Complaints are there to be heard

No longer do hard-done-by customers have to rely on writing to their local MP or appearing on the BBC's Watchdog to get justice. Now, with a little technical nous, consumers can establish virtual shrines to their grievances by launching a 'gripe' or 'suck' site with the ability to tear a brand's reputation to shreds.

At the end of last year, a panel on behalf of the World Intellectual Property Organisation concluded that one such gripe site, www.ryanaircampaign.org, set up by Michael Coulston, could remain under his ownership.

The budget airline had failed in its bid to convince the panel that the site fulfilled the three criteria necessary for the domain to be transferred to it. First, that it had made use of the Ryanair trademark in bad faith; second, that it had no rights or legitimate interests in the business; and third, that it could be mistaken for the carrier's official site.

It is hard to see what Ryanair gained from pursuing the action. As well as resulting in the airline coming across as a corporate bully and suppressor of free speech, its action brought Coulston's site to the media's attention, which in turn has led to it attracting visitors in their droves.

Since the case came to light a few weeks ago, Coulston, who set up the site after Ryanair lost his luggage, says the total number of visitors has surged from 12,000 to more than 31,000. He adds that he has been inundated with Ryanair horror stories to the extent that there is now a backlog to be posted on the site.

Nick Johnson, partner at media law firm Osborne Clarke, describes Ryanair's approach as heavy-handed. 'There are times when this kind of action is justified if something misleading about your brand is being said, but the downside is that it gives that gripe more publicity and makes it seem more credible than it might be,' he says.

'It probably left (the decision to pursue the case) to its lawyers, rather than its consumer brand people,' adds Marc Giusti, creative director at digital agency Good Technology.

Website-hosted stories of bad customer-service experiences are now one of the most influential factors governing consumer behaviour. According to Hotwire's Blog Impact Barometer 2006, produced in conjunction with Ipsos/MORI, reviews written by customers or individuals on a blog are believed by 15% of consumers; conversely, only 4% would trust an email from a company.

Managing this flood of information is a priority for marketers, and there are ways of doing so without resorting to litigation. Speed of response is one of the most important factors when dealing with negative online comment, says Graham Lee, account director at online PR company Immediate Future. He suggests marketers should be ready to stand up to criticism, though he concedes that this 'requires a degree of transparency that is difficult for some companies'.

A more brutal way of trying to suppress criticism is to anticipate the likely names of irksome websites and register them before the gripers do. Johnson points to the example of Procter & Gamble, which has registered ihateprocterandgamble.com and, interestingly, febrezekillspets.com. However, he adds that this approach has limited effectiveness, as Wal-Mart found when it registered ihatewalmart.com, only to find that someone else then registered ireallyhatewalmart.com.

Nevertheless, brand-protection companies such as netnames.com are doing a successful trade in snapping up potentially damaging web addresses on behalf of companies; more than 30% of firms in the FTSE 100 subscribe to its service, which aims to prevent these websites reaching the light of day.

Gripe sites and bloggers are also proving a lucrative source of income for digital consultancies, which are being called upon to provide marketers with more sophisticated ways to track what is being said about them.

Companies can receive alerts every time a site is updated, while free tools such as technorati.com trawl the blogosphere. Agencies such as Good Technology and Market Sentinel also use bespoke software that enables brands to 'listen' to what is being said about them, identify opinion-formers and receivers and offer advice on how to respond.

Simon Rogers, director of Market Sentinel, believes good customer service must sit at the heart of any response. 'The most obvious thing to do is talk to the customer and try to deal with the problem, instead of putting your fingers in your ears,' he says, citing Dell's decision to ignore blogger Jeff Jarvis' complaints, allowing him to achieve a high profile and dominate its image online.

Although they make uncomfortable reading, consumer moans can provide insight to marketers on what customers really think of their brands. If a site's content is robust but fair, companies have a choice between engaging with the disgruntled customer and making improvements, or ignoring the criticism. With the influence of the net rising all the time and the advent of the web 2.0 age, choosing to do the latter is extremely dangerous.

DATA FILE - 'GRIPE' SITES

- Land Rover Discovery www.haveyoursay.com

Site dedicated to exposing 'the truth about the new Discovery'. Angry customer Adrian Melrose claims Land Rover has no culture of customer care and is run by 'old-fashioned, arrogant big-wigs'. It has attracted postings from around the world, not all of which are negative.

- easyJet easyjetcomplaints.blogspot.com

Describes the difficulties experienced by customer Dave Griffiths. The site is the first listed by Google when searching for 'easyJet' and 'complaints'. Its days may be numbered, though, as easyGroup is quick to crack down on sites using the words 'easy' and 'easi'.

- Carphone Warehouse talktalkhell.wordpress.com

The problems related to Carphone Warehouse's TalkTalk service are well-documented, and now a blog has sprung up to have a moan about it. It is run by an anonymous 'young lady' who writes that she was 'very fed up' with the service she received.