Quicken Loans Blog

Wake up and smell the Woot!

2010-03-05T17:47:55-05:00

Everyone has morning rituals. Some people get up, stretch, have a cup of coffee, hop in the shower, brush their teeth, let the dogs out, etc. The first thing I do in the morning is check Woot.com.

My friend and former Quicken Loans team member Jarrett “Spiderman” Knyal introduced me to Woot about four years ago and I’ve been hooked ever since. Maybe it’s an uber-geek personality that drives people like Jarrett and me to get so excited about a cult-like “deal-a-day” website or maybe it’s an online shopping addiction - who knows. Call it what you want, but you really can’t have too many Roombas (those nifty robotic vacuums that clean your floors, Jetsons-style).

Since my first Woot purchase (a Roomba, of course), I’ve amassed nearly 50 Woots (that’s what us in the “in crowd” call the daily Woot products), ranging from over a dozen t-shirts, countless screaming monkeys, a “bag of crap” (the most coveted of all Woot deals), two Dyson vacuum cleaners, a color laser printer, the greatest oven mitts I’ve ever owned, and of course, a marshmallow gun. There’s a special feeling when you arrive home from a long day at the office to discover a Woot box on your porch. It’s like one more little slice of happiness to round out the day.

The most exciting time on Woot, albeit rare, is the “Woot Off” — a period of usually 24 to 72 hours when Woot sells multiple items, one right after the other. The second a product sells out, a new one is posted; and this happens around the clock. The Woot Off is indicated by flashing orange lights on the home page, and frequently results in shouts of “Woot Off!” across the cubicles in the office.

Besides the excitement of waking up to see a new Woot product each day (Did I mention they only sell a single product a day, and when it sells out, it’s gone?), the copywriting on Woot.com is brilliant and hilarious. They commonly mock their products, customers and themselves - all in good fun, of course. Their customer service terms are blunt, somewhat abrasive and excellent fodder for a good chuckle:

“Will I receive customer support like I'm used to? No. Well, not really. If you buy something you don't end up liking or you have what marketing people call "buyer's remorse," sell it on eBay. It's likely you'll make money doing this and save everyone a hassle. If the item doesn't work, find out what you're doing wrong. Yes, we know you think the item is bad, but it's probably your fault. Google your problem, or come back to that product discussion in our community and ask other people if they know. Try to call the manufacturer and ask if they know. If you give up and must return it to us, then follow on to the next FAQ entry.”

Fortunately, I’ve only had to contact Woot customer service once over the course four years and nearly 50 purchases, and my defective product was promptly replaced — they didn’t even call me stupid for using it wrong, though I would have framed the email if they did.

Not only does Woot offer great products and an awesome experience, but the Woot crew (they’re headquartered outside of Dallas) is a great group of people. Sadly, after a long battle with cancer, Jarrett passed away in early 2008. Kriste Aben, a fellow member of the Quicken Loans marketing team wrote to Woot customer service to let them know how much Jarrett loved their website and products, and even though he was no longer with us, visiting Woot every day was one way we would remember and honor him. Much to our surprise, we received a personal reply from Matt Rutledge, the founder and CEO of Woot, offering his support and condolences. That kind of kind gesture is usually unheard of and we were blown away by his touching response.

If you’re not already a Wooter, check out woot.com—there’s a good chance you too will get hooked, and we’d love to have you in the “club”.

Quicken Loans Career Fair

2010-03-05T17:25:43-05:00

Quicken Loans has been named one of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” for the 7th consecutive year! To celebrate, our Recruiting Team is hosting a Career Fair on Tuesday, 3/9/2010 to showcase some of our open career opportunities! The Career Fair will be from 4:00 pm – 7:00 PM EST.

If you are a high-level performer who makes a difference in all that you do, check out our Mortgage Banking position at the Quicken Loans Careers site and attend our Career Fair! You’ll be on your way to success within your first year.

When: Tuesday, 3/9/2010 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Where: Quicken Loans, 20555 Victor Parkway, Livonia, MI 48152

Woot's Crappy Customer Service

2010-03-03T17:26:35-05:00

For those of you who have never heard of Woot.com, there's an entire culture you have been missing. Woot is notorious for selling random electronics, household items, and well... junk. They only sell one item per day, and about every month or so they have a Wootoff where items are continually sold until sold out for a period of 24-72 hours.

The significance of the Wootoff is that one of the items will be a "bag of crap", which is a mystery bag that could contain just about anything they have been selling. You get three items generally (it really is random) and these get sold out within a matter of seconds because loyal Wooters buy them up in hope that their bag of crap will contain a flat-screen, iPod, or something valuable.

All of this is great, until you want to return something. I don't mean the bag of crap, because, well you just take a chance on those. But the regular items. I have purchased two things from Woot (aside from the bags of crap), and it's been a miserable experience both times.

