<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by neophyte:
Wow, I'm surprised - this has all the makings of megadeal - and it meets a lukeworm reception by veterans gleff and cactuspete.
Have we lost our touch, did fixation on airline miles blurred our vision?
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Many of us have been around long enough to remember the last time Goldpoints offered something that seemed too good to be true. Then they remember how Goldpoints refused to honour some of the transaction. Then they remember how Goldpoints cut redemption levels in half overnight, without any prior warning.
Many people on Flyertalk got f*cked by Goldpoints last year, and no longer want anything to do with them as a company. In a nutshell, here was my analysis of Carlson (who own Radisson and Goldpoints) at the time:
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Are Carlson most dishonest company around?
Carlson proclaims on their website that "the history of Carlson Companies is one of the classic business success stories in the American free enterprise system". But this company seems to succeed despite itself. It frankly amazes me that a company which conducts business in this manner is still in business.
Let's look at the facts for their market-leading loyalty program:
1. They introduce a promotion which clearly was not properly vetted or researched
2. They are overwhelmed with orders, so they pull the promotion early and without warning
3. They make ad hoc exceptions on which orders will be honoured and which will not
4. Their staff give inconsistent responses about the redemption rates for the promotion
5. They change the redemption policy for frequent flyer miles by stealth, with no warning.
6. Their staff give inconsistent responses about the frequent flyer mileage
At best, this company is grossly incompetent. They fail to grasp even the most rudimentary elements of marketing, communications, or generating loyalty. They establish a relationship with a customer then do their best to destroy it. They overpromise and underdeliver. They'd rather lose customers rather than make the right decision. Marketing 101 was obviously lost on this bunch.
But Carlson's conduct goes beyond gross incompetence. It borders on being deceitful and dishonest. There is something about this company that makes me angry every time I think about it. I don't trust them, not as far as I could throw them.
And I'm not alone. Here on Flyertalk we had hundreds of people post about their poor experiences with this company. My experience was not an isolated one, and I am not the only one on Flyertalk vowing never to do business with Carlson again. Never mind, with their new exchange rates and dwindling vendor list, there isn't any point in doing business with Carlson anyhow.
Yes, the terms and conditions of the Gold Rewards program state that the rules can be changed at any time, without warning. But let's be honest - changing rules by stealth, not honouring your own commitments - these are not good business practices. They indicate weak, indecisive management; poor market research and poor product testing.
Carlson may have made Fortune magazine's 2002 list of "The 100 Best Companies to Work For", but I wouldn't want to work there. I will never do business with Carlson or any of its related companies again.
We dropped Carlson Wagonlit as our corporate travel provider. Good riddance. Now I've actually got a chance of getting a decent fare, receiving my tickets, and no longer having to educate our travel agents. In my experience, every element of Carlson shouts out incompetence. The folks at Carlson even make me look clever.
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If you're interested in the whole story, do a search in the Radisson forum or in Milesbuzz around December 2001.