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Writing in The National this morning, correspondent Tom Gara provides an interesting case study of how not to do what one might call a ‘virtual product recall’.  UAE telecoms provider Etisalat sent all BlackBerry users (and there are many thousands of us here) a software upgrade last weekend.  Like the obedient lamb that I am, I clicked to accept the upgrade and thought nothing more of it.  But now many users are finding that their batteries are draining more quickly than before, and of greater interest and concert to many is that the blogosphere is alive with conspiracy theories about how the upgrade actually installed ‘spyware’ to enable Etisalat to intercept calls and emails to and from the device.

As a BlackBerry user, this is both annoying (owing to the shortened battery life) and slightly disconcerting.  Apparently Etisalat’s call centre agents are now telling customers to delete the software patch (too late in my case – I’ve accepted it), but as the correspondent points-out, Etisalat is hardly short of communication channels through which to inform its BlackBerry users about the problem, or provide a clear explanation of the upgrade’s purpose.  I receive several ‘spam’ SMS messages from Etisalat every week offering some new deal or other, and they clearly know exactly who has a BlackBerry because they sent us all the patch only a few days ago.

So in the absence of any communication from the telecommunications provider, speculation and frustration will only increase.   A product recall should follow all the same principles as any other crisis of trust and reputation; take action quickly to remove the product and reimburse customers, and communicate transparently throughout the process.  The only difference here is that the ‘product’ to be recalled came in the form of something apparently called a ‘WAP file’.  So in this case, a virtual product recall – combined with open communications to explain the issue – would seem to be required.

Update 1:

Etisalat has issued a press release today.  This effectively offers a ‘virtual product recall’ because it tells customers who to call for instructions to rectify the software problem.  However, no mention is made of the ‘spyware’ rumours circulating on the internet.  And it remains rather odd that the company has chosen to communicate only via a press release, rather than direct to the affected customers via SMS - which would presumably be another worthwhile channel of communication to use in order to stem the speculation and frustration being expressed online.

Update 2:

No sooner had I written the previous update than – as if to prove my point – Etisalat sent me an SMS advertising special call rates to celebrate Al Israa Wal Miraj holiday on 19th July!

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