Results 1 to 10 of 90

Thread: Hellopeter.com - more than meets the eye.

Threaded View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,648
    Thanks
    3,304
    Thanked 2,676 Times in 2,257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12

    Hellopeter.com - more than meets the eye.

    It seems that there is more to hellopeter.com than championing consumer rights. In fact, I'm looking at that Companies that respond vs Companies that don't respond in a whole new light.

    This new insight comes from the following:
    Johannesburg - South African consumer champion Peter Cheales - founder of consumer complaints website hellopeter.com - says that companies pay a fraction of what they normally would for the chance to clear up customer complaints on his website.
    The clarification comes after a story on Johnnic Communications (Johncom) website Reporter.co.za, claimed that companies need to pay a registration fee of between R13 500 and R60 000 to respond to consumers' complaints.

    The author - who goes by the name Creationist - said hellopeter.com posted a complaint against the company he/she works for and that it was "devoid of some crucial facts".

    After receiving a link via e-mail to the complaint, and a chance to respond, the company found it had to register first as "a company that responds", and that it would have to subscribe for a minimum period of one year at a cost of R13 500.

    "This is the lowest category of subscription, and if you are a regular responder you need to take an upgraded package, which can be as much as R60 000 per year."
    full story from News 24 here
    Now I've quite liked hellopeter up to now. We've even got a link to the site on our Useful links page.

    But I'm just quietly thinking that the category "Companies that don't respond" should be renamed Companies who prefer not to pay to respond. And to some extent I can't blame them. It's a form of blackmail, really. I'll manipulate your reputation using the most powerful communication medium yet created if you don't pay.

    Peter Cheales defends this as follows:
    Cheales says that the article is "blatantly incorrect", pointing out that many of the 338 companies that are registered to respond are small businesses who would not be registered at those prices: "The cost of registration ranges from being free to an absolute maximum of R12 000 a year, or R1 000 a month, paid by the likes of MTN, Absa, Vodacom and Standard Bank who field around 3 000 consumer complaints or compliments a year," explains Cheales.

    Cheales explains that the rates were derived by looking at what companies would ordinarily pay to service complaints and charging a fraction of that.

    "Research we've done shows that it would cost around R350 to service a complaint, if you factor in the cost of having people manage the process and a host of other things. With hellopeter, it costs 0.01% of what it would cost to get that feedback in the real world," says Cheales.

    Companies the size of MTN or Standard Bank typically get 3 000 complaints and compliments a year; multiplying that figure by R350, the total cost of servicing that comes to over R1m a year. With large corporates paying a maximum of R1 000 a month, the cost of servicing is, quite literally, 0.01% of the cost incurred via the conventional route.
    A touch glib, methinks.

    Consider, for a moment, that in this very post I have drawn attention to the allegation that Peter might not be the great altruist one might gleen from perusing his website. And in truth anyone here could have done/still can do the same for free. Now Peter might want to post something here to defend himself against the allegation. Would it be ethical if I was to only allow Peter to respond here if he paid me?

    Somehow that offends my sense of fair play.

  2. Thanks given for this post:

    Citizen X (11-Oct-12)

Tags for this Thread

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •