Advice on advertising mistake please

[nattynetty]

Looking for a bit of advice from all you loverly people....

A mag I advertise in ran the wrong ad last month, it wasn’t hugely different but the one I’d sent them had our Xmas products featured and instead they re-ran the previous month’s ad more focused towards summer. Unfortunately I didn’t see this until it was too late (didn’t receive my copy of the mag for ages) so instructed them to repeat the same ad - which I believed to be the Xmas one - for the following month. I double checked my sent emails to make sure it wasn’t my mistake and nope I’d definitely sent the Xmas ad, so basically they have published the wrong ad twice….I hope all that made some sense.

I emailed them and said I wasn’t happy about this mistake and they have offered me a free web banner in their next issue as an apology, an issue which I will already have another ad running in anyway.

I don’t want to just roll over and say OK to this ‘compensation’ as I think it’s a bit of a cheek but I don’t know how far I can push it.

What would you do?

[swirlyarts]

Well they were in the wrong by printing the wrong advert to begin with. Have they already printed the next issue of the magazine? If not can you get them to change it for you to the Christmassy themed one? I would ask for a refund as they were the ones in the wrong to start with and accept the banner they have offered you too.
Let us know how you get on
Lynsey

[nattynetty]

Yep it was too late to change the 2nd ad as it'd already gone to press by the time I found out about their mistake.

[Bowed Over]

I think you will be entitled to a refund it is their fault - you paid for a service which you haven't got.

Cheers.

Lisa

[nattynetty]

Yep that was my initial thought although hubby pointed out that I still got the service as the advert was still published just not the correct one.

Do you think I could ask for the correct ad to be published in the next issue (which I've already booked) for free?

[MrSwirl]

When does the third one come out? Is this going to be in time for Christmas or not? That's the important thing here, since you need to minimise the damage that their mistake has made.

You sent them an advert geared towards a busy time of the year, with seasonal merchandise, which they failed to publish. They then compounded the mistake by repeating the advert, although they could argue that you should have checked the version that was going to print. This would be unreasonable, though, since you did not have chance to review the magazine before asking them to run the advert the following month.

When you instructed them to repeat the advert, you had no reason to believe that they had not followed your original instructions (and you had no way to check whether they had or had not followed them).

There are two things that I would be pushing for from here. Firstly, can they run something now for you to make up for it? For example, could they put a banner on their website in a prominent position, to try and rectify the problem now. You need to be getting as much exposure as possible as soon as possible, so if they can get the right advert out in any medium quickly, then that might be a starting point towards helping to resolve the situation.

Secondly, they should be making it up to you in the next issue. Whether the offer of a banner is enough is something that only you can decide, really. How much does the advert cost? How much does their offer mean? (For example, if the advert is £10 and they are offering replacement advertising worth £5 then I wouldn't take it). They have failed to print the right advert two months running, at what should be the busiest time of the year, and therefore their offer of compensation should reflect that.

You have nothing to lose by asking / telling them that they need to do next months advertising for free, but before you go back to them, make a note of the minimum that you want out of the situation. If you are dealing with them over the phone, make a note in writing, and have it in front of you when you are discussing it with them. If they suggest that they can't do much, then get a name of someone else there who can - get the contact details of the MD if necessary, and speak to them.

Best of luck,

MrS

[MrSwirl]

What would you do?

I would...

No - you'd get your husband and his family onto them!

[nattynetty]

When does the third one come out? Is this going to be in time for Christmas or not?

I believe the 2nd one came out in the last few days so the 3rd one will be out beginning of November - not ideal but will hopefully catch some of those who haven't yet made their xmas cards.

Secondly, they should be making it up to you in the next issue. Whether the offer of a banner is enough is something that only you can decide, really. How much does the advert cost? How much does their offer mean? (For example, if the advert is £10 and they are offering replacement advertising worth £5 then I wouldn't take it).

Not gonna talk the nitty-gritty of money here but lets put it this way - the 2 messed up ads were quarter page ads whereas the web banner I guess would be the smallest, cheapest ad they offer... [/quote]

If they suggest that they can't do much, then get a name of someone else there who can - get the contact details of the MD if necessary, and speak to them.
MrS

Not something I want to do but I'm starting to learn you need to stand up for yourself in the world of business so if necessary will take your advice....after worrying myself silly that I'll upset the ad girl.

Also Mr Swirl I may just have to copy and paste some of your reply as you put it all so well and get the point over perfectly without sounding ars*y.. and remember plagerism is the sincerest form of flattery....or something!

[swirlyarts]

Also Mr Swirl I may just have to copy and paste some of your reply as you put it all so well and get the point over perfectly without sounding ars*y.. and remember plagerism is the sincerest form of flattery....or something!

Mr Swirl is VERY good at this type of thing - I always leave it to him or ask him for exactly what I should say if I need to talk to people!

[MrSwirl]

I believe the 2nd one came out in the last few days so the 3rd one will be out beginning of November - not ideal but will hopefully catch some of those who haven't yet made their xmas cards.

That should help in your discussions for compensation - I would think that most people will have ordered their kits etc. to make for Christmas, therefore this could have a big impact on your business.

Not gonna talk the nitty-gritty of money here but lets put it this way - the 2 messed up ads were quarter page ads whereas the web banner I guess would be the smallest, cheapest ad they offer...

So, the level of compensation that they are offering is completely inadequate - they made a big mistake, that could result in a lot of lost business, therefore I would argue that a month of free advertising is the very least that they can do.

Not something I want to do but I'm starting to learn you need to stand up for yourself in the world of business so if necessary will take your advice....after worrying myself silly that I'll upset the ad girl.

They are a bigger business than you are, and they have made two serious mistakes, which they should make up for.

Also Mr Swirl I may just have to copy and paste some of your reply as you put it all so well and get the point over perfectly without sounding ars*y.. and remember plagerism is the sincerest form of flattery....or something!

I must be losing my touch if I no longer sound ars*y!

[nattynetty]

Mr Swirl, I'm now being downright cheeky and sending you a PM with my draft email to them in the hope that you'll find a few minutes to look over it and make any suggestions for maximum pow! effect.

Did I ever tell you that I think you're great...creep creep

[nattynetty]

OK update on the situation....

With Mr Swirl's help (he completely re-drafted my email as apparently I was still being too nice) I sent an email off to the mag this morning and they have replied with the offer of a free quarter page ad for the Jan issue so big thank you to MrSwirl.

Just shows it's worth standing up for yourself to the bigger businesses!

I'm off now to give MrSwirl some well deserved rep...