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While I don't bemoan this man his steak, this kind of things increasingly bothers me. On the internet I sometimes get the impression that "everyone" has cute t

While I don't bemoan this man his steak, this kind of things increasingly bothers me. On the internet I sometimes get the impression that "everyone" has cute things like this happen to them. When you dig, it often turns out, like this, the person is big in PR or some related field. It can get easy to forget that 99(.99?)% of the people regularly on the internet aren't getting free stuff, lighting up twitter, hitting the front page of reddit, etc. From the article: "I don’t think it’s about my follower numbers. I think it’s about Morton’s knowing I’m a good customer, who frequents their establishments regularly. " I am 100% convinced this is not true. I'm sure if I (with 15 twitter followers) had posted something similar there would be no chance of something similar happening.

Tichy 15y ago
The moral of the story is that it pays to be famous.
lionhearted 15y ago
I think part of it comes for asking for stuff. I've had a few experiences like this. I was in London Heathrow when the plane crashed on the runway a few years ago - I was literally on the very next BA flight to I think the Czech Republic that was supposed to take off when we get notified that it's going to be a while, and then that things are canceled... nobody knew what was going until we heard the plane crashed, and then we wondering if it was terrorism, and the whole airport was really a mess. I was really bummed out at that point. It's the middle of winter, and I really really wanted to get the fuck out of London. I can't say why exactly, but like, y'know when you're ready to leave a place and you get to the airport and it's like "ahh, I'm leaving"? Well, I had that feeling, then a fucking plane crashed. After waiting in these gigantic lines for a really long time (everyone now trying to change tickets), I got to the ticket counter and the rep there was so, so cool. He said nothing could be done, and I could just head into the city. And I said, "Man, I'm just overwhelmed with shitty foggy London weather. Can you put me on the next plane to anywhere that takes off, and route me somehow? I know this is a ridiculous request, I don't care about hotel or accommodation or plans or anything, can you just put me on the next plane heading eastwards?" And - he did just that. It wasn't even on their same alliance, he went through some complicated procedure of actually selling my ticket to another airline. My memory is kind of failing me here but I think I wound up in Germany for the night, saw a cathedral in the morning, and then was routed on to Eastern Europe. The guy went way above and beyond the call of duty in the middle of chaos just because I was obviously bummed out. In retrospect, it was probably even uncool of me to ask for with all of the chaos happening around, but I was just really fed up with London at that point and wanted to get out. And the guy treated me really really well, with no expectation of any favorable review online or anything like that. So - ask for stuff if you want stuff, and yeah there's some decent people in the world that'll try to accommodate you. Also, when you get a ridiculous request, stop and consider if maybe you can do some variation of it because people remember that stuff forever.
- scott_s 15y ago
  Being able to do well by you probably made his day. That you were so flexible - "next plane anywhere" - also meant he had few constraints and was able problem-solve instead of just picking from set solutions. And, perhaps most importantly, you treated him like a human being. People in various service positions are often treated like proxies; it's understandable, most people are busy, and they just want some item or information. But you leveled with him and talked to him like an actual person, and he responded in kind. That goes a long way.
- a3camero 15y ago
  This might be more common than you suspect. I was en route to Tokyo from Toronto stopping in Detroit when bad weather meant I missed the flight from Detroit. The Delta staff said I'd have to stay in Detroit, I asked to go somewhere else and they happily sent me on the next flight to Seattle where I could depart for Tokyo the next afternoon. I assume when a lot of flights are cancelled it's not really a problem to send people on under booked flights and get those people out of the way and routed through a less congested location.
  - PotatoEngineer 15y ago
    I had the same experience during a snowstorm in Seattle. My flight was cancelled, worse weather was moving in, and I just wanted to get to California for a family holiday. I got a ticket to San Jose---from Portland. Because I was willing to change my airport and take some extra hassle myself, the agent was willing and able to help out. Ask for something nicely, be flexible on how it happens, and people can do good things for you. (Meanwhile, the lady who was screaming to get the exact flight she'd bought in the first place was turned down, because there wasn't a flight like the one she bought available and she wouldn't flex at all.)
  - vidarh 15y ago
    To be a bit callous about it: It also makes you someone elses problem tomorrow when they'll be trying to clear the backlogs.
- Natsu 15y ago
Gatsky 15y ago
I also find this story disturbing. It seems to be about burning fossil fuels and eating dead animals, all for the amusement of a social media baron who reminds me of Jabba the Hutt for some reason.
mikeleeorg 15y ago
You know what would be funny? If you did tweet Mortons for a steak and see if they actually deliver :P He's also an author of a book on social media customer service. Perhaps the social media team at Mortons has a copy of his book and figured he would certainly be the kind of person who would share a story like this - whether it be as a tweet, blog post, or anecdote in a future book.
- jdh 15y ago
  If so, I'm blown away at the quality of morton's social media team. Who'd think they could attract someone with that nuanced judgment? Let's hire them into a startup!-
jamesgagan 15y ago
indeed, from his about page: "An author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, and customer service."
napierzaza 15y ago
I disagree with you. Like with Jonathan's Card there should have been someone there at the airport to take the steak from him, and fly it to a more needy country.
- flocial 15y ago
  No, they would have to sell the steak on Ebay and then donate the proceeds to a charity that feeds children.
vidarh 15y ago
I complained about Virgin Media (the only cable company in the UK) on Twitter and my blog a couple of years back - the next morning I had a call from the PA of the CEO to sort out my grievance. At the time I had perhaps 70 Twitter followers and ~300 readers of my blog. While I'm sure follower numbers have something to do with it, it's not necessarily everything.
boredguy8 15y ago
That's why I love the Zappos story at http://consumerist.com/2007/10/zappos-sends-you-flowers.html http://consumerist.com/2007/10/zappos-sends-you-flowers.html - customer service for a "normal" like me, not the person that runs HARO & has a huge following.
ChuckMcM 15y ago
"I am 100% convinced this is not true. I'm sure if I (with 15 twitter followers) had posted something similar there would be no chance of something similar happening." Well is one of your followers Morton's? Do you eat there all the time? Morten's invested in some 'free' PR here. Basically they know this guy is legit because he has a history with them, further they can estimate is future business 'stream' since they know how often he eats there. A simple affinity card where you get 'stars' for each visit and a free meal on your tenth or whatever, works exactly this way. There are three HUGE things to learn from this story: 1) In order to know whose important you have to know who your customers are, it helps if you can tie a customer identity to a social network identity. 2) Keeping frequent customers happy brings in business because whenever they are in the conversation 'Where should we [consume/use/buy] [service/product]?' they recommend your product or service. 3) It might cost $100,000 for a 'small' advertising run or PR stunt, something like this probably costs less than $100. In terms of customer acquisition costs its hugely efficient relative to broader and necessicarily more dilute activities. So I don't doubt for a minute that Mortens got their money's worth here. And I don't think it mattered at all that the guy has 100K followers. I think they looked at him as a great customer and this as a low cost opportunity for PR. They seized it, and hit one out of the park.

