Currys and PC World show How Not to Treat your Customers on Facebook

Working for a company that firmly believes that social media is now integral to any company's online marketing strategy, it never ceases to amaze me that large retail companies allow social media such as Facebook to become a tool for employees to vent their spleen and insult customers.

Take for example yesterday's news, Gadget Shoppers Branded Stupid, that staff at shops owned by the Dixons Stores Group (Currys and PC World) have been caught insulting customers on a social networking site. Comments on the Facebook group branded customers "stupid" and recounted unflattering shop floor conversations with them.

Now I understand that DSG Group has limited influence on content on external Facebook groups but surely someone in the group should be monitoring these social media groups (particularly with both brands' online presence being extremely important) and formulating some form of strategy to stop these negative comments?

There can be nothing worse than insulting or ridiculing your customers - either online or offline and it can often lead to commercial suicide (ask Gerald Ratner).