Loyalty360 Reads: April 23rd, 2018

It’s a rough day to be…
Verizon and AT&T. According to an article in The Washington Post, the two mobile giants are under investigation by the Department of Justice for potential collusion efforts. The DOJ thinks the two got together to hamper the eSIM card technology that could make it easier for consumers to seamlessly switch their wireless carriers. The investigation began in February when the DOJ requested information from the four largest wireless carriers—AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint—about how they handle requests from consumers to switch brands, and their participation in the GSM Association, which sets standards for the wireless industry. Verizon said it was much ado about nothing and both brands said it boiled down to a difference of opinion on the development of proposed eSIM standards.  Whatever the results, being investigated by the DOJ is never a good time.
 
McDonald’s is No Zoo
The McDonald’s franchise in Brownsville, Texas, that sits just down the street from the city’s zoo has looked, well, just a little bit different than other McDonald’s. Since its remodeling in 2005, a life-sized elephant, giraffe and lion have stood on the roof, while a fake cheetah is perched inside along with a giant boa constrictor climbing up a tree. A mural featuring lions and lizards also turns the play area into a make-believe jungle. But according to an article in The Brownsville Herald, the brass at McDonald’s HQ caged the animals, saying they didn’t fit in with the QSR brand’s new look and feel, which includes table service, feature kiosks, table tents and a new play area. So as the restaurant undergoes a renovation, the owners are donating the fiberglass animals to the zoo.
 
Lessons on Customer Service from Amazon: Don’t Make Jeff Bezos Wait
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is so serious about good customer experience that during a meeting of 30 Amazon executives, he asked the VP of customer service how long callers were being left on hold during the holidays. The VP said it was less than a minute, but Bezos wasn’t convinced. So he dialed the company’s 800 customer service number and put it on speaker phone. Then he started a timer. And waited. And waited. And waited. Several very long minutes later, someone finally answered. “I’m just calling to check,” he said, slamming down the phone. An article in Business Insider recounted the story, pulling it from the book “The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon.” The VP, by the way, resigned less than a year later.

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