Many Unhappy Returns

A 2008 study of product returns in the computer and electronics industry reported a curious statistic: 95% of products that are returned by their owners are in perfect working order. That's a staggering proportion, and a red flag that there is a serious industry-wide problem, though I don't get the sense that firms in the industry consider it to be their problem, or put much effort into solving it.

Unfortunately, the study failed to provide much in the way of details except to provide a few superficial comments - generally along the lines of "the product was fine, but the customer is not smart enough to use it." That's one possible interpretation - and it's very comfortable to assume that problems off this nature are the customer's fault, as the company has laid the blame elsewhere and can carry on business as usual.

From the perspective of the manufacturer, the product is "perfect" if it meets the design specifications; but from the customer's perspective, the product is useless if it does not deliver the benefit they sought to obtain (and were promised they would obtain) by purchasing it. If they can't figure out how to derive that benefit, then the product is broken, even if the manufacturer considers it to be in good working order.

The notion that customers are disinterested and lazy is a convenient but entirely invalid excuse. The level of frustration consumers express with products reflects their level of interest - if they didn't care, they wouldn't be upset. And the (enormous) amount of money spent on "how to" books and periodicals, not to mention the time spent reading them and seeking additional information from online resources, clearly demonstrates how industrious the customer is willing to be in seeking education on how to use things.

The problem for customers is: the manufacturers are not meeting them halfway. "Disinterested and lazy" is more accurate in terms of the manufacturer's approach to providing usable products - they put little effort into it, and don't seem much concerned: they make enough profit on the customers who don't return products to cover the loss of those who do, and so long as the difference is in their favor, that's good enough for them.

The problem for companies is: customers talk. In the present age, social media gives customers a method for expressing their frustration - every complaint made online is dent in your firm's esteem that damages your ability to attract and retain customers. Recognizing this, many firms have social media departments that seek to squelch complains - diverting resources to deal with problems that might better have been dedicated to preventing them.

This likely takes me further from shore, into the problems with the current way in which firms utilize social media - which merits separate consideration.