Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business

Chapter 4. How to Let Customers Say What they Really Think (And Keep Your Job)

Should you let customers say whatever they want on your web site? You (and, truth be told, your boss) might instinctively recoil from this idea. And that's understandable, considering all the negative comments floating around the Internet.

Just a five-minute search will show you the depth and breadth of customer dissatisfaction with American business practices. Here, for example, is a rant against Ford posted on complaints.com a couple of months ago (this is a quote, typos and all): "We own a 2006 Volvo XC90, while it's a decent vehicle, it's way overpriced, it gets 14 MPG, and we have had numerous issues with it. The dealer has been great, but i wouldn't reccomend this vehicle to anyone. My real complaint is that we wanted to trade it in, we wanted to buy an american car, specifically a Ford Hybrid. The problem is that they don't have any available, won't have any until Sept of this year at best, and trying to contact Ford for some better answers or results.....their response is that I should call their PR department ???? For some reason they can't forward my emails to their own people? We want to do our part, buy american, and now I see why our American car companies are in trouble, they can't figure out a way to produce the right kind of vehicle, and worse how to create a good customer service channel."^[16]

And here's a quote from "1Betty" (screen name) complaining on the my3cents.com site about Avis: ...