BloggingStocks

Cablevision is getting its business right, one customer at a time

Joseph Lazzaro — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:40:00 EST

It looks like Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC) is starting to get-it-in-gear. Hence, I'm reiterating my Buy rating for CVC, first recommended on May 29, 2009 at a price of $19.03. If you purchased CVC then, you're up about 30%.

Even ignoring the potential spin-off of sports arena Madison Square Garden, Cablevision's positives have always been compelling: fifth-largest cable t.v. operator (about 10.4 million revenue generating units), with a strong presence in a lucrative market (New York City area, 3.1 cable t.v. subscribers); included in that are about 2.8 million premium cable t.v. subscribers, called iO Digital; nearly 2.5 million high-speed internet subscribers; and 1.9 million internet voice (telephone) subscribers.

Continue reading Cablevision is getting its business right, one customer at a time

Cablevision is getting its business right, one customer at a time originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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United's battle over its identity

Tom Johansmeyer — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Southwest Airlines (LUV), AMR Corp (AMR), UAL Corp (UAUA), Delta Air Lines (DAL)

United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAUA), US Airways (NYSE: LCC) and American Airlines (NYSE: AMR), according to an influential analyst, have run out of options. Jamie Baker of JPMorgan said in a July 20, 2009 report that these companies couldn't do anything to prevent a cash crisis. They only savior available to them would have to be an outside investor. To call the position grim would be optimistic. Unfortunately, it couldn't have come at a worse time.

As Baker was walking the bear into the airline industry, United was starting to celebrate its change in direction. The carrier has improved its on-time rate, according to a USA Today report, and its operations are coming around. Despite the fact that the airline industry has been brutalized by the global recession, the airline has made some progress. Through August, the company's share price doubled, and its ascent has continued in September. So, the company is locked in an ongoing struggle to manage its identity, cope with its past and shape how the world sees it today.

The operational "makeover" has resulted in a reduction of its fleet from 601 jets in 2000 to 386 as of the summer of 2009. In terms of passenger traffic, it's in the #4 spot in the United States - trailing Delta (NYSE: DAL), Southwest (NYSE: LUV) and American. With Q2 revenues off 25.2% year-over-year, however, drastic measures are still necessary.

Continue reading United's battle over its identity

United's battle over its identity originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is dealing with Apple always so difficult?

Jonathan Berr — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:42:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Apple Inc (AAPL), Marketing and Advertising, Best Buy (BBY)

Riddle me this Applenauts, Mac Geeks, and other assorted nerds: Is dealing with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) always such a royal pain in the butt?

The reason I ask is that my wife and I joined the Mac cult yesterday. We became the owners of a new, aluminum MacBook. My dad -- an Apple fan since the 1970s -- could not be prouder. I, too, was ecstatic. Finally, I am going to be one of the cool kids. I would be part of the revenge of the nerds. My technological joy, however, may be short-lived.

Our problem was with Apple's customer service or lack thereof. For one thing, we weren't able to complete our order on Black Friday because of a technical snafu on the Apple Web site that made it impossible for us to use the company's zero-percent interest financing offer. The rare sale discount we were able to get for the machine evaporated. My wife tried to get a hold of customer service on Saturday, but got disgusted after being disconnected. We drove to Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) to look at laptops but nothing grabbed our fancy even though many of the machines offered comparable performance to the MacBook for much lower prices.

Continue reading Is dealing with Apple always so difficult?

Is dealing with Apple always so difficult? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Are retailers trying to boost sales by being nice to customers?

Jonathan Berr — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:41:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Wal-Mart (WMT), Circuit City Stores (CC), Gap Inc (GPS)

Funny thing happened during my family's recent visit to the mall yesterday: the sales help noticed that we were alive.

They said "hello," offered us a coupon and --- get this -- thanked us for stopping by. My wife and I were shocked to get this level of service from our local mall where like many shopping emporiums customer service was an after-thought. Truth be told, I wonder how many sales people working at malls can even spell "customer service."

I guess you can call it the upside of declining retail sales. Companies are scrambling for every customer they can get because holiday sales this year are expected to be godawful. Michael Nemira, chief economist of the International Council of Shopping Centers, recently lowered his forecast for holiday sales growth for November and December period to 1 percent growth from 1.7%, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Retailers ranging from Gap Inc. (NYSE: GPS) to Neiman Marcus have posted terrible sales. Even Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), which has posted better-than-expected results, remains nervous about the consumer. Circuit City Stores Inc.'s (NYSE: CC) filing for bankruptcy protection today only heightened these fears.

