Beyond The Net
Wonder what your customers think? Search the Web
By Janine Warner
In a moment of frustration after a bad consumer experience last week, I went to a search engine and typed in the name of the company, plus the word ''complaint.'' I was astounded to find more than a thousand matches, including a few that made me feel like I had been lucky.
As a business owner, you should consider doing this kind of search about your own company on a regular basis. According to a report by the Consumer Federation of America and the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators, the Internet is the fastest-growing area for consumer complaints.
''Any business should want to know what the public is saying about it,'' said Lois Greisman, associate director of the Division of Planning and Information Bureau of Consumer Protection for the Federal Trade Commission.
The Web is now home to a long list of complaint sites about major businesses, as well as many smaller ones. Many are hosted under disparaging domain names, such as www.NorthWorst.org, www.AA Sucks.org, and www.IHateStarbucks.com. (I also found a number of names my editors would never let me put in print.)
Before you think about trying to shut down one of these sites, you should be aware that the results of many legal cases over the last few years favor defendants, with businesses losing in court because consumer sites are found not to violate trademark laws, even when they use the company's official trademark.
In a 1998 case brought by Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., a California judge even found that the consumer site had the right to use the company's trademarked name in meta tags, which are used to provide better matches in search engines.
While you're searching for your own company, you should also check out some of the general complaint sites, such as www.EComplaintscom, and www.Passenger Rights.com. Another site, www.Econsumer.gov, provides information about cross-border e-commerce complaints in four languages -- English, Spanish, French and German.
Most of these sites provide forms to make it easy for consumers to explain their problem, and some invite companies to respond -- generally a good idea if you want to show that you are proactive in handling customer complaints when they do arise.
Many of the general sites note that customers don't complain directly to companies because they think it's a waste of time or because they don't know where to direct complaints, which leads them to more public forums.
At www.EComplaints.com, the top 10 companies with complaints (not a list you ever want to be on) include four major airlines and four major telecommunications companies. The Federal Trade Commission lists identity theft as the top consumer complaint at their site, followed by online auction sites, and Internet service providers.
Whether there are a thousand complaints about your business online or only a few, the damage can be costly. The FTC's Greisman shared these suggestions to help make sure your reputation remains as good as possible -- online and off:
o Ask your clients to give you feedback about your products and services so they don't go somewhere else to spout off.
o Make it easy to find customer service numbers and an e-mail address, and include a form on your website to make sure you get all the information you need to respond appropriately.
o Tell customers you'll keep their information confidential and don't ever use it against them.
o Don't use consumer feedback to market back to customers. Use it to improve your products or services.
o Make sure you have a good return policy (one of the best ways to find out what's not working).
o Don't charge restocking fees, and if you feel you have to, make sure you disclose them before customers make a purchase.
As for the company that frustrated me last week, I can only assume they're not paying much attention to the Web.
Too bad for them. They might have saved themselves another frustrated customer if they'd learned from their previous mistakes.
First publication, The Miami Herald, Mon, Aug. 26, 2002
