one of the few jobs I've had that I truly enjoyed.

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for the most part the customers are alright

it's mostly on Sunday's that they're total douchebags

there's some sort of hive-mind effect that makes grocery shoppers fucking assholes on Sunday's and it never fails

i don't know if they're all hungover or are just pious dick-bags but Sunday's without fail take away a lot of the enjoyment i derive from my job

(thankfully that day is time-and-a-half so i take it in strides but it still sucks)

Soilwork said:

Really? I loved customer service when I was in it. Do you get a lot of bad customers or something? I loved making regular customers happy, and enjoyed the challenge of handling the difficult ones, too. It's one of the few jobs I've had that I truly enjoyed.

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I read this at first and I was like 'Wes enjoys customer service?' Just seemed odd to me, given your seeming impatience for shenanigans.

Then I thought about it further and realized that your method of breaking down others' posts is very much about clearing away the nonsense, getting to the point and resolving the matter. That is very much a customer service technique. The problem can get so easily lost in verbiage that good CS knows when to identify what isn't useful and eliminate it from the conversation.

Average Joe said:

for the most part the customers are alright

it's mostly on Sunday's that they're total douchebags

there's some sort of hive-mind effect that makes grocery shoppers fucking assholes on Sunday's and it never fails

i don't know if they're all hungover or are just pious dick-bags but Sunday's without fail take away a lot of the enjoyment i derive from my job

(thankfully that day is time-and-a-half so i take it in strides but it still sucks)

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Don't you work at Whole Foods? I figure a place like that would get less assholes than a regular store. I managed our Walmart's grocery section back in the early 2000's and our nightmare was the 1st (welfare day), but I found a lot of the irritation came not from one-on-one interactions, but shit like people loading up 2 or 3 carts and then getting to the register and their food stamps not working because it wasn't loaded just yet, so I'd have to personally put it all back up (my crew was busy with normal trucks). This happened with alarming regularity. What kind of bs do you put up with there that happened only on Sundays? That sounds crazy.

Taiso said:

I read this at first and I was like 'Wes enjoys customer service?' Just seemed odd to me, given your seeming impatience for shenanigans.

Then I thought about it further and realized that your method of breaking down others' posts is very much about clearing away the nonsense, getting to the point and resolving the matter. That is very much a customer service technique. The problem can get so easily lost in verbiage that good CS knows when to identify what isn't useful and eliminate it from the conversation.

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It's the weirdest thing. I love dealing with people at work, but not in my personal life. I like being able to help an older lady trying to figure out if she needs an HDMI or component cable, or helping a couple of parents decide whether or not they need to get a wifi USB adapter for their daughter or a PCI-Express card. Helping people just feels great. Even when you get the difficult ones, you can figure out how to satisfy them if you take the time and engage them properly. Most times, the difficult customers will begin to request that they deal only with you. When that happens, it's surprising how easy it is to take care of them, not because you're doing anything remarkably different from the last person, but because you were able to take the time to give them the attention they needed when you first met them. They end up being one of the easiest to take care in the end.

In my personal life, I hate most people. I really don't like hanging out with friends, and I've cut many people out of my life because I have no tolerance for even the slightest bullshit (this thread comes to mind). I've been told by many people that I'm an asshole, and I agree with them. It's amazing that I love customer service, but I do. I'd still be in it if it paid better.

Soilwork said:

Don't you work at Whole Foods? I figure a place like that would get less assholes than a regular store. I managed our Walmart's grocery section back in the early 2000's and our nightmare was the 1st (welfare day), but I found a lot of the irritation came not from one-on-one interactions, but shit like people loading up 2 or 3 carts and then getting to the register and their food stamps not working because it wasn't loaded just yet, so I'd have to personally put it all back up (my crew was busy with normal trucks). This happened with alarming regularity. What kind of bs do you put up with there that happened only on Sundays? That sounds crazy.


.

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Oh I bet whole foods is full of wealthy entitled twats who are ok with spending twice as much on groceries.

OrochiEddie said:

Oh I bet whole foods is full of wealthy entitled twats who are ok with spending twice as much on groceries.

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bingo

we have a rather eclectic clientele at our store but we're also on the border of a very rich town (Winchester) so we get a ton of wealthy customers who have a rather high sense of self-worth

don't get me wrong, the majority of the customers are very cool and i do really like my job, but it's funny how the 10% that are assholes balance out with the 90% who are alright

Soilwork said:

Most times, the difficult customers will begin to request that they deal only with you. When that happens, it's surprising how easy it is to take care of them...

