Complaining about Online Complaints

Back in the “good old days,” when a customer got a bad product or had a bad experience, they might complain to their friends and neighbors, which could bruise the reputation of a business. The more adamant dissatisfied client might even write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper. If printed, the reputation could get a black eye.

The good news in both these cases: over time, the complaint would fade from memory, along with the damage to the reputation of the organization. A few more dollars spent on advertising would be medicine to the bottom line.

As for the bad news: those days are gone. Forever. That’s the operative word: forever. Folks can now post their complaints on Twitter and Facebook or one of the complaint boards…and forever is how long the complaints will stay online—searchable, visible and discussable. And the damage done is so much more than just a surface injury; these sites can slice up a reputation like Jack the Ripper on a ‘roid rage.

Last year, we saw the impact of online complaints when a musician’s guitar was damaged on a United Airlines flight. When he didn’t get a satisfactory response, he wrote a song entitled “United Breaks Guitars,” made a video and posted it to YouTube. It went viral when it hit Twitter and the video was viewed more than 2.5 million times in less than a week and garnered national media attention. He became an “overnight” sensation and United took a reputation hit.

It’s a new landscape today when it comes to complaints. For many consumers, it seems to be much easier to post a gripe online first than it is to go through the customer services channels with the business. And there is no shortage of place to go where venting is not only encouraged, it’s the norm. Indeed, that’s the sole purpose of some sites. (Personal Note: Even as I write this, I struggle with whether to give actual examples of these sites.) Complaint boards and Review sites (where customers can go online and “rate” local businesses) can be seriously detrimental to a business reputation, and it’s not always deserved.

To me, one of the biggest problems with this genre of sites is the lack of validation required to post. Having worked with clients who’ve had bad reviews or become the target of complaint sites, the dilemma is more than just an online gripe. There is often no method to have negative posts removed when it’s not true or after it’s been resolved. I can go to these sites and say anything, exaggerate my bad experience, make wild accusations…and no one asks: is this true or can it be verified? Disgruntled ex-employees can go online and rant about how they were treated, thus hurting efforts to recruit new personnel.

That bring up other inherent weaknesses: how do you separate fact from personal opinion, how do I determine if the grievance registered is an isolated incident or a symptom of a more systemic problem?

I admit that I use several review sites, but I try to sort through the histrionics and get to real information. But not everyone goes with that perspective. And sadly, the negative review of one person can trigger a “feeding frenzy” of biz-bashing. Perhaps the business is truly god-awful, but it may be a case of just a few people. (I worked with one client where this was the case. It seriously and negatively impacted their Google search results, which was affecting their business.)

Here’s my question: As PR professionals, what’s our role in these online complaint-fests? Should we advise our clients/companies to respond? (BTW, I think it depends…and in my next post, I’ll share some “tips” about responding.)

What are YOUR thoughts?
What do you think about these sites?
Have you had experience dealing with negative reviews or online complaints?
What did you do?

I welcome your thoughts, insights, comments or questions.

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