Dave Schembri's Blog at smart USA Insider

[SMART]

By now I imagine that every one has had a chance to read Dave Schembri's recent blog at smart USA insider and I think it would be very valuable for us to discuss it here as well.

First off, here is the blog post by Dave Schembri on July 3rd.

I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone to our new smartusainsider.com website, and thank you for embracing this community with such excitement and enthusiasm. We are proud to provide you with an environment in which owners and enthusiasts can share information and experiences, and we look forward to your continued feedback and suggestions.

It seems hard to believe that just over two years ago, we announced that smart would be coming to the USA. So much has happened since that exciting day. Now, here we are on July 3, 2008, selling the smart fortwo for just under six months, and we’ve already delivered over 11,399 vehicles to owners across the country. And, we still have thousands of reservations being generated each month.

To see how much has been accomplished in so little time is incredible and we give you all of the credit and thanks. Your enthusiasm has propelled this brand to a prominent new place in the automotive market of the USA. Your continued advocacy is evident daily. Virtually every day, I receive letters from owners who have wonderful stories to share about their vehicles. I appreciate the time and consideration you have taken to share these experiences with me, and your candor is a compelling factor to make smart USA a constantly adapting company.

For example, I see many discussions on smartusainsider.com about the extra time owners have to build into their days just to answer questions from curious passers-by about the amazing smart fortwo. And I have also seen a request to provide an information card to give to people when you’re in a hurry to get to your next stop, a fantastic idea we were excited to offer to you now.

We have recently given all of our smart centers a supply of “Owners’ Courtesy Cards” that fit into the side door panel or your glove box. If you are interested in obtaining these cards for your use, please contact your smart center. Alternatively, we have created a shorter, downloadable version that you can print from your home computer, fold and store in your glove box. Please feel free to download the online “Courtesy Card” here (Adobe Reader required).

Again, it is our hope to share with you, in a timely fashion, exciting news from smart USA through this blog and on the “Scoop” on smartusainsider.com. As always, your feedback about the smart fortwo and smart USA is welcomed. On behalf of our team here at smart USA, thank you for your support and for your contribution to changing the landscape of the highways of America.

Kind regards and Happy 4th of July,

Dave Schembri
smart USA

So first off I would like to point out the planning of when this blog was posted. Holiday weekends are documents poor internet traffic usage times so I feel it was a poorly planned or particularly succesful release of his very first blog post. Entering in to the social media world is a big step especially for the corporate world so I commend smart USA on such a task but at the same point I must say that everything will be looked upon heavily by visitors so it's probably best to plan, rethink, plan, rethink, and then launch, no different then the launch of smarturbanista.ning.com.

As many of us know we anxiously waited for this community months upon months after hearing word of it in the insider email newsletters. The decision to build a community went round and round at smart USA HQ and after many surveys, test environments, and lots of planning and dev from Ross (I never forget about the guys that do the back-end work ), it finally launched. While the site is a great step forward for all smart enthusiasts, many have asked what purpose the site serves? What gap is it to fill in the smart owner's internet experience and what does it offer different then many of the great sites out there already devoted to smarties? Club smart car, Smart Car of America, 451 smart fortwo, Smart Enthusiast, and more...

While I can't answer these questions all I know is that I wish I had more! I wish I had more answers from smart USA about important issues pertaining to delivery and known product failures, I wish I had more communication from the company I'm so devoted to and invested in with my $99 and months of time, I wish Ken Kettenbeil would return and email to me, I wish OEM parts were more readily available, and much more!

But enough about what I want, we want to hear from you!

What questions do you have? Have you emailed or wrote letters to smart USA that have gone un-answered? Let us know and let us (Smart Car of America) work for you as the customer.

Leave us a response with your feedback and any questions you have so we can collect the most important questions from the smart consumers and get them in front of the right people.

[Dean Smith]

I picked up some "owners courtesy cards" at the dealership. They're nice. I give them to men. Ladies receive a more in-depth tour, and explanation of the qualities of the Smart and really have no need for one after that.

[LorbeerTLC]

I would like to meet the man. So I thought what if he went on tour to all of the smart centers? Offer an open forum in a lecture hall near the smart center so all those interested can attend. He can explain where we are now and what the future has in store. Then it can be opened up to questions. Maybe even a 'meet-and-greet' session.

-Tom L.

[kwagar]

As many of you know, I had early (December, 2007) and somewhat frequent calls from Dave Schenbri and he was helpful in resolving some early dealership issues for me. Since that time I have mailed and e-mailed Dave and Ken K a number of times with somewhat mixed results. I often get some type of response but occasionally get no response at all.

Most e-mail responses tend to take a corporate line in that they say very little and instead of clearly answering my question provide a general response such as "we do not support the use of any aftermarket parts as they may impact safety and performance."

