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From: kevinw@portia.Stanford.EDU (Kevin Rudd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Loyalty (Was Re: HP promo)
Summary: Caveat Emptor
Message-ID: <1990Aug15.061326.19175@portia.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 15 Aug 90 06:13:26 GMT
References: <1854@ac.dal.ca> <6778@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
Organization: AIR, Stanford University
Lines: 68

HP is not alone in being "unloyal" to its customers.  Every major
organization (and probably minor too) is more concerned on the whole
with sales, not support.  Some companies make a major effort, but...

Consider the complaints amongst loyal Apple users when no upgrade path
is provided for Plus owners.  I doubt that many Plus owners have not
(or will not) upgrade because of this.  For Apple, it would not have
been "wise" to spend extra money to save a minor fraction of its sales.
Is this right?  NO.  But the stockholders would not wan't to "lose" money
because the management did the "right" thing instead of the profitable
thing.

HP's loyal customers (of which I am certainly one), despite a nearly 10 year
period of poorly designed and manufactured products have still
purchased HP calculators.  Despite the quality of their recent products, I
have replaced all of my failed calculators with HP despite their attrition
(due to HP design problems) BECAUSE THEY ARE STILL BETTER THAN WHAT
IS ELSEWHERE IN THE MARKETPLACE).

So, the current "problem" is that HP has poorly treated those of us (me too)
who couldn't wait by giving us buggy ROMs (but they DID tell us what the
bugs were -- most companies don't even do that) and then by giving those
individuals who waited for better ROMs and prices to fall a free game+
equation card.  And they do not offer any benefits (such as ROM upgrades
or cards) to their "loyal" customers.

But, the question is, is giving away free (or for
no profit) gifts to those who already have purchased the product the
"right" thing to do?  Considering the bugs, they should definitely replace
at least all A ROMs free as they seem to have the most bugs (plus being
the ROM in my 48SX) but they should at least allow NO PROFIT upgrades
for everyone.  Period.  It would surely be nice to have a free equation
card, but the Promo is for pre-school sales and thus would have probably
occurred even if the calculator had come out at the beginning of the
year and not the middle.  Plus, for me I can't quite see any real application
for it (and I have too many computer games already to get a portable one).

Now, the question of loyalty is put on the table.  Should a company
be loyal to its customers?  DEFINITELY.  Even if it costs them.  This
is just the "right" way to do "business".  It is not, however, the
right way to do "profits".  For a company with such emphasized loyalty
to its employees (they have started laying off periodically, haven't
they?) to ignore its customers seems to violate its basic covenents.

So, IMuHO, loyalty is missing in the marketplace.  Companies and
consumers alike.  I'll wager that even those of you who vehemently state
that you will never buy another HP calculator will still do so
in the future as well, not out of loyalty, but because then
will probably still be the only maker of that kind of device of any
merit.  BECAUEE THEY WILL STILL (PROBABLY) BE BETTER THAN THE REST. 
When the competition catches up (either in support or in product line)
HP will lose their customers because they can't offer
them something they can't get better elsewhere.  Sad, but true.  And HP
knows that it has a captive audience.

Hopefully someone in HP (and the other companies who forget
those from whom they have already reaped their profits)
will see this thread of messages and change their ways, but I'm not terribly
hopeful.  Every company that I have seen directly has been more concerned
with the short term dollar than the long term market.  Even if the
long term suffers.  The dollar is just too big for the present.  But if this
type of business practice continues, I can't see the companies
who practice it surviving in the long term.

'Nuff said.  After all, this IS a calculator forum, not a philosophy
of business seminar.

-- Kevin