Social Fallout For David Jones Over Comments Made By CEO

The David Jones department store finds itself in another pickle today after comments by the current CEO.

CEO Paul Zahra has linked DJ’s poor performance with the Federal Government’s Carbon Tax, and has had a spate of stinging attacks due to this comment on social networking sites.

David Jones’ Facebook page has been inundated with angry and disappointed people who feel it is poor form for the company to blame its financial woes on the yet-to-be introduced carbon tax.

This article by the Herald Sun seems to have been a catalyst for people’s anger as it quotes Mr Zahra:

The carbon tax is impacting customer sentiment. It is very important. It targets our core customer.

Since then, many people have voiced their disappointment over the CEO’s words on David Jones’ Facebook page:

Profit slump’s the fault of the carbon tax?! Stop treating us like fools David J! -Alice Meredith

I’d rather shop at retailers with more conscience. -Lucianne Vandeleur

I shop at DJs from time to time and I think it’s appalling that DJs is blaming the carbon price for poor sales results. It’s absolute nonsense. A disgusting example of political opportunism. Shame. -Patrick Gibb

The true fail in all of this for David Jones is however a PR and social one.

As of writing, not one comment on DJ’s Facebook page has been addressed. Does this mean that they don’t care? Or that no-one is watching their page? Or are they waiting for their PR people to draft a response? For what ever reason, DJ’s silence on this issue is in very poor judgement.

Not addressing people’s concerns immediately is not only poor social media etiquette, but gives the impression on a massive scale that they simply don’t care (whether or not that is true).

Addressing people’s concerns, especially on such a wide scale, is a must when you have a presence on social media sites, like Facebook. And highlights the importance of having a plan in place for such events.

Why be on Facebook at all if you are not goig to connect with your fans?

What do you think – is DJs failing at social media?