Imaginary Landscape
RSS FeedI stumbled upon a blog posting about someone who purchased some goods from a Home Depot in Washington, D.C. On the way out of the store, he was asked for a copy of the receipt which, for some reason, he declined to produce.
One thing leads to another and the police are involved and the entire sordid story is broadcast to the world on the Consumerist blog.
Included in the blog posting is a rambling email to the CEO of Home Depot as well as a scan of a police complaint filed by the "victim." I stopped counting after seeing over 100 comments on the blog posting.
Then I noticed an update that read, " Home Depot's CEO Has Responded To This Complaint."
In a brief and apologetic email, Home Depot CEO Frank Blake responds in a mostly formulaic fashion. The "victim" responds to Mr. Blake's email by describing how the store manager had contacted him, invited him back to the store for some "win back your business" VIP treatment. The entire exchange and description of the store visit are included in the blog entry.
As of this posting, there were more than 60 comments on the CEO response, inclulding an editorial comment from the Consumerist: "We are genuinely impressed with this response. Way to go, Home Depot."
This is an good example of how a localized story can get national (international?) traction via blogging. But it is an exceptional example of Home Depot controlling the story within the blogging community and turning it into a positive piece.
I too am genuinely impressed. And if you're not sucbscribed to Google Alerts for any mention of your company name, something like this can take hold and you'll never know until it's too late.
Updated 07/14/10 @ 11:38AM CDT by brian
Categories: Fun
