"While sales have indeed increased in the short term, this is an unhealthy outcome. As the reputation of Eastern Amazon continues to deteriorate, they will face a comprehensive crisis!" Upon learning that the rumors were not rumors but facts, Tucker confidently assured everyone at the company meeting.
Of course, the important figures in the meeting did not trouble Tucker. After all, Tucker's work had been done well, and Eastern Amazon's reputation was indeed tarnished. The increase in sales was an unexpected result, and Tucker could not be blamed.
Therefore, the meeting was quite successful for Tucker, were it not for the news received just before the meeting ended: Eastern Amazon would hold a press conference to address the situation.
Holding a press conference itself was not unusual. Given the worldwide attention the matter had garnered, it would be strange not to hold one to explain, and instead let public opinion escalate.
Upon hearing this news, the meeting immediately added a new agenda item: the high-level attendees asked Tucker if he had a contingency plan for this press conference.
"Of course, we do!" Tucker replied with a confident smile. "When we began preparing for this action, we had already prepared for Eastern Amazon's response."
"And the strategy is very simple. Eastern Amazon will definitely try to absolve themselves of all responsibility at the press conference and put on an act of innocence to the best of their ability."
"To counter this, our public relations department has prepared hundreds of different statements in advance, all designed to attack and expose the truth behind Eastern Amazon's blame-shifting. Once the press conference is held, these hundreds of statements will be released by hundreds of media outlets, revealing Eastern Amazon's ugly face to all users."
"At that point, Eastern Amazon will only become blacker the more they try to wash themselves clean, ultimately becoming a complete joke and forever losing the opportunity to compete with our Wanxian Pavilion!" Tucker's words immediately drew enthusiastic applause from the attendees, who were very pleased with the plan.
Of course, there were still one or two dissenting voices. After the applause ended, someone directly questioned Tucker, "What if Eastern Amazon holds this press conference to admit their mistakes and compensate users? Do you have a corresponding plan for that?"
"How is that possible? What company would be willing to admit their mistakes voluntarily!" Tucker was taken aback by the question, mentally scoffing.
However, he quickly and skillfully replied, "If they admit their mistakes, it will be even easier to handle. This means all the accusations are proven true. By admitting they cannot deliver on time and may send out products of questionable quality during delivery, our goal will have been achieved, and Eastern Amazon will have ruined their own future!"
"And then, all we need to do is let more people know about Eastern Amazon's admitted mistakes and consider them a terrible company. That will be enough!"
"However, I want to say one thing: Eastern Amazon will never admit its mistakes. Because, as I mentioned earlier, admitting fault would solidify Eastern Amazon's title as a garbage company, something no large corporation can accept!"
"As you can see, similar incidents happen worldwide every year, but how many companies globally fully admit their mistakes?"
"Therefore, I believe this situation will never happen. Eastern Amazon will definitely try to shirk their responsibilities at the press conference, so please rest assured, we will ensure Eastern Amazon is irrecoverably ruined!"
Tucker's words once again earned thunderous applause. At that moment, a secretary reported that Eastern Amazon's press conference had already begun. Thus, the meeting added a segment for everyone to watch Eastern Amazon's press conference collectively. Watching the enemy make a fool of themselves in front of reporters was indeed a joyous occasion.
Soon, Eastern Amazon's top leadership, led by Liu Qiangdong, appeared at the press conference.
After the press conference officially began, the first segment was an explanation of the two incidents by the head of Eastern Amazon's quality department.
"Dear friends from the media, the two recent incidents concerning Eastern Amazon have garnered significant public attention. Upon learning of these matters, Eastern Amazon immediately initiated self-reflection and internal investigation to ascertain the truth. We have ultimately uncovered some facts and will take this opportunity to announce them to all viewers in front of their televisions, thereby clarifying some aspects of the situation," stated the Quality Manager.
"The same old predictable tactics!" Tucker chuckled upon hearing this. "This is inevitably about shifting blame. Either they'll blame the users, saying it's the users' fault. Or they'll blame individual employees, claiming it was the mistake of a temporary worker and has nothing to do with the company itself!"
"If they are even more shameless, they could even say it's a network issue, that the network was slow and prevented them from receiving orders promptly!"
"Hahaha!" Laughter erupted in the room. Tucker's words were quite accurate because this was precisely how they operated.
Meanwhile, the head of the Quality Department continued, "First, regarding the first incident, a user reported that an order placed on November 17, 2005, in Columbus, Ohio, experienced a delivery delay exceeding 28 hours, and even involved a branch manager verbally abusing the customer. We hereby clarify the situation!"
"Upon learning of this incident, we immediately sent inquiries to all branches in Columbus to identify which branch's order had issues. To our surprise, none of the eight Walmart branches in Columbus reported any delivery delays of 28 hours!"
"We specifically checked the orders for these eight Walmart branches and found no orders with a delay of over 28 hours. Could the customer be lying?"
"Considering the customer had repeatedly discussed the matter with the media and spoke with conviction, not appearing to be lying, we could only re-examine the relevant data repeatedly, but still found no corresponding results."
"Until 7:20 AM the next day, we suddenly received a call from a branch manager in Columbia, Missouri, stating that he might be the person involved in this incident, as he had indeed had a fierce argument with a customer over the phone, and they did have an order that was delayed by 28 hours."
"We were very surprised by this, as Columbia is a city in Missouri, nearly 1000 kilometers away from Columbus, Ohio. We couldn't understand how such an incident could occur between two such distant cities!"
"We immediately launched a further investigation into this situation and indeed found an order from Columbus, 1000 kilometers away, within this branch's business manifest. The purchaser was Mr. Howard, the same person seen on television. Therefore, we believe that Mr. Howard did indeed place an order in Columbia, 1000 kilometers away!"
"We have a guess, the authenticity of which we are unsure, that perhaps because the word 'Columbus' for Columbus City and 'Columbia' for Columbia City are very similar, with only the last two letters differing slightly, Mr. Howard made a mistake when placing the order, entered his address incorrectly, and mistakenly selected Columbus instead of Columbia, leading to this bizarre situation."
"Of course, we have no knowledge of the specific details. He can ask Mr. Howard about the truth of the matter. We only know that Mr. Howard did place an order in a city a thousand kilometers away."
"Upon receiving this order, the branch manager in Columbia immediately called Mr. Howard to communicate. However, this communication proved to be unsuccessful. Mr. Howard believed he had not made a mistake in his order, but that our employee was unwilling to deliver it. Thus, the first fierce argument ensued over the phone."
"Subsequently, our branch manager called Mr. Howard three more times, hoping he would voluntarily cancel the order. This is because, for the sake of user experience, we do not have the authority for our branches to proactively cancel customer orders; only customers can initiate cancellations."
"These three consecutive phone calls failed completely. After much deliberation, the branch manager, unwilling to have an undelivered order in his work, assigned tasks to all employees at 6 AM, then personally drove over 1000 kilometers, taking 12 hours, and finally arrived in Columbus at 6 PM to deliver the order to Mr. Howard."
"However, Mr. Howard was not at home at the time, so we eventually handed the order over to his neighbor for safekeeping."
"Later that night, at 11 PM, as the branch manager was driving back to Columbia, exhausted, he received a call from Mr. Howard."
"Mr. Howard criticized our work over the phone, and the manager, who had been driving for over ten hours, lost his temper and engaged in a fierce 56-minute and 23-second argument with Mr. Howard over the phone, which ended with our side hanging up."
"Following this, Mr. Howard exposed the incident online. This is the entire situation we have investigated and understood regarding the first incident. We hereby explain it to all media."