What are Paul Newman's best movies?

On May 25 2007 Paul Newman announced that he was retiring from acting entirely.

Born in 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio he started acting in grade school and high school plays. He spent a year at the Yale Drama School and attended the famed New York Actors Studio. His first film, The Silver Chalice (1954) was nearly his last as he considered his performance in this costume epic to be so bad that he took out a full-page ad in a trade paper apologising to anyone who might have seen it.

However he followed it up with Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) where he portrayed the boxer Rocky Graziano and received rave reviews from the critics for his brilliant performance and went on to become one of the top box office draws of the 1960s, starring in such films as The Hustler (1961), The Prize (1963), Hud (1963), Cool Hand Luke (1967) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

He also produced and directed many quality films and was nominated nine times for a best actor Oscar, winning once for his performance as an ageing pool shark in The Color of Money (1986).

He also founded the "Newman's Own" brand, a successful line of food products that has earned in excess of $100 million, every penny of which he has donated to charity.

Now in his eighties he stated that he doesn't feel he can continue acting on the level that he would want to. "You start to lose your memory, you start to lose your confidence, you start to lose your invention. So I think that's pretty much a closed book for me."

How do you rate Paul Newman as an actor and what from our shortlist of movies do you think were his top three?

Participate in this weeks open survey What are Paul Newman's best movies?

What will British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Legacy be?

After 10 years as prime minister and 13 as Labour leader Tony Blair has announced that he will tender his resignation to the Queen on June 27.

In a 17-minute speech in front of a handpicked group of supporters he said the judgement on his 10-year administration was "for you, the people, to make".

He apologised for "the times I have fallen short" but stated that "Hand on heart, I did what I thought was right. I may have been wrong - that's your call. But I did what I thought was right for our country.

Many critics have suggested that Mr Blair's exit was forced upon him and that his party were keen to see him go.

How do you rate Mr Blair's performance, what do you think will be his legacy and what do you think he will do in future?

Participate in this weeks open survey What will British Prime Minister Tony Blair's Legacy be?

Does Paris Hilton Deserve Jail?

A Los Angeles judge's sentenced hotel heiress Paris Hilton to 45 days behind bars in a California jail cell after she was found guilty for violating a probation order and driving with a suspended license.

She has insisted that she doesn't deserve the sentence that she has claimed is both cruel and unwanted.

She has called on her fans to help her stay out of jail by endorsing an online petition her fans can sign and she has reportedly also asked California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to pardon her.

The petition to Schwarzenegger claims that "the American public who support Paris are shocked, dismayed and appalled by how Paris has been the person to be used as an example that drunk driving is wrong. She provides hope for young people all over the US and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to (most of) our otherwise mundane lives. If the late former President Gerald Ford could find it in his heart to pardon the late former President Richard Nixon after his mistake(s), we undeniably support Paris Hilton being pardoned for her honest mistake as well."

Should Paris Hilton serve time?

Participate in this weeks open survey Does Paris Hilton Deserve Jail?

Hillary Clinton 2008 Democratic presidential nomination?

With less than a year to go until the US primaries the race is on for the 2008 democratic nomination. With candidates jockeying for position and the possibility of some late entries who do you think will win the nomination? Will Hillary Clinton be able to emulate her husbands success and succeed in first winning the Democratic nomination and then the US Presidency? Is the US Presidency more about policies or charisma?

Participate in this weeks open survey Hillary Clinton 2008 Democratic presidential nomination?

Should Prince Harry be sent to Iraq?

Prince Henry of Wales, more commonly known as Prince Harry, is the younger son of Charles, Prince of Wales and his first wife, the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Prince Harry is third in the line of succession to the British Throne, behind his father, and his older brother Prince William.

Following the royal families tradition Prince Harry joined the British Army and after training is now an officer in the Blues and Royals regiment of the Household Cavalry.

The British Ministry of Defence recently confirmed that Prince Harry would be deployed with his regiment in Iraq where he will serve as part of the 1st Mechanised Brigade of the 3rd (UK) Mechanised Division.

It is believed that the Blues and Royals are expected to form part of the force patrolling the Iran-Iraq border with the prince leading a small force tasked with reconnaissance duties using Scimitar tanks.

The last member of the British Royal Family to serve in a war zone was the Prince's uncle, Prince Andrew, Duke of York, who flew helicopters during the Falklands War in 1982 who at the time would have been second in line to the British Throne.

