Paypal Power Up – Scam?
So I received this e-mail one day, and RSVPed immediately. I thought to myself how interesting the event was going to be, and somehow I suspected anyone with a Paypal account in Malaysia will be getting this invitation.
I was right; after asking around on both Facebook and Twitter, there were many responses and all were eager to find out what Paypal would be surprising us with in Malaysia.
From Facebook:
From Twitter:
pir8by: RT @kruel74 @sotongzai Ini pasal PayPal Power Up? @spinzer @saadkamal @sotongzai @saimatkong @thechannelc @xescx looks like a tweetup
thechannelc: @icednyior Paypal xmas party. @kruel74 @sotongzai @spinzer @saadkamal @saimatkong @thechannelc @xescx apakah itu Paypal power up?
icednyior: @kruel74 @sotongzai @spinzer @saadkamal @saimatkong @thechannelc @xescx apakah itu Paypal power up?
lightyoruichi: http://twitpic.com/rns3r – Is this the one? RT: @dustyhawk: @lightyoruichi Paypal Power Up Event
blogjunkie: anyone heard of this PayPal Power Up event? what’s it about?
Mind you they are all prominent social media figures with certain expectations.
Soon after, I got this:
… wait say that again?
Please do not make arrangements to come to the event as we’ll not be able accommodate your attendance.
3 words: what on earth?!?
FIRSTLY: there SHOULD be a “TO” between ‘able’ and ‘accommodate’, it’s MISSING in that sentence and it reeks of POOR english! (yes I’m anal like that)
SECONDLY: why the hell are they thinking we would gatecrash the event? Well excuse us, but in case you didn’t already know, a few of us cancelled on other events on that day so we could always go where we are wanted. Honestly, it wouldn’t do us any harm just by telling us that there’s no more space, so WHY insinuate that we WOULD come anyway?
It is honestly really disappointing to many of us, no offense to those who DID get their invitation accepted.
The response on Twitter speaks for itself:
icallitart: @BervinCheong Mine too. I’m pretty chissed at their unprofessionalism about it. Think other’s got rejected too. @spinzer @kruel74
icednyior: @icallitart @BervinCheong @spinzer @kruel74 @spinzer @thechannelc the Paypal Powerup email was just DOWNRIGHT RUDE
kruel74: @icednyior @icallitart @BervinCheong @spinzer @thechannelc I was just saying to another guy PayPal now appreciate Msia. Yeah, rite
lightyoruichi: @joshuaongys http://kimag.es/share/36690069.png @icednyior @icallitart @BervinCheong @spinzer @kruel74 @spinzer @thechannelc
ICallItArt: I sent an email complaining to them ady. @icednyior @BervinCheong @spinzer @kruel74 @spinzer @thechannelc
theChannelC: @kruel74 @icednyior @icallitart @BervinCheong @spinzer @spinzer who’s the event company behind Paypal is what I want to know also.
ICallItArt: @thechannelc @kruel74 @icednyior @BervinCheong @spinzer @spinzer They also pulled shit on @Bakizainal who was supposed to host.
Kruel74: RT @icallitart @thechannelc @icednyior @BervinCheong @spinzer Also pulled shit on @Bakizainal who was supposed to host
Spinzer: Okay, something’s definitely wrong here. Gonna blog this. RT : Almost everyone I know got rejected. It’s a hoax people!! #paypalparty
SotongZai:: @spinzer @arzumy I think @dustyhawk got invited.
Dustyhawk:: @sotongzai didn’t get it apparently its a hoax @spinzer @arzumy
The. Worse. Event. PR. Ever!
Not only did it create bad publicity, it actually spun off in all those confusion to create the perception that this program is a hoax, done to collect data from everyone who RSVPed for God knows what purposes they have in mind.
Seriously, these guys got a lot to learn if they want respect from us. I’m not dissing Paypal itself, mind you, but come on… Basic courtesy calls for a polite rejection, can you not even do that?
Updates:
Geert Desager of PayPal’s Senior Marketing Manager, SEA has apologized in @icednyior’s post. Visit her site to read the apology comment. Just being fair.
