Verizon came out yesterday or the day before with a plan that was just bound to piss off the masses. Mid-January, those paying their bill by credit or debit card would be assessed a $2.00 fee for the convenience. Customers could save 2 dollars by using an electronic check, money order or mailing in a payment where real people who get salaries and benefits would have to be hired to process the payments. Apparently the Verizon masses rejected the plan quite vociferously and as of today, Verizon announced it had listened to input from customers and would not implement the plan.
I guess Verizon Wireless (who has you locked in with their contracts) remembered none too fondly what happened to the darling of the stock market, Netflix. It restructured its pricing plan and divided into 2 branches–one streaming and one for hard copy dvd movies and blue ray. In some cases, the cost of belonging to Netflix went up by 60%. People left like rats off a sinking ship. CEO Reed Hastings took the heat but it didn’t help. In 2 month’s time Netflix lost over 800,000 customers. The stock has plunged 75%. According to Huffington Post:
Hastings has repeatedly taken the blame for mismanaging the announcement of the price increase in July and then making things worse two months later by trying to spin off Netflix’s DVD-by-mail rental service into a separate website called Qwikster. Since scrapping that idea in October, Hastings has been trying to repair some of the damage.
That will probably take a while. Netflix’s stock price has plunged 75 percent since mid-July to wipe out $12 billion in shareholder wealth. The backlash surprised and humbled Hastings, who revealed at an investor conference this month that he once thought Netflix’s stock would hit $1,000. Netflix’s stock gained $2.87 Thursday to close at $73.84, down from its July high of just under $305.
That maneuver just tells us how volatile some of the stock is to customer satisfaction. I had planned on purchasing more Verizon this week and decided to h0ld off, thinking of Netflix. Meanwhile, HBOgo, Amazon streaming which just happens to be free if you buy the Amazon Prime free shipping plan, and Best Buy all are vying for Netflix defectors. it all reminds me of that tragic error made by Coca Cola. New coke was just miserable. That CEO lost his job.
The Republican Party of Virginia is getting ready to make a similar mistake, even though their only ‘product’ is getting your vote. I am not so sure this is the time to send an anti-big tent message. I feel very excluded. As an Independent, is that really the message the party wants to send? I would be sending a message of ‘ you are one of us.’ ‘Come back.’
There is something about making unenforceable rules that cannot be enforced that is just stupid. Everyone remembers that one teacher you had. You never had to go by the rules because nothing would happen to you if you didn’t. That seems like what the party is doing. The Virginia Republicans are putting voters in the position of lying and they can’t do juack about it. I understand that paranoid people think that ‘the other side’ is going to try to undermine a primary. How organized would the Virginia democrats have to be to make that one stick? There are 2 people on the ballot. There are no write ins. No American should be denied the right to vote because they won’t take a pledge. I expect that would not hold up as Constitutional if challenged in court.
So what other absurd decisions that affect the public have been made this year? Netflix, Verizon, and the RPV seems like a good place to start but they sure weren’t the only ones who screwed the pooch.
Here’s a New Year’s gift for my hard-left friends. Word is that Gingrich has hinted at naming Palin his VP Candidate.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/newt-gingrich-floats-sarah-palin-for-potential-vp-slot-cabinet-secretary/
There’s your bad decision-thing too. That ought to resonate with my lib friends!!!
@pokie I saw the Palin thing on TV. You kjnow, he could go further and do worse…to make himself a total hypocrite. Do you suppose if she were Newt’s running mate, he would demand that she learn some talking points, current events and history? Newt may be many things, many repugnant things, but he isn’t stupid.
Bad Decisions of 2011, huh?
Well the Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries marriage was a bad decision, obviously, as was the Katy Perry/Russell Brand marriage. Identifying a bad decision in politics feels like a waste of time, like conducting a safari at your nearest zoo.
@pokie, or maybe shooting fish in a barrel?
I’d add the RPV loyalty oath requirement for the GOP primary.
@SlowpokeRodriguez
A late entry to the bad marriage decisions is 16-year old Courtney Stodden, marrying 51 year old Doug Hutchison, but only after having massive amounts of plastic surgery to transform her from a normal-looking 16 year old girl, into a 35 yearold, soon-to-be-past-her-prime ex-stripper…all with the blessings of her parents.
Honorable mention goes to Sinéad O’Connor, who ended her latest 4th marriage in a matter of weeks.
Paul/Kucinich 2012 Get the lesser of both evils!
Anyway,…..mentioning anything done by Congress is too easy…so…… the Chevy Volt. Now THAT is a New Coke level of FAIL.
Bad decision 2012: News & Messenger publishing a photo of a child with duct tape on mouth and tied up by tree lights on page 10 of their new InsideNoVA Weekly that goes to 70,000 in the PW area today and tomorrow. It was on Facebook first.
Our print News and Messenger didn’t come today. Please say more. Why was kid tied up and why was the photo a bad decision on the part of News and Messenger?
For those who are still confused (as I was), this is the new publication schedule according to Brent Morris, the General Manager:
1. No News & Messenger Mondays or Tuesdays
2. Inside Nova Weekly community paper (former Pulse) delivered Tuesday to all subscribers
3. Inside Nova Weekly community paper (former Pulse) delivered to 73,000 additional households in Prince William area on Wednesday
4. Regular daily News & Messenger Wednesday through Sunday
Since I’m a subscriber, I got the Inside Nova Weekly paper today. On page 10, the banner headline is “NoVa Insiders” and the headline reads “How you spent the holidays: Photos from Facebook” Below the head are six color photos. You tell me which one doesn’t fit:
1. A grandmother proudly smiling with her grandchildren clock silhouette clock
2. Two gnomes fashioned to resemble a real husband and wife
3. A Christmas village in minature
4. A guy with a six pack of beer with the caption “Best gift of the night?”
5. A little girl fascinated by the tinsel on a tree
6. A child tied up with a string of tree lights with duct tape over his/her mouth
The caption for #6 reads, “I always do a Christmas Eve picture to email to family and friends. this year’s them, ‘Silent Night’ … with a touch of humour!!!”
Why a bad decision? I’ll e-mail you, MH.