In interviews Prince Harry had made it clear that he would leave the army if he was left in safety while his regiment was sent to a war zone.

However, some sources have sought to prevent Prince Harry from serving, often claiming that his presence there would put at risk those that severed with him.

Should Prince Harry serve in Iraq, and if he does, should he be given more protection than would normally be expected for any other serving officer of similar rank?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Prince Harry be sent to Iraq?

Should Service Personnel be Allowed to Sell Their Stories?

In March 2007 15 British navy personnel were detained in Iran for 13 days after being seized by the Iran Revolutionary Guard in the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq for allegedly trespassing into Iranian territorial waters. The British government said they were in Iraqi waters.

While in Iranian custody some of the personnel where seen on Iranian television apologising for their action and in interviews stated that they were being treated well by their Iranian hosts. Some of those in custody wrote published statements that criticised the British involvement in Iraq.

On the navy personnel's release six members of the group attended a press conference arranged by the Navy and said they were kept in solitary confinement for much of the time and that they were at times fearful that they would be executed.

With media interest growing the navy was authorised by the Government to allow the naval personnel to sell their individual stories to the press. There was severe criticism from within and outside the armed forces for allowing the service personnel to benefit financially. Some argued that it would undermine the reputation of the British Armed Forces at home and Britain's standing abroad and that it would also set a dangerous precedent for whenever military actions are the subject of intensive media coverage in the future. Many argued that it was unfair to other service personnel who were serving in in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Defence Secretary, Des Browne, first denied involvement but eventually admitted that it was he who first authorised the service personnel to sell their stories and then later reversed his decision when he announced that Service personnel will not 'be allowed to talk to the media about their experiences in return for payment' until the review is complete.

Relationships between the government and the British armed services have been strained as the government have been slow to admit their involvement.

Should a country's military personnel be allowed to discuss their experiences with the press and if so should they be entitled to some financial reward?

Do you believe that the British personnel had wandered into Iranian territorial waters?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Service Personnel be Allowed to Sell Their Stories?

President Bush the Joker or a Joke?

President Bush attended the US Radio and Television Correspondents' Association 2007 dinner where not for the first time and in keeping with the events traditions he made a speech that poked fun at himself and a few others and his remarks drew laughter and applause from the Washington Hilton Hotel audience.

He made light of the poor ratings he is experiencing due to his handling of Iraq and he tongue in cheek suggested that the Vice President was on vacation in Afghanistan where people liked him. He also touched on the controversy over the Justice Department's firing of eight federal prosecutors, by saying: "I have to admit we really blew the way we let those attorneys go. You know you've botched it when people sympathise with lawyers."

The full speech can be seen at Bush Address at Radio and Television Correspondents' Association Dinner.

Even the most ardent of Bush supporters have now accepted that there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq and there was no link between Saddam Hussein and global terrorists. The Bush action that was launched based on that misinformation has cost over 3,500 American, UK and other military lives and over 20,00 wounded (January 2003 to April 2007), with an untold number of civilian deaths which even the most conservative estimate puts at over 24,000 and is more likely to be much higher.

Considering the serious consequences of his action should the US president be making light of any part of his administration?

Is his ability to make jokes at his own expense an attempt to reverse his unpopularity?

Should George Bush resign or see out the rest of his presidential term?

Participate in this weeks open survey President Bush the Joker or a Joke?

What's your View of the Modern Man?

For many societies around the world the man is still seen as the main bread winner while the female role is to raise the family and concentrate on the home.

For the developed nations that traditional role has slowly been challenged and house-husbands are not uncommon and finding females who have the more financial rewarding career in a partnership is now not that unusual.

Do you believe that in any relationship tradition should prevail and it should be the male who provides for the family and the female who makes the home?

Do you believe that the roles should be reversed or that responsibilities should be shared without any pre-conditioned view as to who should do what in a relationship?

Participate in this weeks open survey Do you Support the Modern Man?

Should Britain Apologise for the Slave Trade?

2007 sees the United Kingdom mark 200 years since the British parliament abolished the transatlantic trade in slaves.

To publicise the anniversary a number of movies, television dramas and documentaries have been made that have in themselves brought controversy as many factions argue who in history should be credited with being the driving force behind the action that led to the abolishment of the abhorrent trade.

A further debate has emerged with some people requesting that Britain apologise.

