Wow ... Typepad's Offer To Its Customers Is Amazing

While my own blog isn't hosted by Typepad, I'm familiar with the service through my work with others.

Like a lot of web-based services, Typepad's growth has led to service issues. And recently, bloggers who use Typepad have struggled through a host of problems, such as duplicative posts and even missing blogs.

So what did management do?

How about e-mail every Typepad customer and give them an option for how much of a refund they want?

Performance issues merely an inconvenience to you? How about a 15-day refund?

Performance issues caused you problems on multiple occasions? How about a 30-day refund?

And so on.

Oh, and if you felt the service performed as expected, you could opt for no refund.

Genius. And a far cry from the way companies such as Sony have handled recent difficulties.

As Joseph Jaffe wrote here:

"How's that for respecting the intelligence and honesty of your consumers? How's that for recognizing the diversity of different customers and their varying needs and internalization of the same problem?"

Here are a couple of other links to the story:

Neville Hobson: Typepad customers get an offer that's hard to refuse

ConsumerGeneratedMedia: Typepad, Consumer Choice, and Free CGM

Of course, an apology like the one offered by Typepad only goes so far. If problems persist, then consumers will likely decide that being respected isn't the only thing they require from a blog hosting company.

But doesn't it beat the alternative?

Technorati Tags: PR, Public Relations, Marketing, Advertising, Typepad