Feature Article:
Maintaining Superior Service
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Feature Article: Maintaining Superior Service |
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Complaining is Becoming Popular in Japan A recent article in Newsweek magazine underscores a significant consumer change in Japan. The normally super-polite Japanese are beginning to take manufacturers to court over complaints they feel are not handled well by Japanaese manufacturers. To most people outside of Japan, the image of Japan is that of zero defects, highest quality, and the best customer service. Inside Japan, the picture is a little different. As Newsweek points out, the consumer is not king in Japan; corporations occupy the throne. A number of cultural imperatives make it difficult for individual Japanese to speak up in a group. One of these is the concept of wa, or harmony. The value of harmony is considered more important than the need for an individual to get his or her needs met. In fact, most Japanese think it is a virtue to put up with things rather than to complain about them. Add in a post-war culture that has emphasized success of all Japan, and you have a culture in which complaints are frowned upon, and socially discouraged in a most powerful manner. In a case of a television set that started a fire and caused a family to lose their 25-year-old daughter, they were told not to stay anything to panic the public about Sharp televisions. Their neighbors encouraged them not to say anything lest they harmed Sharp's business. But things are changing. Recent legislation in Japan has made it easier for consumers to "prove" that the manufacturer was at fault. Soon, average Japanese will have more protection under the law if they sign unfair contracts. Even the courts are beginning to give more credit to Japanese consumers. The days of Japanese manufacturers hiding complaint information in lockers is also beginning to change. Bridgestone has had to confess that it had received complaint information about Firestone tires long before the issue became public. Understand that we are not talking about small complaint issues. The point where Japanese consumers are beginning to take a stand is about foods that cause death and serious illnesses, homes constructed with materials that cause illnesses or are flat-out unsafe, cars manufacturered with inadequate safety provisions (even though the same Japanese manufacturers will regularly produce this equipment for cars that are sold outside Japanese), and television sets that explode. Between 1945 and 1995, 129 verdicts were issues in product liability cases in Japan. By contract, in the U.S., some 200,000 cases are filed each year. Part of the difficulty in Japan, is that builders, manufacturers, and corporations are allowed to police themselves. They are the inspectors. In down-home parlance, the fox is guarding the hen house. This is not the best environment in which to get the greatest benefit from a complaint-gift-giving public. Janelle Barlow, Coauthor
Note: We have been getting e-mail from our readers asking us to list the names of the companies who get complaints. Our policy is to never list names. The reason for this is because every company fails from time to time, and we wouldn't want to tar some company's name just because of one bad example. Furthermore, we are dependant upon the writer's side of the story. We don't know for sure what happened, and in the name of fairness, we will not post names. Furthermore, the purpose of this corner is not to pass complaints along to corporations. This Complaint Is a Gift corner is designed to look at examples of good and bad complaint handling so we can learn from these experiences. Please, if you have a direct complaint you want a company to learn about, contact them directly. In many cases, we have never heard of the company in question and have no idea how to reach them. Janelle Barlow |
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