The first time I bought a hand held Dirt Devil Kurv vacuum. The thing never worked right from day one. The suction was weak, and what little it did suck in (small dust pieces) it spit right back out from the air vents. Vacuuming essentially meant wearing the dust from your floors.
So, I wrote to Woot, explaining that the product was defective. Woot tells me to go talk to the product manufacturer. Of course this is difficult, considering the manufacturer simply told me to return it to where I got it from. Woot then said, if I really needed to return it (no duh, I just love emailing you because I think you guys have great writing talent which shine the most through emails), I could pay for shipping back again, and then they could take another two weeks to process and refund me my money. No thanks. It's going to cost me half the amount of my return just to ship the stupid thing, plus weeks of my time. I just let the issue go, and threw away the vacuum.

Many months after this, I (against my better judgment, bought another item off Woot). The day I did this, I found the same thing for much cheaper somewhere else. So, I once again emailed them (just one day after placing the order) asking them if it would be possible to cancel the order since it hadn't shipped yet.

Woot's reply:

"We have already processed the order to ship this morning. We will not be able to cancel." -Bob

So, you're telling me it's impossible to unprocess something you just processed? No wonder returns are so difficult with you guys then. It's pretty clear Bob just doesn't want to be bothered to cancel an order, and it's much easier to just send a curt reply than to actually do the work to provide customer service.

I then checked my credit card statement. They had billed me twice for the purchase, amounting to close to $600. I emailed Woot again. Their response? Because I entered the wrong 3 digit security code initially, the order went through twice (once for the wrong security code, and once for the correct one). The initial transaction put the funds on hold in my account.

So, it's my fault I entered the wrong number, which caused their system to charge me twice. Well geez, if I had shaky hands, their system could have charged me thousands from all the errors!

Here's what I believe: the customer is always right. I have worked in customer service before, and whatever the customer wants, I do my best to make it possible. If Woot doesn't really have a legitimate return policy, they need to just make that clear by saying don't expect to be able to return anything once you buy it. Instead, they just make it as difficult as possible for you to return it, and hope you give up. That's not customer service, that's just being lazy. So Woot, be nice to your customers, and then they won't write long reviews of how bad your service is.

(Photo courtesy of Target).

Quicken Loans President's Club Banker Ryan South is up for Crain's 20 In Their 20s Award

2010-03-03T15:46:14-05:00

By: Victoria Araj

Each year, Crain’s Detroit Business seeks young professionals who are considered difference makers in the metro Detroit area and honor them with the 20 in their 20s Award. Quicken Loans is pleased to have one of their team members, Ryan South, 26, nominated for this prestigious award. Ryan is a President’s Club banker at Quicken Loans, which is the company’s highest distinction for mortgage bankers to achieve and previously served as a Director of Mortgage Banking.

“This has been a personal goal of mine and it’s an honor to be a part of the nominated class because this award highlights the talent our area has to offer and the individuals who are dedicated to staying here and growing our city and state,” South said.

The 20 in their 20s Award highlights the business and creative talents of local professionals under the age of 30. The criteria for nominations revolve around professional and personal achievements and community involvement. Nominees hail from the arts, retail, technology, and many other professions but have one common goal: to make metro Detroit an exciting region to live, work and play.

Since becoming a homeowner in the Albert Kahn-designed Garden Court Condos in the Rivertown District at the age of 23, Ryan has considered himself a PR rep for the City of Detroit. He promotes Detroit events to anyone who will listen and was a featured homeowner in the Crain’s Detroit House Party the last two years. The Detroit News featured Ryan and his condo on the front page of their Homestyle special section, complete with all of the details of his move and his ability to modernize his home while keeping the historic details inherent throughout the loft.

“I don’t leave the city unless I’m driving to work,” said South. In just a few months, he won’t even have to leave for work, as Quicken Loans will be moving its headquarters to the Compuware Building.

“In the next several years, I believe we are going to see more people moving back into the City, growing and enjoying all that the city has to offer. We will start to see more people making the decision to be part of something big right here in their own backyard,” South contends. “Urban living is a beautiful thing, it’s affordable here and there’s a variety of places to live. There have been significant improvements just since the Super Bowl--the Riverfront, residential developments, events like the Winter Blast, we will see consistent betterment.”

Quicken Loans wishes Ryan good luck as the 2010 class of 20 in their 20s will be announced at the end of the month.

Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert talks to SmartBusiness about growing a business and building a corporate culture

2010-03-01T17:24:29-05:00

Great article about Quicken Loans chairman Dan Gilbert on sbnonline.com this past week. Wanted to share it with our readers.

Dan is a culture leader and really gets this stuff. Trust me on that.

Here's some of the article:

Dan Gilbert has a keen eye for detail. If your company’s signage, Web site or marketing materials contain any kind of misspelling, misdirection or misleading verbiage, he’ll see it and he’ll let you know about it.

Take, for instance, the sign Gilbert saw at an automobile repair shop offering “alignment” — a sign that was off-kilter. Or the store that featured two signs near its entrance, one reading “Store Closing” and the other “Now Hiring.” Or, better yet, the store with the neon “scrapbooks” sign that unfortunately had the first “s” burnt out.

I won't bother copying the rest here, but please go to the article and read it. It's a great read.

Thanks SmartBusiness for the great article about our chairman. We truly appreciate it.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the video SmartBusiness put on YouTube. We likes it!