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Vincent Ferrari, blogger at insignificantthoughts.com and dissatisfied AOL customer, made headlines this week when he publicized a recording of his discussion with an AOL customer service rep on his blog. Ferrari, who through numerous attempts during the conversation, pleaded with the agent to cancel the account. The abrasive rep, in a desperate attempt to retain the customer, told him that keeping the service was for his own good, implied that Vincent had a problem, and even at one point asked the 30-year-old to put his dad on the phone. Toward the end of the call, the rep reduced Vincent to begging.

While this piece raised the eyebrows of Matt Lauer, we at 1to1 Magazine often hear similar customer service violations. Don Peppers and Martha Rogers even cited AOL’s poor customer service in their book Return on Customer. I realize that every good customer service rep must try to retain the customer upon exiting, but there comes a point where the rep must thank the customer for his or her business and offer up services in the future. Such gracious actions will build trust and create a positive word-of-mouth effect in the long-term.

In Ferrari’s case, Nicholas Graham, executive vice president of AOL’s Corporate Communications, apologized personally and fired the customer service rep immediately. Graham’s response was swift and appropriate, but may be too little too late. As Don and Martha note, treating customers as you would yourself builds trust, which ultimately breeds an ethical organization. In achieving this trust, companies like AOL must continuously examine their customer relations policies and require reps to undergo a certain number of ongoing training hours. Most importantly, companies must work vigilantly to ensure their customer strategy is clear to their reps and that they understand the value of customers—whether they’re staying or going.