Why my Pinterest account lasted... 5 minutes!

I liked the sound of Pinterest - being able to make a collection of images and videos - so I created myself an account.

Then 5 minutes later I deactivated it.

Why?

When you pin an image or a video in Pinterest, you assign a category to it.  There was no category for "business".  Most of the articles or videos I would pin as "of interest to me" would be business-related.  So I contacted Pinterest support and asked if they could add this new category.

Instantaneously they came back with an answer.

Good?

No.  Because it was a template reply written by a machine.

The reply had my name wrong (addressing me by the first part of my business name).  It said 'Unfortunately, we’re a small team and we won't be able to respond to your email".  Pathetic!  Don't invite customers to e-mail you if you haven't got enough people to answer them!

I answered the message saying "well if you can't add a category, please can I add one?"

And got another template reply!

This time it said:

"We received your reply. We love interacting with pinners, but usually can’t respond individually to this type of request. Rest assured we are always listening and we’re frequently making improvements to Pinterest and our documentation based on what we read in emails like this one."

Well I'm sorry but I don't believe that.  If they "love interacting with pinners" why do they not respond individually to their customers?  And if they're "always listening" why do they send canned replies?

I'm a passionate believer in the concept of customer delight.  Customers should come away from an interaction feeling valued and cherished, even if the supplier can't always do what the customer wants.  I came away feeling like I'd been brushed off like an annoying fly.  Not nice.

That's why my Pinterest account has been deactivated.  And it won't be reactivated unless Pinterest sharpen up their customer service.