Should governments, on behalf of their citizens, apologise for things their forefathers have done wrong or does the passing of generations make such apologies meaningless?

If an apology was to be made, who should make it and to whom and should any apology be accompanied with financial compensation?

Participate in this weeks open survey Should Britain Apologise for the Slave Trade?

Controversial Glass Balcony Built Over Grand Canyon

In Phoenix at the Grand Canyon the Indian Hualapai tribe have constructed a large glass-bottomed walkway.

The $30 million Skywalk is perched at the canyon's edge and uses an elaborate system of pulleys connected to four tractor-trailers to allow the platform to extend some 70 feet over the rim and about 4,000 feet over the canyon floor.

The tribe hope that the attraction will encourage tourism to the remote western edge of the canyon where the tribe that number about 2,200 people live.

Construction of the platform started in April 2005 and was the idea of a Las Vegas developer David Jin.

David Jin approached the Hualapai in 1996 with a plan to build it using his own money and the tribe agreed but on the condition that the tribe would own the walkway and Jin would get a cut of any profits.

However some of the Hualapai elders have now started to question the wisdom of the project as to them the canyon is sacred ground and the construction cut into land scattered with Hualapai burial sites.

Environmentalists also have criticised the project for diminishing the canyon's majesty with some critics describing the structure as a tacky tourist attraction.

It is predicted that the Skywalk will become a major and popular attraction, bringing much needed income to the tribe.

Do you think the Hualapai tribe were right to agree to the construction?

Do you think the design of the Skywalk is environmentally in keeping with the Grand Canyon?

Participate in this weeks open survey Controversial Glass Balcony Built Over Grand Canyon?

Are Diamonds Rare?

In the 1870s at the Kimberley mine in South Africa a 128-carat, canary-yellow diamond called simply The Tiffany, was discovered. The diamond-encrusted mines at Kimberly became known as kimberlites and their discovery began a huge mining operation that continues to this day.

What the kimberlites offered was once-rare gems to millions upon millions of ordinary consumers and soon thousands of prospectors were thrown into fierce competition causing diamond prices to plummet from 500 dollars to ten cents a carat.

With diamonds increasingly in abundance, Cecil Rhodes founded the De Beers Mining Company as a group of diamond producers.

His first aim was to control production to prevent too many diamonds hitting the market and therefore keep prices high.

By controlling the supply and demand since that time De Beers has perhaps become the most successful cartel of the 20th century.

In the 1920s De Beers ran a successful marketing campaign that transformed the public's imagination about the diamond and has to this day, managed to associate diamonds to a symbol of human love and devotion.

In 1994, the Department of Justice charged De Beers in a price fixing scheme. Although the company denies the allegations the company failed to turn up in court and so the matter remains unresolved.

To the question that is sometimes asked "Are diamonds rare or are their prices hideously inflated?" De Beers officials are usually unresponsive on these points and instead they claim that the company has "democratised" diamonds by offering them to millions of ordinary consumers.

Critics argue that diamonds are at best semi-precious stones and were it not for De Beers, and considering the amount of diamonds in current circulation and the amount that are stock piled by De Beers, consumer quality gems commonly used for engagement rings would be cheap and in abundance.

Do you think that diamonds are rare and would you consider them as an investment?

Participate in this weeks open survey Are Diamonds Rare?

Britney Spears - A very public breakdown

Aged 25 Britney Spears recently suffered what appeared to be a very public breakdown when she was reported to have driven to a hairdressing salon and shaved her own head.

A child star who first found fame in 1993 as a member of the American TV show The Mickey Mouse Club, she went on to have phenomenal success with her first single "Baby....one more time" and a debut album which became the highest selling album of a teenager of all time.

With her media stock riding high she won MTV awards and publicly announced her relationship with fellow Mickey Mouse Club child star Justin Timberlake who had himself carved out a successful solo singing career.

When she broke up with Justin Timberlake though things started to go wrong and the media were there to not only see her burst into tears during a TV interview, but were at hand to report her Las Vegas marriage to her childhood friend Jason Alexander and it's annulment two days later.

Britney did get married for real to one of her backing dancers, Kevin Federline, in April 2004. The media were quick to report that the marriage would prove to be less than happy and while her new husband tried to carve out a singing career for himself, Britney became pregnant. The new baby did nothing to save the marriage and Britney and Kevin filed for divorce in December 2006 after just two years of marriage.

