MUNCIE, Ind. -- A Ball State University marketing professor is running an interactive Web site to help consumers frustrated with poor customer service.           Angry consumers may enlist the help of Ramon Avila, the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Marketing, at www.customerservicehotline.com on the World Wide Web.

          The site may be the answer for consumers upset with poor service offered by many   of America’s businesses, said Avila, who is also the director of Ball State’s   Professional Selling Institute.

          “Consumers feel they have nowhere to turn when they are upset because of poor   business practices,” he said. “Businesses seem not to care anymore because they don’t   have someone you can speak with. Instead, you just get an electronic voice mail   service or answering machine.”

          Avila blames profit-driven businesses for not paying attention to upset consumers.   Most companies have eliminated or reduced staff for consumer complaint departments.

          “Repeat business is the key to any company being successful because happy   customers are loyal,” he said. “When a person has a bad incident with a business, he   or she will retell that story up to 12 times to friends, relatives and neighbors. No   company needs that.”

          The site allows consumers to e-mail their complaints about businesses by writing   to “Tell Dr. Avila.”  Complaints as well as praise will be posted for free on the Web   site, which will also have a searchable database to help consumers find bad or good   responses.

          For a small fee, Ball State marketing students will serve as intermediaries to contact businesses. Students will contact targeted businesses to see if something can   be done to satisfy a disgruntled consumer.

          At the same time, information collected from upset customers will be used to   create a database for future study.

          Avila believes the Web site will allow his students to learn a great deal about how to provide good customer relations.

          “At the same time, businesses will learn what they are doing right and what they   are doing wrong,” he said. “I can’t think of a business that doesn’t want to transform   a disgruntled customer into a happy one.”

By Marc Ransford, Communications Manager

  (NOTE TO EDITORS: Contact Avila at ravila@bsu.eduor by phone at (765) 285-5189. )