No More Lifetime Guarantee?
September 5, 2007Whose lifetime is it, anyway? I bought a Giant Chinese-made bicycle from Cycology of Sherman Oaks a couple of years ago for $199. Part of the deal was lifetime free tune-ups.
I took it back to the store the other day for a tune-up, and the first remark the clerk made was “That was Cyclogy, we’re Boulevard Cycles. Part of the reason they went out of business was all the free service they gave.” That’s what I call customer service.
Since I was there already and wanted to fix my wife’s bike, I forked out $60 for a tune-up–for my $199 4 year old bike.
Similarly, in the continuing slow-motion crash of print journalism, Business 2.0 gave up the ghost today. A competitor, Fast Company, offered to buy it, but Time Inc. in their infinite wisdom turned them down. They probably won’t give cash refunds; you’ll get stodgy old Forbes instead.
Hopefully, you didn’t have a lifetime subscription.