Skip to content
Log In | Sign Up Connect
 

What’s your story?

Share and find customer experiences

Connect with the people behind them

Wacktrap is
feedback made social

Post Your Wack Now

Trending Content

 

Millions Depend On A Few Good Wacks: Wacktrap.com Launches

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Millions Depend On A Few Good Wacks: Wacktrap.com Launches

December 10, 2009 –
“That’s the most wack thing I’ve ever heard” is the highest compliment at Wacktrap. Along with lousy, lame, idiotic or just plain crazy, it doesn’t get better. Two young women are sure just that idiocy which is destined to change the lives of millions.

The Wacktrap website (http://www.wacktrap.com) opens its virtual doors to the public as of this Friday, December 11, 2009, 8:01 a.m. (PST).

Founders Shannon Miller and Suzanne Ziesche have paired in creation and launch of Wacktrap, the website which takes all the outrageous, wack things in life and snares ‘em in one place. A wack ranges from the lame to the seemingly unbelievable or even absurd. “Wacks occur daily, in every industry,” says Miller, “name virtually any type of business, crazy experiences happen.” Customers may have a wack experience related to a retail store, credit card company, bank or service or that wack may just as easily be related to a homeowners association, contractor, attorney, or even doctor.

When Wacktrap founders Miller and Ziesche first learned a California cable repair technician had allegedly been greeted by both shotgun and simultaneous demand for television repair, neither was surprised.

Only months prior, a 75-year-old Virginia woman hammered out her frustrations with one of the nation’s most prominent cable providers. The elderly customer was looking to upgrade existing service. After what she claims to be unsuccessful or unfulfilled attempts for upgrade, the local call center received an in-person call one Friday afternoon. Supposedly told that a manager would “be right out,” Shaw waited with her husband on an outside bench during August temperatures. After two hours the couple was informed the manager had left for the day. It seems Shaw’s blues had only begun. Returning home, she discovered a previously connected telephone line now non-functioning. The woman says the company promised a return call for the coming Monday. Apparently that call had not been received when Mona Shaw returned to the call center late Monday, clawhammer in hand. Smashing a nearby keyboard and tumbling a monitor, the 75-year-old queried, “Have I got your attention now?”   

“Whether Mona Shaw had the attention of that company, she certainly had ours,” says Ziesche. Development of Wacktrap had been in full swing. Miller and Ziesche believe Shaw’s experience mirrors the frustrations experienced by millions – every day, across every industry.

“Many companies either don’t see, or ignore, the fact that every one of us is a person first and foremost. Not one of us is a customer first, and a person second. People want and need to feel heard. When people don’t feel heard, it stirs feelings of powerlessness or even resentment,” says Miller. “Combine service or quality issues with continued feelings of powerlessness,” says Ziesche, “and it’s like tossing a match to lighter fluid.” The message customers are sending to businesses is clear: this relationship is out of wack, imbalanced, and needs to change.

“It's totally not like me to do stuff like this,” Shaw had said following her call center visit. The portrait of the elderly woman, ear-to-ear grin included, matches that statement. A registered nurse, Air Force retiree, secretary of the local square-dancing club, and active church member, Mona Shaw doesn’t seem the irrational or unruly type. That may be just the reason her story gained such immediate and nationwide interest, with Shaw even hailed a hero.

“It's like they got you in their clutches and they'll do what they damn well please,” recalled Shaw. “My blood pressure went up around my ears. I started hyperventilating.” Shaw’s sentiment and feelings are well understood by many. “People instantly understand and connect with the phrase ‘it makes my blood boil,’ says Ziesche, “specifically because those emotionally-charged experiences rattle the body and mind. You don’t have to be Mona Shaw to understand the way upsetting experiences make you feel and their impact on your body.”

Enter Wacktrap. Wacktrap acts as a fuse, interrupting power that might otherwise cause some serious harm. The fuse blows, effectively protecting interior wiring from total meltdown. That small fuse, and its smoky interior, may appear tiny. The message that blown fuse conveys however is huge: before power will travel that path again, attention and correction are required now.

At Wacktrap, members take the negative power out of calamity and turn it into a positive force of even greater power. “Not only are you giving yourself and friends a great laugh but you’re also helping at least one other person simultaneously. How many places can you actually say you don’t want to leave, because you’re feeling so much better than when you arrived?,” says Ziesche. “A wack a day keeps the crazies at bay.”

“Life is crazy. No one can change all the wack things that occur, whether the outrageous experience is related to a business or to a person. Those experiences are, and will remain, part of life. The vital part to understand is that the experiences may be unavoidable, but how we handle those experiences dramatically changes how we feel,” says Miller. After an upsetting or terrible experience, good friends or family often say, “this may seem really bad now, but when you look back later, you’ll laugh about it.” Wacktrap says "let’s laugh about this now. It’s not really as bad as it seems, so you won’t need to look back on it later."

Wacks might just be plain outrageous, obscure, or fun. Often they have absolutely nothing to do with business. “You’ll find just as many wacks related to daily life and the very personal side of it,” says Miller, “experiences with family, spouses, neighbors, co-workers, employers, parents, kids, other drivers, even other customers. Some are upsetting or frustrating specifically because they are so personal. You might be enraged by another driver on the 405, but if you’ve been jilted by your spouse, that’s about as intimate as it gets. Wacktrap holds a place for ‘em all, “and it’s a whole lot cheaper than a therapist.”

Wacktrap isn’t expecting members to ditch online favorites. In fact, the opposite – with seamless functionality that allows Wacktrap members to tweet any wack via Twitter, or send that wack to Facebook, in seconds. Wacks can also be shared instantly with over 150 other top favorites like Digg, Technorati or MySpace.

The story of Wacktrap doesn’t begin with Mona Shaw. To learn how Wacktrap got its start, visit the web site (http://www.wacktrap.com) or contact Wacktrap Press to schedule an interview with founders Shannon Miller and Suzanne Ziesche.

Contact:

Wacktrap web site:
http://www.wacktrap.com

Wacktrap Press
P.O. Box 491220
Los Angeles, CA 90049

E-mail: press@wacktrap.com
Press Tel: (323) 988-7272