Rarely out of the media spotlight, Britney then alarms friends and family as she appears to mentally self-destruct resulting in the shaving of her head and visits in and out of rehab centres.

Reports have suggested that Britney is being treated for postnatal depression and that doctors believe that any substance abuse was a reaction to post-baby blues and an intense feeling on Britney’s part that she had lost control of her life.

Do you think this is the price people like Britney pay for having achieved stardom; or is it the fault of the media that continually fuels the paparazzi; or is it the general public that buys the newspapers and magazines that take delight in reporting when celebrities have bad hair days?

Participate in this weeks open survey Britney Spears - a very public breakdown

Flawed Customer Services (Part 3) - Single Point of Failure

In the previous two parts of this article the suppliers were shown to be wanting but their main problem was that they did not have sufficient and effective feedback in place to identify and resolve problems.
In this third and final example the supplier is relying on a procedure that has a serious and unnecessary 'single point of failure' risk.

Example 3 – Single Point of Failure

This final supplier offers customers a very clever application that converts between different media formats and offers a free trial that will allow the software to be fully tested before purchasing.

They market their product as a full suite and also in a number of 'lite' versions for customers who do not require all the bells and whistles. The product is sold in the region of $800 for the full version and $250 for the 'lite'.

For this supplier I purchased the 'lite' product on Christmas Eve as I required the software to complete a project that I needed to be finished by the New Year.

The order was confirmed online and a message displayed to inform me that an email would be sent to confirm the order and that it would contain download instructions, I was able to confirm that the email address that it would be sent to was correct.

No email was received confirming the order and containing download instructions so I logged onto the suppliers website and using the order detail menu options I was able to locate the order.

Mistake 1 – No backup

Although in this particular case the email entered was correct I noticed that within the ordering process there was no facility that would have allowed me to correct the email if it were wrong.

There was also no procedure to confirm that the email entered was typed correctly, this would normally done by requesting that the typed email be repeated.

There was no procedure to allow the customer to resend the confirmation and if the email were entered incorrectly, but by chance was a valid email address, it would be possible for an unauthorised third-party to receive the download instructions and validation key.

Even though there was a facility provided that allowed the customer to track the order through the website there was no procedure to allow the download to be initiated through logging onto the website.

Although there was the facility to download the full suite and then activate it using a software license key, this facility was not available for the 'lite' version.


Mistake 2 – Reliant on customer services

In this particular case the problem was made worse because the order was place on Christmas Eve and so contacting customer services meant waiting until their personnel returned from the Christmas holidays.

For problems such as being unable to download a product a backup procedure online would reduce the number of support queries requiring human attention.

Mistake 3 – No feedback

Ordering procedures that do not allow customers to give feedback are missing the opportunity to gain from the customer's experience and this supplier was another who did not have any official feedback channel.

Summary

The reliance of email notification without having any backup procedures fails to take into account that mail systems are becoming less reliable as a first contact often due to over zealous and multi-layered spam filters.

Not validating an address before sending sensitive information such as download instructions and access keys is very cavalier.

Having made the effort to allow an order to be tracked, it makes little sense not to include a download option along with the order details.


In Conclusion

This series of articles has showcased three companies that each had automated procurement procedures and had established a customer service methodology that on paper would appear to be effective.

In each case the manufacturers would have benefited from employing a simple 'catch all' customer satisfaction survey to allow them to check that their ordering procedures were quick and effective that in turn would have allowed them to improve their sales and/or reputations.

Experiencing problems is a fact of life, but for good customer services it is important to be able to catch problems and then learn from them in a manner that continually validates and challenges a businesses ordering and fulfilment systems.

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To view a number of other articles relating to customer services and customer satisfaction surveys please visit Survey Galaxy Knowledge Base.

Flawed Customer Services (Part 2) - Alienating the Customer

In part one of this three part article it was shown that a particular supplier failed to make a sale because they had made it unnecessarily complicated for a certain category of customers to locate the required information to purchase the product. Because they also failed to gather any feedback the flaws in their procurement procedures are likely to remain undetected and unresolved.
This second example does receive feedback but as you will see it is feedback that is going to the wrong person, if the 'problem' is also the customer services channel then problems can exist that are not apparent to the company.


Example 2 – Alienating the Customer

While in travelling in South Africa I found myself wanting to watch a DVD on my notebook computer but when I tried to access the DVD through Microsoft's Windows Media Player it displayed an error which advised me that I needed to purchase an add-on before I was able to access DVDs.

