How to annoy your customers

A primer on how to create an angry customer: This morning I was supposed to attend Adobe's Maximum Impact seminar in Boston with the idea of seeing some the cool uses of Adobe's digital editing tools such as Premiere and After Effects. I registered for the conference a couple weeks ago, got a follow-up e-mail a few days ago and even a call yesterday confirming I was still attending. All is good.

This morning, I battle traffic for two hours into Boston from my home in New Hampshire (50 miles in 2 hours almost entirely on major highways... not fun.) When I show up at the Marriott at Copley Place, I see people mingling in front of a breakfast buffet looking like they're awaiting the start of the event. I go to register, the nice woman asks if I've gotten my materials yet, I say no, she gives them to me. Then the bomb: "THE CONFERENCE HAS BEEN CANCELLED." Why? Allegedly, the Marriott shipped the demonstration equipment out early. Wonderful! If this is truly the case, Marriott is not having a good week.

Was there any call or message to say the event was cancelled? No. I checked my work voicemail (same number used the day before to confirm) before I arrived and again just after I left the Marriott - after paying $6 to park for all of 15 minutes - and nothing. Most of the would-be attendees seemed ok with the tutorial CD, marketing materials and some free muffins, but for me the conference was definitely a negative Impact.