4 Spooky Social Media Stories

In the spirit of Halloween, we’re taking a look at social media horror stories from the past few months. These are stories that would make any marketer’s blood run cold, send shivers up a CEO’s spine and leave an entire company feeling haunted. So gather around, turn off the lights and find a cushion to hide behind as we examine the ghosts of statuses past.

The Terrible Tale of Hawke & Co

It was a dark and stormy night (probably) when Hawke & Co, a US clothing company, heard a harrowing moan from beyond the Twittersphere – the unmistakable noise of a disgruntled customer.

“Ordered from @hawkeandco”, the customer said, “and had my order cancelled and they wouldn’t honor the discount on other products. Big fat Do Not Recommend!”

Upon hearing the man’s cries, the company should have responded politely and attempted to solve the customer’s problem. But alas, Hawke & Co instead replied: “@cconti We’re sure your 320 followers will understand.”

The rather cutting tweet was later removed, but not before an onlooker had taken a screenshot, which was then shared by hundreds of other users. The company responded to criticism by stating “We offer great customer service but spreading fallacies without talking to us is not ‘cool’”. 

The whole episode did not seem to faze Hawke & Co, as they later declared that “Some press is better than no press”, and after finally solving the customer’s initial problem, thanked him for the exposure. Tweeters were less than impressed.

Union Street Guest House and the Negative Reviews

Have you ever heard the tale of Union Street Guest House? In August it was reported that this hotel in Hudson, New York was seemingly so afraid of receiving negative reviews that they put a policy in place to fine guests $500 for posting negative reviews of the hotel online.

Union Street Guest House management stated that couples who planned to hold their wedding at the hotel should warn their friends and family that the old buildings and vintage look are not reasons to leave a negative review and that $500 would be deducted from their deposit for each review left by a member of their party.

The hotel is most certainly haunted now; because of this policy, the establishment has received negative reviews and low ratings – the very thing they were hoping to avoid. Spooky.

The Story of the Strange Poster

It was another dark and stormy night (probably not) when TV freelancer Chris Dodd spotted a mysterious poster hanging up in Sainsbury’s. The poster read: “Let’s encourage every customer to spend an additional 50p during each shopping trip between now and the year-end.” Seeing that this should have been hung in the staff room, Chris Dodd took a photo and posted it on Twitter, hoping for an explanation from the company.

Companies may not want customers to know what goes on behind closed doors, but this mishap received more attention than it otherwise would have thanks to social media. Sainsbury’s was quick to respond, but a game of cat and mouse ensued as Sainsbury’s tried to get the customer to reveal which store had made the error so the poster could be taken down.

The Morrisons Misunderstanding

In another harrowing true story, Morrisons discovered that just because something happens offline, doesn’t mean it won’t find its way onto social media and go viral anyway. In October a veteran collecting for the Royal British Legion was told he had to sell poppies out in the cold, with the store manager claiming there was no room for him to stand inside. An outraged regular customer took to Facebook to tell everyone what she thought about the injustice.

As the article in The Independent explains, it all turned out to be a misunderstanding, but misunderstanding or not, a hashtag such as #boycottmorrisons is enough to keep any social media marketer up at night.

It just goes to show that any mistake a business makes either online or offline can escalate into a PR nightmare. There is no escape.