#6 - Questionable Business Practices
Reluctant Executor News
There are questionable business practices in every industry. But these practices hit harder when the victim is going through other stress. If you are dealing with a loss in your family, the last thing you want to do is fight companies or see your situation exploited for someone else's gain.
The two posts below are good reminders that no matter how much you prepare (and you definitely should prepare!), you still could end up with surprises.
LinkedIn post from September 25, 2023
If you're in something long enough, you start to see the good and bad in it. I'm at that point now as I started learning about obituary pirates.
Yep, people can profit off of others' obituaries, some to the tune of over $5 million per year.
Here's how it appears to work.
Companies will scrape the web and then summarize thousands of obits.
They are SEO savvy enough to get their site to outrank the real obituary.
Often these pages or videos are poor replicas, and they change or omit details that are important to the family.
Each page or video rarely receives more than a dozen clicks. But, since they are highly ranked in search engines, they receive enough clicks across all pages to make this practice highly lucrative.
They sell ads or referral products. More scrupulous ones offer flowers or other sympathy items to purchase for the family, but never deliver.
At a time when families are at one of the lowest points of their lives, this seems wrong in every way.
Click here to comment or like this post on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn post from February 27, 2024
After a loss you need to deal with a lot. Fighting a company over misinformation from an AI chatbot shouldn't be on that list.
Air Canada had to pay $812.02 to a customer after they received wrong information from their AI chatbot.
The chatbot told the customer they could submit a refund claim for bereavement fares within 90 days of issuing the ticket, no matter if they have already traveled. However, Air Canada's policy was that bereavement fares are not valid if you've already taken the flight.
After offering a smaller credit instead of refunding the fare difference, the customer took them to small claims court. Air Canada argued that they cannot be held liable for information provided by their agents, servants, or representatives, including a chatbot. The court did not agree, and sided with the customer.
Fighting for something when you know you're in the right can be taxing, especially if it comes at a time when you're grieving.
Have you ever pushed back on a company that you knew was in the wrong?
Click here to comment or like this post on LinkedIn.
Referral Partners
If you find yourself in a situation after a loss that you just don't want to deal with, Reluctant Executor can help. Our first step is to listen to our clients to fully understand the scenario. If it is something that we cannot handle through our services, we will introduce you to one of our referral partners.
If you or someone you know needs this type of support, contact me at Bill@ReluctantExecutor.com.