I have been encouraging Dave to announce the current state of reservation numbers--is it currently 20,000; 30,000; 50,000 ? But have seen no response.
I have asked about 2009 models such as when will the change take place, what are the specific differences in the cars or options if any and will the pricing change? The only response I have recieved is that they will try and expect to hold pricing level through 2009.

In any actual phone conversation with Dave, he comes off as caring, supportive and vitally interested in the thoughts, questions and suggestions of his customers but after these conversations nothing generally seems to change. It is very hard not to like him a lot when talking to him but afterwords actions do not always support the conversation.

I was very happy to see his blog and to see him get directly involved in the insider site, the question now is will he stay engaged and will he respond to any of the questions and or comments that have been posted back to him? I surely hope he does.

At one time Dave indicated he was considering a series of live web casts where he and his staff would take and answer questions from customers. I think this could be quite valuable but have assummed he has decided not to go that route.

I am willing to give smart USA some slack based on a small staff and all of the challenges of a start-up company in it's first year. My primary concern and complaint is less communication that I think is reasonable on a large number of issues.

Finally I really wish that smart USA would provide a communication channel to a smart factory technician or engineer that could definatively answer questions such as actual fuel capacity, requirements for the rain sensor to be replaced in the event of a windshield replacement, the status of spare parts and long waits for parts replacements etc.

As an example: Ken Kettenbiel told me the fuel capacity of the smart is a total of 8.72 gals. At the same time smart USA customer service told me the fuel capacity was a total of 10 gals and the dealers have been split with some saying 8.7 and others insisting it is 10 gals. Regardless of whether this is a big issue or a very small issue one would think that someone could provide a definitive answer.

[Rmichael1]

Originally Posted by SMART

As many of us know we anxiously waited for this community months upon months after hearing word of it in the insider email newsletters. The decision to build a community went round and round at smart USA HQ and after many surveys, test environments, and lots of planning and dev from Ross (I never forget about the guys that do the back-end work ), it finally launched. While the site is a great step forward for all smart enthusiasts, many have asked what purpose the site serves? What gap is it to fill in the smart owner's internet experience and what does it offer different then many of the great sites out there already devoted to smarties? Club smart car, Smart Car of America, 451 smart fortwo, Smart Enthusiast, and more...

What purpose? Well, I belong to three other smart online groups besides smart USA insider. They are; SCOA, smart enthusiasts, and a yahoo smart group. What I find on insider is a sense of community. This is a GREAT site for information and has MANY very knowledgeable people but insider gives me a place to show off my car. The homepage on insider is super easy to use and super fun to continually update. I blog there and everyone gets to preview it on a sidebar and I preview their blogs too. Maybe it's because insider is so new but the people there love the smart even BECAUSE of it's faults and I find other forums love the smart in spite of it's faults. That makes a difference to the tone of the site. Yes, I want to live life with rose colored glasses so don't flame me because I want us all to get along. I'm a social worker after all. Happy trails.

[a2jack]

Originally Posted by kwagar

Finally I really wish that smart USA would provide a communication channel to a smart factory technician or engineer that could definatively answer questions such as actual fuel capacity, requirements for the rain sensor to be replaced in the event of a windshield replacement, the status of spare parts and long waits for parts replacements etc.

I too would like to see some real ongoing corporate tech support. This web site, "smart usa insider, could provide it. and it would be a great service to Smart customers. That alone would justify the site. A2Jack

[skyzdlimit59]

I, too, appreciate Mr. Schembri's efforts at reaching out. I also see a place for the website, although after ranting, raving and praising for the past 7 months on this website, I remain loyal and comfortable here. I agree it is a rosier environment, but sometimes that's just what you're looking for - a group that you can praise the car with.
Most times I appreciate the hard questions here, and I've learned so very much from all of you. Kudos to Mr. Schembri, but my visits to the insider website will remain curiosity and those moments when I need some fellow smart geek company.

[Orphan-Beggar]

My primary question is about NEW MODEL YEAR CHOICES.

It would be nice to know plans for 2009 and beyond.

Will we be able to RE-CONFIGURE and when?

[SMART]

Originally Posted by Orphan-Beggar

My primary question is about NEW MODEL YEAR CHOICES.

It would be nice to know plans for 2009 and beyond.

Will we be able to RE-CONFIGURE and when?

I would say this a very applicable question that smart USA should answer for anyone that prepares to order/reserve.

[MENSA42]

i too appreciate Mr Schembris' effort. thanks Dave.

BUT i like a number of others apparently here on 'scoa' don't care for the way 'smart insider' is set up and so i'm not planning on visiting their site much. i'm staying put right here.....sorry 'scoa'!

we have our own GREAT FORUM, thank you very much.