I saw an exchange on twitter recently, where an unhappy giveaway winner (let’s call them A) stated that they would not enter the giver’s (let’s call them B) giveaways again, because their prize hadn’t arrived 3 months after winning it.
B responded to the tweet, and from that there resulted a long (public) twitter conversation about the issue.
It made me uncomfortable, simply because I hate seeing people upset – and it got me thinking. How would I have responded?
Would I have continued the conversation publicly, or would I have taken it to DM or e-mail?
And – more to the point – this could just as easily have been an unhappy customer taking their displeasure public, as we have all no doubt done at once stage or another (I know I’m guilty of doing so, with big corporations, like Amazon and Australia Post). I think I’d keep an issue with a fellow individual business owner private… but perhaps I wouldn’t if I felt that they’d done something particularly reprehensible that I felt people needed to be warned about.
A benefit of dealing with it publicly is the fact that you are showing that you are right there, ready to deal with and hopefully solve any issues. If it ends up positively for both parties, then that’s a plus.
But what about when there is no hope of pleasing the unhappy party? Perhaps you really have made a monumental stuff-up, and no amount apologising etc. is going to cover it.
Is it best to just admit that yes, I’m human, and I’m so sorry for failing you?
Or do you think that these issues should be dealt with privately, between the customer and seller?
{image by basistka on flickr}
If the customer brings it up publicly, I’d try to deal with it publicly. I wouldn’t want people to be able to see her side of it without seeing my response. Plus, I’m devoted to customer service, so I think my response would ease the minds of others. Everybody makes mistakes. I think it’s how you handle those mistakes that show the true nature of your business.
If you do your best to rectify the situation, I think you’re fine. Even if the customer gets ugly or has ridiculous expectations, others will see that and know that you did your best.
As a customer I would always give someone the benefit of the doubt and opportunity to resolve a problem privately and IDEALLY I would hope my customers would do the same. But since I can’t control that piece, I agree with April that I would respond publicly if only to reiterate my commitment to customer satisfaction and willingness to work to resolve the issue (perhaps in a less public venue)
hmm That’s a good one. I think if the customer made it public, then it would have to be handled publicly. Ideally when I have such issues as a customer I handle it privately. I have not yet had to go public with anything like that( knocks on desk):)
I’m surprised the customer went public on twitter like that. I always try to contact business owners privately and I hope my customers would do the same for me. However, if that were to happen to me, I’d nip the issue in the bud by apologising to the customer publicly and stating that I will contact them privately and do just that asap. I figure if the customer is that annoyed that they’d bring it up on twitter (or any other social media) then if they’re not satisfied with the business owners response they would continue their gripe publicly until either they felt satisfied they’d destroyed the business enough or they were placated by the b/owner. In my opinion continuing the issue publicly only ends up embarrassing both sides of the party.
I think ChristyC and Sharon have summed up my opinion perfectly. I’d also apologise in public, state my commitment to working out a resolution and then take it offline.
I almost had a situation like that on my business FB page recently. I had listed something for sale and one of my fans made a really strange comment and I replied in a joking, agreeing sort of way (thinking I had the gist of what she meant) and she replied back in a yelling sort of manner. I explained I didn’t know what she meant and this went back and forth for a bit. Eventually I asked if she was mad at me, had I done anything wrong? She explained no, not at all, it had something to do with her present financial situation that she was talking about on her (private) FB page and she assumed I knew what she was talking about. It was a strange exchange but I’m glad I pressed on until I got to the bottom of it because all I could think is if everyone else that read it, was as confused as I and thought she was mad at me and I ignored it or worse still, deleted the comment, it could stand to do more damage. I think had she have been a disgruntled customer, I would have apologised for the situation and publicly stated that I would contacting her immediately to discuss and fix the problem.
I must have jinxed myself because it’s happened.
Here is the upset customer:-
I was really interested util I saw the postage price!! $6.50 postage for a couple of bars of soap is a bit rich isn’t it?? I sell stuff online all the time and it only cost’s me $10.65 to send a 3kg bag. The average bar of soap is 100gm so for 3 that’s 1/10 of the size of a 3kg bag. Therefore the postage for for 3 bars of soap should be about $3.10??? Soz but I’m not into people that try to make money off postage! If u want extra money charge more for the product!
And here is my reply:-
Hi Bonnie! I post in the 500g pre paid satchels or the 3kg satchels if the order is heavy enough. As soaps are fragile and oddly shaped they need protection to ensure they arrive to the buyer in perfect condition. Each order is packed in a special sturdy, cardboard shipping box, especially sized (and purchased to fit in) for the prepaid satchels. Each soap is then wrapped in bubble wrap and packed will environmentally friendly fill so they don’t roll around and get damaged. I’m sorry if the shipping price seems high to you. Believe me, I would rather charge a lot less but I need to make sure the buyer receives their package undamaged. Australia Post also charge for dimensions of packages as well as weight so I can’t send anything as a large letter because it is higher than the 2cm allowance. If I send as a parcel I also need to buy the box, which just adds more cost to the buyer. I’ve been shipping soap around Australia and the world for quite a while now and I’ve looked at the costs inside and out. This is the safest and most cost effective way it can be done. Thank you for taking the time to message me. I appreciate your comments and interest in my soaps. Have a great day!
She replied with:
fair enough, sux tho cos I do like ur soap but I just dont want to spend $22 for 3 bars of soap lol
So I wouldn’t say that the problem is entirely fixed but at least any other customers reading it can see that I handled it well and maybe answered a few of their questions too.
General rule of thumb for me as a customer is to try to handle things privately, mostly because I know how it feels to be on the other side of the transaction.
I will say that I have, on occasion, tried to contact different businesses on Twitter (cable TV provider, cell phone service) – nothing mean or hateful, but more of me trying to get their attention and a response that I didn’t get from other private channels.
But if someone goes public, I think it absolutely requires a public response. I totally agree with others have said; once it’s out there publicly, you need to respond accordingly.
Diffuse and inform. I’ve only had it happen once, but I quickly told the customer I’d be happy to help them solve what ever issues they might have (diffuse) and then gave them what information I could (considering it was twitter) to fix the situation. Then I offered to talk via email where we would have more room to discuss the matter.
It was humiliating to have a mistake I made pointed out in such a public manner. But I think owning up is crucial. I’m human–but I’m also willing to make good on the rare occasion a customer is unhappy. The last thing you want to do in a situation like this is to engage in a hostile manner. And yet I see it all the time.
And while we’re on the subject of twitter and customers, I’d put up that big flag that says unless your profile is private, talking about customers in any fashion is poor form, even if you’re not specific! It makes me cringe and think, “I don’t really want to buy from you if you’re going to bash me or broadcast my purchases to your twitter stream.” Just food for thought. 😀
TOTALLY agree with your last point, Wende! That is a BIG no-no!