Comments on: What #maytag & @dooce says about customer service in America… and it’s NOT good

By: Recommended Marketing Reads for Monday, 9-7 : Bizzia - Business News and Commentary – Finance and Business Tips

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:45:24 +0000

[...] What #maytag & @dooce says about customer service in America… and it’s NOT good I didn’t see Susan’s post about twitter complaints when I wrote on the same topic last week. She talks about the underlying problem: poor customer service. Consumers are mad as hell and they’re not going to take it anymore! Better yet, they’ll tell everyone they know about their experiences. [...]

By: Nancy in MN

Nancy in MN — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 20:36:39 +0000

I still don’t believe that censorship in any form is the answer – but we can agree to disagree on that point. And yes – we all deserve better customer service.

By: Susan Getgood

Susan Getgood — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:56:05 +0000

Nancy — I’m not arguing that folks shouldn’t use Twitter to comment on products, good and bad. I just believe we need to weigh our words.

The far larger problem is the state of customer service in the US. We don’t do a particularly good job of it, and companies still aren’t listening carefully enough. Dave Carroll of United Hates Guitars fame told the United rep what he was going to do. Heather told the Maytag phone rep that she was to the point of twittering her frustration. Firms have got to get over the idea that “it’s just some blogger” and understand — for good or for ill — how online influence spreads.

By: Nancy in MN

Nancy in MN — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:39:39 +0000

I have to disagree with Susan and Julie. Twitter was created simply for that purpose – and is used by millions. We need to take personal responsibility as a society not to take everything we read on the intraweb literally. Heather can post her frustrations about Maytag but it is me the consumer that needs to decide how much weight to give her complaint. I may sympathize with her customer service frustration – we have ALL been there (esp. if you have ever owned a Dell)…but if I need a new washer or dryer I am not going to Dooce.com to get consumer advise – I seek out expert opinions. I say that twitter exists to do just as it did here – to provide a platform for social networking…and it did just that – plus it got a homeless shelter a new washer out of the deal. Way to go Heather.

By: Susan Getgood

Susan Getgood — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:29:00 +0000

Jennifer, I don’t think there is anything wrong with complaining on Twitter. I do however think we have to be careful, even if we only have a few followers, to not simply vent and rant. Twitter spreads like wildfire, and we don’t have much space to tell the story. The more followers we have, the more careful we should be.

Ideally, write a blog post first. Lay out the story. Then drop the bomb and link to the post.

If it’s a live-action rant, that’s not going to be possible. BUT, we should do our best to explain the problem, not just rant.

Ranting is completely understandable. Explaining *why* is more responsible.

As to whether Heather Armstrong was right or wrong to tweet, that’s not important anymore. The issues were raised, discussed, and hopefully people learned from the incident and have decided their own way forward.

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:33:12 +0000

If you consider that Twitter is basically an online converstation of millions of people going on all over the world it seems normal that at times people are going to voice their opinions about what’s happening in their life…both good and bad!

Heather did what I and millions of others do every day…she was unhappy with the bad service she received and she tweeted it. If you read about blog where she recounts exactly what happened, it’ very apparent that she tried multiple times to resolve the issue directly with Maytag. If I were in her position I would have done the exact same thing.

While I understand that she is a “celebrity” and it can be argued that she more of a responsibility regarding what she posts, I don’t personally believe that she did anything wrong. Social Media is about transparency and if we’re going to preach about what a wonderful thing it is then we have to live with the consequences.
.-= Jennifer´s last blog ..Yes, I will answer your email at 2am!!! =-.

By: Julie @ The Mom Slant

Julie @ The Mom Slant — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:10:06 +0000

After BlogHer I posted about the Nikon incident, asserting that we don’t wield our power carelessly or maliciously, but out of love for each other. I think I might have to retract that statement.

Because in this case, I believe Heather *was* careless. And while her followers that jumped on the bandwagon do love her, I believe they were motivated primarily by the possibility of getting her attention.

Regardless, these recent incidents have prompted me to be more careful about what I tweet myself. I’m certainly not blameless where it comes to tweetstorms.
.-= Julie @ The Mom Slant´s last blog ..Too painful to look; too painful not to =-.

By: BobHowardMktg (Bob Howard)

BobHowardMktg (Bob Howard) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:08:18 +0000

Twitter Comment

What #maytag & @dooce says about customer service in America… and ... [link to post]

- Posted using Chat Catcher

By: lfabert (lfabert)

lfabert (lfabert) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 05:07:23 +0000

Twitter Comment

What #maytag & @dooce says about customer service in America… and ...: Earlier this week, a customer service.. [link to post]

- Posted using Chat Catcher