s/o Is it acceptable to publicly "shame" a company?

[meena]

I've been sick in bed most of the weekend so have been following several interesting discussions here on the Chat board. I first read the thread regarding the NYT article about public shaming. Then reading the thread about how to address a customer service issue with an airline, I saw that several people recommended taking the airline to task via social media. That got me thinking (oh, what bedrest makes me resort to :) ).

 

Has it become acceptable to try to get a desired outcome from a company by "shaming" them or complaining about them on social media? If you've tried the traditional contact methods (phone, email) and don't get very far, should social media be the next step? Is it bad or unethical for it to be the first step? I know people who go straight to social media to get a quicker or even more favorable response because it's seen publicly.

[kiana]

Honestly, I don't think it's shaming so much as informing future customers about this company's issues.

 

With a single person there isn't as much of an issue with "future customers". 

[Farrar]

Mitt Romney told me corporations are people. So...

 

Shrug. I think maybe it's more okay. Honestly, I think corporations have so much power. Companies that handle it right generally come out okay on these things. They get to make right when it's something like the airline having been bad to a customer and they get to do it by publicly offering a refund or something, which often gets them more goodwill than they lost.

[Little Nyssa]

No--- not unless you have truly exhausted all other options, AND it's something really important.

[meena]

Honestly, I don't think it's shaming so much as informing future customers about this company's issues.

 

With a single person there isn't as much of an issue with "future customers".

I can see the importance of hearing real experiences to balance with a company's positive self-spin. I have used online reviews many times to decide where to buy things online, what local businesses to try, etc. But in reading those reviews, and also from what I've heard from people I know, it's becoming common to blast a business not to notify other people but to either be vindictive or to get compensated in some way.

[madteaparty]

I don't spend much time losing sleep over the emotional needs of corporations.

[kiana]

I can see the importance of hearing real experiences to balance with a company's positive self-spin. I have used online reviews many times to decide where to buy things online, what local businesses to try, etc. But in reading those reviews, and also from what I've heard from people I know, it's becoming common to blast a business not to notify other people but to either be vindictive or to get compensated in some way.

 

Well, I don't think public lying is ok. 

 

But I do value truthful reviews, and I also value seeing things like "I rented a car and they overcharged me and it took me 4 weeks of phone calls to sort it out."

[meena]

It's OK, as long as the feedback/critique is truthful.

 

I am not worried about the feelings of a company.

What if it's a small, mom-and-pop type business rather than a large corporation?

 

As an example, there is a local family-owned restaurant that has only been open less than a month. Is it acceptable to go on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Urbanspoon, and every other social media site to complain about the one meal you ate there shortly after they opened (and were still working out kinks in menu, service, etc.)? I saw this happen recently to a restaurant in my area.

[kiana]

What if it's a small, mom-and-pop type business rather than a large corporation?

 

As an example, there is a local family-owned restaurant that has only been open less than a month. Is it acceptable to go on Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, Urbanspoon, and every other social media site to complain about the one meal you ate there shortly after they opened (and were still working out kinks in menu, service, etc.)? I saw this happen recently to a restaurant in my area.

 

Yeah, I think it is.

 

If the food is good and this was an aberration, other positive reviews will soon drown it out. The small restaurant could possibly say "If you enjoyed your dinner, we appreciate your feedback on ____" to try to encourage their customers who did enjoy it.

 

If the food is bad, I would like to know so that I do not waste my hard-earned cash on it.

 

Freedom to serve something that's bad without having anyone criticize you is for home cooks.

[Barb_]

I see public criticism (I don't know that shaming is the apt word here) of companies along the same lines as the Alecia Pennington situation. Someone who holds power is harming someone who has none. The harmed party alerts social media (or the actual media) for recourse, usually as a last resort. Public shaming is usually about an uninvolved third party publicizing a perceived misstep of someone they don't know and without context. Usually because they found it offensive and relish the pile on. It's an altogether different scenario in my mind.

 

Although the parents who shame their children on social media are usually an altogether different kind of awful.

[Katy]

I am one of the people who suggested it because it's worked well for me.  I used to be very involved in Twitter in the early days, and I had a lot of followers.  An international corporation (brand name you would recognize) was committing fraud (several thousand dollars worth) against my sister while she was pregnant and her husband was deployed. Because of the politics of his job he did not feel he had legal recourse.  I typed a short tweet detailing what was going on and asking if any of the reporters following me were interested in the story, several people responded, both reporters and a PR rep for said company.  PR rep had the issue solved in less than two hours.  This is an issue that could have taken months in court, but it would have eventually been settled in my sister's favor because there was no question the company was in error.  The company KNEW they had a serious problem, but every person my sister had spoken to decided to blow it off in the hopes she would eventually walk away.  I am absolutely certain that "shaming" the company by threatening to give that story to a reporter was the morally correct thing to do.  They were in the wrong, and if they'd just done what was right in the first place they could have avoided the whole mess.  I've worked for several huge corporations and that was the worst customer service I'd ever seen.

