What does a company have to do to lose you as a customer? To win you back?

[Crothian]

Every now and again, though for some reason nothing lately, someone comes along and posts a rant about a gaming company. In this rant they occasionally list their reasons for being upset, but they usually all end with the person saying they are never going to buy anything from that compnay ever again.

So, what would a company have to do to lose you? And then possible more importantly, what do that have to do to get you back?

 

[Teflon Billy]

Losing me is pretty hard these days. EN World has allowed me to have a good idea of the quality of anything before I buy it. So basically, there really aren't that many awful surprises.

Getting me back is harder. WotC lost me when they released Sword and Fist, and there still hasn't been a book I consider "Must buy" from them.

Though I'm interested in Sandstorm, so maybe the answer is "a few years of time"

 

[James Heard]

Most of the gaming "companies" that have lost me are ones run or at least "faced" by one or two guys who I've simply decided that I don't like. Those won't ever win me back, because no matter how great someone's product is if I think they're a tool I'd rather that they starve and that their children don't go to college. There aren't many of those though, most game companies don't do business with me mostly because I'm just not really interested in what they're selling - though some people have managed to price themselves away from my business too, rarely.

Hmm, maybe if the people I've decided to loathe in the gaming industry had really hot sisters I'd be nice and buy a book once a year? They'd have to be really friendly sisters though.

 

[Tatsukun]

Well, WoTC lost me when they randomized minis. I guess i don't like being treated like a child. To win me back, well, I don't know.

I guess make a product I really like, and sell it fairly.

-Tatsu

 

[Alzrius]

Every now and again, though for some reason nothing lately, someone comes along and posts a rant about a gaming company. In this rant they occasionally list their reasons for being upset, but they usually all end with the person saying they are never going to buy anything from that compnay ever again.

So, what would a company have to do to lose you? And then possible more importantly, what do that have to do to get you back?

It's somewhat hard for me to address the question, as I can't conceive of a company offending me so badly that I'd boycott them forever.

I was one of the many who rabidly purchased anything d20 I could get my hands on when the rules were open-sourced. Like everyone else, I slowed down, and now only make a fraction of the purchases I used to.

Nowadays, I tend to buy products for only a few reasons (my purchasing everything WotC notwithstanding): it's an existing brand that I like (e.g. Ravenloft), it looks like it caters to something specific that I think is cool (e.g. "that supplement on epic-level play in Mutants & Masterminds is just what I was looking for!"), or something that just generally, genuinely, wows my socks off (e.g. "holy crap, this book on this Redhurst place is really cool!")

Really, any product that doesn't cater to one of those three is one that has "lost me" and any product that does has "won me back."

 

[Turanil]

Every now and again, though for some reason nothing lately, someone comes along and posts a rant about a gaming company. In this rant they occasionally list their reasons for being upset, but they usually all end with the person saying they are never going to buy anything from that compnay ever again.

So, what would a company have to do to lose you? And then possible more importantly, what do that have to do to get you back?

The only such rants I remember having seen were about WotC...

I think that at least one of these rants were from me.

In fact I don't see it that way. WotC didn't lose me and won't win me back. It's just that most of the stuff they produce disappoint me, so I won't buy any. However, if something they publish meets my wishes, I will buy it. For example, I am wiling to buy that Dragon Magazine Compendium (Paizo belongs to WotC doesn't it?). In the end it comes up to finding products that I am really interested in; and I don't care about who publish them.

 

[Graf]

I remain amazed that people are still mad at WotC for silly stuff.
Their products, for better or for worse, are some of the best in the industry.

Personally I would have to say that unless a company demonstrates some kind of appalling disregard for basic quality (editing, rules mistakes) (the classic example being Fast Forward) I won't really write them off.

But honestly WotC produces enough good products for my needs so I may not be the best person to ask.

 

[Crothian]

The only such rants I remember having seen were about WotC...

Round here Wizards is the big one, but we've had rants on other companies as well. Plus on other message boards I goto I see rants about near everyone at one time or another.

 

[Mouseferatu]

There are companies I tend to look at and those I tend to avoid. If a company constantly produces books that don't interest me, I tend to drift away, but if they put out something that intrigues me, I'll come back.

As far as actally "losing" me as a customer? There's only two ways that will happen.

1) Blatant and frequent disregard for the rules. I stopped even paying attention to Fast Forward for precisely that reason. To win me back, I'd have to see lots and lots of reviews saying they'd completely turned it around.

2) Engaging in what I consider to be unfair business practices, or (in the case of owners) just being the sorts of people--personally and professionally--that I cannot bring myself to deal with on any level. I'm not going to name names, because I don't want to start a flame war and because it's not professional, but there is indeed a company that has lost me as a customer for precisely that reason. As far as winning me back? I can't imagine anything short of completely brand-new ownership that would do it.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Oh, it's also possible--but difficult--for a company to lose me simply by doing stuff that I consider stupid, or pandering. Avalanche lost me with their constant cheesecake covers on supposedly "historical" supplements. I have no problem with cheesecake, believe you me, but when it turns into blatant pandering--and inappropriate for the product, to bood--I draw the line.

They haven't "lost me" as thoroughly as others; if they put out something that intrigued me, I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. It would have to be really intriguing, though.