By Eilidh Beaton
I feel sorry (not really) for shoddy retailers these days. The internet, particularly since the advent of Web 2.0, has brought with it a plethora of online outlets for frustrated customers to air their grievances. Whereas in days gone by, businesses simply had to worry about word of mouth gossip, now if they slip up, the whole world knows about it pretty fast. Customers can blog about it, open a discussion about it on a forum, or warn friends about it on their Facebook homepage.
Not only this, but everybody’s a critic in the twenty first century – and more often than not, perspective punters will take the advice of Joe Bloggs in East Dulwich over an out-of-date review by a 'legitimate' critic.
And yet, too many companies still think they can get away with treating customers like ejits. Take for example the bathroom myself and my fiancée bought from Bathroom World at this year’s Ideal Home Show. We were wooed by the snazzy stand, slick customer service, and of course, the fabulous bathroom on display. Everything seemed kosher, so we parted with our hard earned cash and went on our merry way.
That was in April. We finally received our bathroom in October, after three botched deliveries, and countless email and phone chases. Throughout this tedious and frustrating process, we were fobbed off and treated like irritating pests that were making a fuss about nothing. Clearly, Bathroom World had no internal communication, no centralised system, and crucially, no one who actually gave a damn. The website is impressive, the showrooms are shiny, but scrape away the top layer, and the rest crumbles to dust.
Virgin Media is another recent example of an organisation that’s gone down the style over substance route. Customers want to believe in the hype, the personalised marketing messages and the funky brand. However, talk to anyone who has actually signed on the dotted line, and they’ll tell you about the dodgy TV reception and broken down broadband.
One of the things I love about PR is when a client has a decent product or service and actually has something worthwhile to say about it. But as a wise man once said, you can’t dress up a pig. It’s about time that those companies who are all mouth and no trousers started placing more emphasis on quality and delivery, rather than just reeling in customers and hoping for the best.
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