After seeing the costumes for D Krewe at their launch last year I was quite impressed with the designs; to me they offered an alternative to the more clothed sections in Trini Revellers, thus appealing to the younger masquerader as well as those who wanted costumes that were more akin to “bikni mas” and there is absolutely wrong with having that desire as a masquerader. As I did not personally play with D Krewe I can only go by what one of my friends who did play with them informed me of, as well as reviews I got from two bloggers who also played with D Krewe. From those reports it was revealed that costume delivery proved to be quite a challenge for D Krewe. Apparently there were other issues that hampered D Krewe during Carnival as well, which is addressed in this letter they emailed to their masqueraders:
March 26th, 2007.
Dear Krewe Member,
Roland St. George, Richard Abraham and D’Krewe wish to extend our heartfelt apologies for any inconvenience you will have suffered in the collection of your costumes and on Carnival Tuesday during the lunch period.
You may not be aware, but instructions by the Police caused the late arrival of our food trucks. Added to this we readily admit that the customer service, by way of information, provided by our food and bar staff were not of the highest standard. This served in some cases to put a damper on the festivities in our Section.
Despite these setbacks however, the general understanding displayed by our Section Members turned possible disaster into a quite enjoyable time. For this, we sincerely wish to thank you.
The positives we wish to take with us were: as usual D’Krewe was the largest Section in Trini Revellers, we had our own music trucks, drinks flowed (with a minor interruption) all day and into the night and of course our costuming was of the highest standard and quality.
As we begin our plans for Carnival 2008, we wish to thank you our masqueraders for your support, advice and words of encouragement as we continue in our efforts to provide the best quality service.
Given the challenges this year, we have reviewed and revised the system to ensure timely collection of costumes for 2008. If you do not collect within 45 minutes, incentives will be offered to ensure your satisfaction.
In this regard, we are having a thanksgiving fete for you on Saturday April 14th, 2007 at the Starlift Pan Theatre, Mucurapo Road. Your invitation to this event is enclosed with this letter and it entitles you to bring one (1) guest. Food and drinks are included with your admission and in order to adequately cater to your needs, please R.S.V.P to the following 622-8834, 622-1716 and 483-2247.
Once again we wish to thank you for your understanding and unwavering support we look forward to your company on the 14th.
D’Krewe
Roland St. George
Richard Abraham
I guess this gesture of apology coupled with a "Thank You" party says that whomever is in charge of their Public Relations knows exactly what they are doing! It is one thing to have problems with the band for Carnival (and each band did have their own issues to deal with) and quite another to publicly own up to those issues with attempts and assurances of putting measures in place for masqueraders to receive some form of recourse should it occur again. Smart move by D Krewe!
So for all masqueraders of D Krewe please R.S.V.P if you will be attending your "thank you party" on the 14th of April at the numbers listed above. The idea of the "Thank You" party is brilliant, in my opinion, and I wish other bands would see the value of doing something like that for their "loyal" masqueraders. It's simply a nice touch to the total Carnival experience!
So for all masqueraders of D Krewe please R.S.V.P if you will be attending your "thank you party" on the 14th of April at the numbers listed above. The idea of the "Thank You" party is brilliant, in my opinion, and I wish other bands would see the value of doing something like that for their "loyal" masqueraders. It's simply a nice touch to the total Carnival experience!
4 comments:
Nice! Tribe take note. THIS is how customer service is done! Where is my apology for dumping us off lunch time on Tuesday, making me sick with your spoiled food and ABOVE ALL changing your contracted route so that hundreds of us could not even find the band.
This may be a gimmick for DKrewe to keep its clients before their solo launch but boy it feels good when a LITTLE professionalism is displayed by our money-hungry mas makers. Thanks for raising the too-low standard.
When an apology is specific and not general, when there is a pledge to correct those very same complaints with specific measurements and incentives to tests the improvements, I would say this is no gimmick. This is called product improvement and quality control for the survival of any enterprise in a free market.
Branding is very important in marketing. And, customer loyality is in direct proportion to the value (not always just money) they get from a particular brand.
D Krewe's attitude is what its all about to continue to raise the high water marks in the collective efforts to improve Trindad's Carnival to a world class event it truly deserves.
I would agree with you Dougla 1. I was just making the comment that other mas bands should actually follow this wonderful example set by D'Krewe. Based on this and feedback from revellers in that band this year, I am strongly considering them as a band of choice next year.
While branding is important, it is good for the particular brand/band to not realize they too can fall from grace. In the case of Tribe, loyalty and patronage this year for example was taken for granted and substituted with mediocrity.
I too think D Krewe took a good step in addressing the issues, though I personally was not affected by any of the issues anon 6:51am addressed I know other masqueraders who were indeeded left behind after the band split after crossing the stage downtown.
What ever the reasons, none was given by TRIBE nor any apology forthcoming. I do know many people did write them to express their feelings via email so hopefully those issues will be addressed for 2008.
I also noticed Mc Farlane issuing a similar apology on his website; it really is a nice way to own up to your mistakes, even those that were unavoidable instead of disregarding masquerader's complaints.
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