4 ms·

Frustrated customers, even rude ones, are an opportunity to learn and improve. The CEO of Ghost unfortunately resorted to schoolboy tactics instread of acting l

Frustrated customers, even rude ones, are an opportunity to learn and improve. The CEO of Ghost unfortunately resorted to schoolboy tactics instread of acting like a diplomatic executive. Sure you should fire your bad customers. But don't mistake a frustrated customer for a bad one. They are not the same.

emsy 6y ago
This. The customer is upset because he was wronged and he’s going to be frustrated. If you’re going to fire every rude customer you’re quickly out of business. People point out that „both sides are in the wrong“. But the extent to which they are wrong is different.
- robertlagrant 6y ago
  Also, he wasn't rude. The responses were.
  - emsy 6y ago
    You’re right I edited the comment.
- lilSebastian 6y ago
  > The customer is upset because he was wronged and he’s going to be rude At which point was the customer rude here?
  - emsy 6y ago
    Yes rude is the wrong word I‘ll edit it to make it more accurate (I’m no native speaker, sorry)
  - theevilsharpie 6y ago
    > At which point was the customer rude here? The customer was a little aggressive in their opening email when they described Ghost's business practices as shady, but I'd still consider it in-bounds for a professional email. Then, before Ghost's support had a chance to engage with this customer, the customer publicly tweeted about the problem in a way that implied that Ghost was intentionally ripping off customers. I would encourage anyone reading this to stop for a moment and think back to the projects they've worked on, either for an employer or as a side project. How many of those projects explicitly aimed to defraud paying customers? Even a single one? Now, how many of those projects had to deal with customers that rudely complained about something that ended up being a misunderstanding on their part, or were simply abusing the support staff as a way of getting a refund or some other type of free service? Practically everyone who has ever had to deal with any type of customer support has encountered that behavior -- "Karen" caught on as a widely-understood stereotype for a reason. Ghost's CEO likely reacted the way he did because he has enough experience to quickly categorize customers who reach out for support, and concluded (probably correctly) that this customer would continue to be unreasonable, would end up being a net drain on both revenue and team morale, and that refunding the customer and banning their account would be the quickest and least distracting way forward. I can't fault Ghost here. Dealing with people that immediately drag your name through the mud for every perceived slight is exhausting, and for a low-fee service like Ghost, can very quickly erase whatever margin they may be making. And frankly, as someone that's tired of the increasingly polarized and hateful discourse on social media these days, it's refreshing to see a business that's willing to clamp down on incivility, even if it means lost revenue.
    - Twisell 6y ago
      I agree that terminating contract with some prior notice and sending data back could have been a rude but understandable decision... but insulting the customer on twitter, then deleting the tweet before immediately nuking customer's website was clearly out of bound.
      - theevilsharpie 6y ago
        It only seems that way because Ghost was up-front about telling the customer to fuck off. Larger, more established companies do that as well, but in the form of automated account blocks, or byzantine phone/support ticket workflows that effectively prevent you from reaching someone other than entry-level support who can do little to help you. Even if they're more polite about it, they're still essentially telling you to get lost if you don't like their service or its terms.
nix23 6y ago
Maybe, but going instantly to twitter without waiting for a email response is not just rude.
threatofrain 6y ago
And you should refuse customers in a procedural way, not in a personally angry way where you delete their data.

emsy 6y ago

This. The customer is upset because he was wronged and he’s going to be frustrated. If you’re going to fire every rude customer you’re quickly out of business. People point out that „both sides are in the wrong“. But the extent to which they are wrong is different.

robertlagrant 6y ago
Also, he wasn't rude. The responses were.
- emsy 6y ago
  You’re right I edited the comment.
lilSebastian 6y ago
> The customer is upset because he was wronged and he’s going to be rude At which point was the customer rude here?
- emsy 6y ago
  Yes rude is the wrong word I‘ll edit it to make it more accurate (I’m no native speaker, sorry)
- theevilsharpie 6y ago
  > At which point was the customer rude here? The customer was a little aggressive in their opening email when they described Ghost's business practices as shady, but I'd still consider it in-bounds for a professional email. Then, before Ghost's support had a chance to engage with this customer, the customer publicly tweeted about the problem in a way that implied that Ghost was intentionally ripping off customers. I would encourage anyone reading this to stop for a moment and think back to the projects they've worked on, either for an employer or as a side project. How many of those projects explicitly aimed to defraud paying customers? Even a single one? Now, how many of those projects had to deal with customers that rudely complained about something that ended up being a misunderstanding on their part, or were simply abusing the support staff as a way of getting a refund or some other type of free service? Practically everyone who has ever had to deal with any type of customer support has encountered that behavior -- "Karen" caught on as a widely-understood stereotype for a reason. Ghost's CEO likely reacted the way he did because he has enough experience to quickly categorize customers who reach out for support, and concluded (probably correctly) that this customer would continue to be unreasonable, would end up being a net drain on both revenue and team morale, and that refunding the customer and banning their account would be the quickest and least distracting way forward. I can't fault Ghost here. Dealing with people that immediately drag your name through the mud for every perceived slight is exhausting, and for a low-fee service like Ghost, can very quickly erase whatever margin they may be making. And frankly, as someone that's tired of the increasingly polarized and hateful discourse on social media these days, it's refreshing to see a business that's willing to clamp down on incivility, even if it means lost revenue.
  - Twisell 6y ago
    I agree that terminating contract with some prior notice and sending data back could have been a rude but understandable decision... but insulting the customer on twitter, then deleting the tweet before immediately nuking customer's website was clearly out of bound.
    - theevilsharpie 6y ago
      It only seems that way because Ghost was up-front about telling the customer to fuck off. Larger, more established companies do that as well, but in the form of automated account blocks, or byzantine phone/support ticket workflows that effectively prevent you from reaching someone other than entry-level support who can do little to help you. Even if they're more polite about it, they're still essentially telling you to get lost if you don't like their service or its terms.

nix23 6y ago

Maybe, but going instantly to twitter without waiting for a email response is not just rude.

threatofrain 6y ago

And you should refuse customers in a procedural way, not in a personally angry way where you delete their data.