Tichy 15y ago

The moral of the story is that it pays to be famous.

lionhearted 15y ago

I think part of it comes for asking for stuff. I've had a few experiences like this. I was in London Heathrow when the plane crashed on the runway a few years ago - I was literally on the very next BA flight to I think the Czech Republic that was supposed to take off when we get notified that it's going to be a while, and then that things are canceled... nobody knew what was going until we heard the plane crashed, and then we wondering if it was terrorism, and the whole airport was really a mess. I was really bummed out at that point. It's the middle of winter, and I really really wanted to get the fuck out of London. I can't say why exactly, but like, y'know when you're ready to leave a place and you get to the airport and it's like "ahh, I'm leaving"? Well, I had that feeling, then a fucking plane crashed. After waiting in these gigantic lines for a really long time (everyone now trying to change tickets), I got to the ticket counter and the rep there was so, so cool. He said nothing could be done, and I could just head into the city. And I said, "Man, I'm just overwhelmed with shitty foggy London weather. Can you put me on the next plane to anywhere that takes off, and route me somehow? I know this is a ridiculous request, I don't care about hotel or accommodation or plans or anything, can you just put me on the next plane heading eastwards?" And - he did just that. It wasn't even on their same alliance, he went through some complicated procedure of actually selling my ticket to another airline. My memory is kind of failing me here but I think I wound up in Germany for the night, saw a cathedral in the morning, and then was routed on to Eastern Europe. The guy went way above and beyond the call of duty in the middle of chaos just because I was obviously bummed out. In retrospect, it was probably even uncool of me to ask for with all of the chaos happening around, but I was just really fed up with London at that point and wanted to get out. And the guy treated me really really well, with no expectation of any favorable review online or anything like that. So - ask for stuff if you want stuff, and yeah there's some decent people in the world that'll try to accommodate you. Also, when you get a ridiculous request, stop and consider if maybe you can do some variation of it because people remember that stuff forever.

