Easy Store America

Abstract

Easy Store America, founded in 1984, was a publicly-traded company in the self-storage

industry. Founded in 1984, the firm had enjoyed significant growth and

had become a well-recognized company that relied on quality customer service,

positive public perception, and high market opinion for its future growth and success.

Hanna Melvin, Director of Communications and Investor Relations, received an

email from her assistant about a customers complaint that was posted on a message/

bulletin board on Yahoo!s search engine. This was the first time that Hanna

was aware that comments and criticisms were being made about her company that

did not come through normal channels, i.e., letters, telephone calls, the company

website, or employees. The incident evolved further as Hanna was faced with a

"What are you going to do about this?" question from a supervisor. Although

Hanna was an experienced communication specialist, the message board concept

was new to her. She then had to face the "buzz" over message boards and what

decisions must be made in dealing with future communications spread over the World

Wide Web about this storage company. The microfocus of the case was the decision

of how to respond to this one particular customer. The macro issue is how should

the firm deal with future comments about the company or the services of Easy Store

America on message boards through the Internet.