Posted
on
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 11:25 am under
LANSI!
@spinzer everything but the content on your site loads! the content is always so slow tock:(
@robertjohnsonau got meeeeh? what is a content? graphics? text?
@spinzer so left hand bar, right hand bar and top loaded, just not the middle bit- the article bit!
@spinzer nice post http://spinzer.us/2009/12/paypal-power-u... .FYI i postd the Paypal PowerUp issue in my blog and Geert frm Paypal replied http://me.zestful.org/2009/12/paypal-pow...
yeah agreed la! sien… tot can meet u all…
saimatkong´s last blog ..BMW Eco-Blogger Dynamic Efficient Diesel Drive 2009
Nice post about the whole Paypal PowerUp issue. As you can see, i wrote about it in my blog as well.
Geert frm Paypal apologized about having to turn people away both on twitter & in my blog. But I guess the point here is not about the rejection but the WAY it was written. It could have been worded better imo.
IcedNyior´s last blog ..Paypal PowerUp Event Rude Email. WTF!
Yeah agreed, it’s ok to reject people. but this type of reply only pissing ppl off = “Please do not make arrangements to come to the event as we’ll not be able accommodate your attendance.”.
Sounds Cocky. Reads Cocky.
First of all – I’m a little put off by the fact that PayPal wrote (1) “Please do not make arrangements to come to the event as we’ll not be able accommodate your attendance” and (2) “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience”.
1. Agree with what you said – It’s as if people would gate-crash them. But there’s always another way around the planning.
2. There wasn’t a solution or a ‘make-up-to-you’ note.
Event planning usually involves Plan A – C. That means, Plan B will happen in case Plan A fails or overloads, while Plan C is often the last resort. For OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) event managers, they will have Plan D or E as a sideline.
PayPal didn’t do a few things:
(a) Perform preliminary research before conducting an event and/or inaccurately measure responses;
(b) Run a 2 or 3 week long called (pre-campaign) to measure responses before the event starts;
(c) Provide proper ‘make-up-to-you’ replies, which is often ‘what SHOULD be done’ for just in case.
(d) Clearly specify why they are full, their numbers and why can they not accommodate in a professional fashion.
“The. Worse. Event. PR. Ever!”
Two thumbs up!
Franz´s last blog ..Statistics are only as good as your interpretation is
huh. i got tat reply as well. It feels like a warning then an apology letter.
Maybe they could at least NOT send an invite but choose their invitees. They know who spend and who to appreciate what. I read the guy who owns Project Petaling Street is going :0
kruel74´s last blog ..My Real Property Gain Tax Rants
I’ve called Neo/Luxe. The event is apparently on – 250 pax are set to attend, entry upon presenting their physical invitation card.
Guess they should implement a much tighter sequence of events next time. Event organising is a tough job–their team might simply be inexperienced.
Laynie´s last blog ..You know you’re getting old when…
*correction: A much tighter action plan.
Laynie´s last blog ..You know you’re getting old when…
As I wrote on IcedNyior’s blog, they have given up their seats to their vendors.
200+ vendors were invited. Almost all accepted.
That being the case, the RSVP rejection should have been done much earlier. The lazy bastards procrastinated, probably thinking we’re all hopefuls for attending events, and didn’t even consider that we may have other events to attend.
erin´s last blog ..Personal Updates
Wad the… I DUN WAN A GREEN MONSTER AS MY AVATAR!!!!
erin´s last blog ..Personal Updates
erin: it’s cute wat~ XD
Philippecr´s last blog ..Home 家
Fuh lucky I never RSVP; they made a wrong move by doing that. Even if the apology is there, people will remember the rudeness of it.
Chingy´s last blog ..New Category – Failed Food
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Eh I got invitation for this too! But I didn’t RSVP due to Carven Ong… Hmm I thought it sounded fishy since it seemed to send invites to everyone with PayPal account!
iamthewitch´s last blog ..Hong Kong Day 6 – Disneyland and more!
U r the man! Bring justice to all of us!