Should I buy a Sony Reader?

Dear Sony Customer Service,

I used to be a manager in customer service. Even though it was a government job, and you wouldn’t ordinarily think of the government as all that customer savvy, it meant a lot to me then, and it means a lot to me now, for any organization with customers to be proactive about actually providing those customers decent quality of service. That means finding out what the majority of customers need and want, and doing your best within budget to provide it. It also means learning about trends, special needs, and quirks, and having an eye toward the future—because what appears to be in the future now will soon be a customer in your face wondering what the hell you were thinking when you came up with—whatever it is they have a problem with. No big DUH. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist. It takes someone who gives a damn, who’s a bit of a perfectionist, and who gets a warm fuzzy from making customers happy. It requires building customer satisfaction into anything new the organization comes up with. It also requires trust. The big secret about good customer service is, if you have it, customers don’t notice it. They’re happy, so what do they care about your customer service?

Customer service is what customers think about when they’re pissed.

For instance, your recent scandal over rootkit issues. I barely understand what that was about, not being a techie. Thank goodness the knowledgeable people out there share what they learn. I learned more by reading BoingBoing’s five-part post about it, and this entry on Mark’s Sysinternals Blog. It was Mark who broke the news, explaining, according to Wired News:

“Sony BMG Music Entertainment distributed a copy-protection scheme with music CDs that secretly installed a rootkit on computers. This software tool is run without your knowledge or consent — if it’s loaded on your computer with a CD, a hacker can gain and maintain access to your system and you wouldn’t know it.”

The technically challenged among us can get help figuring out if they’re “infected” by reading DeepLinks: Are You Infected by Sony-BMG’s Rootkit?

Clearly, our trust issues as Sony customers are now a little wobbly. I’ve used your products. I used to think your TVs were the best for my money. Still, you’re going to have to work on building that trust again, especially among technology customers—and since you’re a technology business, that means a lot of your customers. Including me.

Today you announced a new product I think I’d love to own, one that could revolutionize how people read books, an ebook reader folks might actually like to use. I followed a link sent by a friend, to this Sony web page. Wow. It’s lightweight, smaller than a paperback, and uses E Ink Technology to provide a clear, print-like display, as easy to read in full daylight as indoors. Major publishers are behind it. It even plays unencrypted MP3 files. All I add is the headphones. But wait. Music. . . . Isn’t that how Sony got themselves in hot water with customers before?

Hold on. I need to know more. I’d also like to know the price, because if it’s comparable with an iPOD and I still have to buy the books, we’re not going there.

I think I’ll wait for the techies to review it—as well as any required software, for those pesky rootkit issues. See, Sony, you need to regain my trust. If you really have the ebook reader of the future, I think you may have to convince all your technology loving customers it’s safe to use. Come on, I know you can do it. But when I click on the link to your Connect Store, I get this page, with this message:

“We appreciate your interest in the Connect music store, but our store currently only works with Internet Explorer 5.5 and above. You don’t seem to be using that particular browser at the moment, so, unfortunately, we’ll have to part ways until we support the browser you’re currently using or you upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer. Please click the Download link below if you’d like to upgrade now.”

Please tell me you’re not serious that I have to use Internet Explorer to get music or books for the Sony Reader. We’re not going there, either. Call me when I can use Firefox.

Signed,

A Customer
aching to return—all we need is the trust