Worst PR Ever...
mod
Dunno if this has been posted. Couldnt find a thread on it.
Holy cow, this is just insane... Long story short, a rightfully angry customer asked legitimate questions and got insanely rude emails back, which ends in the customer service guy having his life destroyed....
http://penny-arcade.com/resources/just-wow1.html
and a little update as well.
http://penny-arcade.com/resources/an-update1.html
Sounds like the guy runs his own business out of his home or something.
Holy cow, this is just insane... Long story short, a rightfully angry customer asked legitimate questions and got insanely rude emails back, which ends in the customer service guy having his life destroyed....
http://penny-arcade.com/resources/just-wow1.html
and a little update as well.
http://penny-arcade.com/resources/an-update1.html
Sounds like the guy runs his own business out of his home or something.
Replies
I didn't know what people were complaining about until right about there. :thumbup:
Although the guy looking for the controller isn't exactly coming out of it smelling like roses either.
No one I hope. I wish people hadn't started harassing him and his family though. The nets getting a bit fucking scary.
Apparently the makers of the controller thing gave him the boot over the fiasco. Even in his response where he tries to explain himself he comes off like an asshole.
Even after the fact, he proves he isn't professional enough to deal with difficult people. How is it that he has any clients at all?
I wonder what his reaction was once he realized he was in too deep
Me too, mainly because every one of the persons involved are acting like assholes.
Seem like the whole thing is very iffy, I would really have problems having any business with that guy, if I was any of his clients.
The whole situation is just dumb.
"Welcome to the internet, bitch. Thats how I roll."
With his attitude he was going to hit a brick wall sooner or later, and as proven by his recent "apologies" he still doesn't get it.
He got a bunch of chances to fix this, and every time he seemed to just make it worse.
If anything he is digging his own grave, he needs to swallow the humble-pill before his "welcome to the internet, bitch" ironically turns around on him.
With that said, his real/imaginary family should be left alone.
lol, I believe now he knows that internet does a good damage on one's reputation if one is being a douche and represents a known company.
When will people learn. If you find an email that is offensive or a post that is offensive, you might as well just leave it be. Do not answer, unless you are forced upon.
First thing I learned in college. This technique works in your benefit. That is if you choose to walk away from the scene if the situation is unstable. Or Apologize and walk away.
When you are sending a harsh email or a bad news email, proof read, anything can be used against you on the internet to take your down.
This is the second incident I've seen of some douche bag who thinks he can pretend to be the boss on the internet, forgetting the other part, that there are some people on the internet who actually are the boss or pretend to be better boss.
I've seen this happen a few times before over simple issues and every time I see it it just makes me sad. I start losing faith in humanity when I see how incredibly ignorant these idiots are.
@eld: I think the customer said that comment, not the seller.
Well...not really, one person was acting like an asshole and others were forced to be one.
There is a difference.
There is a difference if you can't control yourself. You should read the previous comment you wrote about how it's better to walk away. He should have his money back of course.
Acting like an asshole is still acting like an asshole, "forced upon" or not.
The dude was beaten, he was done, and a single email to his employer couldve destroyed his job -- and then Gabe chose to escalate and open the floodgates to all this childish, abusive bullshit. Gabe won, plain and simple, protecting one of his customers from another business, and that makes sense... And then after his target was well and beaten, he continues to seek to beat him into the ground. And kotaku joined in to whore for page hits.
It's not some huge evil, i'm not gonna quit reading penny arcade over it, but it's extremely petty and immature and irresponsible. Not big on bullies, even ones who only pick on the bad guys.
Yes I know what I said. But in this case no one walked away. The customer should've gotten his money back, and small apology email could've solved the issue. But after like 8 emails back and forth, the situation got out of control. And there was money involved.
When it comes to customer service you dont just expect customers to pay for something and not have it. You definitely are not suppose to bitch on customers especially when they dont receive the product and are upset about it. You definitely dont tell your customers to "grow up and wait like everyone else." I think thats what it means when we say "Customer comes first" when we talk about Customer service in any sort of industry. When you are a customer service rep and being an asshole to your customer who paid for the product and waiting for it or he wants the money back, he can be a bigger asshole to you, and can do whatever to show you your place.
Thats what happened here.
I was talking about what I usually do in this situations and there is no money involved so it is easier to walk away from such situations.
Also, i mean, the shitty customer service was obvious, and the guy was extremely rude, but at NO POINT did he try to rip off his customer. He clearly reiterated their return policy, that the customer could get a full refund within 7 days after receiving his product. Getting all of his money back was not good enough for the customer, and he continued to complain.
