If you have been around the internet very long you get the opportunity of being presented with staged product launches which occur every few weeks.  I am on several internet guru’s lists whereby I can assess what is happening, learn from them and where appropriate use some of my learnings for this site.

For the last few weeks the Mind Movies 2.0 folks have been following a classic model where by they provide quality content to whet your appetite for the actual product.  They have conducted interviews with personal development leaders about the use of visualization to achieve your goals.  This normally runs over a 2 – 3 week period where they are using classic marketing tactics to position the offering so that you whip out your credit card and buy the product when it is offered.

Let me share I have been interested in personal development for years and use various techniques to aid my growth and achieve my goals. I have attended various week-end workshops, studied and read many books on the topic of personal and professional growth.

The premise of what Mind Movies 2.0 is offering is quite appealing to me and I was excited about the product.  In fact prior to the launch I was off collecting various pictures of what I want to bring into my life via the manifestation process.  The interview Ryan Higgins [the creator of Mind Movies 2.0] had with John Asseraf [personal development guru] was a particular interest in that John share the scientific background on how our brains work and the importance of feeding it the correct material, i.e. positive images so that they can be brought into existence.  Everything starts at the thought level and thoughts become things.

Last week they finally announced what the cost of the product would be – $97.00.  Actually not a bad price I thought.  So I was one of the thousands of folks who bought the product.  I have no idea of how many people actually bought the product but I bet it was a very large number.

So I buy something last Thursday and here it is Tuesday morning – 5 full days and I am not able to use what I bought.

I have been told via an email that there is a technical issue.  A quote from the email:

We have your information noted and are working to fix the known bug specific to what you’re experiencing. Once the problem has been solved we’ll certainly update you at that time.

My problem is that once you have created the movie and they have “processed” it, it freezes when you replay it.  One would think they would have tested this to the hilt so that no one would have an issue or problem with this main feature of the product.

I did see on Facebook that someone had successfully made their Mind Movie and had posted it.  So it has worked for one or two people.

The response from their customer service has been slow.  In fact I thought that they might not have been working over the week-end, but in this email I just received stated they had been working over the week-end.  If they are just getting around to me, then there have been many folks who have had issues with this new product.

I have tried to search Twitter to see if anyone else is experiencing problems and I cannot find the correct hashtag or search term to find the right group.  All I see are folks touting the product.

My gut is telling me I am not the lone ranger – there are others who are not experiencing what they bought.

Here is the last customer service email – tell me if I am being too harsh with my blog post and opinions.

Hi,

Thank you for your email.

We love your enthusiasm and your support of Mind Movies.

In the last few days thousands of you have purchased Mind Movies 2.0 and in turn have created and downloaded thousands of Mind Movies.

We’ve been receiving loads of emails with thoughts, suggestions, thanks, and technical questions.

We appreciate all of these emails, and ask for your patience as we work through each and every one of them.

Your email has been received and will be responded to asap, so please refrain from sending follow up emails or phone calls on the same topic, as this bogs down the support system and slows us down in responding to you.

We are also aware that some users are experiencing trouble downloading their Mind Movies.

Our software engineers are focused on this issue, and will have a solution to you very shortly.

Thank you so much for your patience and have a wonderful day.

Kind Regards,

The Mind Movies Support Team

First of all, in my opinion it is too generic.  They say “We love your enthusiasm and your support of Mind Movies.”  Well my tone in the customer service request was not particularity enthusiastic – it was perplexed and on the frustrated side.

So if you were in their shoes – how would you handle disgruntled customers?

They have have had thousands of people who have purchased at product at $97.00, so they have made hundreds of thousands, maybe millions and yet they cannot get this technical issue resolved.  And I am being told to wait.  Who do they think they are – Apple?

Thanks for listening to my frustration.  I will let you know how this issue gets resolved and what all I learn from it.

Contrast In Customer Service

This is a striking contrast.  I ordered a small bouquet from ProFlowers to be delivered today.  There was a problem with the quality of the flowers and they are substituting a better arrangement and refunding me half of what I paid!!  Here is a portion of their email to me:

The A Little Sunshine you ordered has been replaced with 100 Blooms of Peruvian Lilies. It will still arrive on the delivery date you selected (8/10/2010). We made this change because the A Little Sunshine did not meet our quality standards. Please know that this is an extremely rare occurrence, and that we are making this change only to ensure that a gift arrives on the date you requested. As a matter of principle, we believe it is better to get a gift there on time, than to delay delivery and perhaps miss an important occasion.

My original bouquet is priced at $19.99 and is shown here:

And they are replacing it with a $39.98 arrangement:

Plus refunding half of my total bill – that is quality service in my opinion.

Now it needs to be noted that there is a big difference the two products, one is an information product and the other is physical.  But the way it was handled shows that the Pro Flowers have their act together in terms of customer service.  It appears to be a well oiled machine.  ProFlowers has been in business for years and has refined the way they handle their customers.

Will I want to do business with ProFlowers in the future based on this experience?  The answer is a resounding YES!!

I am sure some of these technical issues and other snafus that the Mind Movies 2.0 folks are currently experiencing are beyond what they prepared for in their launch.  And there are lessons for all of us.

My experience and technical issues may be unique and I am a sample of one.  Well actually I do know of another person who is experiencing issue – a dear friend I talked into getting this product.  Stay tuned for updates on how this gets resolved.

Tagged as: Business Marketing, Joyce McKee, Lets Talk Trade Shows, Mind Movies 2.0