I was just thinking this morning, ‘Well then, that whole SpinVox story is over now,’ …
Then I saw Milo’s Tweet just now:
New revelations in the SpinVox saga http://tr.im/uzl2
My position was ‘fair enough, James (and SpinVox) can’t answer the ‘coca cola’ question (what percentage of voicemails are humanly transcribed) because it’s commercially sensitive.’
And the rest of the issues? Answered by James Whatley and at least ‘finished’ in my mind.
What I didn’t expect was Rory Cellan-Jones over at the BBC to do a clinical rebuttal, point-by-point (“SpinVox: We stand by our story“). And some of his statements are hugely damaging to the reputation of SpinVox. Have a read, this one isn’t over.
and Mr Whatley's 'Mr Cuddly' image is starting to crack a bit…
The 64K question is going to have to dealt with or Spinvox is going down the pan, James ought to be looking for support from friends in the business and be grateful when it arrives, Spinvox is fighting for it's very existence and needs to retain and nurture any positives it can lay its hands on.
Ok I only started reading up on the subject when Mr. Whatley's response to all the accusations was carried on here, and even after reading both that post and the original BBC story I too thought that, by and by, that would be that.
However after reading the new rebuttal from the BBC I can see that this one has some serious issues still outstanding and seems to far from over. The BBC have really stuck the knife into some of Mr. Whatley's replies…
Goes to show social media blog approach to company comms is valuable in talking with customers but NOT for corporate crisis management. The spinvox blog was a mistake yesterday. The notion that it could somehow refute the claims in the manner it was written is a lesson well learnt. It has added fuel to the fire which was dwindling, it now looks like a firestorm.
Another point if I may….I have read reports that SpinVox has revenues of £2 million per year and in a recent interview with the Guardian the chief exec of SpinVox added that with almost 100 million customers worldwide it would also be utterly impractical for people to transcribe even a relatively small percentage of the messages.
How much does this service cost the user per month? I have read it was £5 per month… then how do 100 million customers generate revenues of 'just' £2M per annum??
I left a comment on spinvox blog post a day ago but it still awaits an approval. So for Whatley's attentiveness!