[IsabelC]

I believe it is acceptable but not as a first step. My procedure is to first go back to the person I have the issue with (if it's a small / local company) or email or phone the call center (for a bigger company where I don't have a specific person to deal with). If that doesn't work, then I approach the manager or the phone the complaints / feedback number as appropriate. If I'm still getting the runaround after they have had those two chances to rectify the situation, then I feel it's OK to do whatever I think might work, including denouncing them on Facebook or wherever.

[kiwik]

I don't think it is OK as a first step and it would only be OK as a last step in serious circumstances. As the person posting/tweeting etc doesn't usually inform the business of their action it is a bit of an underhand attack that doesn't allow defense.

[TeacherZee]

Business big and small rely on positive word of mouth, therefore they also need to take the negative.

 

It is up to us as consumers to look at the positive and negative experiences we read/hear about with a critical eye. If I read about someone having a misserable time with a customer serivice rep at a company I have to think is it that person or the company as a whole. Critical thinking. Use it :)

[Catherine]

If you consider the incredible power that the large US corporations hold, then it seems that allowing public opinion via social media is quite fair.  It is a democritizing force.  Large corporations can use their deep pockets to keep consumers from pursuing justice in court and to influence elections in their favor.  Social media eliminates some of this power differential.  Of course their will be cranks who use social media unfairly, and I don't know exactly how to address this problem, except as others have pointed out, that lone cranks will eventually be drowned out.  I don't think that the existence of cranks is a reason not to use social media, as a last resort, to pursue justice. 

[creekland]

I'm in favor of doing what one can to get companies to do what they should.  If they don't do what they should, then reviews/reports of what has happened WILL cause me to take my business $$ elsewhere.

 

I also use good reviews to decide where to spend $$ at times.  It works both ways.

 

When we have a bad experience personally, we'll always give the business a chance to make it right without saying a thing to anyone publicly.  Most will.  It's when they don't that we'll escalate something.

 

Only once can I recall that a company did not make something right (a motel that gave us a room with fresh paint in it - ruining a pair of shorts - the motel manager wouldn't even speak with us).  That one got a Trip Advisor review so others can make their own decisions.  Interestingly enough, a few other similar reviews showed up, so we weren't the only ones affected.  It's fair warning as to what the management is like if anyone cares to read.  We head to that area fairly often (it's where hubby grew up, so we time any trip to stay there and let him enjoy the restaurants - supper/breakfast - of his youth).  This motel has LOST more than what we were asking for as we now take our business - plus anyone we are traveling with - elsewhere.

 

Restaurants we don't enjoy (taste)?  I don't leave bad reviews.  Different folks can have different tastes.  I sometimes leave reviews for those we enjoy.  

 

We're very lenient with service only leaving one bad review about that (in years) and to "earn" that we had to be ignored (after they knew we were there) for more than an hour.  People had literally come in after us, had their orders taken, eaten, and left with our waitress continuing to ignore us - knowing we were there.  Later when we did get our order every single thing we had ordered was wrong (wrong meals).  It was in a tourist area - I'm not quite sure what we did to annoy her other than she was calling other people by their names, so perhaps it's just that we were tourists and not local.  When the wrong food arrived we were incredulous (she acted "surprised" wink/wink - "Oh, this isn't what you wanted?").  We asked to speak with the manager and were told, "We're sorry, this happens sometimes."  I'm sure it does if she decides she doesn't like the look of someone. We got up and walked out - then left a bad review to warn others.  She lost out as we tend to be really good tippers.  We took up a table of hers for an hour and a half and the business got absolutely nothing (we only had water to drink and didn't feel the need to pay for it).  Now the restaurant name is one of our family jokes when we talk about bad service.  ;)

 

Anything else?  We're very lenient and often tip BETTER when our server is overworked due to being busy (but still trying their best) or underworked due to few customers.  Around home we get very good service ;) , but we tip the same in our travels too.  Motel maids often receive an unopened bag of Lindt Truffles along with their tip.  We appreciate those who work in these jobs, but if one really isn't doing their job... to the point it bugs us... then yes, I'll leave a review - esp if the manager doesn't fix it.