That's why retailers need to pay even closer attention to the customer than ever before. Given the precarious state of many household budgets, shoppers will have less tolerance than ever for rude or incompetent retail staff. They are putting up with enough troubles in their own lives. Retailers who do not understand this reality will have an even less joyous holiday season.

Are retailers trying to boost sales by being nice to customers? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Entrepreneur's Journal: Secrets of customer service

Tom Taulli — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Columns, Small Business

In 1997, Greg Gianforte started a new-fangled software company called Right Now (NASDAQ: RNOW) to help companies improve customer relationships. It proved to be great timing, since the internet was just beginning its surge.

Over the years, I've had a chance to talk to Greg, who always has great insights for entrepreneurs. Now he has a new book: Eight to Great: Eight Steps to Delivering an Exceptional Customer Experience.

It's a quick read, easy to understand and has lots of case studies focusing on companies like eHarmony, TomTom, Nikon, and so on.

The theme of the book is straightforward: "providing an excellent customer experience -- the sum total of a customer's interactions with an organization -- can be the single best way to set your company apart from the competitors."

OK, so what are some of the things you can do to help improve customer service?

Continue reading Entrepreneur's Journal: Secrets of customer service

Entrepreneur's Journal: Secrets of customer service originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sprint (S) wants its customers back

Douglas McIntyre — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:33:00 EST

Filed under: Management, Industry, Sprint Nextel Corp (S)

Sprint (NYSE:S) often shows up in customer services surveys as one of the least respected companies in America. That has caused a number of its cellular subscribers to drop service and take their business elsewhere.

To try to win back customers, Sprint's CEO is even going on TV. According to The New York Times, "In the commercials, Mr. Hesse asks customers to e-mail him with complaints and to give Sprint another chance." Daniel R. Hesse is Sprint's new top man.

Hitting the airwaves with a new message hardly seems worth the time, or money.

Sprint may be able to get some customers back with its new Samsung Instinct phone, which has gotten good reviews. But, there is no evidence in polls about how subscribers view the company to indicate that the firm has become a symbol of an American cellular provider with happy customers.

Fix the problem. Stay off the tube.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Sprint (S) wants its customers back originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Starbucks is taking consumer opinion to a whole new level

Gary Sattler — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:49:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Products and Services, Management, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Starbucks (SBUX), Marketing and Advertising

The idea of serving customer needs and desires is rooted in the age-old notion of listening to the customer. One company taking consumer input to a whole new level is our favorite specialty coffee vendor, Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX).

How about ice cubes made from Starbucks' own coffee, so you can cool that java without diluting the savory stuff? That's what one customer suggested. What do you think? Another thoughtful consumer thinks that Starbucks customers might like shelves in the restrooms to rest their coffee on while "taking care of business." A nice idea perhaps, but I believe that the practice of taking consumables into restrooms is discouraged in most instances.

At least one Starbucks customer request has already had a major effect. Reusable "splash sticks" have been introduced by the company to reduce coffee splash through the sipping lid of its sturdy cups.

The entire focus of this new Starbucks business model is summed up by CEO Howard Schultz, who was quoted in BusinessWeek as saying that he wanted "to open up a dialogue with customers and build up this muscle inside our company." Mr. Schultz would like to make response to the consumer a cornerstone of company tradition.

So, what do you think? Should Starbucks initiate valet parking? Should it have barristas on roller skates cruising its parking lots? Maybe it should offer complimentary mocha caramel biscuits for the dogs that accompany its customers? What about individual caffeine packets so coffee addicts could personally customize their morning buzz?

One thing's for sure, Starbucks' says it's listening. Now is your chance to prove that you're a marketing genius. Howard Schultz wants to return the company to its former glory. Give him a piece of your mind, would ya?

Gary Sattler is a freelance blogger. He does not knowingly hold interest in the companies mentioned in this blog post.

Starbucks is taking consumer opinion to a whole new level originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple (AAPL) $100 iPhone credit comes with a catch (Update)

Jonathan Berr — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:45:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Apple Inc (AAPL), Marketing and Advertising, iPhone, Smartphones

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) Chief Executive Steve Jobs ~~has a funny of showing he's sorry.~~ has limits on his generosity.

The $100 merchandise credit that Jobs offered last week to consumers outraged by the $200 iPhone price cut came with a catch: people can't use it on the popular iTunes service, according to Bloomberg News. (Update: After that initial report, Apple said that the information on its Web site was in error. Users won't be able to add the credit directly to their iTunes account, Bloomberg says.)