Windows Media player directed me to a list of suppliers and I chose one who greeted me with the marketing line, 'You are five minutes away from watching a DVD on your computer'.



Mistake 1 – No trial

Not providing any free trial for commodity applications is unusual as it benefits the manufacturer and the customer if the software can first be tested to ensure it works and meets the customer's expectations.

With a trial offer if there is any problem with the application potential customers do not generally mind if they have had the chance to try before they buy.

Mistake 2 – Un-documented and Unnecessary Restrictions

Because of the relatively low price of the product I completed the online order form and received an email order confirmation giving me a link for the download. I clicked on the link and my download accelerator kicked in that allows me to download files quicker by splitting the download file into smaller files and using simultaneous downloads.

After a few seconds the download failed and I found that I was unable to restart the download. I looked at the email confirmation and found instructions on how to log onto the suppliers website and check the progress of an order and in doing so I found a download button. Unfortunately when I clicked on the download button I received a message informing me that I had exceeded by download limit which was set at five and therefore was left with no option but to email the suppler for assistance.

I received an automated response to my email to notify me that my email query had been received and that they would deal with my enquiry using their first come first served support policy.

After several hours I received a response to my email informing me that they had reset the download count and then, as an aside, also notified me that their download procedure did not support download applications that allowed the download to be restarted and/or accelerated.

Turning off the download accelerator I was able to download the file without too many problems.

Download accelerators are common and allowing restarts only sensible as it reduces the download traffic where some unreliable connections are concerned. However, if there are restrictions that do apply, then not displaying what they are prior to the customer clicking on the download link is inviting support problems.

Mistake 3– Falling between Sales and Support

Once the download was complete I installed the software and when loading the DVD that I wanted to watch a DVD I was asked to register the product online which I did.

Once I had completed the online registration and created an account to allow me to receive technical support the application started and the application read the title and gave me the options to 'play', 'reset' or 'eject'.

I selected 'play', the screen went blank and then it returned to the same menu, no error message. No matter how many times I tried, even after restarting the computer I could not get past the 'play' option.

I visited the supplier's website and navigated to the support page and entered my account details but the password I entered was reported as being incorrect. After a few attempts I took the option to have my password sent to me again. A message came up to say that an email had been sent to verify the password and I was able to see from the displayed message that the verification email was being sent to the correct email address.

After several hours and multiple attempts at having the password re-sent no password confirmation email was received therefore preventing me from being able to register my problem using the proper technical support procedures.

Mistake 4 – Not understanding the Customers query

I sent an email explaining the initial problem with the download that I confirmed resolved and reported that I now had a problem with the software and was also unable to access the technical support page to report the technical problem.

After several hours I received an email reply that simply gave me instructions on how to download the software.

I replied pointing out that the problem was no longer with the download but with the software and also not being able to access the online technical support.

I then received an email confirming that I needed to register the product to get technical support.

I replied to say that I had registered the product, that the registration was confirmed because when I tried to log on to the support I was receiving a message to say that although it recognized my login ID the password was incorrect. I was able to request a password confirmation, that appeared to be being sending it to the correct address but I was not receiving the email. I confirmed to them that I was therefore unable to log on to technical support and register the problem.

Mistake 5 – Annoying the customer

I was naturally annoyed to receive a reply to say that they were unable to deal with technical support calls and that I needed to contact the technical support by telephone. A basic rule for good customer services is that you do not get the customer to do a company's internal communication.

In my reply to them I pointed out that the cost of the software was not worth the cost of the international phone call in trying to call a technical support line in the USA. I requested that they notify their own technical support team on my behalf or perhaps they might find it easier to offer me a refund.

Mistake 6 – Making the customer really annoyed

I received confirmation that they were unable to deal with technical queries and again listed the procedures for me to register the product to obtain technical support.

I took my time to reply and spell out clearly that they really needed to read what I had previously written and that we were now beyond the technical support stage and that we were now in the commercial decision stage where I would like then to agree, or advice otherwise, to a refund.

Mistake 7 – Loosing the customer

I finally received an email offering me a full refund and a partial apology for the problems. The refund was received once I had agreed to delete the downloaded software which I was more than happy to do.


Summary

By offering a full refund the supplier resolved the problem to my full satisfaction but made no attempt to fix any of the reported problems, either as to why I was unable to access the support area, why I was not receiving the password confirmation and why the software did not function properly.

