June 30, 2006 12:19 PM

Broken: Comcast branding

On the Good Experience blog: Study in Comcast branding.

(Includes the video of the Comcast service tech sleeping on the couch.)

Broken: Sign with sharp edges

An oldie but goodie, pointed out by Jordan McIntosh and others. It's almost certainly a Photoshopped graphic, made just for laughs, but it's also instructive.

"Caution: This sign has sharp edges," the sign says. Then below, in tiny type: "Also, the bridge is out ahead."

Remember to prioritize information correctly!

June 29, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Microsoft survey

Cary Lee points out:

The question "Are there children present in your household?" gives two possible answers:
"Yes" and "No plans to purchase."

No, I have no plans to buy any children!

June 28, 2006 11:08 AM

Broken: AOL cancellation process

A lot of blogs have covered this already, but This Is Broken would be remiss if we didn't post the NBC News piece:

AOL has issued an apology and fired the rep responsible for that particular bad customer experience, by the way.

Broken: Business juxtaposition

Not necessarily broken, but Rick Unger points out a strange sight - the organic butcher is right next door to a memorial shop. Could either business find a more appropriate neighbor to locate next to?

June 27, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Electric scooter warning label

Cheeks Yorkie writes in:

I found this warning label on a razor E100 electric scooter which contains the text "This Product Moves When Used."

I don't see this as being necessary to state. Anyone who buys a scooter expects it to move. Isn't that the whole reason for buying one?!?

June 26, 2006 09:44 AM

Broken: Veniero's customer experience

This past weekend I went to Veniero's, the venerable Italian pastry shop in Manhattan's East Village.

I like the cheesecake there, the coffee is decent, so it's a nice dessert place. Or used to be. When I was there this past weekend, service was non-existent unless I got up and found the waiter...

...the men's bathroom was full of mess - note the previous patron had used wet toilet paper, since there were no paper towels available...

...and there was graffiti written above the door.

When I left, I saw why nothing was happening there. The two waiters were glued to a TV set, watching the World Cup.

I understand it's an important game, but do customers matter? Does your job matter?

Broken: Dell email support

Jonathan Heimberg writes in:

I e-mailed Dell support the following request...

I need a system restore CD for an inspiron 5150 purchased in 2003. Thanks!

...and they wrote back the following note:

Dell's e-mail software interprets your message as a request for help with buying an auto/air AC adapter for your Dell notebook computer.

To purchase an adapter to charge your portable computer from your car or
while in an airplane go to:

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/default.aspx?cs=19&c=us&l=en

* Click Notebook Accessories in the Browse For Products list
* Click Power Adapters and then choose Auto/Air
* Click the company name to see more details

If you have other battery questions please check our general battery and
AC adapter troubleshooting guide at:

ftp://ftp1.us.dell.com/diags/R66243.htm

Where in my "problem" do you see the keyword "adapter", "car", or "airplane"?

Dell email support needs to improve how their support database matches keywords from their customer's emails.

June 24, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Neon storefront sign

Alex B sends in a picture:

This is a new neon sign in the window of my supermarket.

I asked the checkout lady what the sign was all about, and she told me (with much sarcasting eyerolling) that "it's intentional; the store is really open 24 hours a day, but the new manager thinks the sign will convey to customers that the store's employees will go the extra hour for you."

June 23, 2006 09:15 AM

Broken: Kinko's customer service

David Pogue had a bad experience at the photocopy-chain Kinko's. From Kinks at Kinko's:

I copied the Photoshop document from my laptop onto a flash drive and handed it to him. “It’s a Mac? We can’t print that,” he said. The woman in the back had been listening in. “Felix, if it’s a JPEG, it’ll print,” she told him. Bless you, dearie, I thought. With much eye-rolling and sighing, he approached the PC, turned his back to me and started working.

As he left, Pogue writes, "I couldn’t help but wonder what the guy’s problem was. In three different ways, he’d looked for reasons to *turn down* business."

I no longer use Kinko's because of similar experiences I've had in the past, and I know friends and coworkers who feel the same way. My question: if Kinko's employees consistently deliver such a bad customer experience - actively looking for ways to refuse customers - how does the company stay in business?

