I forgot how nasty the Internet could be. More to the point, how petty some of its users reveal themselves to be.
Yesterday, as I was lah-di-dahing my way around my favorite blogs, I landed on Dooce, a site I frequent because the writer is funny (often dirty/funny, which, if you know me, pretty much sums up my language of choice when there are not small children or employers present), she takes really gorgeous photos, and I like to read about her baby. Because I want one and now is not the time so I had better get it elsewhere.
Dooce’s post referenced some sort of melee going on in the Twitter world (I don’t participate; the whole, @ and RT business is too messy for me) about a washing machine. Dooce and her husband Jon bought a washing machine. For a lot of money. It was brand spanking new. And it didn’t work. So, after fruitless calls to the maker of said washing machine, Dooce took it to the Web. I’d like to slap her on the ass and add a, “Nice hustle!” for doing it, but that’s because I think customer service doesn’t usually serve anything other than a heaping dish of I-don’t-give-a-shit by the person taking your call.
What happened next? Well, people started to lose their minds. Either in defense of Dooce or to shame her for using her influence to (get this) slander the multi-billion dollar corporation that sent her the lemon washing machine. Slander. That gives me the giggles. In the way that listening to teenagers talk about love gives me the giggles. Degrassi High drama! What’s more, people who lay claim to “really liking” Dooce were apparently led by this great liking to post snide, snotty, passive-aggressive commentary about her. See also: Degrassi.
To be fair, I can understand people wanting a very popular blogger to wield her popularity with responsibility. But let’s keep this in perspective. It’s not like she is, for the sake of argument, the President, making a statement about “stupid” Cambridge cops. Ahem. She’s popular but not actually powerful. She can influence, but not enforce anything.
Besides, what ELSE is influence good for, if not pushing folks to do the right thing? Well, yeah, okay, besides getting free stuff and meeting Oprah, but that kinda goes without saying. Me, I think that we pay an awful lot of money for every day things – whether it be the apartments we rent, the hand held devices we carry or the produce we serve our families. That money takes hours and hours to earn, and mere minutes to spend. And that we allow ourselves to be subject to ambivalent customer service by companies who collectively don’t have to care, because they know we need a roof over our heads or a way to stay in touch with our families and jobs, well, it’s infuriating.
I had a terrible (that word hardly seems adequate, but there it is) experience with AT&T when, two days after I was laid off, my BlackBerry stopped working. It turned off when I made calls. It turned off when someone called me. It turned off at other times, too, just to be persnickety. You can see how that would interfere with getting a new job. Three times I was given a refurbished phone. Three times I went back, the third in tears, begging the store manager to do something. The manager’s solution? Add a line! Buy a new line of service, a new phone, and then you can get a NEW! BlackBerry for only one hundred dollars.
Thoroughly overwhelmed, I got so dizzy right there in the Park Lane store that I almost fainted. I was powerless and at the mercy of a giant company. And that giant company did not grant me a single shred of mercy.
I am one person. Despite her fame (or infamy, depending on how you see her), Dooce is one person. And when toeing up to the line against a giant corporation, it is nothing but smart to use all the ammunition in your camp. I don’t care how many people like your funny stories or ogle pictures of your pretty baby. And that’s that.
In the end, if the only thing that comes out of this messy situation is that one company will work harder to truly serve its customers, I would be totally satisfied. But (and this is just asking way too much), if it also happened to make the Internet masses take a second look at the shameless, Degrassi drama vitriol they spew, well, that would just be something, now wouldn’t it?
Thank you for saying this! I feel completely the same. I had a big huge, drag out fight with Bally Total Fitness this week and I wish that I had anything in my power to make them actually help me. But I don’t, so they know they can be as rude to me as they want and what can I do?
woohoo!!
Well said, Heather! And p.s. the next time I need someone to “Stick(up) and Kick(ass)” for me, I’m calling on you.
I have been reading your Blog, on and off, for just a few months and this is by far the best you have written. I wholeheartedly agree with your points about Internet drama and ambivalence in customer service, in general. Great Piece.
I agree that corporations shouldn’t be able to push around individuals, and that Dooce was in the right to use her (admittedly louder) voice to that end, but I think that your representation of what occurred isn’t true to life. Dooce and Sundry and Blurb managed to have a courteous conversation about all of this, and that you have taken several things out of context.
I love Degrassi, perhaps in an unhealthy way, and they would just never be as mature as those involved in this kerfuffle managed to be.
It’s amazing how quickly people will turn on you, especially when you’re “popular.” I think she did exactly what she needed to do when she wasn’t getting anywhere otherwise. It was a brand-new machine; they should have simply replaced it immediately and that would have been the end of it.
Spot on! One of the most powerful uses for the internet is to keep companies in check. I had a horrible experience with customer service for One-Dress recently when I placed an order online for a dress that took over a month to be delivered. No one answered the One-dress “customer service” phone line – OR my e-mails for weeks. So I e-mailed my friends, and updated my Facebook status, and twittered about it. Turns out someone in my social network was a close friend of the designer, Malcolm Harris and told him about the issue. he personally called me to resolve the issue.