Whatever personal criticism I might have with the people who were responding to my emails, there was no alternative channels open to me to contact the company's management so that I could alert them to my growing frustration.

When one customer experiences a problem it is often important and useful to understand the cause of the problem even if the final solution is to offer that customer a full refund. In this particular case there seemed an unnecessary demarcation, and no internal communication, between sales and support preventing customer's problems, that fall between both camps, to be addressed.

Requesting customer feedback that is then channelled through to management is not a new idea. Hotel and restaurants chains have for years often had feedback cards that are not handed in to the staff but posted directly to head office, ensuring that negative comments are not lost and positive comments genuine.

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To view a number of other articles relating to customer services and customer satisfaction surveys please visit Survey Galaxy Knowledge Base.

Flawed Customer Services (Part 1) - Not closing the sale

Ask most businesses to rate how important it is to them to have satisfied customers and few would say anything other than 'essential'.
From a company's own perspective their customer services procedures might appear to tick all the right boxes but what appears to be a good procedure can sometimes fall short when viewed from a customer, or perhaps more importantly a potential customer's perspective.

Some would argue that customer service has been in decline as the growth of automation and the need to minimise overheads has eroded the human side of customer service. There is no doubt that the type of personal one-on-one customer service that was so common throughout the USA and Europe in the 1950's is a relic of the past with technology steadily replacing people.

Some automated technologies have proved more successful than others, call centres, especially when they are situated in far flung countries, can come in for criticism that may or may not be fair. Although the economics make sense it is easy to see how customers can get frustrated when the technology and savings drivers are put above customer experience.

What can often be missing from many a customer service procedure is the canvassing of regular and effective customer feedback, not for the sake of ticking another box, but because a customer's real-life experience is possibly the most important metric available to any business, large or small.

This three part article was inspired after I recently experienced first-hand problems with three separate suppliers that resulted in them either loosing a sale and/or frustrating me, a potential customer.

What struck me was that all three had what appeared at first to be well established customer services procedures that would be able to handle my query and resolve any difficulties in an efficient and professional manner, yet all three failed and for different reasons.

Automation is not the enemy, but automation must be carefully thought through as being frustrated by a machine is universally despised.


Example One – Not closing the sale

This first supplier offers one of the most popular FTP applications and a thirty day fully functional risk free trial. Emails are sent to 'remind' the customer at about the halfway stage and then towards the end of the trial period to that has the effect of encouraging those that have not yet purchased the product to both fully test the application and hopefully make a decision to purchase the product.

However, for this US supplier I was working outside the USA and when after a successful trial I went to click on the link to purchase the product the price I was quoted was in US dollars.

The US dollar is a global currency, no, it IS the global currency and I, like many others, are not often put off, certainly when it comes to low value commodity items, if the currency is not our local currency but on this occasion there was a notice that stated, 'for international customers please click here'.


Mistake 1 – Planting doubt and causing hesitation

For anyone seeing the message from outside the USA it would naturally cause them to hesitate, which I did, thinking perhaps that I should just check that there might be benefits in purchasing the application locally.

On clicking on the option I was requested to select my country, which I did, and then I was provided with a list of perhaps a dozen or so local, but unfamiliar, suppliers.

Since none of the names were familiar and other than their address to go on I chose one, a choice based on nothing more than arbitrary reasoning.

Mistake 2 – Going backwards

When clicking on my chosen link I was taken not to the product page but the local supplier's website's home page and greeted not with information about the application I was interested in, but general information about the supplier who it turned out provided a number of software applications and IT services.

Because of the extensive range of services and products they provided it took me some time to first locate a general list of available applications, then to navigate to the correct section where I found a number of the FTP supplier's applications. From the list of five products I was finally able to select the FTP application that I was interested in.

Mistake 3 – No 'buy now' option

Having spent time locating the product I was to be disappointed further because there was no price, nor 'buy now' button, just another offer to download a 30 day free trial.

Because I had already trialled the software I was ready to purchase and I wanted to know the price.

Mistake 4 – Not making it simple

I decided to go back to the list of local suppliers and choose another name from the list but my experience was the same, I was faced with the problem of locating the application and this time I was not advised of the price but instead given an offer to request a quotation for what I knew to be a $40 commodity item.


