In the very very early days of the internet, Carla Virga used it to broadcast to the world her strong displeasure with the poor quality services of Terminix and the inept response to her complaints by this company and its parent company Servicemaster.
Others have followed, and some are finding that the companies with whom they've experienced poor service are now responding to their web criticisms in order to protect their reputations.
GM is now in the game, actively searching for critical comments on the web by its aggrieved customers.
GM has a new team of customer service agents scouring social media Web sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, looking to reach out to people who've complained about problems with their GM vehicles and offering help to them.
All right, let's try it. GM, your company sucks and here's why. I've owned a 1974 Chevy Vega and a 1985 Oldsmobile Omega. You owe me big time. Shoot me an email and tell me how you're going to make amends.
Dan Klein's book, Reputation, offers an applicable quote: "Time wounds all heels."