The Medium is the Message

I applaud you and totally agree with you. Thank you so much for
sharing this letter. I suggest this site to many people, but lately I
tell them to NOT share the letter. For the many reasons you've
stated.

Letters are picked apart, disected and in some cases yes even the
sender is trashed. But you are going on the assumption that all
complaints are legitimate.
And while we all know there are some, there seem to be more and more
with the emphasis on ME, ME and ME again. I want this, I want that...I
think I should be comped for this service or that even though I did
not like your service to begin with, or I did not like your food, but
did not say anything at the time it was served or when I was sitting
in your restaurant because I am just not a complainer. But get them
online and WOW...they sure open up and most start demanding
satisfaction and want it yesterday!

I too am a true PFB member of long ago and have just returned. But the
letters and comments are just about the same as they were before. The
essence is the same.
You have those who slam and berate the writer all the time and then
you have those who do sometimes and then again those who never do and
take all letters as being truthful.
No that I or anyone else should be the judge and jury mind you, but we
are a people of varied opinions and are able to share these on PFB
with the letter writer.

So whether they take our compliment or our disagreeing with personally
or not is fine.
But PFB has and always will be an avenue for people to write letters
of complaint, compliment or inquiries.
But its still PFB no matter how you look at it...its a consumer
website.

I was with PFB way back when also and came back after years out. I
can see some of what you are saying. The fact that some of these
letters and letter writers getting slammed is just a fact of everyone
trying to improve things. These letters are meant to be sent to the
company in question but if the letter is inane then how will that
company or others take it or us seriously. Ill written letters or
just outright crazy ones, 911 over the drive thru, will ultimately
cause PFBs' mission to fail. Some on here try to stur the mix in the
wrong way but you get that with every site and medium in the world.
There is no way to stop them and that is the greatness of America that
they are free to their opinion as you and I are free to ours.

anyone else thinks this guy has wayyy too much time on his hands? No
seriously... I liked this letter but I have to wonder why it is you
feel so compelled to care? Obviously your a smart guy. Maybe focus
your energy on something more productive than worrying what the
commenters on planetfeedback thought of your letter or following in
the disney cult. Its life man. People arent always gonna see things
the same way as you. Dont let it get to you so much. I would hate to
see you drop dead of high blood pressure over something so trivial.

I read your letter, and at first really did not feel like responding,
but something inside myself pushed me to do so. Your letter was
written with a lot of thought and was well written. However, I don't
think that you have REALLY looked into this "community" on
PFB. Yes, there are certain regulars that have slammed some O.Ps for
certain letters. I myself have a tendency to do so from time to time.
Maybe some people deserve it, maybe some don't (you called 911 over a
cheeseburger??) However, if you REALLY look close, there are many
people here again, myself included, who when faced w/ a good letter,
or a great suggestion, feel compelled to let the author know about it.
Believe me, I would MUCH rather spend my time on PFB reading good
happy letters, but frankly, people are drawn to drama, and that is
part of what makes PFB great. We are in fact a community as you say,
and I have gotten to know some of these people really well, and if I
knew any of them outside of this community I would see fit to spend
time in with them! There are some GREAT people on here, and some NOT
so great people on here. But, we all chose to come here and one time
or another. Thats what makes this site great. I for one am THRILLED
that I have found a site, where I can in fact express my opinions, to
not only other companies, but to other people, and I get to do it all
for free! In todays world, It's seldom you see anything get done for
free, and I for one, am willing to put up with some of the bad aspects
of PFB just for this reason. I like this site, and will continue to
use it on a regular basis. Thats what makes it so great, we are all
free to do as we chose! Enjoy!

Your comments, however well written, accomplish that with which you
rail against.

Freaks? Really?

Please explain how, in the vast expanse of the point you were trying
to make, how a comment like this is acceptable. I fail to see how
throwing around invectives and an array of platitudes does anything
but further the discourse.

Marshall McLuhan opened the door to a part of the arts that I never
liked much. By saying that the television itself was the message, not
the programming it broadcast, he confined it's essence to only one
small part of everything that it was.
The Planetfeedback community as a medium, without regard for the
quality of what it spouts forth, will be missing the very element that
can make it, or not make it, a powerful tool for consumers. If
companies perceive it as a meeting place for freaks, then they won't
listen, or listen only to be amused, not to consider changing the way
they do business.
I believe that it's vital that both the quality of the letters is
high, and the comments they attract are, too. The only way this can
happen is if we as members make a concerted effort to stop sending
ridiculous letters to the number one spot, just so we can entertain
ourselves by haw-hawing and condemning. And follow that by raising the
level of the commentary.

Keith, you should read the original letter in this post. It could
motivate you not to respond to a member of the community this rudely.

A recurring theme on this site is personal responsibility. I've seen
people ripped to shreds for not researching some obscure policy of a
company. Yet it's too much for me to expect people to be responsible
to simply read what I've said, if they want to know what I've said?
Yes, I could have couched that more pleasantly. Or I could have spent
my time repeating myself--AGAIN--so someone else could be lazy. But
this remains a pet peeve for me, and it's where I decided to draw the
line.

I loved your letter, but please credit the author of "the medium
is the message". The story of this is quite insightful and
interesting.

I have to say, after spending the last few years on PFB, that the
community on here is an invaluable tool for this site. Not because
companies know that letters are made public, but mostly because letter
writers tend to think they're right in the given situation, and in
some cases, they 100% know that they're right. In some cases, they
very well may be. However, most of the letters written here are
flawed. There can be several reasons for this.

