A Heres Ankers apology came too late to save face for the Eufy store owners. They were obviously aware that their Eufy store was vulnerable to camera attacks, and they acted too slow. The apology does not mention the fact that the cameras actually did cause the loss of sales, and it is amazing that Heres Ankers decided to issue an apology for something that could have been solved in a number of ways. The apology also says that the owner of Eufy is stepping back to handle other matters, but that could have been done a lot quicker by simply informing him that Heres Ankers has cameras that are in place at all times.
The problem with Heres Ankers’s apology is that they issued it days after the events took place. The reality is that they had cameras in place from the time that the Heres Ankers opened. In fact, they have been installing those cameras in other stores like Woolworths for a number of years. There was no need to issue an apology when they knew their cameras were giving them a false sense of security. It was obvious to all of the customers who were on the premises that their store was open to cameras from the start, and that should have been clear to Mr. Heres.
Customers have the right to feel safe shopping in any business. If you have a shop that has inadequate lighting or even a sign that does not clearly say that your shop is open, customers will not come inside. If you do not provide a visible sign that your store is open, you are not showing your customers that you take their safety into consideration when operating your business. These are basic responsibilities that businesses owe to their customers, and unfortunately, Heres Ankers failed to fulfill those responsibilities.
You can be forgiven if you did not see the sign at first. If you go to the back of your shop after hours, and you are expecting customers to come in to retrieve their wares, you are going to be disappointed. If you do not see the sign, but someone else does, you are in for a surprise. Seeing the sign only to realize that you are not allowed to record video feeds onto the VCRs in the store is disappointing because you were working toward a goal that you may have thought was accomplished. For this reason, I cannot offer an explanation as to why Heres Ankers issued an apology.
There were two cameras in each of the cameras that Heres Ankers had installed in his store. He made no mention of these cameras when he issued his apology. The employees who did work in the store did put the cameras to use, but they did not do so without proper authorization. They also did not install the cameras in an area where they could have recorded any movement that would have revealed their malfeasance.
This is not the only place where Heres Ankers has failed the community. A few months ago, a disgruntled customer made a blog post about how she felt that Heres Ankers discriminated against her for being a woman. While the company has released an apology, they did not address the discrimination issue in their statement. It is my understanding that Heres Ankers does not employ any women because of their strict policies.
If you run a business, it is vital that you address your issues with customers immediately. If you do not know what you are doing, you should not be in the business. If you have not been keeping up with changing technology, it is best if you hire a consultant to come in and train your staff. If you do not have cameras and other technology available to you to keep your employees safe while they are on the job, you need to find a way to keep your business from getting exposed so long as you have not issued an apology to Eufy customers who were negatively impacted by your actions.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.