Plenty has been said about the major mistake made by webhost DreamHost overbilled it’s customers in the amount of $7.5 million dollars. There has been a wide range of responses from customers, competitors and customer service experts. There is a great analysis of the goods and bads of this experience by Service Untitled’s blog. I’d like to put on my Adultitis diagnosis hat and put my two cents in.
We’re three days out from DOD - day of disaster - and still dealing with the aftermath of the financial havoc that was wreaked by this error. But the thing is, it’s still an error, a mistake, an accident. There were many commentors on the initial blog post that made noise about lawsuits and fraud; in general a lot of anger was expressed. That’s a natural response to an enormously difficult situation. In all of the posts I read - both on the blog and on the official company status page, I felt there was a true apologetic tone for what happened. And lots of information about what happened, how it was being corrected, and how it would be prevented in the future - all good things that don’t always make a customer who’s been wronged feel better. But I felt that a good effort was made to communicate with a huge customer base what was happening.
The other thing that had folks up in arms was the tone of Josh Jones’ blog post titled “Um, Whoops” complete with blog necessity - photos, including Homor Simpson. This seemed to stir as much ire as the $7.5 million billing snafu. The comments ranged from furious insults to demands for immediate firing of Mr. Jones to threats of lawsuits and of course, leaving the company.
Okay, my take: it’s a big deal. A serious problem, but that doesn’t mean that Josh had to take himself so seriously that he couldn’t be true to who he’s been all along. I felt that by thoroughly explaining things and not simply glossing over the situation with just jokes and cartoons, Josh showed guts and made a great effort to turn an awful situation into one where he could earn customer loyalty.
In an amongst the venomous ferver were many comments in appreciation of both the humor and honesty expressed on Tuesday. People made a point to say that the blog was “true to the nature of the company” and “great to see someone taking responsibility without taking themselves too seriously” and “I know you’ll take care of the problem and take care of me as you have all along.”
Mistakes are an opportunity to show your customers what you’re really made of. And to paraphrase my boss, you can be serious about customer service without taking yourself too seriously.
Adultitis can be debilitating to customer service. We often see it manifest in the folks who deal with customer complaints day in and day out, but it can spread throughout a company. In this case, I don’t think DreamHost has to worry about fighting Adultitis within as much as with their customers.
As far as I can tell, they’ve worked hard in the past few days to right the wrongs and prevent this from ever happening again. And along the way they’ve used several of the 8 Secrets to fighting Adultitis to survive. In particular, they’ve maintained perspective of the situation and of themselves, sharing a lot of information and emotion. I hope that DreamHost as a company can survive this situation and that Josh Jones never succumbs to Adultitis himself.
Diagnosis: Adultitis Free
Technorati Tags: DreamHost, Adultitis, customer service, serious, mistakes
