You make really nice outdoor gear for enthusiasts. I’ve bought some before. Unfortunately, you are getting some unfavorable publicity on the Internet. Since I’ve seen this happen before, I thought I’d give you some free advice which is worth a whole lot more than it costs. And I’m going to do it here, rather than using your contact page, just because I choose to do so. That’s lesson 1, the Internet is not within your sphere of influence and really good at exposing oopsies.

Customer service is everything. Less than a week ago, a customer of yours had an unpleasant experience. He was standing in line to place a special order an while he was there, he used his iPhone to take a photo. It was a photo of some Loomis Security staff tending to an ATM in your store. It was a washed out photo (there are better ones available) that was pretty useless for any possible tampering with the ATM, learning how to trick it out of all its money, etc. It was generally a crappy second-rate photo. It has been seen by somewhere in excess of four thousand people. That’s lesson 2, the Internet Is Really Public.

The people from Loomis Security came over to the person taking the photo and demanded his ID. Since they had no need of seeing it, he refused. At which point, they apprently had the Seattle Police intervene. The young man was harassed by the Loomis Security people in your store and your store management did nothing whatsoever. That’s lesson 3: Your store is in Seattle and I’m in Tennessee. Things spread quickly on the Internet.

The young man was handcuffed by Seattle Police (probably just because he was being a little bit of an ass, frankly) and taken to a police station where he was stuck in a holding cell. By this point, REI had failed in customer service. If store personnel had intervened while this was taking place and taken charge of what was happening in their store, none of this uproar would have happened. REI prides itself in its community involvement and stewardship. You even issue an annual report on community and environmental stewardship even though there’s no requirement to do it. You believe in this stuff. That’s lesson 4: your lack of action has cast doubt on your positions on customer service. It’s not enough if the guy gets his special order. There’s never an expectation of a free jail cell with every order.

At the police station, the young man was asked to sign what is called a Trespass Agreement. He was told that someone at REI requested this. This means he was agreeing that he was tresspassing in REI and was told he could be arrested if he went back within a year. On a local newspaper site, your store manager says this is not the case and the young man is welcome back but that story also indicates that the SPD records say otherwise. That’s lesson 5: the Internet will catch you if your stories aren’t straight. Spin fails.

This story has been on Reddit, Slashdot, and lots of other sites. You’ve been twittered about as well. That’s lesson 6: the Internet is viral and things spread there exponentially.

You don’t have time to call a meeting of your PR folks and have your communication people issue a press release. It’s too late – you’re faced with being reactive, not proactive. That’s lesson 7: the Internet is faster than you are.

The young man is going to appear on a local television show and will probably get even more coverage after that. He’s also speaking with the ACLU about a possible lawsuit which you won’t win. That’s lesson 8: having negative publicity on the Internet costs you more faster.

Had enough lessons yet? Want more? Keep doing nothing about it online. And that’s lessons 9 and 10: when the rubber hits the road, how you respond is more important than anything and being seen as responsive will fix it.