The internet is changing things at an amazing speed, and one of the best ways to see this is in consumer complaints. For instance, someone posted a message claiming that San Rafael Chevrolet wrecked his Corvette.

Since it's the internet, you can't believe everything that is written. The person does a good job listing police reports, photos and detailing his side of the story. You can only empathize with him concerning his predicament. Once the Corvette forum got a hold of it you would have expected it to bust out, and it has. Digg now has a feature on the San Rafael Chevrolet story and a whole new set of people know about the issue. 

The unbelievable thing is that there is no response at all from San Rafael Chevrolet. They have to know hits to their websites have exploded. They have to know that the hundreds, if not thousands, of emails they're receiving are coming from somewhere.

But, when you go to their homepage, not one mention is made of the issue. None. They have lost their chance to give their side of the story or explain how they're dealing with the issue.

They seem to know about search engine optimization, as their page takes advantage of geographic keywords and anchors. This means the lights are on and they are internet savvy.

Assuming what the person posted is true, what could San Rafael Chevrolet done to handle this better?

Handled this better with the person who complained.  It seems they considered this issue not a big deal, which made the person who complained ever more upset. This was the chance for them to get to the heart of the issue and work out a deal. It appears they missed this opportunity. 

Reacted to the initial firestorm. A small link on their homepage indicating their side of the story would have quelled much of the criticism. Yes, I understand that in some cases legal reasons prevent you from commenting, but you can always say that. Even if you don't want to go into detail you can explain that you know about the situation and based on legal advice you cannot comment.

Sent email responses. Lots of people have sent emails to the company, but they haven't received responses. It makes sense for San Rafael Chevrolet to have their employees focus on the business at hand, but you have to respond. They should have all the complaints forwarded to a new email account and a boilerplate response sent. 

Although San Rafael Chevrolet is a brick and mortar store, they have to prepared to deal with their virtual reputation. 

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