Broken: Tea list

Seth Godin points out:

When this menu of fancy teas was new, I'm sure it was impressive. And when they ran out of the first or second flavor, it was probably okay that they crossed out the missing flavor with a mixture of whiteout and blue magic marker.

Now, of course, it's just a billboard screaming about a lack of attention to detail. Note that broken plastic stand on the bottom...

Read Seth's full post

[...and thanks to Seth for giving us the idea for This Is Broken three years ago! -mh]

June 22, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Disney.com comment form

A reader named Daniel points out:

This is Disney.com's comment form. Which, when you read it, contradicts itself.

At the bottom it says, "If you don't enter a first name we can't put your message on TV or online."

Then it warns, "Careful, no personal information!"

June 21, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Arby's sign

John Thompson submits a picture taken in Lakesite, Tennessee:

I saw this sign at the local Arby's, and I'm still trying to figure out what a chicken fish is.

[Plus... what was the less than 100% natural chicken made of? -mh]

June 20, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Hotel fire alarm

Hans Hinrichsen submits a picture taken at a hotel in Iowa:

This sign was on the door at a hotel in downtown Des Moines, Iowa where I recently stayed.

Couldn’t they think of something better to describe the fire alarm than “Whoop, whoop?”

June 19, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Speedway tower ad

A reader sends in a picture taken in Joilet, Illinois:

I am certain that there is supposed to be a visible ad on the garbled screen of this speedway tower.

June 17, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Bathroom stall directions

Eileen George submits a picture taken in Virginia:

This picture was taken in the inside of a bathroom stall at a Virginia rest stop.

The sign on the inside of the stall door says "Do not use hook to hang your purse. Place purse here" but there is a hook right under "Place purse here," which is the only thing you could place your purse on.

Where else besides on the hook am I supposed to place my purse?

June 16, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Elevator panel

Marten Veldthuis submits a picture taken in France:

This elevator control panel is quite confusing.

1. There are only 4 floors in the building, so why have buttons for 5+ floors? Also, what does a '-' button do without a basement nearby?

2. What on earth does a '.' button do? Is that for people on the 2.3rd floor?

June 15, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: McAfee personal firewall application message

Arie Swartz points out:

This is an alert that McAfee personal firewall application triggered, stating that it did not recoginze itself and needed to ask for my permission to allow it access to the internet.

June 14, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Ford's "anniversary packages"

The Detroit News asks, "is Ford's parting gift to ex-workers 'cruel joke'?"

"So it was with some surprise that Stawasz unwrapped a package he received from Ford earlier this month. Inside he found a certificate recognizing his 30 years of service to Ford and a letter from Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr."

Unfortunately, Stawasz had just been fired...

Read news story

June 13, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Bank doors

Michael Champlin submits a picture taken in Derby, Kansas:

We have a branch of the Boeing Wichita Credit Union here in Derby, Kansas, and they just put in these new security doors.

Whenever I walk in, I find myself wondering, “Am I going in, or out?” These new doors certainly don’t help.

June 12, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Toy box description

Rob Gabel sends in a picture of a toy box:

My son received this toy for his 3rd birthday. It was bought here in LA.

It’s a cool toy but the copy on the box is a hilarous yet unfortunate product of someone in China using babelfish or Google Translator, I think.

Introducing… the "Install Self-Interchange Diverse Electric-Car"

With our marketing tagline:

"Let Tear Away in You Fancy DriveWayThe Fond DriveWayYou Doing Youself"

June 10, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Thrifty car rental map

Benjamin Emslie points out:

I just booked a car on Thrifty's website. I clicked on the map link and got this.

I really don't know how to leave, seeing as there are no roads. That being said, I'm not even sure how to get there!

June 9, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: 99 cent+ store

From Jeffrey Veen's Flickr photostream:

GRAND OPENING - Everything 99 cents or above!

June 8, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Shower in the Waldorf Astoria hotel

A reader named Anthony points out:

I was staying at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York over the weekend. The shower knob in the hotel bathroom is broken in many ways.

I walked in the shower and read the directions below it, "pull knob."

So I did, but nothing happened, it wouldn't even budge. After realizing that the knob was already pulled, I pushed it in (if it was already pulled, why was the water not flowing?) and tried pulling it out again.

Still nothing. After doing this several times, water finally started flowing out of the faucet. Then, the water started flowing out of the shower head.