Turns out they had hired an outside company to handle the fulfillment and customer support – and that company was doing a horrible job – partially due to the unexpected success of sales…but still.
The end result – the designer personally came to my home to deliver the dress and a heartfelt apology. AND he is using my e-mails that went unanswered to the customer service department as leverage to get out of his contract with the fulfillment company (which is trying to sue him for breaking the contract).
The moral: If you you are treated poorly by a company and make a stink and its a smart company – they will improve, and they will grow as a company – and they will have you to thank. If its a crap company and they never address your problem then they get what you deserve. In the end – even though some people would say what I did was “mean” even the owner/designer thanked me – and since this project is to raise funds for women’s causes around the world its important that they not tarnish their reputation with crappy customer service.
Sorry for the long comment.
I completely agree (and I’m currently loving Dooce’s book too much to possibly have any complaints/ill-will toward her).
Your experience with At&t is similar to one that I had with them (and another that i witnessed a friend have with them) which is why i will probably never own an iPhone… reading about your experience makes me surprised that you are still with them…
regardless, I had a dooce-like situation with and another with – and let me tell you, if i had an outlet like dooce does, i would have said much nastier things than she did…
frankly, its good for companies to fear people with voices because maybe, just maybe, they’ll consider the possible consequences of their shoddy actions… we can hope, right?
AMEN.
What I don’t understand about all the drama and accusations that she’s pushing big business around with her self importance is the fact that, when we get a lemon product or service, we tell EVERYONE WE KNOW about how crappy they treated us..and while that’s all of 15 people who will now boycott that crappy chinese resturant(or Dell or ATT ect) we share. She’s doing the SAME THING. Hey I got crappy service and a lemon product they refuse to make things right/make me whole, and her scope of ‘everybody’ is just much larger. And if that helps them make it right, then good for her, score for the consumer. People are so self righteous without thinking. And can I just say that the woman who said she didn’t like the blind call to boycott, she must have forgotten about that thing called FREE WILL.. We can tell everyone how crappy such-and-such place treated me, but they have to choose on their own to no longer frequent that place. Ok, guess I can step down from my soap box now.
I completely agree and I can’t believe people jumped all over Dooce like that (yes, I read her too)for simply sticking up for herself.
Well said, I completely agree! If you don’t like what a blogger writes, don’t read it, or complain nicely. I just had the most awful restaurant experience and you can believe I went to every review website I could find to post my review. I think the internet is a great way to get a response from the company and she has every right to post her thoughts on the subject, whatever they may be.
Amen sister! It used to be that if you had a bad experience with a company, you’d tell your friends and family about it via telephone, in person, etc. Same thing going on here, but now with the internet, we can all reach many, many more people…and we should!!! So much of what is called service is simply ridiculous, and in my mind, it’s irresponsible to NOT tell your fellow human beings what to expect if they give their hard-earned dollars to certain companies. I live in France, and yesterday I had a RIDICULOUS four-hour experience with one of the HSBC branches here. The second person I spoke with on the phone was finally helpful, but it should not take four hours for me to be helped with a simple request. I say preach it sisters…go Heather…and Heather!
Hello,
If you think that’s bad, check out this article on the Time website (The Font War: Ikea fans fume over switch to Verdana). Individually we might be pretty sharp, but as a whole…no comment!
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1919127,00.html?cnn=yes
It drives me crazy how people feel free to pass such wild judgments over the internet. You’re right; it’s totally petty, nasty, immature, and I think probably hypocritical. But since I don’t want to be caught judging people who judge on the internet I’m not going to say anything more.
As far as fighting to get a company to actually serve it’s customers… Who hasn’t been there? I hope you won your battle!
I’m sorry, Susie, but I just don’t agree. While the conversation may have been courteous, the side commentary was teenage in its eye-rolling snottiness. But whatever, that’s not really the point. What I want to know is how does someone take anything on Twitter “out of context”? It’s all right there in front of you, if you’re literate. If you want your comments, snide or otherwise, to be taken IN context, you have to provide the backstory. Otherwise, it’s just passive aggressive.
(I think you may be a bit errant in calling out anyone by name – because I certainly didn’t, nor did I mean to imply that the behavior was limited to one or two or three.)
I have nothing but love for this entry.
Especially any references to Degrassi. You are my sunshine and puppy stop on the internet.
a very well-written entry. i agree that corporations have far too much power, over both employees and customers.
While I haven’t followed the Twitter controversy in question, I agree with your point completely. I also think that when we get exceptional customer service, we should be sure to tell others about the company that provided it. In my mind it’s the carrot that goes with the stick. If you serve me especially well I can tell everyone what a great store/cell phone company/sales person/credit card company you are and send them to you… if you don’t, I’ll tell them to avoid you. It’s really up to the companies to choose how to proceed from there!
I’m with Kristen on nevering owning an iphone, simply because AT&T sucks. I wish I was more confrontational on customer service issues… I usually just give up and get out when I can. My husband is a mac-lover and desperately wants an iphone, but he often brings up our altercation with AT&T, so I doubt that will happen… maybe ever?
