At Backcountry.com the Gearheads have great latitude in resolving problems and doing whatever they can to make the customer happy. But this example is like no other I’ve ever seen. Follow the link to see the customers full post on her blog FoolsandSages.com. Here’s a small excerpt.

“After I placed my order, I sent their customer service folks a mail telling them how much we loved their site and asking for the shipping to be adjusted to reflect our original wish to combine shipping. I fully expected for them do graciously do so, but was absolutely not expecting the response I received:

‘Hi Andrea,

Thanks for contacting us at Steepandcheap.com.  We love you, too. We would marry you if you weren’t already married. And we weren’t a company, but rather a young shy boy lost in the throes of love, yea, a misty-eyed dreamer looking towards the future, still unscathed and unpolluted by the hardships of mid-adulthood. We would ask your housemaid to deliver white flowers to you, with an anonymous note that read “Heaven nor hell could provide me the joy and pain your approval or lack thereof might impose upon me.” Then, that very night at midnight we’d stand outside your window playing a love sonnet on the violin–a heartfelt ribbon of swaying notes and flittering string plucks. You could get out of bed and come to the balcony to listen. Instead of saying anything, you might drop a single white handkerchief slightly soaked with your tears.

But none of that could ever happen, so instead I just gave you a full refund on your shipping costs. I think it was like 8 bucks. Thanks for the love.’”

Wow…how unusual. Here’s her full post.  http://www.foolsandsages.com/2009/12/03/making-customer-service-fun-what-a-concept/

Popularity: 77% [?]

“National Geographic Adventure will cease operations, it was announced today, a victim of the down economy and systemic changes in publishing. The final issue is December/January.”

Bummer. That about covers that. No need for me to do any clever editorializing. I’m sad to see it go; it’s been a solid bastion of true adventure journalism amongst the thick weeds of men’s magazine’s that offer editorial breadth of a weightlifters glutes: Endless teasers which claim they can make any desired body part either grow or shrink, depending on the need.

Steve Casimiro was the west coast editor…a title that seemed odd for an adventure magazine that covered the globe. It didn’t seem the title stopped him from taking a bevy of hot models to Ibiza to test “30,40,50 SPF – We Tell You the Truth.”  Steve has lined up the finest jobs in the magazine world as the most well known editor of Powder magazine and the co-creator  and first editor (with Rob Story) of Bike magazine. Casimiro is a man who knows the soul of adventure. I’m hoping his next beat will be another great step in the life of one of the finest adventure writers and editors in the world. He’s also handy with the Cannon Snappy.

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Popularity: 76% [?]

I might be able to skip the book it as the title just about covers one of the most important strategic imperatives of any company. ”

It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For: Why Every Extraordinary Business Is Driven by Purpose

by Roy M. Spence, Haley Rushing

Popularity: unranked [?]

Here’s a video about how we used to market at Backcountry.com circa 2007.  It’s kind of a B- performance. Sorry. There is some good data in here though:

This is a link that may or may not work to a speech to a BYU entrepreneurship class circa 2007.

Popularity: unranked [?]

Aren’t you a little bit tired of the green’ocrisy. The shameless annoying hypocrisy of the greenies. I can say with some certainty that the cloying phrase, “social responsibility” has jumped the shark. Check out McDonalds.com’s post reminiscing about the spirit of Woodstock. Awesome.

Well thank God for a movement on the wane. Yes, lets save the planet; duh, we live here. It’s like putting put up banners that say, “save the living room!” It’s a given. We need to do it with every bit of energy we can get from a supersized #2 meal…which, in it’s day was two cheeseburgers, fries and a coke; back before the notion of supersizing.

The hemp wearers can quibble amongst themselves and they might disagree as they see their one career avenue going up in smoke, but the simple truth is that when McDonald’s co-opt’s the phrase “social responsibility” you can be certain that it’s days of hipness are over. Shane McConkey called it when he ended the life on the term Extreme Skiing. He did it when Taco Bell launched it’s “Extreme Value Meals”. He was right and Freeskiing was born. How about it Max?

Oh and if Vanity Fair and Madonna are asking the question then it’s far too late:

Popularity: unranked [?]

I’ve spent a lifetime watching new dotcoms launch with incremental improvements in user experience. And I’ve tried to copy the best of it for Backcountry.com and our associated sites. And then along comes Mint.com and it humbles me completely. The site works so beautifully and seamlessly that it leapfrogs all other interactive design. Almost everyone is nervous about sharing financial data on the web and yet Mint tackles by pulling in your data so quickly and efficiently it almost happens before you know it. And then it’s all parsed into instantly useful information. It’s so brilliant in its simplicity.

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Popularity: unranked [?]