My guess is that Jobs wants people to use the credit for new Mac computers, iPods or to buy their friends a new, cheaper iPhone.

Now, despite what people wrote in response to my last Apple post, I actually am a fan of the company. The iPod is one of the greatest technological gizmos ever invented even though my particular one drives me bonkers from time to time. I'm even trying to convince my wife to buy a Mac.

Though Apple does have a right to place limits on its offer ~~but prohibiting customers from using its most popular service is baffling.~~ it's needs to make sure that a similar mixup doesn't happen again

Apple (AAPL) $100 iPhone credit comes with a catch (Update) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell's (DELL) customer service ratings fall again

Brian White — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:15:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Dell (DELL)

Although Dell, Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) has reportedly committed $150 million to improving the quality of worldwide customer support services (along with product quality), apparently that money has not yet had an effect. Proof may be in the pudding with a recent rating of PC makers that was conducted by the University of Michigan, in which Dell's customer service ratings slipped by 5% at a time when it should have improved.

The ratings have Dell near the bottom of all PC manufacturers, with an overall score of 74 out of 100. It's the same rating Dell earned in 2005 when it was under fire to improve customer quality and technical support. An experiment to outsource these positions to India backfired, when customers were infuriated by the sloppy English skills of those Indian employees and the breakdown in communication it caused.

The latest study that has been released from the University of Michigan concludes that Dell's customer quality really has not made any significant improvements since 2005. The question then becomes: with all the changes the computer maker has made to improve customer handling quality, where have all these efforts gone? Why are they not showing results? Perhaps not enough time has gone by, although with the hiring of 2,000 U.S.-based service employees this year, some tangible results should be evident -- if not now, then very soon.

Dell's (DELL) customer service ratings fall again originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fire your customers? Sometimes their business just isn't worth it

Tom Taulli — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Sprint Nextel Corp (S)

Back in early July, there was a brouhaha over Sprint's (NYSE: S) decision to terminate roughly 1,000 subscribers because of persistent calls to customer service (the average was about 40 to 50 calls per month).

But isn't the customer king?

Maybe so, but there are some customers that can wreak havoc on your business. For example, there always seems to be some people who pay late (or not at all). At the same time, they keep demanding more services and changes. Such customers can eat up lots of resources and drag down the performance of your business.

True, with some customers it might be smart to put up with their bad behavior, even if you must take a loss on their business. This can be the case when you want to land a marquee name. In this situation, a troublesome customer can be worth the price if they provide a boost to your credibility and a reference for future business.

But this is the exception. Basically, to run a profitable business, it's critical to be rigorous on the return on each customer. Simply put, there are some customers that are not worth it.

Continue reading Fire your customers? Sometimes their business just isn't worth it

Fire your customers? Sometimes their business just isn't worth it originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 11 Aug 2007 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I love hardware stores, but Home Depot ... hmm

Sheldon Liber — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:40:00 EST

Filed under: Good news, Bad News, Management, Consumer Experience, Rants and Raves, Competitive Strategy, Home Depot (HD), Employees

Many years ago, one of my professors gave a design lecture which he titled I love hardware stores. In it, he presented various building elements that were off-the-shelf items that could be used to create (what he thought was) a particularly appealing aesthetic. He offered this theme as contemporary yet rustic, detailed yet simple, and very accessible to all.

After writing three stories on The Home Depot(NYSE: HD) recently, I feel that unlike many posts, a real dialog has been created between writer and reader, and people have brought up many issues that would be worthwhile for Home Depot to take note of -- not just offer up lip service, but really take to heart.

Continue reading I love hardware stores, but Home Depot ... hmm

I love hardware stores, but Home Depot ... hmm originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wendy's outsourcing for its drive-throughs

Beth Gaston Moon — Tue, 15 May 2007 12:29:00 EST

Filed under: Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Wendy's Intl (WEN)

We've come a long way from the days of crackling, garbled drive-through terminals at our favorite fast fooderies. Now many are equipped with a digital screen, designed to verify orders and cut down on errors (why would I ever order a bean burrito with extra onions and no cheese?).

Wendy's International (NYSE: WEN) is forging ahead with the latest innovation as it outsources the job of drive-through order taking. The home of the Frosty and the square burgers has established a call center near Wilmington, Delaware. A staff of about 12 workers utilizes Internet phone lines to man food orders for nine restaurants in five states, including New Hampshire and Florida.

While I wonder about the reliability of the new technology (what if the phone lines go out?), the CEO of Exit 41, a Boston company specializing in remote-ordering systems, affirms that outsourcing the order-taking both reduces errors and lowers stress for on-site employees. And if every drive-through transaction is shortened by even fractions of a second, the savings can be in the millions.

