A topic we are discussing
in my Social Media Class this week touches on our (people’s) use of Social Media
as a personal communications tool to get a particular business’s attention. I think most of us can relate or think of a
time when we have had a complaint, with which we tried to communicate
traditionally to get it resolved, and we were not satisfied with the outcomes. One
for me that comes to my mind, is when I had difficulties in the past,
communicating with one of the Indian Casino’s in Southern California.
The Casino often hosts
live music and concerts and I was visiting there to see one of my favorite older
70’s bands- “The Tower of Power.” My girlfriend and I decided to use the valet
parking, and we proceeded to pull up to a south side entrance where there was
an awning, and it looked like casino personnel were waiting to help us. Turns
out the valet reception area (not clearly marked) was on the east side of the casino,
and we were rudely told by a security guard to move our car because “that was
not reserved for our parking.”
Some months later I had decided to write them a letter by snail mail (U.S. mail), relating my experience at the casino and how I was disappointed with the valet service. It had been raining heavily that day and we ended up parking over 50 yards from the valet entrance, with no awning or anyone there from the casino to greet us. We ended up having to walk to the side entrance doors, getting soaking-wet by the time we reached the desk to request the valet.
I sent the complaint letter to them as part of a research project for my CSUSM Services-Marketing class; the professor wanted to prove a point that most businesses do not provide adequate services marketing. He suggested that many of us (students) would not hear back or receive responses to our customer/business complaints. My lesson was learned disappointingly as I did not hear at all from the casino regarding my parking complaint during my concert visit.
Some months later I had decided to write them a letter by snail mail (U.S. mail), relating my experience at the casino and how I was disappointed with the valet service. It had been raining heavily that day and we ended up parking over 50 yards from the valet entrance, with no awning or anyone there from the casino to greet us. We ended up having to walk to the side entrance doors, getting soaking-wet by the time we reached the desk to request the valet.
I sent the complaint letter to them as part of a research project for my CSUSM Services-Marketing class; the professor wanted to prove a point that most businesses do not provide adequate services marketing. He suggested that many of us (students) would not hear back or receive responses to our customer/business complaints. My lesson was learned disappointingly as I did not hear at all from the casino regarding my parking complaint during my concert visit.
Had I thought to utilize social media by making a customer review on Yelp (http://bit.ly/efx48B) or another social site, I might have received a response and some more attention – if not gained some support from other casino visitors who have had similar experiences.
I decided to visit the social review website Yelp today, and I looked up this casino to see what complaints may have been registered there in recent months. It sounds like the casino has done some renovations recently; with some happy customers sounding very pleased with their new décor and aesthetics, and others not so pleased with the rise in consumer costs and perceived lower gambling payouts.
But here is the lesson. I also noticed the casino management is active on Yelp; where I observed that casino personnel are responding to some of the complaints from the most disgruntled customers. Apparently there is someone there who is paying attention and responding to social media. Acting as a “Social Valet” if you will - Probably a wise management choice to make, don’t you think?
...awesome post David. I FIRMLY agree about yelp reviews.. Keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteWell written, David. It's too bad you didn't think about going on yelp when the incident occurred. It's definitely something to consider when in that situation.
ReplyDeleteMy wife has an immigration/income tax preparation business, and I just checked to see if anyone had posted any reviews- none to speak of. I guess no publicity is better than bad publicity. I am definitely going to recommend that my wife claim her business on yelp, so she can start tracking clients' reviews and encourage her clients to post reviews. My wife is reluctant to use any social media, but she has posted reviews on yelp, so she may be more willing to use it. It's a start.
¯\(°_o)/¯
David, I definitely think social media customer service is a must these days. I also wanted to fill you in on Yelp! They are in the midst of a law suit because they purposely remove good reviews and keep bad reviews up so that they can call and sell reputation management to businesses. They promise to take down the 'bad reviews' but have gotten stuck in quite the dilemma when some businesses found out that it was Yelp! who was hiring people to write bad reviews only to continue receiving payments. Just wanted to let you know! As with anything, what you see is not always as it may seem.
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