My wife and I purchased Christmas cards last year from a well known local photography company - a beautiful setting with our four children and lake in the background. When we received the cards, we immediately noticed a name misspelled and incorrect grammar. We contacted the company and they too immediately noticed the error and offer to reprint the cards.

They called a couple days latter and said the cards were ready for pick-up. Their business is near my office in town and my wife said I'd pick-up the new cards on the way home.

So far, so good. But not for long.

The company said I'd have to give them the bad cards before they'd give me the new cards. I didn't have them. I offered to purchase the bad cards (we could give them to family); they said no - their policy is not to give new cards without the bad cards having been returned. They refused to give me the new cards or let me pay for the replacement product at a discounted price.

It's a minor thing, but we returned all cards and purchased new ones elsewhere. There are a number of places we can go for photography services and we can be treated better. We've since spent hundreds of dollars on similar services with a competitor of theirs. And so have many of our friends�...we've told many of our story and they too moved elsewhere.

Seth Godin gives three excellent examples of clueless marketing to back-up his opening statement - We're all clueless. That's the best word I can use to describe the state of the art of marketing. It's another must read Seth Godin post.