RSS Feed

Posts Tagged ‘Dennis Crowley’

  1. The foursquare Follow Up

    February 23, 2012 by Danielle

    Two weeks ago, I bitterly tweeted foursquare after two separate Manhattan venues declined to honor the advertised check-in specials.

    (Don’t know what foursquare is? Watch this short video and then keep reading.)

    As I explained in my earlier post, foursquare’s co-founder, Dennis Crowley, replied immediately – on Superbowl Sunday of all days – and promptly looped in the company’s Director of Business Development Eric Friedman. While Eric was busy cheering on the Giants (pure speculation), I was publishing my blog post and awaiting a full explanation.

    Here’s what happened next…

    Monday, February 6:
    Eric direct messaged me on Twitter requesting more information about the deals gone wrong, which I provided.

    Tuesday, February 7:
    No reply. It occurs to me that Dennis and Eric have probably pulled up my account, see that I recently unlocked the “Wino Badge” (undermining my credibility entirely) and have dismissed my claim.

    Wednesday, February 8:
    Following a good night’s sleep and upon further consideration, I conclude that Dennis and Eric have waayyy better things to do than “pull up my account” and it is those “better things” that have distracted them from following up with me. Possibly ever.

    Thursday, February 9:
    Hooray! A reply from Eric. He opens with “Sorry for the delayed response.” This is both courteous and generous considering he’s kind of a big deal and returning my email was a medium priority at best. He went on to tell me exactly what I wanted to hear:

     

    foursquare's Eric Friedman

    First, this must have been incredibly frustrating for you and I am really sorry. We provide tools for merchants on a self serve basis (they are all free!) and try to guide them to train their staff, know about the deals, and offer “special” experiences to guests.  We rely heavily on the owners and managers to make sure all of the staff is aware of our offers and we provide two ways to help them: 1. a printable PDF to train staff 2. a printable PDF to explain things to customers. Is it possible the Specials you saw were via American Express? (and he included link) In any case, I am really sorry for the inconvenience and it’s part of my job to prevent these from happening in the future.  I am happy to chat further and thanks for getting back to me so quickly via twitter!

     

    And just like that, foursquare turned my frown upside down and got me back on board pursuing a local coffee mayorship!

    Here’s why the response worked for me:

    1) He apologized (for both the delayed reply and the overall experience).
    2) He validated and acknowledged my feelings of dissatisfaction.
    3) He provided a full explanation. Essentially, he resolved the problem.
    4) He kept the conversation “open” to ensure I felt the issue was resolved on my terms, not his.

    In most instances, unhappy customers just want to be heard. Empowered customers make themselves heard!

    On the bright side, while my deals were not honored at Spoon or Bourgeois Pig, my friends and I did earn a free happy hour appetizer at Croton Reservoir last Friday just for checking in.

    The lesson here is simple: foursquare is awesome. Do it.

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  2. What’s The Deal with Foursquare Deals?

    February 6, 2012 by Danielle

    False advertising

    If you’re not yet using Foursquare, you should be.

    But be warned: not all establishments honor the advertised deals.

    When I first started using Foursquare a few months ago, I was motivated to keep “checking in” because of the discounts and specials offered at many of the venues.

    Just recently, my friends and I had $10 taken off our bill at The Counting Room for simply “checking in” on Foursquare. I’m less motivated by the point-earning/game-playing aspects (unless, of course, those points can be cashed in for mozzarella sticks!) but many people do use Foursquare in this way – eventually earning themselves “mayorships,” which also translate to freebies and exclusive discounts.

    I’m pro-Foursquare, but in the last few weeks, I’ve been burned twice (yes, twice!) by two establishments that offered Foursquare deals for checking in and then shrugged their shoulders once I’d complied. Talk about feeling used!

    The first “incident” was at Spoon, a delicious little brunch spot near Union Square. Like The Counting Room, Foursquare advertised a $10 discount for checking in, but when we presented it to the bewildered waitress she knew nothing about it. If you’ve read my blog, you’ll not be surprised that I swiftly rejected that response and politely insisted she show it to a manager. Frustratingly, the manager’s response was the same. We got a consolation cupcake instead.

    Unconvinced that the cupcake had a $10 street value (and in typical dog with a bone fashion), I tweeted about it. A few days later…

    @spoonfednyc: So sorry, the foursquare posting is Fraud!

    Gasp! Had I uncovered a major cyber crime? I asked Spoon if they’d been in touch with Foursquare on this issue. To which they replied…

    @spoonfednyc: Yes we did, we can’t even see it on our page, it’s not the first time it happened, thanks for contacting regarding this!

    I let it go.

    But, then…

    Just this weekend, I checked in at The Bourgeois Pig in the East Village (birth place of Foursquare).

    The app advertised $5 off the bill (see above). We showed it to the waitress who showed it to the manager who had “never heard of it.”

    This is a blog about empowering customers to always get the good service they deserve and so on behalf of my readers and the six other people who were checked in at The Bourgeois Pig last night, I tweeted one of the founders of Foursquare, Dennis Crowley, to ask “what’s the deal with the deals?”

    To his credit, Dennis immediately replied wanting more information and copied his director of business development on the tweet. I have not yet received a full explanation but, to be fair, it was Superbowl Sunday and pesky little bloggers like me may have taken a back seat to the New York Giants’ nail biting defeat over the New England Patriots.

    I’m looking forward to getting some answers and will share them with you here. After all, a deal is a deal.

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 2 Comments