Look how calmly this guys destroys this store. It took place in Manchester, England, when a T-Mobile customer learned he would not get a refund. He chose not to take his case to social media, instead he destroyed the store and used a fire extinguisher to spray the place.
I do not condone this behavior at all. Although, there have been a few times in my life when I had to control myself from doing the same thing.
A spokesman for T-Mobile stated the tirade was over a refund that the store refused to give that was outside of the stated terms and conditions.
Obviously, the customer Jason Codner went too far. He is now faced with several charges and will be punished according to the law. And T-Mobile is now faced with a public relations problem that will cost much more than the cost to repair the store.
If you listen closely, you can even hear a cheer from the crowd that gathered outside to witness this spectacle of bad behavior. On social media this story has gone viral and is giving a platform for thousands of other T-Mobile customers worldwide to voice their complaints about the T-Mobile customer experience and the rest of the cell phone industry.
Just a few short years ago T-Mobile was on top of the industry in the US for customer satisfaction but has experienced a steady decline, and is now one of the companies on the bottom in customer experience ratings. Will we see US customers fueled by this media grabbing event in the UK (grabbing worldwide attention)? You bet we will. Again, I do not condone this behavior. You did sign a contract Mr. Codner.
But the current T-Mobile response needs to go well beyond making a statement saying it was because a terms and conditions issue. In an industry where the customer churn rate is extremely high and competition is fierce, T-Mobile needs to address this situation in a way that will reduce the likelihood of a spike in lost customers. Maybe it’s time for T-Mobile to bring back Catherine Zeta-Jones.
How would you respond if you were T-Mobile?
There are two things that I would do immediately. First, I would seek out and highlight satisfied T-Mobile customers that find Mr. Codner’s behavior unacceptable and share it. It’s time to be proactive with social media. Second, I would craft a media campaign that would empathize with Mr. Codner’s frustration and share that everybody has choices in their plans, which include several no-contract options. The choice to destroy, is a bad one.
But I am sure, neither of these will happen because the lawyers will get involved and prevent this from happening. I might be wrong, let’s see if T-Mobile has strong leadership or if they will take the cowardly position of silence.
Tell me what you think T-Mobile should do while I go read my terms and conditions.