scott_s 15y ago
Being able to do well by you probably made his day. That you were so flexible - "next plane anywhere" - also meant he had few constraints and was able problem-solve instead of just picking from set solutions. And, perhaps most importantly, you treated him like a human being. People in various service positions are often treated like proxies; it's understandable, most people are busy, and they just want some item or information. But you leveled with him and talked to him like an actual person, and he responded in kind. That goes a long way.
a3camero 15y ago
This might be more common than you suspect. I was en route to Tokyo from Toronto stopping in Detroit when bad weather meant I missed the flight from Detroit. The Delta staff said I'd have to stay in Detroit, I asked to go somewhere else and they happily sent me on the next flight to Seattle where I could depart for Tokyo the next afternoon. I assume when a lot of flights are cancelled it's not really a problem to send people on under booked flights and get those people out of the way and routed through a less congested location.
- PotatoEngineer 15y ago
  I had the same experience during a snowstorm in Seattle. My flight was cancelled, worse weather was moving in, and I just wanted to get to California for a family holiday. I got a ticket to San Jose---from Portland. Because I was willing to change my airport and take some extra hassle myself, the agent was willing and able to help out. Ask for something nicely, be flexible on how it happens, and people can do good things for you. (Meanwhile, the lady who was screaming to get the exact flight she'd bought in the first place was turned down, because there wasn't a flight like the one she bought available and she wouldn't flex at all.)
- vidarh 15y ago
  To be a bit callous about it: It also makes you someone elses problem tomorrow when they'll be trying to clear the backlogs.
Natsu 15y ago

Gatsky 15y ago

I also find this story disturbing. It seems to be about burning fossil fuels and eating dead animals, all for the amusement of a social media baron who reminds me of Jabba the Hutt for some reason.

mikeleeorg 15y ago

You know what would be funny? If you did tweet Mortons for a steak and see if they actually deliver :P He's also an author of a book on social media customer service. Perhaps the social media team at Mortons has a copy of his book and figured he would certainly be the kind of person who would share a story like this - whether it be as a tweet, blog post, or anecdote in a future book.

jdh 15y ago
If so, I'm blown away at the quality of morton's social media team. Who'd think they could attract someone with that nuanced judgment? Let's hire them into a startup!-

jamesgagan 15y ago

indeed, from his about page: "An author, entrepreneur, speaker, and worldwide connector, Peter is recognized worldwide for radically new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising, and customer service."

napierzaza 15y ago

I disagree with you. Like with Jonathan's Card there should have been someone there at the airport to take the steak from him, and fly it to a more needy country.

flocial 15y ago
No, they would have to sell the steak on Ebay and then donate the proceeds to a charity that feeds children.

vidarh 15y ago

I complained about Virgin Media (the only cable company in the UK) on Twitter and my blog a couple of years back - the next morning I had a call from the PA of the CEO to sort out my grievance. At the time I had perhaps 70 Twitter followers and ~300 readers of my blog. While I'm sure follower numbers have something to do with it, it's not necessarily everything.

boredguy8 15y ago

That's why I love the Zappos story at http://consumerist.com/2007/10/zappos-sends-you-flowers.html http://consumerist.com/2007/10/zappos-sends-you-flowers.html - customer service for a "normal" like me, not the person that runs HARO & has a huge following.

ChuckMcM 15y ago

"I am 100% convinced this is not true. I'm sure if I (with 15 twitter followers) had posted something similar there would be no chance of something similar happening." Well is one of your followers Morton's? Do you eat there all the time? Morten's invested in some 'free' PR here. Basically they know this guy is legit because he has a history with them, further they can estimate is future business 'stream' since they know how often he eats there. A simple affinity card where you get 'stars' for each visit and a free meal on your tenth or whatever, works exactly this way. There are three HUGE things to learn from this story: 1) In order to know whose important you have to know who your customers are, it helps if you can tie a customer identity to a social network identity. 2) Keeping frequent customers happy brings in business because whenever they are in the conversation 'Where should we [consume/use/buy] [service/product]?' they recommend your product or service. 3) It might cost $100,000 for a 'small' advertising run or PR stunt, something like this probably costs less than $100. In terms of customer acquisition costs its hugely efficient relative to broader and necessicarily more dilute activities. So I don't doubt for a minute that Mortens got their money's worth here. And I don't think it mattered at all that the guy has 100K followers. I think they looked at him as a great customer and this as a low cost opportunity for PR. They seized it, and hit one out of the park.