We aren’t really sorry for any inconvenience this might cause
May 10th, 2008 | by mbhunter |“We’re sorry for any inconvenience this might cause.”
When a business or website says this, does it sometimes hit you as being empty and more than a little ingenuine? Especially when the motive behind the “inconveniencing” actions is clear?
I’ve been using Iwon for a news portal and stock tracker for the past few years. The same company runs an ad-free version called MyWay but I haven’t bothered to overcome the small inertia to move things over there.
Anyway, at the end of this month, they’ll be discontinuing the portfolio feature:
We are sorry. As of June 1st, Iwon will no longer be supporting the Portfolio feature. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Before I get called out for ragging on free stuff and lacking class and all of that, I’m not ragging on anything about their service. It has nothing to do with what they provide, which is quite a bit, and I visit it almost every weekday, and will continue to do so. And it was actually nice of them to warn me that the portfolio was going away. If they had just said that they’re not going to support the service after June 1st — period — I’d be fine with that.
But it bugs me when businesses apologize for my inconvenience when it’s clear that it’s nothing more than a business move.
Iwon is advertiser-supported. The services it provides cost them money, as do the prizes it gives out, so the only way they can stay in business is to bring in more in advertising fees and affiliate commissions than they’re shelling out for the services. My guess is that this portfolio feature either wasn’t drawing the traffic like it used to, or it became too costly for them. That’s why they’re canceling it. Why else would they cancel it after providing it for a few years? They’re not really sorry for canceling the service; they’re just letting someone else provide it and bear the costs while they concentrate on more profitable areas for them.
On the other side, some businesses will change the services with their customers, inform the customers, and that’s it. My dentist did this last year. She ceased being a preferred provider for the network my insurance supported, and she said that there would be more burden on me to fight for my money if the insurance company decided not to honor a claim. I wasn’t really warm and fuzzy at that prospect, but I respect the business decision she made because she didn’t try to sugar-coat it, and she didn’t apologize for it. (Not that she’d recommend sugar-coating anything. She is a dentist, after all.)
I’m not saying that it’s always a bad idea to apologize. If I’m running a web site that people depend on (and pay for) and things go down because of some screw-up on my part, then sure, I should apologize. But I see businesses apologizing for their business decisions as a cheap way to soften the blow to the customers, and that rubs me the wrong way. It seems better to just make the changes without apology and possibly explain why to people who ask.
4 Responses to “We aren’t really sorry for any inconvenience this might cause”
By Four Pillars on May 11, 2008 | Reply
I really think you have it backwards. If the change is a significant one, what’s wrong with telling the customer it’s going to happen and apologizing?
Making the change and hoping nobody notices will probably work most of the time but when it doesn’t – it could be a big deal.
Mike
By choram on May 11, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Mike. I honestly don’t see why this bothers anyone at all. You’re probably just overthinking it.
By mbhunter on May 14, 2008 | Reply
I suppose if the change is from something that the company really wanted to continue doing, that’s one thing. I’m not really suggesting that the company be silent about the change.
Some “apologies” are really nothing more than sugar-coated business decisions, and I’d just prefer that they announce the change without pretending to apologize for it.
By Tallen on May 15, 2008 | Reply
You have a point on this. As an employee of IWON and speaking on my own personal behalf (and not representing my company blah blah) I understand where you are coming from.
Hopefully you will believe me when I say we really ARE sorry that we are retiring portfolio. It was a feature we know people depend on and something we are disappointed in having to no longer support. The question is we would rather have a better experience and have our best foot forward with features then keep ones that aren’t being maintained. Sure fiancials also play a part but the at the end of the day we would rather have something we are proud of.
Hope this makes sense.