I'm not defending the pr guy's behavior at all, he was totally a dick, but in context nothing was at stake here. No money was going to be lost, and there's no way the customer was inconvenienced to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars by those delays in the way that the distributor almost certainly is.
Have any of you guys ever worked in customer service environments before? Have you ever dealt with a customer demanding you change a system that's completely stacked to favor them because they're offended and want to feel like they beat you? The PR guy's behavior was uncalled for, and he failed to do his job, and it's understandable to fire him for failing to do just job... but the other dude was a shitty customer, too.
but I would get upset if I get 4th reply from Paul ( see the message ). simply because I starting to think that im actually losing money dealing with the "elven" company. new order will get 10$ off, yea right .... I will go full missile lock to the customer service just like Mike/Dave did.
Yes getting fired was plenty enough for him, but that might not have happened if it hadn't gone viral.
I think next time he is involved he probably wouldn't post it to Penny Arcade... because he now realizes the power he has at his finger tips. Lesson learned... lets learn from others mistakes
I personally had to smooth over irate customers plenty of times when something in the supply chain screws up their service - the number one rule is you take responsibility for your supply chain. If there's a screw up in shipping you don't blame the factory, you apologize, even offer a rebate. Keep your customers, you can always change shipping services and vendors.
The personal threats are way too far, but this guy shouldn't work in a public facing environment. Even his "apology" follow on is so out of touch with basic retail customer service as to leave me wondering how he got his current gig anyhow.
The whole thing could have been solved with one email at the start.
Here's how to write it:
"I apologize that you have not received <object of your heart's desire>.
We are currently experiencing unexpected manufacturing and shipping delays. Our current estimated shipment date is <insert date range here>.
Thank you for your understanding. Also please use promo code <promo code here> to enjoy 10% off your next order as a token of our thanks for your patience and loyalty.
Sincerely,
-Customer Svc Rep Mr. NotADouche
"
See? Easy. Guy woulda been happy to get 10% off his next accessory he's stoked about.
Instead Mr. Can't-use-google isn't smart enough to figure out that Mike is *that* Mike, even after being told to "feel free and google me".
He's not only rude. He's dumb. Maybe he'll realize that just having someone's contact info doesn't make them a "connection" if you aren't someone they're willing to do business with.
I take the opposite view. Shit like this needs to be exposed. Gabe did the right thing. The people who started a whole investigation of the PR dude is another matter.
You cannot hold the person giving knowledge to others, as the irresponsible one for those few who that take the knowledge and misuse it. That is on each of those individuals conscience.
In short, your same principle could be used as to why games need to be monitored because of the few who misuse games for real life violence. Which im sure your against. But you come off a hypocritical with your above angst at Mike sharing poor customer service to inform his audience.
And i know that, and my coworkers who fuck that up piss me off to no end, but they should get fired, not lynched.
Totally deserved and far from the polite teflon walls that are put up by professional customer service when they want to get rid of an annoying customer.
We're all people, we're all fighting our own battles, everyone's a bully to somebody.
P.S. What the internet is becoming is scary as shit. God forbid we answer a phone on a bad day from someone with an internet following.
I've always hated that saying. That's a CEO's mentality, it's neither realistic or reasonable. Most every customer who has called in during my 2 and a half years as customer support who's made an assumption - they were dead wrong. And they are usually happy they're wrong, because by the time we're done I fix the product they think is "worthless".
The customer is almost never right. It isn't the job of customer service to give the customer whatever they want, it's to provide them with the most clear and honest information they have available, and to do the best they can with what they have. Often times they're in a separate area or separate building from the rest of the company, and "success" for the company does not mean anything but more stress and harder workdays for the service reps - because they will have more products to learn, more customers to help, and an ever-increasing workload - usually without an increase in pay or an expansion of their department, because in the eyes of the business folk when the company is doing good, that means customers are happy - and how could customer support need anything if customers are happy, right?
That being said Paul was still a douche, and while Dave made a few comments that might've irritated me a bit, he seemed like an all around cool guy who would've gotten my best efforts.
Does no one care about writing a well put together sentence anymore?
So customer calls in:
"I just bought one of your games, it does nothing, I've tried everything, and I'm fed up with it and demand a refund"
Ten minutes in to discover the customer is able to install the game, but gets an (accurate) error message stating they don't meet the system requirements.
Customer is right?
