Large Russian companies have started monitoring blogs for criticism of their operation. Last week, Alfa Bank dismissed a call center operator for being rude with a client who owed the bank 26 cents under a loan.
The scandal broke out when photographer Irina Vasilivetskaya (user logra) wrote about bank tactics used to demand loan repayment. She said bank representatives would call at any hour and would often speak rudely.
“It is unacceptable to use the services of a bank whose employees call me at 7in the morning on a weekend to rudely demand a payment. I did not respond with a single rough word,” Irina writes in LiveJournal. She also provides an audio recording of the conversation.
Yevgeny Savenko (user ambro76), deputy chief operations officer at Alfa Bank, responded quickly. He asked the girl’s forgiveness and promised to investigate the conflict.
“We will do our best to prevent such behavior with regard to our clients. Following an investigation, I will take the appropriate action including the possible dismissal of the guilty party. I hope you will accept a modest compensation from me personally for the indignity, and will remain a client of Alfa Bank,” Savenko wrote.
It was later reported that the operator who spoke rudely to the bank’s long-standing client was dismissed. However, this has not calmed the storm.
Vasilivetskaya refused to accept the compensation, saying that it would be better if “the bank changed its policy with regard to its clients.”
LJ users continue to discuss the conflict; the number of commentaries has exceeded 3,000. Some of the users approve of the top manager’s decision, while others denounce Alfa Bank for its attitude toward individuals.
Blogger _kitt_ wrote: “This story proves that it is blogs and not the mass media that are the current Fourth Estate.”
She said this was not the only case of this kind. “Here is what happened to me: On January 22 I read a post about the abominable behavior of Akado, which I described in my commentary. An employee of the company who read them tried to assure me that everything would be made right. I was later surprised to learn that everything was done exactly as the Akado blogger said.”
And here is another example of this nascent trend. Alexei Navalny (user navalny), a prominent journalist and public figure, criticized in LJ the procedures at Sheremetyevo Airport. Soon afterward Mikhail Vasilenko, general director of the airport and an extremely busy man, met with the blogger to reply to some of his pointed questions.
Navalny writes that the Sheremetyevo official told him at the meeting, which lasted approximately three hours, that he had read all of the commentaries added to Alexei’s post.
Vasilenko tried to explain why passengers might have to wait hours for their luggage, when Sheremetyevo employees will stop being rude with passengers, why the lines at passport control are so long, why the toilets are so dirty and when the taxi mafia would be banned from the airport.
As they say, “Money loves silence.” From this viewpoint, the leading commercial organizations in Russia that care for their reputation are trying to prevent damage to their image on the net, one of the most promising client venues.
This is a positive trend. Personally, I like it because I also have a few stories to tell, for example about the strange operation of VTB24 automatic teller machines, one of which irretrievably stole part of my money the other day.
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Sergei Varshavchik)
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
