Protests can work   |  September 11, 2008  

Two recent consumer campaigns show companies do listen to consumers

Mark Twain is said to have quipped that “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” Well, a Backbone reader I’ll call Janet did something about her environmental concerns. She spoke up about her problem with Bell Canada’s packaging and sales policies and, in a satisfying twist, Bell responded appropriately and promptly.

Janet had gone to a big-box retailer to buy two Bell ExpressVu receivers. She already owned a satellite dish and didn’t need the included dishes. Sorry, the store told her, the units are bundled; if you want the receivers, take the dishes. Back at home, Janet recalled reading a piece in Backbone, written by Bell, in which the company discussed its commitment to environmental business practices. She decided to write to the company, and she copied me on those e-mails.

She recounted her retail experience to Marc Duchesne, Bell’s director of corporate responsibility and environment, then added: “Since we already have a satellite dish, we are now stuck with trying to figure out how to dispose of the two satellite dishes we were forced to buy, and the associated extra packaging. If you are seriously attempting to be environmentally responsible, why would you not sell the receivers as a separate item with as little packaging as possible?

“Other than couriering these satellite dishes and excess packaging to your office, do you have any environmentally responsible suggestions for disposing of them?”

Duchesne responded the next day, thanking Janet for the e-mail and adding: “I apologize for the inconveniences. We will get back to you shortly with available options for returning your dishes.”

And he did, a few days later. Duchesne said receivers are sold both individually and in a systems package; the store probably ran out of the former and so sold her the package. However, to ensure this doesn’t happen again, Duchesne wrote: “Going forward, the dishes will no longer be packaged with receivers. They will be kept separately, and if a customer requires one, the installer will bring it to the home to put up.” He also said improvements in overall packaging volume were being implemented. Second, Duchesne said Bell would send a courier to Janet’s house to pick up the extra equipment.

Two elements of Duchesne’s response jump out. First, Bell ExpressVu actually made a significant change to its retail sales policy, and second, the company is actually spending money (on the courier) to keep an individual customer happy. And all of this took place within only 10 days.

That action impressed Janet: “You have made some very concrete commitments to solve this problem,” she wrote to Duchesne. “I am impressed with your willingness to accept responsibility for the retailer’s actions. I must apologize for underestimating your corporate responsibility for the environment.” In an e-mail to me, Janet said: “Although possessed of a healthy amount of cynicism, I think Bell as a corporate entity and Mr. Duchesne in his position honestly attempt to be environmentally responsible.”

Interestingly, the Bell article that kicked off this exchange appeared in an issue in which the cover story asked if vendors and marketers are engaging in a collective greenwash campaign, that is, vowing environmental love while in fact doing nothing. And even if Bell did need a little prodding, it’s gratifying that at least one company actually practices what it preaches.

The iPhone: oh-so sexy, oh-so pricey. The consumer activism was more public and the issue was price, not environment, but the result was similar: a large Canadian telecom changed its policy.

The Apple iPhone launched in Canada on July 11, but the service price - $60 for talk time plus a measly 400MB of data - soured the hype even before the phones hit the shelves. Online petitions sprang up overnight and, staring at tens of thousands of protest signatures, Rogers quickly dropped the monthly price to $30 for 6GB of data. That’s better, although the new fee is only available for a limited time.

Rogers originally expected Canadians to grumble privately and then just pay the fee. What it got was a PR storm raining on the iPhone parade. The lesson from this big-bang national campaign and Janet’s local activism is that consumers should protest. Companies may not always listen, but sometimes they will.


Peter Wolchak
Editor
pwolchak@backbonemag.com