Or how about...customer calls in, demands you let them install the game on every computer at the local library?
Customer calls in, demands you give them a save game file with all the game's content unlocked?
Customer calls in, states the game is a worthless piece of crap - simply needs to download the first patch available on the "Support and Help" section of the website?
^ All of the above happened within the first hour and a half of my work day this morning.
http://courtindex.sdcourt.ca.gov/CISPublic/casedetail?casenum=DVN14325&casesite=NC&applcode=D
Just gotta post and say SupRore... I F$#@ing love you.
I find the sheer amount of unjustified hatred and anger towards this guy unfathomable. If anyone is a bully or a villian in this it's Mark. He has effectively and conciously F%$#ed this guys life over a petty squabble. If becoming a pariah was as easy as a few dickish words, none of us would be here.
At the end of the day that PR guy is a person, which some people seem to be forgetting.
But what if Hitler pushed you? Then what??
Ultimately I don't like tarring and feathering people, but I hate bad service and disrespect with a passion. It harms everyone but the douchebag, and when you experience a taste of it on a larger scale (*cough* eastern european storeowners are assholes *cough*) you have zero sympathy. Dip this guy in tar, roll him in pillows, and run him out of the business. People need to be reminded of what's not OK, and why.
Also: http://kotaku.com/5871515/theres-already-an-ocean-marketing-comedy-video
The seller told the customer that he could either have his money back(and walk away) or wait like everyone else. He was doing in a very rude manner but the customer could simply had asked for his money back and/or threatened to report it in a more polite manner. I'm saying this because acting like a douche can backfire very easily, I know this from experience, and even if it doesn't it's not a good thing to do.
I don't believe in the whole "customer comes first" reasoning. If the customer is acting like an immature child you have the right to choose NOT to sell to him, it's as easy as that. Being rude to the customer is very short-sighted and bad for your business, but that's all it should be. In this case the customer happened to have an army of internet bullies behind him which isn't always the case. If somebody would tell me something like "Welcome to the internet, bitch" I would block the hell out of him and never serve him again. Nobody has the right to be an asshole.
people irl can't get that stupid.
You musta have missed my post as well as not really read the thread correctly. The customer DID NOT have the bullies. He forwarded his exchange to Mike and a few other Gaming Sites. Mike responded to the guy because....
"The Pax East comment gets my attention and I decide to engage. I tend to have a calming effect on these sorts of arguments.
-Gabe "
Mike (Gabe) only decided to post it all after the guy started talking ignorant smack to him as well. Mike, was not an asshole.
Now, if you read it correctly, you will see Goraaz, your judgements are incorrect.
Lets face it, a lot of people are ignoranat to the way the internet works and think they can spout off nonsense, be as rude as they want and think it will have no reprocussions in real-life. It serves as a reminder to the rest of us that there is no such thing as internet anonymity, you're responsible for your actions at ALL times and if you act like an asshole you better be god damn ready to face the consequences (which by the way in this day and age in technology are pretty severe). This is especially true when you're an asshole to someone who actually HAS a lot of connections and can pull some strings.
There is a valuable lesson being exposed to the world right now, especially when you look deeper and see the company posting false reviews on amazon about competitors products and artificially inflating their own products ratings.
I'm honestly surprised so many people are upset with penny arcade over this. It really isn't in any way shape or form immature or petty to expose this type of thing. The responsibility again falls onto people to do what's right and use personal judgement, that's something Penny Arcade has no control over.
There is no difference from this or any other investigative reporting that has been going on for years bringing different issues to light. Social justice will happen one way or another and there isn't much anyone can do to stop it other than not being an asshole.
Fortunately this works both ways, do you something good for someone and you'll get praise. I fail to see how this is a problem.
INB4 someone says "you've never had a bad day", yes I have, but I never take it out on random strangers who I have no idea who they are, that's why you have friends/family/spouse to complain to.
Haha, "incorrect". I perceived what I read, all three of them acted like jerks in this whole incident. It's easy to take sides and ignore one side's actions completely but that's not how it should be. Things like this should be viewed from a more objective point of view, my judgement is based on that.
By sending the mails to larger internet sites which are filled with internet bullies he did have them back him up indirectly.
And just because he got exposed it's oh so sad for him? After he kept acting worse and worse and worse to two different people for no particular reason other than to feel good about himself? What should happen? We should let a baboon like this sit in a chair and pretend to be a businessman? Let the internet crucify him and hopefully the next guy like him will think twice.