Disney's "El Mundo de Ingles" Talks Dirty: The Perils of Doing Business in a World without Borders

I stay pretty connected to some of the schools that I worked with as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Costa Rica many years ago. Every now and again I still get calls asking me to procure a certain product or to help arrange some US related matters. So when my good friend Joaquin called me up and told me that I had to find a way to get my hands on a DVD-based English language course called "Disney's El Mundo de Ingles" I was happy to oblige. After all, if kids were pining for things that would help them learn, I had better get on it quick.

 

A scan of the Mundo de Ingles website led me to the phone number at the bottom where it said "Llame 01.800.699.0000." Perfect, I thought. They have a convenient 1800 number that I can use to order up a few copies pretty quick and then get on with my day.  Those Disney folks think of everything... 

 

Then I dialed the number and, shockingly, this is what I heard. (For those who don’t mind you can play the clip below to hear what I found but WARNING: THIS IS OVER 18 YEARS OF AGE MATERIAL).

 

Essentially, I unknowingly dialed up a phone sex line. I quickly realized this was a Mexican 1-800 number, not a U.S. one. Still, I shudder at the thought of any 10 or 12 year old kids making this same call. The only consoling factor is that their English probably isn’t so good if they are calling this particular number.

 

I can't say that there is a valuable lesson about doing well and doing good here. But this definitely does seem to underscore some of the challenges one faces when doing business internationally.  With the internet, you just can't assume that only kids in South America are going to your website and dialing your phone numbers. In business school I remember professors citing famous cases of international business efforts gone wrong. This seems to rank up there to me. Perhaps Harvard Business School can link to my blog for a lesson or two?

 

My secret confession with this post is that I'm hoping Disney, as penance for its mistake, will offer to send some well deserving kids in Costa Rica who can't otherwise afford it a few copies of their much desired language class. At least this way when they get older they will be able to make that call themselves and actually understand what's being said on the other end of the line.  Then again, perhaps they are better off without it?