Why does it take some companies so long to change their thinking? I was at a Web 2.0 seminar yesterday, and one of the people in the room was concerned about the “Pandora’s Box” it could open for their company. I think companies need to embrace their customer feedback proactively, and social media provides a great way to do it. If they don’t, they will have to face it anyway later, but by then it won’t be as manageable.

I think mismatched words and actions are appalling when it comes to wooing new customers but taking your existing customers for granted. Thanks for sharing your ideas on this, Adam.

I’d love to give big companies the benefit of the doubt (and I mostly do), because as I see it, it’s a perspective/paradigm shift. Old guard and new guard. And old habits can take a while to finish their sputtering and death throes.

For example, I have (um, make that ‘had’) a marketing teacher who schooled me wonderfully on a number of ideas. But social marketing/blogging/2.0 thinking has, so far, escaped him completely. From my view, I can’t imagine why it’s taking him so long to get it. But it is.

I think the more we see this trend of mismatched words and actions, the more this saying will come to pass: “The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole.”

Sorry to hear you are caught up in this issue. It is always interesting to me the way companies look at it from their internal perspective rather than from the customer’s perspective. Too much finger pointing happens, either internally (as in your case) or externally (to the partner company). It doesn’t matter who is right, it matters what is right.

Sometimes just giving customers a choice is enough to keep them satisfied. I am not sure that complaining to a company that is not customer-centric will make that much difference. Good luck, and let me know what you decide to do! (And if you do leave, make sure to let them know why.)

I do not think anything can be done unless a lot of people complain. I find it funny that I see no ads on the main Gmail page, which is free. Granted there are ads on the individual email pages.

My contract with them expires next month. Maybe it is time to get a cable modem.

It boggles the mind. Businesses recognize experiences are important and then turn around and do something that creates a less-than-great experience. Why?