It turns out that there is a small pin to pull to get the water flowing out of the shower head which was already pulled out as well. After pushing the pin in and pulling it out a few times, the water finally started flowing.

Now for the final broken part of this shower, the temperature. You'll notice in the picture that, above the line with the 'C' and 'H' on the panel is an arrow etched into the face of the shower knob. I figured that the arrow would serve as the temperature indicator, so I turned the 'H' under the arrow. Low and behold, I got cold water.

I turned the knob and put the 'H' further under the etched arrow and got colder water. After tinkering with it for a minute, I realized that you get hot water by turning it counter-clock wise and cold water by turning it clockwise, which aligns the arrow with the opposite letter of the desired temperature.

I had to place the 'C' under the arrow to get hot water! For an expensive hotel, you would think they could design their shower to be more usable.

June 7, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Oven interface and display

Alan Clarke from London, England writes:

This oven looks very high tech. Sometimes a high tech interface is one that has the fewest knobs and as many modes as possible. In the picture, you will see that the oven has two identical unmarked knobs and one unmarked button.

On this oven, everything you do is context-dependent, and the only way to operate the oven is by looking at the display for feedback; which would be fine if the display was actually visible.

However, since the display and the knobs are all at the very top of the unit, and the kitchen designer has placed it directly below an overhang in the worktop, the only way I can set the oven or check on the progress of something cooking is to get down on my knees.

June 6, 2006 08:13 AM

Broken: Ticketmaster message

Seth Godin points out a silly message on the Ticketmaster website:

Your wait time is approximately 15 minutes or more

If you refresh this page or hit the back button, you will lose your place in line!

I agree with Seth's frustration here. As he writes...

Just went to buy some advance Amex tickets at Ticketmaster. This is the screen that comes up. I'm not IT guy, but what's powering their computer... gerbils?

Read the post at Seth's Blog.

Broken: Software support process at HP

Alan Clarke writes:

I recently had the misfortune of needing to invoke HP's e-mail support system for a problem I had with my iPaq PDA.

I replied to an e-mail I received from support after I filled out their support web form and was surprised to receive a message a few minutes later telling me that the HP system had rejected my reply!

When I re-read the first communication from them more carefully, I was astonished to find that I had to do three totally separate things before my reply to support was acceptable.

1. I had to send my reply to a different e-mail address than the one I had received their message from.
2. I had to change the subject line entirely to exactly what they specified.
3. I had to excise all of the text from from the original *except* the two lines with my case ID and subject on it, and then I also have to make sure that these became the first two lines of my reply.

If I failed to do *any* of these, the system rejected my e-mail!

These guys really know how to make it hard to be a customer.

June 5, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Emergency exit

Morgan Harris-Warrick points out:

In the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy center, I came across this door which has both the signs "Emergency Exit Only" and "Not an Emergency Exit."

So, in case of an emergency, am I supposed to go out this door or not?

June 3, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Fire extinguisher placement

Michael Champlin writes in:

While shopping at my local JC Penny store I noticed that there looked to be a missing fire extinguisher.

After looking around, I found it tucked away behind the wall.

If a fire were to break out, someone would try and look for an extinguisher, and they would see the sign for the extinguisher, and then try and follow the arrow on the sign. Since there is no extinguisher under the arrow, one would probably think there was no extinguisher available and move on.

They should place the extinguisher under the arrow on the wall as the sign suggests instead of behind the wall and concealed by jeans.

June 2, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Lowe's password retrieval

A reader named Max points out:

Since Lowe's changed their online credit payment system to include these requirements: "must be between 8-15 characters, must contain at least 2 numbers, and the numbers cannot be at the beginning or at the end," I forgot my new impossible to remember password.

When you click on "forgot password" it takes you to the secret question page. You enter your answer and then it tells you the user name is required. What is broken you may ask?

Well I had entered my user name on the preceding page but that information isn't passed to the secret question page and nowhere on the secret question page is there a field to enter your user name.

Also I can't reset my password without knowing the old one.

June 1, 2006 12:03 AM

Broken: Construction site sign

Ken Feldman submits a picture taken in Brooklyn, New York:

I saw this sign outside a construction site.

So, only unauthorized people are allowed? This is definitely a unique warning sign for a construction site.