Apparently, this used to be a thing in department stores. If someone complained, the manager would make a deal out of “firing” the scapegoat employee and the customer would be happy.
There are more than a few people that fetishize punitive actions for evil doers.
A single mediocre review could end a job, depending on how it’s weighted. A few bad reviews almost guarantees it. Even if the customer has no idea their review is applied to that particular worker—i.e. if they think they’re reviewing the business.
Knowing all this has also just generally helped me to be more patient with people when I’m on the other side of the “counter”. But a lot of people (a) don’t know it and (b) don’t have any other recourse.
A specific example so I don’t sound like I’m just abstracting the whole thing: if I order a meal on Grubhub, when I get asked for a review I get very specific questions about the delivery driver, vague questions about food quality from the vendor, and no prompt about Grubhub’s service itself. When I’ve had poor service (always from Grubhub or a direct consequence of their poor service), there isn’t even a way to give feedback that goes beyond the CS front line. Those poor souls are tasked with issuing refunds as rapidly as possible and moving on to the next chat. The best anyone can do to even register a complaint that might be heard is to call out a driver or restaurant, even if neither did anything wrong.
Customers don’t know they’ll probably get someone fired by taking this tack, they just know it’s the only way to be heard. And that’s not because they’re cruel, it’s because they’re horribly alienated from the thousands of tiny paper cuts they understand as conveniences, and some days their only options.
Most of the Twitter mob types calling people out for whatever
[1] https://www.complete-review.com/reviews/pennacd/scapeg.htm
When needed, get a professional scapegoat to fire, less chance to see him again. And you can get the performance you want. Do you want an asshole who deserves it, or maybe you prefer a clueless bootlicker.
Of course, bosses will also be available to do the firing if you can't supply your own.
And while I am imagining things, I am sure that something like that exists in some form.
I look forward to the Launch HN.
So he came to talk to me. Asked if I had looked at the new cars and told me how reliable they were, and I should consider one.
So I asked (not loudly but not quiet conversation volume), “Is my new $model I bought from $this_manufacturer last year not reliable?”
Boy did he backpedal and move on to find something else to do real quick.
I found it hilarious.