Comments on: ATT Service Recovery: A Follow-up

By: Bret L. Simmons

Bret L. Simmons — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:01:57 +0000

I hear what you are saying CV and agree. It is too bad that i can get attention and others can’t, but then again it is good that I can get attention. If my complaint in any way forces them to look at systemic issues, then ever the quiet wheels can benefit. Thanks for the comment! Bret

By: Bret L. Simmons

Bret L. Simmons — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:00:05 +0000

great point, concur. Thanks, Jim! Bret

By: Jim Taggart

Jim Taggart — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:37:28 +0000

I distinguish between the “squeaky wheel” phenomenon of one-on-one complaining for restitution for poor service or product quality with publicly shaming a company on, say, Twitter or Facebook. With the latter, everyone potentially benefits from the actions initiated by one individual.

By: cv harquail

cv harquail — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 16:25:18 +0000

Brett,
While this move by ATT to help you after seeing your social/public critique of their service is ‘good’ — in the sense that they paid attention and the problem got solved — I also think that it is ‘bad’.
I worry about the digital divide between customers who think about using Twitter etc. and those who don’t, so that the first group gets service and the second group continues to get screwed.
We applaud the organizations that respond in just the same was as we coo over dads carrying babies in the BabyBjorn– it’s so sweet! so exemplary! but wait a minute, should all of them be doing that allot of the time, so that it’s not so novel?
I like to see organizations respond to loud squeaky wheels, but I like them to fix the crooked axles that cause the problems in the first place.
That’s one of the reasons why I appreciated that Comcast put up their service improvement dashboard online … so that all customers could see that Comcast is (at least) attempting systemic changes. [something I addressed in '7 Signs of Change at Comcast: What I’ve found so far']
Good thing that you now have reliable phone service, ’cause I know you’ll call them and let them know if you don’t see a system improvement!
cvh
cv

By: Jim Taggart

Jim Taggart — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 15:15:01 +0000

You make a very important point, Bret, about responsibility. That’s key to using the power of social media. There are numerous instances of people abusing the availability of social media to defame companies.

By: Bret L. Simmons

Bret L. Simmons — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:22:45 +0000

I love this growing power, Jim, but with it comes responsibility to speak fairly as well as openly. I hope people can see in all my posts about complaints the suggestion for improvement to the company if they ever show up to see it. Thanks! Bret

By: Jim Taggart

Jim Taggart — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:38:57 +0000

Bret, your experience and eventual resolution is an example of the growing power of social media teechnology, where citizens empower themselves to complain, take a public stand, etc. on issues with large corporations. There’s a lag effect between the use of the Internet by people and how corporations manage their public images. Hopefully that lag will narrow further in time. But where there’s a huge opportunity for improvement is the relationships between government and citizens.

Unfortunately, while corporate America and Canada are driven by the profit motive, and react accordingly, governments (small and large) are increasingly detached from citizens. There’s no profit motive to change behavior, and true accountability is virtually non-existent.