It's interesting (and perhaps sad) how these days having a blog in which to complain, if needed, is one of the most foolproof ways to receive proper customer care from certain online companies.
I think it's great. It's not like companies weren't shafting people before; we're just hearing about it more. For decades, companies with money had a big communications advantage. The web has re-leveled the playing field.
Can't say I agree - the original owner of @N has a huge potential reach since he's a writer for medium, and knows how to structure and write an article so that people root for him instead of Twitter.
If @N would've belonged to some Chinese kid, that kid could have written on his unknown blog in Chinese and no-one would have cared.
The blog is meaningless, you could be a nobody. If I buy a block of cheese tomorrow, and you can see a band-aid in the package, half embedded in the cheese, half hanging out, the internet will go wild. Toss a photo on Reddit with a cheesy headline, and it'll hit the frontpage, then get reposted all over the internet. Within a couple of days the company would issue an official statement, and I'd have copious amounts of free cheese.
It would be a PR nightmare, and they'd be trying to track down the location, employee, and how their scanner for foreign material didn't pick it up. Meanwhile, without the internet, I'd call, never be able to reach anyone of importance, and they'd just apologize and mail me a 50% off coupon.
The internet gives the individual a lot of power, and they can reach millions overnight thanks to social networks. It also forces the company to handle damage control ASAP, since their reputation drops a notch with every passing minute.
Right, and before the rise of social media, the Chinese kid couldn't have drawn attention from a popular blog, and also wouldn't have been able to do anything else. The rise of social media obviously doesn't come close to solving anything, but it's strictly an improvement.
It has, which is great for consumers in cases with these where there is merit. It also means it is easier for anyone to unjustly defame or disrupt the perception of an individual or organization. As per http://boingboing.net/2014/02/25/nsa-and-gchqs-dirty-trickin...
Most of these companies are terrified of SEO probably. There's been a number of cases in the past where a customer's complaint would show up on the first page of results for a company on Google. Once or twice those blogs have even shown up before the official results for something that completely blew up. It could cost these companies a lot more once it's out in the open.
The best customer service I've ever gotten was as a direct result of complaining on Twitter. Most companies care tremendously about their public image but most have yet to get that care to their dedicated customer service lines.
Plenty of big online companies either try hard to be uncontactable (google!) or will simply have their first line support tell you that it's your own fault and nothing can be done.
It's always been this way. Being a squeaky wheel or someone in power has always been a way to get better service. (Or mortgage rates, or whatever) The web has empowered the squeaky wheels.
You could say it's a shame that customer service is awful, but it's expensive to provide universally good service, so many companies opt to just deal with the fallout. Not everyone can be Tiffany's.