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Wendy's outsourcing for its drive-throughs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 May 2007 12:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MSN's Customer Service Hall of Shame

Zac Bissonnette — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:40:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Internet, Marketing and Advertising, Scandals, Columns, AT and T (T), Bank of America (BAC), Comcast Cl'A' (CMCSA), Time Warner Cable (TWC)

MSN Money has released its MSN Money-Zogby poll of the "Customer Service Hall of Shame," which ranks the top 10 companies with bad customer service. Here are how the results came in, with the name of the company and the percentage of respondents who rated the service as "poor:"

Sprint 40%
Bank of America 30%
Comcast 30%
Time Warner Cable 29%
AT&T 26%
CitiBank 24%
Wal-Mart 23%
Verizon 22%
Wells Fargo 21%
DirecTV 20%

As I saw the results, I was also reading a wonderful new book called The Best Investment Advice I Ever Received. Dr. Bob Froehlich of Deutsche Asset Management recounted this quote from James Walton, the son of Wal-Mart (which is, ironically, number 7 for poor customer service) founder Sam Walton, talking about the importance of customer service:

"You know what people don't get? They don't understand the fundamental relation between a profitable company and a company with great service. Most investors don't look at this correlation, even though it's the leading indicator of a profitable company. Instead, they are too busy looking at price/earnings ratios and balance sheets, but at the end of the day if you can find those companies and industries that are really focusing on service, you watch what happens five or six years later. Good service is the best indicator. It is a qualitative way to look at companies and investment opportunities unlike anything else you tend to see.

I think that James Walton's words may be a bit of an exaggeration -- some companies, possibly including Wal-Mart, are so strong in other areas, or so entrenched, that customer service may no longer be so important for them. But if Walton was right (I suspect in many cases he is), investors may want to avoid the Hall of Shame.

MSN's Customer Service Hall of Shame originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 20:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sears helping out soldiers

Gary Sattler — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:55:00 EST

Filed under: Products and Services, Marketing and Advertising, Sears Holdings (SHLD)

In a move that is down-right American, Sears stores (NYSE: SHLD) are going the extra mile for our men and women in the armed forces. It was reported to me that not only is Sears gladly meeting the legal requirements to hold open and available the jobs temporarily vacated by individuals who are called into active military service but they are proud to go above and beyond the call of duty. Sears is voluntarily paying the difference in salary and maintaining all benefits including medical insurance and bonus programs for a period of up to two years for their reservist employees who are called into service. I myself will happily drive ten miles beyond a Wal-Mart store (NYSE: WMT) and joyfully risk paying slightly higher prices to deal with a company that treats my soldiers like that.

Continue reading Sears helping out soldiers

Sears helping out soldiers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Man crashes car into office to protest bad service

Beth Gaston Moon — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:42:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Consumer Experience, Internet

We've all experienced unsatisfactory customer service at some point. Slow service from a bartender, inattentiveness in a clothing store, interminably futile telephone conversations with utilities companies. Some of us can quickly brush aside these transgressions; others might take comfort in writing a strongly-worded letter (or seven).

One Korean man, Kim (the lone name that has been released in the press), took a slightly more dramatic approach, barreling a friend's borrowed Mercedes S500 into the South Korean lobby of SK Telecom's (NYSE: SKM) offices. Consumerist.com quoted Kim as saying: "The Samsung Anycall call phone that I bought from a [SK Telecom] distributor . . . didn't work at all."

Before taking these drastic measures, the disgruntled consumer said he placed 16 calls to his carrier's customer service department and visited the head office twice. An employee suggested Kim simply replace his phone with a newer model because the old version was no longer available.

No word yet on the repercussions facing Kim (on the part of either Samsung or his friend from whom he borrowed the Mercedes.)

Beth Gaston Moon is an analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Man crashes car into office to protest bad service originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Another take on the Shultz memo

Kevin Kelly — Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:40:00 EST

Filed under: Other Issues, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Starbucks (SBUX)

Since covering the situation at Starbucks Coffee on BloggingStocks here, I have received numerous comments from readers offering their views on the situation. As a whole, the readers seem to feel like Shultz is correct and, indeed, Starbucks has been losing its "romance." However, in the Wall Street Journal today, there was an interesting take on the situation written by a reader of the paper. Basically, the reader feels that Starbucks's problems are different than those outlined by Howard Shultz in the memo.

