that car salesman approach

I was just browsing through the DH signup page to see what the current rates are, and this chat window popped up and an attractive stock photo with an attractive stock name of "Jennifer" started trying to sell me on DH and it felt kind of like DH was all of a sudden that new/used car salesman who is asking, in reply to your question of how much the car costs... "Well how much money have you got?"

Jennifer was all like "wait! Don't go! I'll give you a $50 discount!"

and for a minute there I was thinking... wtf? I've stumbled onto a phishing site or something? But no.. it was DH... and it's so unlike DH... because ya know... isn't that kind of unethical... to charge people $50 more if they go ahead and sign up, but to charge them $50 less if it looks like they are going to navigate away?

It'd be nice to just have an honest single price for everyone.

You know along those same lines

I was browsing the Apple Store's online site, checking out the prices on the MacBooks... They have a white model, and a black model... The black model is more expensive, but it has more memory, a larger hard drive, and so on... and it looks cooler too. A laptop with that white plastic case just looks kind of girly. Electronics should be some dark color.

So anyway, I was like... hmm.. I wonder what happens if I add on memory and hard drive space and so on so that the white MacBook has the exact same features as the black MacBook... So I added it to the shopping cart, and I specified the upgrades such that I had the exact same laptop... and ta da! The white MacBook was still a solid $100 cheaper than the same black MacBook... they were identical in all respects, except for the color of the plastic casing.

Apple didn't come out and say this... no... they presented the black MacBook with more hard drive space and such, hoping that people won't notice that in the bargain people are paying an extra $100 for their fashion sense.

Because if Apple just put on there "black plastic shell - $100 extra upgrade" you know, people would be like "whatever.. that's just stupid."

Maybe DH should just have that as a feature that you select in the shopping cart... a checkbox that says "I'm not sure about going with DH - $50 discount."

Now if "Jennifer" would still be my cyber chat friend *after* I sign up... okay... maybe then instead of giving me $50 off, I would give you an extra $50. Especially if she could help me with this e-commerce crap.

yeah. now look who's dreaming...

Ha... I just saw the same thing and thought it was cheesy. Seemed very un-Dreamhost to me, especially since it's a 3rd party site. I like that crap about as much as onExit pop-up ads.

I saw the promo code is 5050, so I knew that was DH's, since only they can use all numbers.

What I'm curious to see, but was too lazy to check into... is what if someone goes there using an affiliate's $50 promo code link. Then, exits (maybe accidentally) and gets hit with that... then chooses to save $50... will that overwrite the true affiliate's code? Like I said, I didn't do any testing, but I'd hope the script is "smart" enough to never show itself in that situation.

Not to mention, it's one thing when affiliates push the codes, but what they're doing basically screws anyone that just comes there and signs up. By being sure they want to sign-up, they get to pay $50 more than someone that says "Screw this place, I'm outta here!" -- only to be bought (not brought) back to the sign-up page.

How very strange. I'm going to have to check this out!

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I'm so disappointed. I'm browsing their site and Jennifer hasn't dropped in to chat. Maybe it's past her bedtime. However, I've found fascinating reading at:
http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting-features.html

It's some of the stuff I've forgetten that's available.

Edit: Oh! And pictures and little bios of the staff (but not Jennifer):
http://www.dreamhost.com/aboutus-profiles.html

Edit2: Still no luck. Tried the back button. I guess Jennifer doesn't want to be my friend. So forget it. I'm NOT going to sign up for an account.

-ScottEdited by sdayman on 04/10/08 09:03 PM (server time).

Go to the sign-up page and hit the "back" button. You'll find her~

I definitely feel sorry for the people who come to the sign-up page knowing that they want an account and just grind right through the sign-up process. Especially if they find out later how easy it would have been to get a free $50.

Well, I think offering discounts is great, but I really hate to see DreamHost doing that "RetardaAgent" thing when you hit your back button...

Really, really bad form in my opinion .. frown

--rlparker

Well, it is the happy automated dreamhost sales agent, so it's at least consistent with their happiness theme...

Are we sure this isn't something that started up on April 1?

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Well, I must say I found Jennifer and she certainly is happy!

But, at the same time this is quite unlike DreamHost and gets me thinking about what else they would do for a new user. One of the main reasons why I signed up for DH a couple years ago was because there was none of this "But wait! There's more!" stuff.

Just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

I find her too. This is interesting.

I've seen the same thing in other websites. They are not real persons but just robots.

:rollseyes:

I didn't get a popup frown
Do you have to actually fill out the form and get to the secure area, then hit Back to see this "not a real person"?

lol yeah.. hope the script doesn't overwrite any affiliate details.

I can hear it now: OMG I'M LOSING MILLIONS EVERYDAY !! (etc.)

No, you didn't have to do anything but navigate off the page. I just checked again myself and she is nowhere to be found .... I think they have already sacked her. wink

--rlparker

In reply to:
I think they have already sacked her.

Oh no! And she was so nice and happy!

I can't get it to show up anymore either. At first, I thought it was because I already had a cookie from the original offer, but I cleared them and also tried a different browser so you're right and she may really be not-so-happy any more. wink

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She's back! I went to signup.dreamhost.com, then over to cnn.com and she showed up. Thankfully, they're using live agents, and not the dead ones.
http://www.dogshake.com/images/jennybot.png

EDIT: She lied to me! Her name is really Grace:
http://www.dogshake.com/images/gracebot.png

-ScottEdited by sdayman on 05/03/08 08:39 AM (server time).

Is she really alive?

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More Dreamhost coupons here!

I just went to the sign-up page and she popped up when i hit the back button. Then I also got multiple javascript confirmation boxes when trying to close the "salesrep layer".

*do not want*

I have referred a number of friends without trying to force my affiliate code on them, because there are so many max discount codes readily available. This just makes DH look a little less professional.

I am still "working for the man," so my opinion is only marginally valuable. Still, I suggest a minor functional redesign of the sign-up page.

Yeah .... confirmed that the "Intellitard" chatbots are back. frown I think this is uber-lame, myself, but I have to wonder why there are here, then gone, then back again.

Maybe DreamHost is testing and evaluating effectiveness - it would *so* suck if this kinda thing actually proves to be effective, as that would likely only encourage its use.

And if it *is* effective, I suppose we can only blame the state of the net and the proclivities of website visitors - you can't really blame DreamHost too much for employing these tactics if they are effective. Sigh ....

--rlparker
(off in search of "Intellitard" chatbots to KILL!)

In reply to:
(off in search of "Intellitard" chatbots to KILL!)

Hey wait!!! Before you leave RLPARKER, would you like to buy a gun, knife, crossbow, or something else to help you accomplish your task? CLICK HERE to get $50 off the weapon of your choice.

-Scott

Hahaha! That's a *great* video! smile

--rlparker