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Go ahead, gripe. You want some heads to roll, and Jennifer Biscoe, the founder of eComplaints.com, wants to hear all about it. In fact, she's counting on making some money off your frustration. So far, Biscoe has no shortage of raw material. Since its December launch, the Web site has attracted more than 10,000 complaints -- including the one lodged against Victoria Bodyworks for hair loss in the wrong place. On page after page of this site, giant brands such as AT&T, Amazon.com, Maytag, and Northwest Airlines take it on the chin. "Once they take your money, they do not care whatsoever about helping you," rants one visitor about AT&T. "We had to sit on the tarmac inside the aircraft for approximately two hours and then returned back to the gate with engine problems," gripes another about Northwest Airlines. CLEVER E-TWIST. At eComplaints, the customer is always right. One of a dozen or so gripe sites, eComplaints sets itself apart from others such as PlanetFeedback.com and uGetHeard.com by promising to help irate consumers get relief from big companies by airing their complaints, suggesting remedies, and even firing off e-mail to executives on customers' behalf. "This is consumer advocacy for the 21st century," says Biscoe, who founded the company in New York after her own frustrating experience with her cell-phone provider. It's also consumer marketing, with a clever e-twist. The goal: to encourage customer wrath, then sell it as market research. The intended buyers are the same companies enduring the fiercest Web whippings. But how do you hit up companies you're helping consumers to blast? For one, companies want to find out pronto what's being said, especially as the Web takes word of mouth to unprecedented levels of speed and scope. The accelerated pace isn't a problem for a new wow product, but it is troubling to execs if something bombs or simply doesn't work as intended. A recent Yankelovich survey of almost 600 CEOs found that 60% are worried about negative information about their companies appearing on the Web. DIRECT APPROACH. Another reason: Practically from the start, marketers have salivated over the Web as a gigantic, never-ending focus group that can provide a treasure trove of information about consumers. Much of the attention has centered on quietly tracking their activities online. But gathering detailed data that way isn't always the easiest of approaches, and the backlash over privacy erosions hasn't helped, either. That's why a more direct approach -- invite a consumer to vent and get answers right away -- now seems easier, if not more appealing, than snooping on consumer surfing habits. And eComplaints isn't supplying only negative feedback. It also gathers standard marketing data such as the complainer's age, occupation, household details, why the customer buys the product, and whether they're likely to switch to another brand. More than 65% of complainers authorize the release of their data to third parties, says Biscoe. This is where eComplaints thinks it can make money. In August, it plans to launch a full-scale research product that includes complaints and other data gathered from its visitors. And it will host complaint sites customized for particular companies. Subscriptions to the research reports will sell for $12,000 to $36,000 a year, depending on how much information a company wants. Biscoe says that several dozen are already paying for data. With subscriptions and advertising revenue, she expects eComplaints to be profitable by the third quarter of 2001. SCREAMING LOUIS. This is how it works: Visitors from companies that are eComplaints targets can simply type in their name to call up the database of registered complaints. The complainers, for their part, can find questionnaires tailored to more than 50 industries, from household appliances to beauty products to cell-phone service providers. Say you target an airline. Its name will show up on a clickable pull-down menu, as will a variety of possible trouble areas in the industry, such as "trapped on the tarmac," "flight overbooked," or "attendants rude." Or if your beef is with an health maintenance organization, the menu offers such options as "billed too much" and "poor quality care." That's only the beginning. Visitors can also type in the particulars of their case, specify the redress they seek, again in a pull-down menu (frequent-flier points, credit vouchers, etc.) and estimate the dollar value of damages suffered. And just in case that's not enough to make consumers feel at least a little better, the site provides Louis, a nerdy, green-spectacled icon. Click on Louis, and he'll scream for you. It's not blood-curdling, but his hellish moan precisely captures the frustration that many suffer during those helpless, Catch-22 moments they endure as consumers of mass-produced goods and services. In the process, eComplaints quizzes site visitors about their gripes, the companies involved and -- if it's against an airline -- the visitors' flying habits. Then it automatically e-mails a complaint to the appropriate airline exec. A few more clicks steps up the pressure, sending copies to the Federal Aviation Administration, the Transportation Dept., and lawmakers involved in airplane regulation. LOW RESPONSE RATES. Often the target is, indeed, an airline. Seven carriers rank among the top 10 most popular companies to hate, according to eComplaints data. Starting with most complaints filed, they are: Craft.com (a gift and crafts site), American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, AT&T, Continental, Sprint PCS, Northwest Airlines, America West Airlines, and US Airways. Voicing her opinion online paid off for Terry Arnold. She visited eComplaints after Craft.com did not redeem her discount coupon during a special product offer. Sure enough, within hours of posting, the company called to apologize and sent Arnold a $50 gift certificate. Not all complainers fare as well. In fact, the companies receiving the most complaints have the lowest response rates. American Airlines, for instance, responded to only 3 of the 238 gripes posted -- just 1.26% -- as of July 28. AT&T answered 2.59% of 159 complaints posted. In many cases, companies with a 100% response rate have received just one or two complaints. American Airlines spokeswoman Mary Frances Fagan says the carrier does not pay for the service but monitors the site and provides redress where appropriate. Biscoe says that both sides win on sites like eComplaints. Perhaps. But maybe the thought of being co-opted by the complaint department of the company you love to hate makes your blood boil, too. If so, then you might want to check out a site where the customer is never right. At Customerssuck.com, those frustrated service reps get to rant about you. Marcia Stepanek is Technology Strategies Editor for Business Week in New York |