Ms. Nolan feels that the real problem with the Starbucks brand is "much more basic: The service is poor and the prices are high." She referenced a recent trip to a Starbucks in Maryland. During this visit, the store was out of cinnamon, sugar, and stirrers, and the store clerk suggested she take those products from a nearby store. However, as Ms. Nolan put it, "I'm not in the habit, however, of sneaking into another shop to steal sugar packets and a stirrer for the overpriced latte I purchased elsewhere."

In my opinion, while some people may feel the romance and theatre is important to Starbucks as a company, undeniably the most important aspect of Starbucks is providing a premier product with a pleasurable experience. This is especially critical because people notoriously pay up for Starbucks products, and if they can't receive this product in its highest quality or a timely manner (when wishing to do so versus staying in the store) they will no longer purchase their coffee from Starbucks. The coffee market is very saturated and Starbucks had better start making some changes or they risk losing market share.

Another take on the Shultz memo originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 04 Mar 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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JetBlue dumped from BusinessWeek customer service rankings

Jonathan Berr — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: Other Issues, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Competitive Strategy, Employees, Southwest Airlines (LUV)

JetBlue Airways Corp. (NASDAQ:JBLU) suffered yet another humiliation in the press.

BusinessWeek dropped the low-cost carrier from its first-ever ranking of "client pleasing brands" following the recent embarrassing revelations that it left passengers stranded on the runway for 10 hours during an ice storm. The magazine compares how Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE:LUV) handled a similar situation and finds that JetBlue's response fell way short.

The airline, of course, says the same thing. Chief Executive David Neeleman has apologized more than Mel Gibson, Michael Richards and Kevin Federline combined. Wait, Federline hasn't said he was sorry yet for his rap album but he should.

This reminds of a time when I was invited to a chemical plant for a safety demonstration. While I was on the site, there was an accident. Timing is everything.

Maybe BusinessWeek is being too harsh. Judging from the huge response to my last JetBlue post, there are plenty of people who think the airline's service is great. But as a great sage once said, actions speak louder than words.

JetBlue dumped from BusinessWeek customer service rankings originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Network Solutions: My online customer service nightmare

Tom Taulli — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:05:00 EST

Filed under: Blogs, Rants and Raves, Amazon.com (AMZN)

For years, I have bought tons of things online - from big places like Amazon.com to small outfits. For the most part, service has been fine, especially from Amazon.com.

About a month ago, though, things went haywire. In one week, I had three bad experiences with online merchants.

The good news is that two of them were resolved very quickly. In fact, in one case, I knew the CEO. His company, VistaPrint Ltd. (NASDAQ:VPRT), is a fast-growing online printer.

Hey, even those companies that are built-to-last get things wrong. The important thing is how they respond. And VistaPrint was flawless. Impressively, I talked to the CEO a couple hours before his earnings conference call (and, by the way, his company had a blow-out quarter).

But my experience was much different with another company, Network Solutions. The company sells web hosting and domain names. I'm sure I've spent thousands of dollars - over the years - with this company.

Continue reading Network Solutions: My online customer service nightmare

Network Solutions: My online customer service nightmare originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Oct 2006 12:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Results of Home Depot Q2 Earnings Call

Victoria Erhart — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:01:00 EST

Filed under: Earnings Reports, Good news, Press Releases, Home Depot (HD)

Home Depot got quite a lift yesterday in response to its second quarter earnings report. The stock rose $1.18, up 3.55%, to close at $34.44. The news from Atlanta was good, if modest. Q2 2006 net earnings were up 5.3% to $1.86 billion, versus $1.77 billion in Q2 2005. On the basis of Q2 2006 earnings, Home Depot has scaled back its full year sales growth figure to 14% and has reduced projected earnings per share growth to 10% -- both at the lower end of its range in January 2006.

Bowing to widespread customer complaints about a decline in customer service, Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli outlined several new initiatives, including budgeting for 5.5 million associate work hours for the second half of 2006. There was no indication how many more hours this figure represents beyond current staffing levels. Home Depot will also introduce a 24-hour customer service hotline: 1-800-Home Depot. By year-end, all Home Depot stores will have one or more customer self-checkout lanes.

There were several flies in today's ointment, however. One was the announcement that Home Depot owes $69 million in retroactive taxes in Quebec due to a change in tax laws. Also, Home Depot is involved in an SEC investigation into its stock option procedures. The company is also named in at least one lawsuit pursuant to those stock option procedures. Home Depot stated that it does not believe these legal actions will have a material adverse impact.

Results of Home Depot Q2 Earnings Call originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 16 Aug 2006 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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