Kindle Review – Kindle 3 Review, iPad Review

Aug 7th update: Thanks to Jonelle who, on behalf of Plastic Logic, officially denied the $299 price point. You can read the letter and vote on what you think the price will be at the Plastic Logic price speculation post.

Perhaps my experience is distorted by companies like GamersGate that have excellent customer service, such as the following -

my email:
(had already bought a game for $20)
just found out that this game is selling at direct 2 drive for just $10. any chance i can get $10 off my purchase?
also bioshock is for $29 at gamers gate and $19 elsewhere. could you reduce the price or let me buy it for $19?

gamersgate reply:

 

Sure, you got a €10 refund.
We dont set our prices, the publishers and developers do. I will see what I can do.
Best Regards, Andreas

 

**They put bioshock on sale for $11 after a few days (and emailed me).

Because this ‘trying to get through to Plastic Logic’ experience completely confounded me.

The Context: Trying to Confirm the rumored $299 Price for their eReader

Helene commented on the $299 PL Reader post pointing out that Plastic Logic haven’t really ‘officially’ said their ereader will be $299.

Fair Enough – let’s call them up.

U.S. Office

1. Called them – There is NO operator. 
2. They send you to a directory where it’s almost impossible to find anyone. 
3. Left voice mail with number and asking for a confirmation – it’s just yesterday so perhaps they’ll call back.

UK Office

1. The number doesn’t work.

Email

1. Emailed them via PlasticLogic.com and they sent a cookie-cutter email -
   

   Thank you for contacting Plastic Logic. We appreciate your interest in the Plastic Logic Reader.

   If your inquiry included comments, those comments will be circulated for review within the company and addressed appropriately. Below we have included some answers to the most commonly submitted inquiries. If you still can’t find an appropriate answer to your inquiry, please see the extended FAQ on our site.

   Plastic Logic Reader’s pricing, availability and feature set:

   ♦ Full details on worldwide product availability, pricing, complete feature set, product specifications, and all supported document types will be announced in early 2010

2. While they do say wait till next year for pricing, the fact that Forbes and Times Online are quoting a $299 price based on an interview with PL does change things.
3. They tell me that I should go read the FAQ on their page.
4. Their ‘reply to’ email address is literally ‘do-not-reply@plasticlogic.com’.

Isn’t the whole point of the company to sell ereaders to people?

Perhaps talking with customers and bloggers, and having an email address other than ‘donotreply@plasticlogic.com’ would help.

Does Plastic Logic care about Customers and Publicity?  Well they did respond. So they do.

A few scenarios where this ‘read the FAQ’ and ‘do not reply’ attitude really hurts Plastic Logic -

1. A customer deciding whether to get a Kindle or Sony now or wait for Plastic Logic.
2. The current case where we’re trying to confirm the price for a post that a lot of people will read. 

Even a company like Apple or Amazon that enjoys a dominant position in a market is super polite and courteous to customers.

Why does Plastic Logic think they can be so slip-shod about communication and still compete?

1. They’ll be competing against Sony, Amazon, Apple and possibly Dell.
2. They have zero brand recognition.

Regardless of whether it’s a single customer trying to make a decision or a single blogger trying to confirm details, Plastic Logic ought to be doing a much, much better job at communicating.

Plastic Logic has denied the $299 price rumor

Update: As stated at the top of the post, Plastic Logic have said that the price is not $299 and will not be announced until the release next year. Their response is greatly appreciated.

A LOT of customers are waiting to make a purchase decision. Announcing a product a year before to block competitor sales is all well and good – However, these rumors about $299 prices will really backfire if they aren’t true.