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I could definitely relate to pretty much your entire post, especially the above but with a twist. After being so helpful to our difficult customers, I now have Top 5 and Top 10 lists - of most annoying customers. They're not bad people, but ones who always have something custom, something special, some unique shipping requirement, or something else that only I can solve and that takes a half hour conversation to resolve.

Without fail, these are the caller ID numbers that I dread because I know there will be a lot of dead airtime as I stare vacantly at the wall.

Kiselgof said:

I could definitely relate to pretty much your entire post, especially the above but with a twist. After being so helpful to our difficult customers, I now have Top 5 and Top 10 lists - of most annoying customers. They're not bad people, but ones who always have something custom, something special, some unique shipping requirement, or something else that only I can solve and that takes a half hour conversation to resolve.

Without fail, these are the caller ID numbers that I dread because I know there will be a lot of dead airtime as I stare vacantly at the wall.

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I'd be terrible over the phone. I hate talking on the phone, anyway. I really need face-to-face interaction to gauge the situation and how to handle it. I don't envy your job :\

http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...stened-gaming-rep-responds-to-internet-infamy

What an asshole.

that man is quite terrible at public relations

Moon Jump said:

http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...stened-gaming-rep-responds-to-internet-infamy

What an asshole.

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Oh my. This guy is completely warped.

"Not that I don't have respect for anybody, but if someone's badmouthing me or being a little punk or being a jerk, they don't deserve respect," he said. "You can't expect to go up and say 'Hey you piece of s***,' and expect respect. Send an email, introduce yourself. ... I trust everybody until they give me a reason not to respect them. I'm not a tough guy, not a bully, but at same time not going to take s*** if it's uncalled for.

I just looked up this PS3 Avenger controller thing, I have no idea what the fuck it is supposed to be.

Moon Jump said:

http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...stened-gaming-rep-responds-to-internet-infamy

What an asshole.

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"I'm not depressed at people making fun of me," he said. "It's like a parody of Barack Obama. It's making me more popular. I'm not doing anything to stop it, and it is kind of funny. ... It's not the end of the world, and it'll be old news soon, but it's hot news now, and I do see the lighter side of it."

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Emphasis mine. What a dick. I'm pretty sure he's lying when he says that it hasn't hurt business at all, because if it hasn't already it definitely will. A bad day does not justification make, Cristoforo old boy.

Sexual Instinct said:

I just looked up this PS3 Avenger controller thing, I have no idea what the fuck it is supposed to be.

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It was originally designed to help certain gamers with disabilities who might have trouble reaching all the buttons and triggers. Some people claim it gives a competitive edge because you can hit any button without taking your thumbs off the sticks.

Maybe Boog should look into getting one? Doesn't he have trouble with his hands these days?

"At the end of the day, I'm a human being, and it feels like the entire world was bullying me," he said. "I want people to like me, I don't want people to think I'm a bad person. ... I made a mistake. ... I hope I can make something positive out of it."

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If he didn't want the entire world bullying him, maybe he shouldn't have tried bullying his paying customer. Or embarrassed his client in the process.

If he wants people to like him, he should learn to treat them with a modicum of respect. Even if he disagrees with them. ESPECIALLY if he disagrees with them.

And he didn't 'make a mistake.' He intentionally, willfully, and at length OVER THE COURSE OF SEVERAL E-MAILS, treated a patron like he didn't matter.

A typo is a mistake. Incorrect word usage is a mistake.

What he did was offensive. Patently so.

There is no defense for it. Absolutely none.

If this guy really wants to make something positive out of it, just apologize. No qualifiers, no explanations, no rationalizations.

Just say 'I'm sorry. I was wrong and now I know it.'

And then prove it with humility and positive action.

that image just screams king douche

Here's some Cliff Notes for those who lack the patience (and/or attention span) to click through 50 pages of links:

A few years ago, in Florida, a teacher makes a special rig-thing for X-box controllers for his disabled student, who can't play with normal controllers due to severe birth defects (which was an awesome thing to do).

The teacher sells the idea to a company that makes gaming peripherals (which is cool).

Said company hires douchebag PR guy, to market it in the States and do customer service.

Please note: douchebag PR guy is just some guy who works out of his fucking apartment, he rides a ricerocket (but made an attempt at a viral youtube video complaining that his realtor didn't tell him about traffic noise, of all things, because he lives next to a freeway), does steroids, has an ego the size of the planet Jupiter, and is an all-around scammy asshole.

The comparison to Dion is apt.

