Webware

Sometimes, you can just be too direct.

VentureWire announced today that a company called Get Satisfaction Unlimited, which provides a forum for consumers to discuss customer service issues, has secured $1.3 million in funding from First Round Capital, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and a group of individual investors.

(Credit: Satisfaction Unlimited)

It's a great idea. But there are probably a lot of names that wouldn't make a 13-year old laugh. Kvetch.com, Alwaysright.com, Whining Old Ladies. If I were a naming consultant, popping off those three would probably net me $50,000. Not bad for 45 seconds of labor.

Get Satisfaction Unlimited sounds like a 1) the album Barry White never finished or 2) the name of a Jean Claude Van Damme movie in which someone gets their head lopped off by a helicopter blade. At a minimum, they should have included a few exclamation points (Unlimited!!!) on the end.

"It's a new take on customer service," company Chief Executive Thor Muller told VentureWire. "Customers are at the center and can help each other. It's a community sourcing platform where questions can be asked, problems can be solved and ideas can be shared."

The publication does not report whether Thor (if that is his real name) was wearing a shirt or not.

The name seems to change quite a bit too. Although VentureWire has it down as Get Satisfaction Unlimited, the site lists the company as Satisfaction, Satisfaction Unlimited, and Satisfaction! (Finally, they wise up and go for exclamations.) BusinessWeek described it as Get Satisfaction.

Get Satisfaction now joins my hall of crazy company names. Some are good (Hyperactive Technologies, Dress Barn) and some are a bit crazy (Internet Gold Golden Lines, Central European Media Enterprises, Hurray Holding and Wackenhut Security). And let's not forget the game controller, the TrustMaster!