Verizon Wireless has exhibited a faux pas that many companies that use automated messaging exhibit.

I feel a bit overlooked as a customer.

I just upgraded my aircard for my laptop. This is the device that attaches through a USB connector, and picks up the internet connection. So you can imagine my surprise when I received the email below, and discovered that my device has a speaker phone, text messaging capabilities, and voicemail service.

	Thank you for upgrading to the Verizon Wireless UMW190 Global USB Modem. Now make the most of its features and capabilities! Built-in speakerphone allows for safe, hands-free conversation while driving Keep in touch with friends and family with Text Messaging Voice Mail takes a caller’s message when you can’t answer the phone You can also learn more about your new phone using our online guide.

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Obviously, at least to a live person with common sense, my aircard doesn’t have those features, (although on first glance of the email, I did try to imagine driving down the road with my aircard attached to my laptop, and me chatting away, hands-free).

There are two lessons for us here. If you’re going to send automated messages to customers:

1. Be sure the messages are relevant. A message about the features of a cell phone has no significance at all when I just purchased an aircard. I appreciate the thank you, but I sure feel like one small, irrelevant customer, a victim of Verizon’s poor attempt at public relations.

2. Be sure the thank you is sincere. It’s like receiving flowers that were obviously in the discount bin at the grocery store. The thought is nice, the action is disappointing. A thank you from Verizon has no meaning when the message isn’t directed to my decision to purchase from them. And I’ve been a Verizon stock-holder since before they were Verizon, so it makes me even more disappointed that this insincere thank you isn’t helping business any.

Let’s hope a non-automated someone at Verizon can hear us now.

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Tuesday, February 9th, 2010, 7:45 am   |   General Marketing, Public Relations, Verizon  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback