19.6.13

Rant, moan, rant - are we too whiney?

So a heated exchange on twitter about a  blog post I retweeted and a question I asked a week earlier have led to this post.

I had wondered if we get a skewed view of a company due to bloggers being more likely to post negative ranty (haha pot kettle etc) posts than cheerful ones about events, products etc. So I Asked bloggers what they were more likely to write about.

A few bloggers did admit they were more likely to rant or at least to write more in a ranty post, than they did in a happy one. I certainly know from experience that writing angry is easier than writing happy!


(Picture Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos )
Most bloggers also said they would usually contact the company first and give them chance to redress any issues. And of course people might blog that a bad day out was saved by a great company response…or not.

I have blogged about dreadful service in restaurants, rudeness of car drivers, and probably other things I can’t remember. I’ve also blogged about fabulous festivals, great camping trips, and lovely staff on holidays with DD.

It was suggested that ‘moaning is done for the sake of it’ and ‘people should lower their expectations and be happy’.  While obviously sometimes people can moan about trivia and should indeed be taking a critical step back and looking at the bigger picture, on the whole bloggers I’ve read have used a ranty post as a last resort (or a warning to others!) after all else has failed. In my opinion complaining about genuine poor service, faulty products, and a lack of comment from a company is essential, if we just accept whatever we are given at whatever price we will be given worse for more money! Companies are in the business of selling, the customer has a right to expect a reasonable deal and the company expects a profit. No one suggests the old adage that ‘the customer is always right’ anymore, but companies should certainly ensure the customer is at the very least fairly treated and politely dealt with.

What is your experience? Do you moan more than praise? Do you think it’s right to complain or are we becoming a moaning culture where we expect perfection in every case?

I’d love to know what you think.

Thanks to the bloggers on twitter that answered my original questions, and to those that sparked an interesting debate.

5 comments:

  1. I think we have a right to a view and if that view comes through a blog then it should come out clean, clear of any influences. So yes, we can blog about good and bad products, we can assess and explore the services and how they made us feel and we can always admit we may have been in a mood that didn't help the situation... but we must make sure we're honest.

    Weirdly I think I feel that offering companies a chance to make it up to me sounds a bit like blackmail? Does that sound weird? I suppose I see it as 'make it up or I word blast you!' But could it also just be giving them a chance?

    I don't know.

    I think we should be fair if we are rating things but not feel we have to be nice because it's 'the done thing', or be mean because it'll get us more hits on the blog.

    Just be fair and if you can do that then you are clear to say what you like.

    Yup. (this is coming from someone who rips films to pieces every couple of weeks on twitter so perhaps I am a bit hypocritical)

    Be fair. *Reminds self to be fair in future :-)*

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Edd, I certainly didn't mean it to sound like blackmail! I meant that you should contact the company before launching into a scathing blog attack, but if they just brush you off then maybe have a blog rant after? Of course if they are apologetic and helpful you would blog accordingly, I didn't mean that you would tell them you planned to blog either way...I may joke that "I'm pretty popular online" but I don't mean it and wouldn't use it as a threat for companies :-)

      Delete
    2. Nah, don't think it is all balckmail-like really, just a thought. I suppose it comes down to me not being arsed to give them a second chance which is pretty bad.

      I don't know, but do you think they do think you have them over a barrel? You know, when someone says 'I'm not pleased...'. Working in cinema's a long time ago we used to give out a lot of free tickets, pretty much to anyone who moaned.

      Even the really weird ones.

      Is that the corporate response we want or is it just something to make us go away and shut up? I suppose it depends on the person complaining and the person handelling the complaint really.

      The human factor is always present.

      Delete
  2. I only moan if I really have to or, I feel that I don't have anywhere else to vent my frustration. But by the same token, I write a lot of happy posts praising good service etc.

    I think that we all have a right to moan and to have a fair and honest view of a company's service and if that means bloggers as third parties writing ranty posts about their services then so be it! After all companies only tell you their success stories!!

    I don't think we should expect perfection, but I do think we should expect a decent level of service!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I find ranting generally gets results!

    I see my blog as my space, and if people don't like what we write, they aren't forced to read it! It's the same way as we would not hold back when talking to our mates or partners, but these days we have a place to air our views and get a result. When I ranted about Amazon, they took a book down, their share price fell, and I ended up on the BBC World Service. That to me was a positive, as a company that refused to listen literally had to. When you consider that we are all hit by less disposable incomes, you want to go to a place like the one mentioned in the post you reference and have a good day out. You certainly can't afford to waste vast sums on something not worth it.
    Blogs get far, as does Social media in general, whether its rants or fund raising, it's all good!

    ReplyDelete

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