Seems Martins car is finished now - Page 11

chimpanzee · 06-14-2008, 01:12 PM

Quote:

BEIJING - It had the makings of an online crisis that could spiral out of control. A man in Tianjin had put a deposit on a Toyota (TM) Corolla, then started venting on the Internet when the car failed to show up after three months. Given the anti-Japan sentiment that rages in China's cyberspace, the griping created a big risk for Toyota—something the company learned four years ago when it was attacked for ads seen as disrespectful to Chinese.

Enter Daqi.com. The Beijing-based firm spotted the disgruntled consumer's postings in one of the 500,000 online forums it regularly searches. Before the topic could draw much attention, Daqi put the buyer in touch with Toyota, which pressed its dealer to deliver the car. "Even one negative consumer comment online can end up influencing many customers," says Zhou Chunlan, Daqi's CEO. "This is a great challenge for global brands." A public-relations agency representing Toyota says the company has worked with Daqi but declined to address the specifics of this incident.

Daqi is one of a new breed of company that helps multinationals navigate China's perilous Web. Nike, (NKE) PepsiCo (PEP), McDonald's (MCD), French cosmetics maker L'Oréal (LRLCY), and others have hired the likes of Daqi, fellow Beijing outfit Chinese Web Union, and Shanghai-based CIC. These companies charge $500-$25,000 monthly to monitor postings and squelch negative information or to create positive buzz.

This year has brought the Net monitors plenty of opportunities to win clients as hot-tempered bloggers have attacked global companies for perceived slights to Chinese culture. Coca-Cola (KO) and French retailer Carrefour were lambasted for what was seen as support for Tibetan independence. McDonald's, KFC (YUM), and Nokia (NOK) have been tarred for allegedly being stingy with relief money after the Sichuan earthquake. And Citroën had to apologize for an ad featuring a scowling image of Chairman Mao. "If it touches on nationalism, or if the client clearly made a mistake and disrespected a customer, that's dangerous," says Sam Flemming, CIC's founder.

1) court of public opinion
2) intermediary (e.g., Daqi.com)

1+2 = results

vfx · 06-14-2008, 02:47 PM

You are right. Tesla should hire them -or at least pay attention.

Might be good for a political canidate as well.

DDB · 06-14-2008, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vfx

You are right. Tesla should hire them -or at least pay attention.

Might be good for a political canidate as well.

Why not address a problem before it snowballs out of control. I deal with this daily and I see more corps pay out the wazoo (in dollars as opposed to PR hits) by not addressing simple issues with CUSTOMERS. It seems very simple to me, especially with only 1000 or so customers to worry about. Down the road, fine, hire a larger firm to "police" the net. But at this point, one unhappy customer could bring down the house. A few happy customers could make the difference.

Dogtown · 06-15-2008, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DDB

But at this point, one unhappy customer could bring down the house. A few happy customers could make the difference.

This is the most telling part of the whole thing. There are no cars in the hands of non investors. The management of Tesla has made a decision that it is better to not have the cars in the hands of unsupervised impartial parties. At some point something is going to give. I wonder if they think they will be able to sweep this under the carpet long enough to get the IPO out? Each day that this goes on I get a stronger feeling that the cars are no where near ready.

Iz · 06-16-2008, 03:47 AM

Based on previous postings, Martin's car is very close to delivery. His blog updates should provide an excellent perspective.

malcolm · 06-16-2008, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogtown

The management of Tesla has made a decision that it is better to not have the cars in the hands of unsupervised impartial parties.

To be fair to the management, the whole inconvenience to customers of the return-your-car-to-get-the-transmission-upgrade is a hiccup best minimised as much as possible. Partly for cost issues, but also for the press.

If you are going to get comments from impartial parties, far better to have "It was late but it's fabulous" posted online rather than "My f&#%ing upgrade's delayed".

In this respect it is better to restrict this disruption to Founders/Funders/Close Personal Friends. But consequently the production schedule posted in the program update on the TM site is already looking unrealistic.

It's the middle of June and we were led to believe that Martin's car was delayed by its custom paint job.

Blimey! If that happens with a paint job, imagine the delay with replacing the transmission.

Brent · 06-16-2008, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogtown

Each day that this goes on I get a stronger feeling that the cars are no where near ready.

As much as I like the premise of the car and hope for its success, I was rather taken aback at some of its "features" when talking to the guys at the L.A. store. Elon wants to compete with Porsche, but it seems he has a long way to go when it comes to the overall quality of the car. Little annoyances matter, especially if there are a lot of them. If you're unable to take the Roadster to the car wash because the seals leak, or if wind noise stops conversations while driving down the freeway, or if the cooling fans make a racket in your garage while the thing is being recharged, you might start to question the purchase.

And, in any case, buyers should be concerned! We're a full quarter into "production" without even a car having been delivered to Martin.

Cobos · 06-16-2008, 12:16 PM

I really would like to see their production rates hit higher speeds. And for the sake of all things good, DO get the car delivered to Martin already. This is starting to look really really stupid. I'm just waiting until the day Martin sues Tesla for breach of contract :( For the supposedly second car it can't be that hard to get it to the states...
Anyone remember where the Whitestar info in Q2 2008 was announced?

Cobos

malcolm · 06-16-2008, 12:26 PM

Sounds like we need another thread in the Roadster forum.

Potential Irritants / Wish List

Door seals.
Wind noise with hardtop.
Cooling fan noise on recharge.

The Owner(s) can add to this.

tonybelding · 06-16-2008, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent

As much as I like the premise of the car and hope for its success, I was rather taken aback at some of its "features" when talking to the guys at the L.A. store. Elon wants to compete with Porsche, but it seems he has a long way to go when it comes to the overall quality of the car. Little annoyances matter, especially if there are a lot of them. If you're unable to take the Roadster to the car wash because the seals leak, or if wind noise stops conversations while driving down the freeway, or if the cooling fans make a racket in your garage while the thing is being recharged, you might start to question the purchase.

It's assembled by Lotus. Typical Lotus "features" would include. . .

paint defects
windows that don't roll all the way down
warning lights that go on and off for no reason
parts falling off the car while it goes down the road
smell of scorched electrical insulation

Lotus owners tend to overlook these little eccentricities because the cars perform like no others.