We’ve all used our Twitter or Facebook accounts to communicate with some brands, restaurants and whatnot. The idea of that brand being a few characters away and possibly getting feedback from them is one of those paradigm shifts, at least in Lebanon, when it comes to the relation of companies with their customers. As a result, most of the country’s firms that want to keep up with the time have upped their social media presence and most know that there’s an etiquette with which you should abide, one that doesn’t apply to end users like us.
Patrick Chemali was one of those people contemplating buying a car. He had been considering the new Nissan but didn’t like the ad Rymco, the car’s dealer in Lebanon, had done, as is his right obviously. If you haven’t seen the ad, here it is:
So he took his dislike to Twitter and called the ad lame. Instead of having Rymco inquire more about why he thought the ad was as such in order for them to “improve their services” later on, he was basically told they didn’t care for his opinion while being called an attention seeker. Professionalism much?
Who knew not liking an ad could generate such a response from a supposedly professional firm?
Of course, you won’t find all the above screenshot tweets on Rymco’s timeline now as they have been deleted.
Instead of absorbing a customer who simply did not like the ad, not the car, and tell him that the car was still great or to inquire about what he didn’t like in the ad, Rymco went on the attack and lost him in the process as well as many other clients he would have referred had he received a decent service for the money he wanted to invest in their product. Big mistake.
But maybe they were just drunk on a Friday night?
Update: Rymco apologized and are saying the entire thing was staged with them aiming at bad publicity to get publicity. They’re now offering Patrick a car for the weekend.Â
A Separate State of Mind | A Blog by Elie Fares 
social media suicide, the commercial btw is truly lame and encourages youth on driving recklessly, somethin all countries are trying to avert. I bet a million bucks that the marketers was just dumped by his girlfriend, or perhaps cheated on !
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social media suicide ! The commercial is quite lame, it’s encouraging youth to drive recklessly whilst many countries are struggling to avert this ritual . I bet a million bucks that the marketer was either dumped or cheated on the same moment he read that post !
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LoL that is super funny am sure people at RYMCO got inspired by
http://www.buzzfeed.com/scottybryan/this-how-every-single-company-should-interact-with-their-cus
BTW negative publicity is a good publicity…. Am not sure how many tweets this guy can gather or many blogs will write about it! Its just a storm in a cup (in this case its still a light breeze) its not that RYMCO sales will go down and people in Lebanon will Ban Nissan!!! So replying to such a tweet could be a strategy!!!
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Dear Thisismk,
I’m almost 100% sure that you are behind the “negative publicity” and you should be fired from Rymco not only because of those tweets but also those shitty films you dare to call them advertisement.
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said mickey mouse…
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no.
what rymco did is way different from what the others did, what rymco did was impolite and irrelevant and no bad publicity is not good publicity, otherwise they would have called it good publicity .
next while you are tweeting for rymco remember that you are tweeting for nissan and always ask yourself what would nissan do .
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When will PR learn that on Twitter you represent a company and not an individdual?
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This is terrible. Rymco has a reputation for being a respected company, although it operared with a sectarian philosophy and hires druzes employees mostly. How could they let an immature person with the typical Lebanese ego handle their social media? Bad move Rymco…
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Wow. Thats is pathetic
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That*
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Finally an honest company! I work with customer service and frankly i wish i can hit some of them in the face! Customers just can’t get enough and are never pleased with wtvr u do, so personally i wish all companies can answer like Rymco to keep lame people at their limits, but no the public has to sympathize with the weak. Btw i don’t work their nor do i have a Nissan.
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GO FOR A GTR PATRICK!
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What a lame as thing!
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Nothing to see here, move on people! It’s nothing but a couple of drama queens fighting.
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Bad publicity is still publicity after all…And the guy s comment abt the ad was rly dumb, srsly now lame? i think its entertaining and its one of the best car ads so far. I even like rymco more now:) ( oh and yes i own a juke and im proud ;))
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The fact that it was staged is even worse! There’s no excuse in the world for such disgusting behavior from anyone, let alone a brand! I hate people that think that bad publicity is publicity anyway, that’s just sick, do you want to be a brand people trust or a brand people think twice about… at the end of the day, doubt doesn’t increase sales, trust does.
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RYMCO is like Miley cyrus. the licked the hammer, people attacked, blamed and drama and omgggg now they are the talk of the town. we dont see this kinda shit goin on everyday with other companies.
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Zein, jess, Thisismk,
Do you want to be the talk of the town at all cost even if it is by insulting your clients…?
If that is the Rymco culture then I ain’t buying a Nissan not because they are not good cars (they are excellent cars) but because I will be served by rude and disrespectful people like you.
Suddenly Hyundai and Kia sound and look amazing to me.
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Who’s the social media agency who’s handling Rymco?
I need to know so I never hire them.
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