Yeah, I think so too. I think we're looking at a bunch of "gung-ho" engineers and managers who bit off more than they could chew, and most importantly, failed to account for Mr. Murphy. I suspect they are suffering from wounded pride and reacting as engineers usually do in such a case: trying to fix it before they say anything. Commendable on the engineering floor, but stupid in the wider world of commerce. They REALLY need to hire a professional PR team. A good PR guy can say nothing in a lot of words and calm people the fuck down. That's what they need right now. It appears that they are trying to do right by their customers, but don't really know how. It happens. A lot. It can break an otherwise great company, and that they need to get sorted. Now.

Sam, if you are reading these forums (or Alex, point him here if you would be so kind), I am a rather experienced restaurant manager and I can give you some serious pointers here about customer service. In my industry, our CS margins are measured in minutes, or we lose. You have a bit more leeway than that, but you should act as if you don't. Your engineers pulled off a miracle. No doubt about that. It appears that in the large picture, they got their shit straight together.

Now it's your turn. I'm being blunt, not mean. You need to do one thing and stop doing another.

You need to get a PR team together RIGHT NOW, to do daily updates and communication, and most particularly to smooth ruffled feathers. Silence is not golden. If you have nothing to update, it's STILL better to SAY SO. Often. This makes the customers feel as if they are being taken seriously, even when they're not. To me it's obvious that you ARE taking them serious, but you aren't illustrating it very well. You should have somebody making a status report at least twice a day while y'all are getting things sorted. I know it's a pain in the ass, but it's necessary.

What you need to stop doing is talking about policy. At all. Because if you make an offhand or exuberant comment on camera, and later have to alter it, you look like an idiot or a liar. You don't appear to me to be either of those, but the perception of a loose cannon CEO can often be worse than the actuality of a Loose Cannon CEO. Just ask Bernie Ebbers. His mouth shot down Worldcomm far more than the actual problems they had. For the sake of full disclosure, I worked for Worldcomm when all that shit went down, and I had met Mr. Ebbers on three occasions. I believe he was not in the wrong, and Worldcomm was a great employer. Their successor, OTOH, sucked badly. But they are still in business and Worldcomm is not. Run whatever you are going to say in public by your lawyers. Your bottom line will thank you, and it will contribute to your success. In modern warfare, you have to use the right sort of weapons. In the world of business, the best sidearm you can carry is a good lawyer.

Good luck to all involved. It is my belief that KnC is a good outfit who hit some speedbumps and didn't know how to handle it. I frankly expected them to perform far worse than they so far had, and still would have bet on them. Engineering they are clearly good at. The front of the house needs serious revision. I think they'll get there. These are not stupid men. But pride is a double edged sword, and can do more damage than stupidity if not controlled.