Last week, I rapped lyrical about how awesome Rackspace’s commitment to customer service seems. This week, I’ve stumbled on the exact opposite: worst customer service ever.
The back story: Someone added a company to Get Satisfaction this week and began a conversation designed to warn prospective customers away from an online eyeglass seller. Fair enough.
And, to make it as fair as can be, I sent a friendly note to the company to let them know that someone had started this conversation. I do this a lot. It’s part of my job to encourage companies to engage with people who are talking about their products on our site, whether that talk is positive or negative. Most companies find out that even supremely angry customers will do a 180-degree turn when they see that the company is actually responding to them and trying to help them fix the problem. We see a lot of these “wow, I can’t believe you responded” moments on Get Satisfaction, and it’s always a pleasure to see it happen.
This time that did not happen. Instead, the proprietor of the business shot back an e-mail to me with a clip-art image of a businessman shooting me the bird. This message, in fact:
Rude and crude, to be sure, and it certainly doesn’t live up to the motto in the sender’s e-mail signature: “Customer Service at its Finest”. It’s business suicide to engage with people like this, especially since the Internet allows customers to amplify and broadcast their discontent.
Sure enough, a Google search of the company’s name turns up a lot, including numerous accusations of selling fake sunglasses and a Better Business Bureau search turns up reports of “aggressive and harassing behavior” from the company’s owner. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.
It made me wonder about other ways to research questionable companies online. One way to see if people have reported a business as fraudulent is to check with Ripoff Report. It’s worth noting, though, that even Ripoff Report has been accused of questionable business practices.
It’s hard to pinpoint a positive in this kind of experience. One comfort I think people can take in this online reseller’s behavior is that the business probably won’t last very long. The power of customer discontent on the Internet is mighty strong. Indeed, as I was researching this company, I saw this entry on Reseller Ratings, a Web site that helps consumers locate the best (and worst) online sellers:
“I almost purchased sunglasses until I saw this post.”
9 Comments
Hej Eric, just a quick techie tip:
When you’re writing your blogs in a smart editor like Scriviner or sth similiar, that takes your ” and changes them to ” (it’s a different apostrophe!) - you have to really watch out that you correctly change them back when copy/pasting into HTML bodoy of blog.
Otherwise, your links wont work, just like in this post. And Google Reader will get even more confused when showing your post.
(feel free to delete this comment as you fix your links)
That response email is absolutely horrifying and an example of shortsightedness if their ever was one…
If the company’s “Customer Service at its Finest” email signature was actually at the bottom of the email they sent to you (it was, wasn’t it?), that is pure comedy.
Yes, it was at the bottom of the e-mail. In fact, here’s a screen shot (with really personal details redacted):
Jure: Doh! Yes, I am using Scrivener much of the time, which I love, but I need to turn off those quotes. Thank you!
You should see what I have been dealing with with decormyeyes.com Threats and harasssing emails. What are your thoughts on me posting them here??? I dont want my name associated with it though please. THIS GUY IS UNREAL. He told me he would slap me on a voicemail.
a: Well, feel free to add your experiences to the DecorMyEyes section of Get Satisfaction: http://getsatisfaction.com/decormyeyescom
Feel free to start a new topic. You don’t have to share your name or personal details.
Carmen Lawrence is an alias used by “Stanley Bolds”. he is one and the ame person. Even the poor syntax and tone of his posting indicates that it is himself trying to wax good about his scam.
I finally had enough, read enough and researched enough to do something about this guy. I filed reports with the FTC, FBI and IRS as suggested by a friend of mine who is a fraud investigator. 2 of the 3 agencies had complaints already on file. Needless to say, “Stanley” is definitely on their radar. I suggest whomever has had ANY bad experience with Decormyeyes, take the time and file a report.
Simon: I kind of figured the same thing — especially considering the tortured syntax and grammar. Thanks for validating my thought!
kristie: Good for you! Thanks for going the extra mile.