Yes, times are tough…
I’d like to share an experience I’ve just had with a service provider called Nascar.com .
I’ve always been interested in motor vehicles. From my earliest years I remember being fascinated by boats, and aircraft, and especially cars…and I’ve always been driven by the process of making them better; faster; more efficient. Having built motors for several cars, and even one “show winning” custom, I am a constant follower of all things “motor vehicle”.
I am an especially rabid fan of NASCAR. A lot of you won’t understand, but it really is a team sport, and so much more than “a bunch of cars turning left”. Being a fan, I spend a considerable amount of time and money in the enjoyment of each season, buying merchandise, tickets to race events, and using the latest in technology to follow my favorite driver during each race.
One of the “new technology” items is RACEVIEW, which gives a CGI representation of each car on the track in real time. It also provides other statistical information, including conversations between the driver, crew chief and team spotter, but the real candy is the view of the car relative to the other cars on the track.
RACEVIEW is offered by NASCAR.com, a website run by Turner Sports and Digital Entertainment Network. They have offered this product for a few years now, and I’ve enjoyed using it from time to time, including the final half of the last racing season. When the end of last season arrived, I let my subscription to this service run out.
As the new season began, I found that NASCAR.com was calling RACEVIEW an “improved” product and providing, as always, a 14 day FREE TRIAL. To get the best deal, I signed up for the annual plan, thinking that if I didn’t like it for any reason I could cancel within the 14 day free trial period.
Well I tried the “improved” RACEVIEW” product, and to my dismay the most noticeable change was to shrink the CGI window by about 33 percent. As far as I can tell, this was done to accommodate getting all information that they provide on one page, a totally unnecessary modification which made the product much less useful to me. Anyone who had used the product previously knows that you could open multiple windows and have all the information at hand, without affecting the size of the visual windows. No more. It’s now “one-size-fits-all”, and it’s also apparently love it or screw you as well.
I notified NASCAR.com that I did not like the “new” product within the first 5 days of use. They informed me that since I had previously subscribed to this product I was not entitled to a free trial period ! They graciously allowed me to cancel my subscription…effective in February of 2011. I would NOT, under any circumstances, be entitled to a refund !
I am a reasonable guy. If the product was the same as before, I would be more than willing to continue using it. If NASCAR.com had charged me for the usage up to the time of my cancellation, I would have allowed it. I was even ready to allow for a partial refund, and use of the SCANNER feature (a separate product, which is included in RACEVIEW) at full retail cost for the year…but NO. I am now stuck with a product I don’t like, and am out my $79.95 .
It is my contention that this “improved” product was a different service than what I had purchased previously, and therefore a “new” subscription; that NASCAR.com does not inform current subscribers of their ineligibility for the 14 day FREE TRIAL; and that NASCAR.com is only interested in INCOME and not SERVICE to customers.
As such, I will never spend another dime at NASCAR.com . I will buy my NASCAR gear at my driver’s website; I will get my news and information from NASCAR ILLUSTRATED, and will visit the numerous other websites out there for all things NASCAR. This is my right as a consumer to determine the best value for my dollars spent.
I realize when times get tough everyone looks to minimize losses and make the most of their available resources. NASCAR.com should go back to basics and remember that excellent service is the best dollar earned, and the easiest customer kept.
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