The Hell with Dell

The summer of 2005 was especially hot. Jeff Jarvis just got back his computer (for the fifth time) from Dell's lab. He was hoping that perhaps this time it will work, but life with Dell, as Jeff probably knew by then, are full with disappointments. For Jeff, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. He posted a blog stating that Dell’s machine is a "lemon", and that was the opening shot for a long and dirty quarrel between him and Dell.
Numbers tell that after a while, Jeff's blog and especially the term "Dell Hell" contributed massively to the company's loss of popularity and a negative public opinion regarding the firm and its products. Dell understood in the painful way that Jeff is not the kind of dude you wanna mess with.

So how should Dell have dealt with the situation? They had two options, either to attack back or to try and eliminate the problem as soon as possible in a peaceful and submissive way. Well, Dell went with the former way and the sad results were not late to arrive. Now I am not saying that Dell should have gone with the later option without thinking twice. The decision with which way to go must derived after checking the facts and see who is right. In this case, the outcome was in favor of Mr. Jarvis. Unfortunately, for Dell the result was different and so was the action plan.
Jeff Jarvis had all the rights in the world to be very upset with Dell and even though some might claim he was a bit too rough with them, I would say that he did what every frustrated consumer dreams of doing whenever he feel he got screwed, several times. Jeff just did it.
I don't know if Jeff's case was one of a kind, actually I'm pretty sure there were other Jeffs with the same problem but less resources and personal motive to do what he did, Dell didn't take that under consideration and thought that he is just like all the rest and must not be paid attention to. How could they know? I guess they couldn't, at the beginning. However, when Jeff started writing about his experiences, Dell had to see the first red-light turning on. Dell should have invite Jeff to their offices and try to consolidate him in whichever way they can and even to go way and beyond to make him love the company. Why? simply because Jeff is not and ordinary customer, for dell he should have become a tool, an advertisement tool. The same bad publicity and exposure Dell had, resulting Jeff's blog could have in its favor...
By buttering Jeff up a bit, and even sucking up to him, Dell could have won a great ally, instead, they won themselves a bitter, angry nemesis who is not only willing to do anything but also holds the weak position of the poor little customer against the big bad firm.

Saying that, I must add that not every company should take actions like Jeff's as a serious bomb threat, even if the complainer has a blog! I am just saying that a company must address issues like that and treat customers with respects. They might be wrong, they might be right - that should be the base for their course of action! If the company is right and the complaint is baseless I am sure they will not have problems proving it, but if the company is wrong, what tells them that its not Jarvis, try to strike again...

Think about it!
YV