Prompt #9

Facebook might not be the best medium through which to voice complaints as a customer, but it can work if the company takes those complaints seriously. The problem with facebook could be that people are used to saying whatever they’re feeling to their friends, and maybe even exploding in rage at something that’s not important or all that relevant. That spills over into areas that aren’t just for close friends, and not all of them should be taken completely seriously.

Representatives of the company should be cautious in responses because shutting down valid complaints, like with BP, is only going to anger legitimate consumers with real complaints. If they aren’t being taken seriously, they might decide to take their business elsewhere. However, facebook is a place that’s easy to convey messages that aren’t completely serious. Obviously a drunken 3 a.m. post from someone that may or may not have had AT&T service five years ago doesn’t need to be taken seriously, but it can be hard to tell the difference between someone that’s doing that and someone that just types like that.

Responding personally to all complaints like AT&T is definitely the way to go, just because customers with valid complaints (and praise) are heard and taken seriously. Although some time will inevitably be wasted on joking complaints from noncustomers, it is important to make the real customers feel valued. If spending a little time with invalid complaints will ensure that every real customer feels valued, I think it’s a small price to pay.

If companies aren’t planning on taking facebook complaints seriously, they shouldn’t have a facebook page or on that page, they should inform customers about how to voice their concerns through a different medium. Companies can have pages that aren’t maintained or checked regularly by a seasoned employee, but they should definitely let customers know what they can do if they’re having a problem.

For the companies that have the time and the resources to read and respond to all complaints, valid or not, on facebook, they should take advantage of that medium. It’s intensive, but I think it’s worth it. If they don’t have that kind of time though, they should make customers aware that they aren’t going to respond to complaints on facebook and offer a different way to communicate. It needs to be one or the other, not a little bit of maybe they’ll read the comments and take you seriously but probably not if you can’t articulate your complaint exactly the way they want to see it.