Posted by Tony E on February 20, 2004 at 02:10:29:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Tuba Consumerism & Emails posted by Joe Baker on February 19, 2004 at 23:20:11:
Joe,
Good post. You did indeed generate some strong responses...and some very well articulated ones.
Hey, you're officially "on the record" as to the point I made. I'm not suprised at all to read your clarification here.
There have been couple of obnoxious posts that have recently popped up on the board that just go to show how quickly today's internet savy dissatisfied customers (over relatively minor issues)are willing to flame a dealers reputation.
I would say that the convenience and real time access that is now a part of the marketplace is a two edge sword, that provides both opportunity and risk to the dealers. One of the downsides (and several have been mentioned) is that a dissatisfied customer now has the ability to instantly "vent" to a significant audience. It's so quick and easy that customers may simply choose to pursue that avenue rather than even try to resolve it. Personally, I think there should be a very low tollerance for it on this board, and I was glad to see that the recent posts in question were received with no sympathy.
So, as you say, speaking about principle: I think complaining on a public forum about a dealer's performance should be a last resort, to be considered only after the dealer has had full opportunity to correct whatever grievance is at issue. And even then, possibly appropriate only if it is an issue or practice that is likely to be a problem for other readers. Anything short of that should be confronted.
My .02
Tony E