You’ve probably been watching the PayPal/Regretsy social media debacle implode for the past few days. Catch up here. I’ve said this multiple times: when you, as a brand, make a mistake admit it. Quickly. Don’t start deleting Facebook posts and blog comments in an effort to appear so fresh & so clean. Not only will it backfire, you’ll appear dishonest and your brand’s image will suffer.

Paypal issues an apology to Regretsy that basically went like this: We’re sorry. You were wrong…but we’re sorry.

https://www.thepaypalblog.com/2011/12/regretsy-issue-resolution/

Nice try.

Paypal could have used this incident to their advantage by offering a sincere video apology on their blog as soon as the issue was presented to them. Regretsy is an insanely popular blog with a strong Twitter following. Paypal could have easily anticipated the fallout. Rather than haggle over policy semantics, PayPal could have just said, “Wow, we’re wrong,” announced new protocol for handling grievances (a Facebook tab similar to the one Samsung Canada has would have sufficed), and donated a nice chunk of cash to Regretsy’s cause.

Simple.

Maybe next time.