Very well written. It’s amazing how so many people take blogs so personally and react like 12 year olds. It just makes their foolishness stick out more than their position on it. Beside, isn’t blogging about recounting your experiences, feelings, opinions, etc?
On the other hand, no one has a problem when someone has a great experience with a company and their product and then recommends them to others. But if someone happens to recount their experience on a blog and it has been negative, why do some whine as if it were a personal attack? Is this not helpful for us to make our decisions?
Sigh.
(Sigh!) Actually, “Degrassi High drama” is rampant…. Not just in blogs but in real life. The whole universe needs a reset button, and they need to use it. Now.
I had a nightmare of an experience with Sears a few months back (just part of the story: they were supposed to deliver my washer/dryer after sending out an unpackaged, broken product and waited until ten minutes before the delivery period ENDED to give us an automated phone call that our washer was backordered for THREE WEEKS), and I totally agree that if I were Dooce, I would have done THE SAME. As it was I was complaining too much and loudly to everyone who would listen to my saga (and it was a saga).
I don’t get it. Companies like Maytag and Sears are corporations, they are NOT little children with feelings that need to be coddled. And the customer service lines are staffed with people that do nothing more than save the person who screwed up from taking responsibility (in my case, a warehouse manager – who ever talked to him or admonished his abhorrent job skills?). If you want to yell at Dooce for complaining, then the only fault I can see is that she bought her washer from a large distributor, and not from a small appliance store that lives on good customer service (which is what we did).
Sorry the post got long, but wow, that drama was my first real look at the blogging “community” gone haywire, and I didn’t enjoy it one bit. Thanks for this post!
I totally think Dooce rocks. I found her 1st through your blog several years back… after your mother told me about your blog at a church campout. It was several years ago when you were still in NYC. I agree that Maytag support sounds like it s*cks the big one, big green ones belonging to a horse like animal.
I have my own Customer Service nightmares to add…. Cingular now AT&T was the absolute worst. I was thinking about leaving T-Mobile, so I could get an overpriced iPhone… my friends have them. I think I’ll just get the G phone, or switch to Verizon. So far, I haven’t been on their service and may get a discount as they provide our phone, TV and internet. We have a cell phone bill under 100 per month for 2 phones and 700 minutes and unlimited txt msging on T-Mobile. Their customer service is excellent too. Did I mention the 10% discount due to my former employer that’s still on my account. I have now decided to stick with them or go to Verizon in 2 months… I’ll decide soon. Would love to have the Google phone though it’s cool and like an iPhone for T-Mobile.
AMEN
What exactly is the difference between publishing a complaint on the net and a complaint in a newspaper?
And when you see the comments that can errupt on the internet.. it makes the world a scarier place.
And it just wouldn’t be Junior High without all of the folks who are not involved with The Situation at all, sniping and gossipping, and generally whipping things up into a frenzy.
High fives!
Great post and I totally agree, but I think Obama was right to call the Cambridge police stupid for their treatment of Skip Gates (I know you don’t “do” politics, but there you have it…hopefully without being snarky). And I think Dooce rocks.
I totally agree. I work in retail. It’s the only way people get treated fairly. You gotta ‘lose your shit’ before you get good customer service. I don’t know why these corporations do this. They intentionally make it hard for consumers to get what they pay for.
Also, she put up with their b.s. alot longer than I would. She put up with a non-working $1300 washer for almost a month. Give me a break, Maytag. I will never buy one!!
Agree completely.
I find it shocking that Dooce spoke her mind, and people felt like they had the right to bully her. I do enjoy Twitter, but after being attacked for such benign comments or conversing w/ someone they felt was controversial (and truly not controversial at all) had the right to say mean, horrible and vicious things. An earlier poster is right, we need to “reset” manners and kindness to others. Life is too short and I enjoy a spirited conversation like the next person to learn and gain knowledge, but when its done to people who hurt, maim, and drag someone down, I have no problem blocking them from my computer.
As for AT&T I’ve had so many issues w/ them I stopped counting. The sucky part is that my last two jobs wouldn’t reimburse me unless I was using them. I don’t know why corporations do that, but it really is unfair. I’ve been through 6 Blackberry Bolds since December. Someday I really hope they figure it out.
Excellent post. Actually, best post ever. You summarized everything I was feeling. We’ve all had horrible experiences with big corporations. You’re awesome.
I heart Dooce…
I had an situation with Mitsubishi and I blogged about it I even took my issues to the BBB…and my attorney BF who couldn’t help save the day…that’s another story.
I fought hard for my $2500 reimbursement and for the safety recall on that make and model.
You’re the only one that is going to fight for you so I say go for it!!
I’m glad Dooce blogged about her issue. Besides isn’t that what blogging is for; to tell the world all, tell the readers what’s up??
You’re post is great as always!!
Recently, there has been a good deal of investigation by the
FTC against bloggers and website promoters
for not publishing advertising profits, or potential
relationships with ad networks.
What are your personal thoughts about how this could potentially impact
the blogging world?