Here’s a classic Internal Customer Service failure.  The latest viral story about a Dainty Hooligan employee who’s body just wasn’t good enough for their Instagram account has sparked a lot of outrage.  It seems that college student Sherene Marie Zarrabi, who worked in the store had some pictures of herself wearing the brand, and the manager posted them on the company’s Instagram account.

It wasn’t long before the chain’s owner ordered the picture deleted from Instagram.  She then sent an email to the store manager with this message: “Something I want to make sure you keep in mind: I want size small, the stereotypical “model” type to model our clothes. Please use our pictures of our models if Stillwater store can’t find someone who would be considered “model material”. 

Yikes. This is highly reminiscent of the Australian Gasp Clothing chain, who has gone down in history for mocking the body shape of a bride-to-be.

Is this a ‘customer service’ issue?  Absolutely.  First of all, it represents a horrendous internal customer service fail.  Equally important, however, is the impact this behaviour will have on their external customers.

Customer service, ultimately, is about sending the message to customers that we genuinely care about them.  And if we’ve learned nothing else in this era of viral social media, when people perceive your brand as not caring about people, there can be significant negative consequences.

It will be interesting to see how this story unfolds.  So far, the company owner is steadfast in her thinking that she has done the right thing…