Often, when someone has a complaint, they write letters out of anger.
When done so, logic is often lost by the anger. The users on here try
to point that out to the author. Unfortunately, this is sometimes met
with more venom from the letter writer. The onus should be on the
letter writer to be open to others' opinions, or else not make their
letter public.

Another thing that happens is that someone writes a complaint and
leaves out certain important details. Many of us have done this in
life when trying to explain our side of a debate. We try to put
ourselves in the best light possible in order to gain sympathy from
others. I have to say, PFB is certainly not the place to gain
sympathy from others. It's a place to file a legitimate complaint in
order to seek some kind of restitution from a company, or to allow the
company to learn of certain practices which may be harmful to the
consumer and/or company.

Finally, there are those letter writers who are simply trying to get
something for nothing. If you've ever worked in retail, you'd realize
that there are plenty of people like that in the world. It's pretty
easy to detect those types on PFB, as it is in the real world. Those
that do such things deserve all the criticism they receive in the
comments. It's these types who dilute the power of a consumer
complaint site such as this and others. It's sickening to see and
hurts consumers as a whole.

Those of us here at PFB have seen all types. While the vast majority
of us try to offer constructive criticism to those who might fail to
see the flaws in their complaint, it's also very difficult to not slam
those who are blatantly looking for freebies. While these types of
people may provide a form of entertainment for some of us, if our
comments either make the letter writer see the err of his/her ways, or
if it scares them off the site, in my opinion the derogatory comments
are well worth it.

I don't think any of us on here are "pro-business" at all.
We are all consumers, and none of us want to see people getting the
short end of the stick. However, if constructive criticism is able to
elevate the writer, or future writers, to a higher standard in regards
to weighing their complaints, as well as composing decent
business-like letters, then everyone wins.

Actually, your description of the diverse PFB community is remarkably
similar to any other online community even though you claim it's not.

What makes PFB unique is that there are actually two constituencies
involved...the letter writers and the commenters. Although there is
some cross pollination, these are two very distinct groups. What is
even more unique about this situation is the fact that, on most online
boards or forums, the members post thoughts/opinion/etc. FOR THE
BENEFIT (or lack thereof) of the board. Except for rare cases, that
is not the case on PFB.

On PFB, members write letters to entities that are not the board
itself but BEYOND the board. These letters form the basis for
conversation on PFB however that's NOT the primary purpose of the
letter writers. The primary purpose of folks who send letters through
PFB is to provide feedback to companies and others about their
interaction with those companies etc.

If they share their letters, it's generally to inform others about
their experiences.

We allow comments on these letters for the sole purpose of creating a
discussion around the issues raised in the letters. It is our belief
that such a discussion can be invaluable for future readers who come
to PFB as part of a search for information about companies and other
entities. When done properly, each letter becomes a
"mini-knowledge base" that exists to educate fellow
consumers. For instance, even though you're not particularly pleased
with some of the commentary placed on your letter, there is no doubt
that the issues you raised have been nicely fleshed out. This
benefits others who might come across your letter.

It may come as a shock to some that the single biggest source (by far)
of our traffic is not people who leave comments or people who write
letters...its people who come here via Google searches to see what
people have to say about specific companies. Once here, they may well
participate by writing a letter or leaving a comment however the
primary use of PFB is as a resource for research.

This was the impetus for implementation of our new ratings feature.
Now folks can come here and access our giant database of information
for the purpose of making decisions about what companies they may
patronize and what they can expect if they do so.

We have been taking steps of late to "elevate" the
conversation surrounding letters and we always strive for the highest
quality commentary possible. We will not, however, force anyone to
agree with the letter writers.

We firmly believe this position fully supports our mission statement
which is to empower consumers and increase their control.

The thing is, the strength of PlanetFeedback is that it's a community.
If this was merely a tool for forwarding letters to companies, would
it have the same power?

Personally, I feel that PlanetFeedback being a community is a strength
for reasons other than it's the mission statement.

I believe that many companies, especially the "big" ones,
have little incentive to do better. Particularly when it comes to
customer service. I'm cynical, but I simply do not believe that sites
like PlanetFeedback convert "bad" companies into good ones.

What I do believe is that we can be better consumers. Learn the
tricks. Understand how businesses operate so that we can work within
their rules.

It's naive to think that you'll get anywhere by trying to get a
corporation to change to YOUR rules. But if you're a smarter and
better consumer, you can try to avoid the problems. And when problems
arise, you know how to deal with them.

Therefore, the commentary from members is valuable. We're sharing our
experiences, our opinions, and our insights. Sure, some of us take on
a nasty tone. Heck, from reading how YOU dealt with some people, I'd
say that you missed an opportunity to be nice and got a bit nasty
yourself.

In the end, if what you want is a tool, then you can use
PlanetFeedback for that purpose. Send a letter without sharing it and
no one will comment on it. Or you can just write a letter directly.

I don't agree that companies are shaking in their boots because a
letter was posted on PlanetFeedback. Sure, some do care. A little.
But these are companies that are likely doing a better job anyway.

Oh, and by the way, I'm a Disney freak as well. And Disney has
publicly stated that they do listen to their fans (e.g., web sites and
podcasts). What some jerk executive said was... gasp... his opinion.
Given how out of context this quote is, it's hard to say how this
matters. If a Disney accountant calls me a freak, I'm less likely to
care than if this same quote was made by Bob Iger on national
television.

Say, Keith, did you apply to be the CMO?