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Starjacking and the “Service Or Else” Economy

Posted by Jim Nichols on January 29, 2009 at 12:00 PM PDT

An acquaintance sent me an email today suggesting I write about starjacking. I had not heard of this phenomenon, but quickly learned what an incredible development it truly is. And no, this isn't about stealing Starbuck's WIFI access.

Starjacking works like this: a consumer gets bad service from a company, complains, and said company does nothing to make restitution. In retaliation, the consumer and hundreds or even thousands of other people visit the various rating sites online and negatively rate the company’s offerings, until the collective starsault depresses the company's ratings.

Zorro!

So, for example, say you run an airline that currently enjoys a 5 star rating (aside: yes I know, it is to laugh!) on various feedback sites. Then your team makes a passenger sit on a seat soggy with a child’s pee, and offers no compensation for the moist inconvenience. You wake up tomorrow and discover that your rating has dropped to 1.5 stars, and hundreds of text complaints have been added to your ratings soup. Now you’re pissed instead of the passenger. Arr arr.

Zorro!

The vigilante nature of the digital public never ceases to amaze me. And doubtless there are companies that deserve their overcast ratings from such starjackings. Doubtless too, some companies will suffer from star theft for no good reason.

I am reminded of the sage words of PR pro/maven/diva Bronwyn "Own The Room" Saglimbeni who once said to me, “The difference between PR today and PR 20 years ago is that you cannot ignore anyone. Some blogger you’ve never heard of calls with a request, and if you don’t answer it quickly, you’re in for a somethingstorm.”

With starjacking we are now in an age when anyone with a beef needs to be treated with courtesy. Fancy that in a so-called service economy. A lesson that mobile companies, to take a particularly glaring example, would be wise to remember.