View from the High Street: The power of social media

We've all seen media reports criticising service received in retail outlets in the papers or online, and it surprises me how passionate the responses to these can be.

It is said when you receive good service you often tell one or two people, yet if you receive poor care, this figure can be has high as eight or nine. However, it is worth remembering that this was true before social media and I wonder is this new digital platform fair?

Should we reply to posts? Should we report them? I think we forget that handling complaints via social networks should be the same as dealing with them face-to-face.  If a customer was in front of you with a complaint you would never ignore them, walk away or simply apologise without offering a resolution. So why should that approach be acceptable via social media.