Anyway, the controller rig-thing gets developed, gets put on sale, and the company starts taking orders for a early-December release via the website PR guy made (which is almost ENTIRELY plagiarized, including the fucking "about us" page).

Unfortunately (in my opinion), the marketing for the rig-thing's original purpose; handicap accessibility, is dropped in favor for the worst kind of shitty EXXXTREEEME MARKETING I've seen since the 8-bit era (which is why almost nobody who heard about this fiasco knows what the fuck the rig-thing actually is).

Our hero: the customer, pre-purchases two of them for Christmas presents, in September, and waits.

Early December rolls around and the customer sends an email to the only point-of-contact on the website, asking for a revised release date. PR guy gives a dismissive non-answer.

Customer replies asking for the release date again. PR guy gives a long spiel about "manufacturing processes are hard n' shit" while still giving an non-answer. (anyone who has dealt with a shady ebay buyer/seller knows where this is going...)

Customer asks again. PR guy sends: "December 17th"

Customer asks for clarification: "is that ship date" "is that when they come in country" " will I receive mine in time for Christmas." PR guy replies: "you're going to wait in line like a big boy, just like everyone else." (unknown at the time, but the first shipment of the rig things are still stuck in customs)

The customer replies: "WTF man!? When am I getting the things I have already paid for?" PR guy flips his shit and starts name-dropping the bros he's "in with": "I KNOE KOTAKU I KNOW THE PENNY ARCADE GUYS I KNOW THE MAYOR OF BOSTON! U AINT SHIT!"

The customer pulls the nuclear option: he contacts Gabe from Penny Arcade and sends him the whole email-chain.

After reading and having been "name dropped" by douchebag PR guy (he rented a booth at PAX), Gabe posts a link with the emails (personal-info redacted) to the main page of PennyArcade.com.

The life of PR guy, as he has known it, is over.

SHIT EXPLODES and that's just up to yesterday afternoon.

Then 4-chan gets involved...





Unrelated, but at Penny Arcade it's still:

Oh, the internet is really having fun with this chap:

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/paul-christoforo-ocean-marketing-emails


Shoot, even GEICO is having fun at this guy's expense:

ok, so I guess that makes sense. But why did the controller maker hire the PR guy in the first place. He seems obviously inept at communication skills.

From what I understand, the controller's manufacturer had a different group doing PR and Cristoforo was connected somehow with the manufacturer and owner. He used his typical 'negotiating' tactics to sort of bowl the guy over and muscle his way into the picture. The owner then went to the PR guys and said 'work with this guy, he has connections and may be able to help us.'

Then Cristoforo started going rogue, forging his own connections and business propositions regarding the product and where it would be sold without communicating with the existing PR guys.

The existing PR guys didn't like his rogue tactics and were concerned that his methods would damage their reputation in the process, so they stepped away from the operation and th Avenger company altogether.

That left Avenger with Cristoforo. The rest is history.

The original PR guy seems like a smart dude. Maybe even a prophet. Or maybe he just used common sense.

Taiso said:

From what I understand, the controller's manufacturer had a different group doing PR and Cristoforo was connected somehow with the manufacturer and owner. He used his typical 'negotiating' tactics to sort of bowl the guy over and muscle his way into the picture. The owner then went to the PR guys and said 'work with this guy, he has connections and may be able to help us.'

Then Cristoforo started going rogue, forging his own connections and business propositions regarding the product and where it would be sold without communicating with the existing PR guys.

The existing PR guys didn't like his rogue tactics and were concerned that his methods would damage their reputation in the process, so they stepped away from the operation and th Avenger company altogether.

That left Avenger with Cristoforo. The rest is history.

The original PR guy seems like a smart dude. Maybe even a prophet. Or maybe he just used common sense.

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how does one strong arm into a PR position? This makes little sense to me.

Also, this is one of the best marketing campaigns I have seen in a while. Way to increase brand awareness.

I actually like the idea of the controller, catering to people with things like nerve damage, etc.

Unfortunately, as previously mentioned, being guided as "extreme gaming" means it's going to attract 800 CoD-only players wanting things like turbofire.

Agent Sands said:

how does one strong arm into a PR position? This makes little sense to me.

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Aggressive negotiations with an easily swayed person who feared the consequences of losing a guy who was boasting so many connections and so many outlets to distribute the procuct.

It happens all the time in the business world.

Poor Bill DeLeo: had to legally change his name to Cristoforo and now THIS happens.

Dude should just stay the fuck off the internet.