Mistake 5 – Loosing the sale

It was at this point that I thought I would just go back to the original screen and purchase the product direct from US manufacturer as had been my first intention, but because I was feeling that I had been sent on a wild goose chase I then decided that I could actually do without the product and so cancelled my order.

Mistake 6 – Not learning

The final mistake that the manufacture makes is that where at the end of the trial period when I do not take up the option to purchase the product they make no effort to find out why.


Summary

This supplier has a good and popular product. They offer a 30 day free trial of the software that can be purchased online direct from the manufacture. By offering local suppliers they would be able to provide local support that some customers might prefer, or find essential.

In failing to get feedback, they are missing an opportunity to not only validate their procedures but maintain contact with potential customers who are perhaps undecided as to purchasing the product.

Simple and clear pricing is important, especially for a commodity item and although a free trial is commendable it still requires a commitment from the customer who will often want to know the cost of a product before they invest the time needed to test the product.

Their biggest mistake is that they do not integrate their own products tightly enough with their distributor's websites. If the manufacturer has potential customers that are being referred to a local supplier they are in a position to link directly to their products on the local supplier's website and should insist that the local supplier ensures that the pricing is clear and the order process is simple.

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To view a number of other articles relating to customer services and customer satisfaction surveys please visit Survey Galaxy Knowledge Base.

The Net Neutrality Debate

In August 2005 a decision was made by the US Federal Communications Commision to put the high-speed Internet Services Providers(ISPs) under the same regulation umbrella as phone companies. The ISPs interpreted the decision as permission to charge websites a premium for faster networks and also suggested that the more successful companies such as Microsoft, Yahoo and Google should contribute financially in improving the internet infrastucture.

However, opponents argue that a multi-tiered Internet would be against the fundamental principles of the Internet and stress the importance of maintaining a level playing field and are wary that with the wrong legislation the telecom companies could hold companies hostage, or have an unfair advantage over rival companies.

Some argue that there is already a tiered systems in place where people have access to the Internet via dial-up modem (slow) and high speed broadband connections that range in speed from 2MB to 16MB and beyond.

Although the telecom companies point at the more successful websites not paying their fair share, net neutrality supporters say it is the masses that are making use of the successful websites so penalising the larger successful companies would effectively penalise the masses.

For a short promotional video that explains in simple terms the essence of the pro Net Neutrality argument visit Save The Internet.

To see the views of those people that argue that Net Neutrality is a myth and that the proposed legislation rather than degrade will only improve the Internet please visit Debunking Net Neutrality Myths.

Who will get your vote?

Participate in this weeks open survey The Net Neutrality Debate

Gerald Ford, 38th US President - How will he be remembered?

Gerald Rudolph Ford the 38th President who served between 1974 and 1977 died on December 26, 2006.

Gerald Ford has been the only person to have been appointed to the US Vice Presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment when Nixon's Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned.

When Richard Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal on August 9, 1974 Ford became the only person to hold the Presidency without having been elected either President or Vice President.

Gerald Ford was to occupy the White House for just 896 days where although he sought re-election where he narrowly lost out to Jimmy Carter.

One of Ford's first act as President was to controversially pardon Richard Nixon, an act that some say lost him the next election.

With the resignation of their President, Ford assumed the role of President at a time when the US economy was in disarray, a worsening energy shortage and where there was great division throughout the country.

How do you view Ford's Presidency? Was he right to pardon Richard Nixon and do you think he pardoned Nixon after striking a deal with him prior to Nixon's resignation?

Participate in this weeks open survey Gerald Ford, 38th US President - How will he be remembered?

Survey Galaxy's - Tutorial Video Centre Updated

We are pleased to announce that all the Survey Galaxy tutorial videos have now been updated to reflect the websites latest look and feel.

All the training videos require Flash player which is often included as standard in most browsers but if necessary can also be downloaded free from Adobe.

A number of new tutorials have also been added that cover the online Results Analyzer facility.

For more information or to view the videos please visit the Video Centre.

How Much Do You Know About Santa Claus?

With Santa about to start his annual rounds soon we ask how much you think you know about Santa Claus?

Take our festive survey and tell us how old you think he is and where you think he gets his all money from?

Participate in this weeks open survey How Much Do You Know About Santa Claus?

The Best Ever Similes Written by High School Students?

From a short list of similes that have been compiled by American high school English teachers and taken from actual essays assignments we ask you to pick your favourite top three.

Participate in this weeks open survey The Best Ever Similes Written by High School Students?