It’s pretty darn easy to lodge a complaint with a company these days. It might even be a bit biased or in the heat of the moment. A complaint that in the old days, once you sat down and wrote a letter about it you realised that you weren’t that upset about it or what was the point anyway. It wasn’t worth the stamp was something my Aunt used to say about complaints. Not these days, oh no. Hello Facebook. Hello Social Media.
And this is a good thing. Real time feedback on your business and brand. Real time tracking on what’s happening in store, with your customers and on the ground like never before. Forget Undercover Boss, spend a day manning a Facebook page you’ll know everything there is to know about a business. The good, the bad and especially, the ugly.
But is it fair?
I’ve taken to Facebook myself with a complaint. It was on behalf of my sister whose hand was severely burnt at a restaurant where no one on staff was helpful nor forthcoming with the appropriate remedies to the burn. Suggesting she put ice on it, even. The attitude was the main issue. No one seemed concerned for her well-being while the blister grew to half the size of her palm.
I was upset, annoyed and angry at them for treating my baby sister so badly. And I knew, just like a swift kick to the groin for a man, the way to get the attention of a business is loudly on a Facebook page. Responses are public and often speedy. Damage control at its best. I knew this. I counted on this. I knew that telling the tale in gory detail would bring about support and concern from my friends on Facebook.
It is a manipulation. Plain and simple.
There are channels to make a complaint of this kind. There are ways to ensure that a business responds to your concerns. But I bypassed them for a social media lynching. Once I calmed down {and after receiving a response} I reconsidered this method. I removed the post. Not because the issue was rectified but because I felt that I had handled it badly. We had not contacted the business through any other method {my sister had spoken with the manager in store and had been under-whelmed with the response} and went for the jugular.
The social media jugular.
I’ve been on the other end of a social media sledging and it’s not a nice thing. No matter what you say, people assume the worst. You just don’t forget something once you read it. Not entirely. Mud sticks and I know it. That’s how I knew that I would get a response. To a certain degree business must live in fear of social media where a customer can say what they please and call it feedback. In real-time. Perhaps it will drive us all to the next level of performance and customer service. Or over the edge. Who knows.
So I ask, how far is too far; What’s fair and what’s foul in social media?
Hi! I’m Melissa Walker Horn. Around here, they call me Suger. I’m the Chief Blogger and doer of all the things here at Suger Coat It. Blogging since 1901; I love a casual ootd, taking photos, and writing about things that irk or inspire me. I love wine and cheese, long days at the beach and spending time with my family. I make stuff for the internet over at Chalkboard Digital. You know, living the sweet life.
Hey Mel, this is a very timely post for me. I jumped on a major Telco’s FB page this week and made a complaint, I did this full knowing that it was the best way to get noticed and prompt a response. The letter technique or other avenues are too easily swept under the carpet, especially with these larger companies.
I did so because this company wasted 2 days of my time prepping for a job interview then ended the interview within 2 mins for a reason that is blatantly obvious on my application. To me this is downright incompetence, so I felt the complaint on social media was justified, and if nothing else would maybe stop the same thing happening to someone else. I did get a good response and in the end pretty much got offered a job, just not one I wanted 🙁
Its a sign of the times really, and the best tool for the job, it is just a shame that most people only jump on them when they are angry, and not when they are really happy with a product as well.
Thanks for sharing your experience on this subject Tony. I agree, the sad fact is that sometimes you DO get a faster response when it comes to putting your complaint on a social media site. And until these businesses improve their complaint resolution processes it will be the case.
I saw you mention this, what a complete waste of time and your hard work. Sheeesh.
I’m actually terrified of something hitting a nerve like that with me – all the other useless whingeing and public nastiness I could probably handle – but a proper, legitimate complaint that hits close to home appearing on my public profile and not dealt with privately. Everyone’s too quick to hit “publish” on their rants these days 🙂
I agree. The whingeing and nastiness is manageable. Real live concerns that you do not get a chance to rectify first is upsetting. The issue was resolved in the same way I would have gone about it had they emailed me, but I always felt a bit like they would think I only respnded that way because it was made public… You know?
Yep, I totally get it… and I’m likely to think I’d have done the same as you in that situation!!
Completely agree Melissa. The immediacy of social media is a bit scary and we’ve had heaps of athletes / celebrities discover just that. (Gone are the days of worrying about drunk-dialling. Drunk tweeting is far scarier!) But… it is kinda handy for resolution of quick complaints. I’ve occasionally tweeted Hootsuite to see if there’s a problem with the system etc and getting a response straight away has been good. (Same with Qld Rail actually!)
So…. positive and negatives for me!
Deb
I agree. On two {maybe three} occasions I have tweeted my host when my blog has gone down for internal server issues. They resolved it quickly and all was well. This I love. I also think it’s very different to the example with my sister where there was nothing they could do in that moment, to fix it. The time had passed.
This shows everyone how issues (& praise) can and should be handled. But you certainly didn’t go off half cocked like I did just to cause a stir an get a result. Wiser heads prevailed. Haha. A wonderful addition to this conversation Carly.
And just to add – I did tell my concerns to AirBNB during the whole awful process, so I don’t believe it came as a surprise to them.
Indeed.