Customer Care

In these days of extreme activism, especially on social media, any company worth its salt can dare ignore customer feedback or delay responding to an aggrieved customer. The chances of his or her painting the social media red and inviting further comments of people with similar experiences thereby leading to an avalanche of negative comments are extremely high which, in turn, can seriously taint the company’s image.

I myself being an active user of social media am quick to share my unpleasant experiences ( and I am quite balanced at that – my appreciation of good experiences outnumber my denouncement of bad experiences). While in some cases, the response is quick and comprehensive ( in fact on a few occasions my appreciation was endorsed by several others – Air India, Hindustan Times, Vistara), there are others who just choose to sit tight on the issue, testing the patience of the complainant ( or issue raiser) and waiting for the issue to die its natural death. In this category, Food Hall, an international chain specialising in exotic and organic food items that has made its Indian debut not to long ago, deserves a special mention. They promptly reacted to my tweet, advising me send e mail at the ID, acknowledged my e mail, assured a quick revert and then chose to let the issue die is natural demise.

Quite strange on the part of an International chain, I must admit, because most of the MNCs, apart from the product and technology are also known for bringing their best customer practices at the geographies that they opt to cover!